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 Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 1:46 pm
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The architecture that their government wants to impose upon them is inherently idolatrous; the very design gives honor to the myths and superstitions of buddhist and daoist (or taoist) thought.
The curved roofing technique of Chinese architecture can be traced back to the Han dynasty and Buddhist monks, when the White Horse Temple was constructed. This temple, known as the cradle of Buddhism in China, incorporates Buddhist beliefs into the architecture. Buddhists believed that curves could ward off evil spirits, which only move in straight lines. The curved roof corners ensured that when an evil spirit fell from the sky, it would shoot back up into the air.
http://valueroofingtenn.com/2014/07/24/curves-on-your-roof-why-are-chinese-roofs-curved/
[...] Daoist architecture, on the other hand, usually follows the commoners' style. The main entrance is, however, usually at the side, out of superstition about demons which might try to enter the premise (see feng shui.) In contrast to the Buddhists, in a Daoist temple the main deity is located in the main hall at the front, the lesser deities in the back hall and at the sides.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_architecture#Religious
[...] while the goal of Chinese medicine is to balance yin and yang in the body, the goal of feng shui has been described as aligning a city, site, building, or object with yin-yang force fields.[41]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui#Polarity
The Yin Yang symbol:
This is a well known Taoist symbol. "It represents the balance of opposites in the universe. When they are equally present, all is calm. When one is outweighed by the other, there is confusion and disarray." 1One source explains that it was derived from astronomical observations which recorded the shadow of the sun throughout a full year. 3 The two swirling shapes inside the symbol give the impression of change -- the only constant factor in the universe. One tradition states that Yin (the dark side) represents the breath that formed the earth. Yang (the light side) symbolizes the breath that formed the heavens.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/taoism2.htm
Matteo Ricci (1552–1610), one of the founding fathers of Jesuit China missions, may have been the first European to write about feng shui practices. His account in De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas... tells about feng shui masters (geologi, in Latin) studying prospective construction sites or grave sites "with reference to the head and the tail and the feet of the particular dragons which are supposed to dwell beneath that spot". As a Catholic missionary, Ricci strongly criticized the "recondite science" of geomancy along with astrology as yet another superstitio absurdissima of the heathens: "What could be more absurd than their imagining that the safety of a family, honors, and their entire existence must depend upon such trifles as a door being opened from one side or another, as rain falling into a courtyard from the right or from the left, a window opened here or there, or one roof being higher than another?".[71]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui#Criticisms
Assimilating with culture—and thus giving honor to their false beliefs and practices—transgresses God's commands. Those practices/philosophies give false accounts of creation. They lie about the Most High. We will not coexist with evil in order for there to be peace; biblically, as long as evil exists, there is no peace. God will separate the chaff from the wheat; the planet will be filled with righteousness, not evil and good together.
The push for "sinicization" is either:
(1) an outright attack from the devil, the prince of this world; he wants to dress Christianity in paganism / "traditional Chinese styles" not only to ruin our testimony of being holy / set-apart from what the pagans worship, and rob God of His glory, but invite destruction upon Christians (as all idolatry rouses YHWH's jealousy).
Or...
(2) if this is what they have been doing this whole time: mixing feng shui and “yin and yang” concepts into their lives (inside and/or outside the church)—all while wearing a cross—then the attack is from God Himself. YHWH will not bless what honors demons and lies. We cannot yoke ourselves to idolaters and false practices and then think we won't arouse His wrath. He will burn down all idolatry in our life, even His own temple itself if it becomes idolatrous.
Isaiah 42:8 (NIV)
8 “I am the Lord; that is my name!
I will not yield my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
Ezekiel 11:21 (NIV)
21 But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols, I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
Exodus 34:12-16 (NIV)
12 Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.[a] 14 Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
15 “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.
Footnotes:
a. Exodus 34:13 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
1 Corinthians 10:21-22 (NIV)
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 22 Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
2 Corinthians 6:16-17 (NIV)
16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
“I will live with them
and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they will be my people.”[a]
17 Therefore,
“Come out from them
and be separate,
says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
and I will receive you.”[b]
Footnotes:
a. 2 Corinthians 6:16 Lev. 26:12; Jer. 32:38; Ezek. 37:27
b. 2 Corinthians 6:17 Isaiah 52:11; Ezek. 20:34,41
Revelation 18:4 (NIV)
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
“‘Come out of her, my people,’[a]
so that you will not share in her sins,
so that you will not receive any of her plagues;
Footnotes:
a. Revelation 18:4 Jer. 51:45
Jeremiah 27:21-22 (NIV)
21 yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about the things that are left in the house of the Lord and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem: 22 ‘They will be taken to Babylon and there they will remain until the day I come for them,’ declares the Lord. ‘Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’”
Jeremiah 32:29 (NIV)
29 The Babylonians who are attacking this city will come in and set it on fire; they will burn it down, along with the houses where the people aroused my anger by burning incense on the roofs to Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.
Jeremiah 52:13 (NIV)
13 He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down.
I can't tell which is the case for these Chinese Christians (that they gave God's holy place an unholy use; so they got it taken away / attacked / disassembled. So God is saying, "fine, live in your idolatry, and if so, let Me take all affiliation with Me, with the truth, out of it because you're ruining My reputation; you're not really representing Me" OR an attack from the devil in order to profane God's name in the first place).
Whatever the case, if the Chinese Christians agree/accept the Chinese government's actions, and submit to their plans, they will be honoring false ideas and worthless practices in their worship of God—and thus ruining our God's reputation in the process, profaning His holiness / His set-apart-ness. If the truth of the Most High is adulterated by mixing truth with paganism, that will leave traps in place; they will incorporate lies and worthless practices into our lives / our act of worship. Without fail, when idolatry and truth mix, idolatry wins out.
Even if adopting “feng shui”-honoring practices and “superstition”-honoring practices doesn't entice the immediate generation into adopting such superstitious beliefs (unlikely, but for the sake of argument say the first generation stays loyal), the generations that come later will not be able to separate what was Christian from what was myth, because it's all equally “culture” now; so they start incorporating the superstition into their lives, in Jesus' name, arranging furniture following feng shui philosophy and constructing their houses a certain way to invite fortune and peace into their home, and to ward off evil; they'll trust the idol / idolatrous practice to invite all those blessings into the home in place of God molding the people of the house into His image, the latter being what would truly cause harmony and peace in their lives. How we interact, react, and treat each other is what brings harmony, not a physical object.
Killing false ideas, and turning away from sinful behavior, is what causes true peace. Not forcing the religious ideas together and giving a false appearance of harmony. They're not compatible—neither in what they represent nor call you to do. As long as people don't think alike, as long as they are not of one mind, there will be no peace. And as long as what they think fails to conform to the truth, the biblical truth, there will be no peace. God will send attacks. Ergo, “Come out of her my people”.
My family use to be so fascinated by these things when we were lost in the world; but they are useless and false practices. If any of you have any of these objects in your home, get rid of them: Top 20 Feng Shui Items to Invite Health, Wealth and Prosperity at Your Home. Even if we stop viewing it a certain way, the object still communicates an idea that could lead people into accepting the practice/superstition (if they have not already accepted it), or to continue in the practice/superstition (if they have). And if we leave a remnant of idolatry behind, then, when we're blessed by God, they will give credit to the heathen idol / idolatrous practice left behind in our lives instead of to the Most High God. We can't risk profaning His reputation. He is holy, unlike the spirits and sacred objects of the pagans; YHWH's worldview is incompatible with beliefs of the world. We cannot give off an appearance that they're the same (but by “culturalizing” Christianity, in any way, that's exactly what gets communicated: "our pagan beliefs and Christianity are one". No, they're not! Stop!). burning_eyes
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