"I See Dead People!"

I'm having a lot of fun reading some of the stuff on the NAC Singles website, in particular the featured news story about a New Apostolic member who claims to be able to see "angels, souls, spirits, demons and much more" after receiving a visit from none other than the archangel Michael. The angel informs our hero that "very few people reach the level of faith that you have reached", and proceeds to lay out a "plan" that God chose for him before the foundations of time. It's all in a book NAC member and former minister Jim Rybak wrote. He also has a website where he offers to "heal your energy" and tell you all about your chakras and auras. Oh, and just in case you wondered whether he's abandoned his NAC beliefs, he's still a church-going member who sings in the choir.

How does one reconcile the teachings of the New Apostolic Church with such new-age tripe? Has this faithful member ever offered his divinely-inspired insight to one of the NAC's "apostles"? If so, I wonder how that played out. What about the NAC members at large, what revelations can Jim offer the faithful now that he sees dead people? And what about those pesky demons and spirits, how can we spot them should we want to avoid them? If only Jim can see them, it seems there's some important information that he has a duty to disseminate to the great unwashed masses who haven't achieved his awesome level of faith.

Delusions are a fascinating thing. But have you ever noticed that there's never a lithium dart laying around when you really need one?

Understanding The Bible The NAC Way

I saw this missive from Wilhelm Leber, "Chief Apostle" of the NAC, on the New Apostolic Church International website:

... I would still like to stress the following: according to the New Apostolic understanding of faith, the Apostle ministry has been endowed with the authority to interpret Holy Scripture. This does not mean that believers will not profit from reading the Bible. But it falls to the Apostle ministry to interpret the Bible, to clarify matters, and to provide instruction in faith. In so doing, Scriptural passages are considered in their context, since overemphasis on individual statements can lead to the wrong conclusions.

Truly amazing when you consider that the only apostles who may have been able to claim such authority were the original apostles mentioned in the Bible. The New Apostolic Church believes that their apostles were "called" in the 1830's after some zealots had a few dreams and visions. Oh, and after the church went through a few schisms, too. The NAC apostles are all laymen, there's not one of them that has had any formal theological training, yet somehow it "falls" on these self-appointed men to interpret the Bible and tell everyone exactly what it is they're reading. And to "clarify matters". Gotcha.

If, as Willy says up there, scriptural passages are to be considered in their context, can any NAC "apostle" point out exactly where in the Bible it mentions people flopping around on the floor in the 1830's and appointing these men as "God's Ambassadors"? Can they show me where the Bible mentions a "Chief Apostle" being appointed by God in the 19th century?

If not, I think it's safe to say they're full of crap.