True Discernment

from Herescope:

When I finished my online E-booklet, My Life in “The Way”, exposing the Buddhist/Taoist/New Age roots of the martial arts,[1] I also documented the inseparable relationship to its Western point man, Chuck Norris.[2] Norris is a martial artist, actor, author, political activist—and professing Christian—which necessitates the need for discerning Christians influenced by his celebrity to weigh his beliefs, his associations, and his mission with the Bible.

CHUCK NORRIS: HIS BELIEFS

Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them(Rom. 16:17)

As I documented in My Life in “The Way”, Mr. Norris kept his 1988 autobiography, The Secret of Inner Strength: My Story, very secular. While there is no mention of a Christian conversion or belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, he admits to being influenced by New Thought/Human Potential gurus, Napoleon Hill and Dr. Joseph Murphy.[3] Mr. Norris routinely utilizes and affirms the use of visualization techniques throughout his book while recounting famous karate matches with other notable martial artists. Commenting on this practice I wrote:

Much could be said concerning the occult/metaphysical nature of the human potential movement, but suffice it to say, it is NOT Christian. Napoleon Hill was given his formula of success—the “Supreme Secret”—from unseen visitors on the astral plane calling themselves “The Venerable Brotherhood of Ancient India.” They taught Hill the power of visualization and his famous maxim, “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” His most popular book, Think and Grow Rich, influenced millions. This demonic philosophy is behind such motivational teachings of the late Norman Vincent Peale, Robert Schuller, and Rhonda Byrne, author of The Secret.[4]

With prompting and inspiration from his second wife, Gena,[5] Norris wrote a second “Christian” autobiography, Against All Odds, in 2004. In it, Mr. Norris says that he trusted Christ as his Savior at age 12 (sometime in 1952), while making a commitment to Him sometime later after going forward at a Billy Graham Crusade.[6] Despite this public profession of faith, Mr. Norris fails to recant neither his New Thought/Mind-Science techniques nor the core philosophies of the martial arts—teachings and practices that are completely incompatible with true Christianity.[7] Also troubling is an underlying “might makes right” attitude inherent in the fighting arts. On page 30, Mr. Norris records this story:

The ambushers beat him up badly [an Air Force policeman] and robbed him. [He] was a black belt in tang soo do. When the slicky boys found this out, they were so horrified at the potential reprisal they might suffer, they printed an apology in the local paper. It did them no good. When somebody messes with one black belt, he or she is challenging the whole organization. One of our members tracked down several of the attackers. He killed one and injured two. The police arrested him, and he was sentenced to three years in prison. He was back out on the street in two weeks. The lesson was clear: Mess with one member of our group, and your messing with all.[8]

The Bible says that murder is wrong and that vengeance belongs to the LORD.

On the contrary, Mr. Norris has retained this unbiblical mixture of beliefs and practices and has made them a primary part of his life’s work. I documented his most disturbing belief (and teaching) in my E-booklet:

Forty-four years after his professed conversion, and in between his two autobiographies, Chuck Norris published another book in 1996 entitled: The Secret Power Within: Zen Solutions to Real Problems. This book is a real problem for Christians. The reader discovers the “secret power within” on pages 127-130: “Ki: The Universal Power.” “The fact is that everyone has ki, which is really little more than a technique of visualization allowing one to utilize the internal energy that we all have and letting it flow through the body…”[10]

On page 36 of My Life in “The Way”, I made this observation followed by a probing question:

By now, the Christian reader is rightfully confused regarding the source of Mr. Norris’ “secret inner strength,” and “secret power within.” Has he made the same deleterious leap as Michael Chen and Rev. Jordan in equating the impersonal “ki” force (kundalini power) with the Holy Spirit of the Living God—the third person of the triune godhead? Has he unwittingly become a de facto false teacher of Far Eastern mysticism in woolen garb like this author did before fully repenting—and renouncing the martial arts? Let the evidence speak. . . . .

read the full article here.