Discussion of Faith columnist has led to healthy debate

I've enjoyed very much the recent reflections and comments on Dr. Dennis Merritt Jones' faith columns. I feel it's been productive for readers to express their views. This week Elizabeth Friend wrote because she seemed concerned about Mark Buchler's letter in which he pointed out that Dr. Jones' ideas are contrary to the Bible. She said that she's followed Dr. Jones' philosophy, which originated with Ernest Holmes, for several years, and she feels that Christianity is all about following the example of Jesus in spreading love and peace.

In my view, Elizabeth is entirely correct in what she said in her letter. The problem is what wasn't said. It is important to understand that the philosophy of Dr. Jones and Ernest Holmes is Science of Mind, or New Age. While Science of Mind and Christianity both speak of spreading love and peace, it is predicated upon an entirely different worldview, and those differences are not insignificant. For example, Science of Mind rejects the idea of good, evil and moral sin as unenlightened spiritual thinking. Christianity, on the other hand, holds the recognition of these concepts to be essential to spirituality.

The New Testament even refers to such discernment as a mark of spiritual maturity. Elizabeth mentions the parables and demonstrations of Jesus as spreading love and peace, but she ignores the fact that those same parables and demonstrations carry admonitions concerning good, evil and sin.

Likewise, Dr. Jones' recent Easter column talked about "new beginnings" but never once mentioned the Christian gospel. This is incredible because the gospel is the very heart of Christianity and Easter, and there we find that it was the sinfulness of humanity that made Easter necessary.

Christians exult in the joy of new beginnings and the spreading of love and peace only because of the victory over evil and sin. The Christian gospel is about spreading love and peace, for sure, but it cannot be separated from the call to repentance that was a powerful part of Jesus' personality and message. Michael LeVan Simi Valley