Founder: :
Unknown; the practice is
ancient.
How Does It Claim To Work?: :
Visualization attempts to
program the mind to discover inner power and guidance. For example, by using the mind to
contact an alleged inner divinity or "higher" self, practitioners claim they can
manipulate their personal reality to secure desired goals such as occult revelations,
financial security, health, improved learning abilities, etc.
Scientific Evaluation: :
Scientific research on forms of
imagery (not necessarily visualization) has provided some useful insights into brain/mind
interaction and the ability of mental processes to affect mind-body function.
Unfortunately, modern science does not always separate legitimate from questionable
research. Legitimate research is easily misused when tied to
parapsychological/New Age
premises or goals.
Examples of Occult Potential: :
Visualization is often
used as a means to, or in conjunction with, altered states of consciousness; it is often
accompanied by occult meditation and is frequently used to develop psychic abilities. It
is used in channeling to contact "inner advisors" or spirit guides. It has long
been associated with pagan religion and practice such as shamanism and Buddhism. Many
human potential/occult New Age Seminars, such as est and Silva Mind Control (884) employ
it in their programs.
Major Problem(s): :
New Age visualization assigns the
human mind a divine or almost divine status; this not only represents a significant
distortion of human nature, it can also mask spiritistic manipulation of the mind,
re-conceptualizing this as a natural or divine endeavor.
Biblical/Christian Evaluation: :
As an occult practice,
New Age visualization is proscribed; but even alleged Christian forms are insufficiently
critiqued, of dubious value or subject to abuse.
Potential Dangers: :
Occult influences, problems arising
from the denial of reality by over-reliance upon one’s "divine" mind and
its alleged "wisdom." For example, in the areas of medicine (physical
self-diagnosis) education (e.g., tapping the knowledge of "inner counselors")
and religion (receiving psychic revelations), the process can produce a trust in false
data that could result in foolish or harmful decisions.
In the Church
Not unexpectedly, the modern impact of visualization in health, science,
education, psychotherapy and other areas has resulted in visualization techniques being
used by more and more Christians. Trott and Pement note that "visualization exercises
are increasingly finding their way into Christian churches" (691:19). In The
Seduction of Christianity, popular author Dave Hunt devotes two chapters to the
harmful influence of visualization within the church. He observes,
"Visualization" and "Guided Imagery" have long been
recognized by sorcerers of all kinds as the most powerful and effective methodology for
contacting the spirit world in order to acquire supernatural power, knowledge and healing.
Such methods are neither taught or practiced in the Bible as helps to faith or prayer.
(432:123)
Hunt is careful to distinguish visualization proper from the non-occult use of
the imagination. He observes,
The visualization we are concerned with is an ancient witchcraft technique that
has been at the heart of shamanism for thousands of years, yet is gaining increasing
acceptance in today’s secular world and now more and more within the church. It
attempts to use vivid images held in the mind as a means of healing diseases, creating
wealth, and otherwise manipulating reality. Strangely enough, a number of Christian
leaders teach and practice these same techniques in the name of Christ, without
recognizing them for what they are. (432:124)
But as more people turn inward or seek "enlightenment," as interest in
parapsychology and psychic development increases, as visualization techniques are utilized
more and more in the medical, educational, sports (the use of visualization/imagery in
sports is usually but not entirely innocuous) and psychotherapeutic communities, as mind
science philosophies and New Age seminars grow in impact, the use of visualization will
increase proportionately. Such an influence cannot fail to continue to impact the Church.
But as we will shortly document, the world view of the visualization promoters is rarely
Christian. Instead, it is blatantly occult or humanistic. As researcher Stanley Dokupil
comments: "Imagination is fast becoming the focus of much of New Age thought and
method" (733:2).
Christian Visualization?
Many Christians have used some form of visualization. They argue that in
rejecting visualization, the Church is ignoring aspects of the creative imagination that
are really legitimate. The comments of Stanley Dokupil, the author of an SCP critique of
visualization are perhaps relevant:
One of the reasons the New Agers are making such inroads is that the evangelical
church has proven itself to be unimaginative, and overly linear in its thinking. The
unconscious is real and there are powers there I believe that are not necessarily evil.
Certain individuals by their nature are more inclined toward the full use of their
imaginations than others, artists, therapists, certain other creative types, etc. If the
church doesn’t provide a discerning guidance for these people, other than outright
dismissal of all borderline phenomena as satanic, then the church is not only poorer for
having lost these people but will have to pay for it by having God’s gifts used
against His own church. The works of Jonathan Edwards, such as Faithful Narrative of
the Surprising Work of God, The Distinguishing Marks of a Word of the Spirit of God,
A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, as well as Elizabeth Winslow’s
biography of Edwards are very informative here. (709:1-2)
But obviously, we cannot recommend the kinds of visualization we have been
discussing in this chapter. The spiritual risks are too clear. So if the Church is going
to accept some aspects of the practice of visualization, it will need to sort out the
godly uses of the imagination from counterfeit varieties. Otherwise, how does a Christian
therapist using an "Inner Jesus" as a guide, friend and advisor ensure his
client against spiritism? What safeguards can be provided to ensure that imagination will
not lead to reality and that a spiritistic Jesus will not appear? Spiritistic Jesuses
appear all over the place in the occult, from dictating occultic texts such as A Course
in Miracles to direct appearances in the temples of the Mormon Church and to various
occultists (e.g., refs. 885/891).
Is a "Jesus" who truly manifests inwardly to guide and comfort or
erase bad memories, a "Jesus" who must appear at the beck and call of the
emotionally needy in general? And is this not similar to the familiar spirit of the
occultist?
And, apart from the occult, how much power does visualization per se really
have? If man were a god-in-embryo with divine energy at his disposal, and if his
thoughts actually did create reality, then visualization should create
literal miracles--but this is not the case. Given biblical teaching, visualization is
mostly impotent and, even in its allegedly "neutral" or "Christian"
therapeutic aspects, would only seem marginally useful at best. In other words, isn’t
it true that a) God’s ordering of the world and how attentively we live in harmony
with it and b) obeying His moral standards are vastly more important to any kind of
physical and spiritual health than our mental pictures or manipulation of them through
visualization--even in a Christian context?
Another issue to face is where the Christian is to derive his personal identity?
Is our self-image to be determined from our creative imagination or from the Word of God?
Do the popular visualization techniques applied in a Christian context really conform to
reality? Belief can certainly affect our behavior but such belief must be based either
upon reality or something possible. New Age and much Christian positive confession imaging
does not count as true what is true; it only imagines and visualizes as true what
one wants to be true but really is not true--and, if people are honest, what
continues to not be true (cf., 2639).
If visualization truly puts us in contact with our inner being, our
subconscious, what can we expect to gain but perhaps the upwelling of that reality that
Jesus spoke of? And perhaps this is the reason why authorities have warned about the
psychological danger resulting from using visualization to explore the unconscious:
[Jesus] went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him
‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual
immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander,
arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man
‘unclean.’" (Mark 7:20-23)
New Age theorists and most visualizing church members regard the biblical
doctrine of depravity as anathema, as indeed they must. To find the "divine"
within, with its suggestion of universalism, the words of Christ must be ignored or
reinterpreted.
S, is the visualization program that seeks to remold man’s depravity into
divinity really based on reality? Whose reality? If a Christian has been forgiven,
regenerated, justified, joined to Christ, adopted and positionally sanctified, how
important is a spiritual program of visualization? These doctrines are spiritual
realities and facts one need only understand and accept to integrate (886). While
the imagination might help a Christian to see such realities as personally true, this
perception is not something that needs to be attained through a daily program of
visualization.
God has promised Christians many things--that He will finish the work He began
in us (Philippians 1:6), that our inner man is being renewed day by day (2 Corinthians.
4:16; 3:18), that we will stand before Him, blameless, perfect in body, soul and spirit:
for "faithful is he who calls you and he will also bring it to pass" (1
Thessalonians 5:23, 24).
Christians are to be renewed daily by the Holy Spirit, prayer and the Word of
God. They are not to be renewed by a transpersonal psychology using Eastern metaphysics or
inner work through visualization. The power of the Word of God to build a truly integrated
person in those whom it "renews" makes modern visualization pale by contrast.
Jesus said, "Apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). Where then is the
spiritual power of visualization? Will an hour a day of our busy lives be better spent in
visualization or in prayer? Will an hour a day be better spent on the therapist’s
couch talking to an imaginary "inner Jesus" or in the Word of God with the real
Jesus? And what of our children? Will secular or New Age visualization methods in the
classroom finally be in their best interests?
In our culture, visualization practices are here to stay. This underscores the
necessity for Christians to bring a thorough going and biblical critique to this occult
method.
[For a more in-depth study of "Visualization" see our Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, available through the
ministry for a gift of $35 + $5 S&H.]
