John MacArthur and Doug Pagitt on Yoga

I was asked by CNN to be a part of this exchange, but I declined because I was told that I would be one of four people and have only a total of five minutes. That form is not adequate to say much of anything constructive. This segment is a total of seven minutes with a two minute intro, mostly filled with shapely women in plunging necklines doing yoga. Yes, it is television. And many of the scenes are repeated during the dialogue. (This is one of the strange things about TV that you notice when you almost never watch it: the same images are repeatedly shown.)

MacArthur hammers home his points clearly against yoga (it is Hinduism!) and presents the gospel. Hurray for him. Pagitt, an emerging church "guru" (perhaps in more ways than one), fumbles around and misuses Scripture (Philippians 4). He uses a terrible experiential argument that no Christian he knows has been adversely affected by yoga. Well, the demons can be nice to you at first. This helps them get a grip. Or, people are so oblivious that they don't even know what is happening to them. Satan and his ministers pose as "angels of light" (2 Cor. 11:14). Feeling good and seeming to get benefits from a practice does not make it godly or even safe. We live in a fallen world.

Much of the emerging church takes culture to be more normative that Scripture and has no clear sense of truth or antithesis: Christianity really and radically opposes some ideas and practices. This defect seems evident in Pagitt, but television is the worst possible medium to discuss anything. However, that Pagitt would take the pro-yoga side in any format shows that he has little spiritual discernment and is oblivious to the realities of spiritual warfare. Although it is out of print, my book, Confronting the New Age (InterVarsity Press, 1988) has a chapter called "Developing a Strategy" what warns of the spiritual and physical dangers of New Age practices, including yoga.

I have posted a challenge to Pagitt on his blog. Added on September 17: Pagitt deleted my comment. It was not insulting or meanspirited.