Deepak Chopra's Theology

DEEPAK  CHOPRA'S  THEOLOGY

    In the book review below I refer to one of Van Til's most helpful contributions to philosophical and theological thought:  the distinction between those theought systems which see man's predicament as fundamentally due to a methaphysical problem and those who see it as a moral problem.  This insight is one of the most important features of the Van Til Tool.

Forrest W. Schultz    

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April 23, 2015

Deepak  Chopra’s  Theology

Review of

Deepak Chopra The 13^th Disciple (Harper & Row, 2015)

Reviewer:  Forrest W. Schultz

     This book is a spiritual adventure portraying a “mystery school story” which depicts Deepak Chopra’s theology.  Having authored over 80 books and having appeared on many television shows and elsewhere and having gained the respect of many prominent people, his theology has become an important force in American (and worldwide) thinking.  My purpose here will be to note the basic theology expressed in his latest book, not to provide a literary review of the story itself.

     Perhaps the most fundamental and important of all questions pertains to the nature of the separation of man from God.  The twentieth century philosopher-theologian Cornelius Van Til very helpfully distinguished between those views which regard this separation as a metaphysical problem and those views which regard this separation as a moral problem.  Christianity regards man’s separation from God as due to sin, i.e. it is a moral problem.  Most forms of mysticism and gnosticism regard man’s separation as due to a metaphysical problem.  Chopra’s particular view is that it is difficult for man to enter the reality of God because God is invisible.  He states this position in the Afterward to his story, on pp.  261-281.  Chopra here says nothing whatever about man’s sin being a hindrance to his overcoming his separation from God.  This is the fundamental distinction of his theology from that of Biblical theology.