Why Neville Goddard's Imagining Creates Reality is "Heretical"

I have become a big fan of Neville Goddard's
teachings on man's imagination creating reality.
I had reservations about this philosophy because
of its unorthodoxy. I learned Neville's views
and worked out their biblicality. Now I have
reservations about the Orthodox view.

Still, I can be wrong, and this premise, that
man's imagination causes reality, is considered
heretical. I read up on why it is considered to
be heretical. (I am not a slough at this: my
Apologetics professors at university were Dr.
Walter Martin, Robert Passantino and Dr. John
Warwick Montgomery -- all "heavy-hitters." My
Theology professor was Dr. J. Rodman Williams.
I read works by professional heresy hunters.)

In the end, the reason why imagining creates
reality is considered heretical is . . .
. . . demons claim it.

Yes, this is the entirety of the logic in
rejecting the use of imagination as means of
creating one's reality: it is simply that demons
claim it. The logic goes: demons claim to
deceive man by bringing what man imagines to
pass, so if man imagines to create reality, and
it works, then it is sorcery.

Excuse me, but since when do we take the word
of demons over the Word of God? A: Since we got
prophecy pundits and heresy hunters who major
in Paul's early letters to the Thessalonians,
that is when.

You see, Paul, like all of us, was thoroughly
ignoranced when he was born. Like every other
man, woman and child, he began life sensing
the world on the outside, and even teachings
about God and spiritual matters seemed separate
and remote.

Paul became a Pharisee, which means he learned
all Jewish Apocalypticism. That is where every
little nuance of the spirit of man is blown
way out of proportion and pictured symbolically
as historical extremes. For example, a bad
attitude might be portrayed as an evil city,
nation or people doomed to destruction by God.

Except ignoranced people didn't know that the
scriptures involved were symbolic. Everything
was read as literal and historical, "prophetic,"
as it is today. That is where Paul was when he
wrote to the Thessalonians -- he expected Jesus
to appear in the clouds at any moment.

Many clouds and a lot of thought later, Paul
figured out the device of Jewish Apocalypse and
realized that it all happens within the spirit
of man.

Joshua, YHWH saving us, was the "son" of Nun;
Nun means "resprouting in perpetuity." That is,
it never ends -- in the flow of God's love we
just keep mounting up and mounting up and
mounting up. Who knows how high is the high
calling given us by God? "It does not yet
appear what we shall be, but . . . we shall be
like him" (1 John 3: 2).

*****

A quick exercise in logic: if you were a demon
and men cannot have anything to do with sorcery
(demons causing manifestation), and God has given
manifesting via imagination to man (God causing
the manifestation of what man imagines), how
would you stop man from using his imagination to
create the reality he desires in obedience to God?

A: Claim that you do it.

It has been that simple for demons to dissuade
men from using their imaginations to create the
realities they desire. God says, "I have put
my word in your mouth and in your heart, that
you might do it;" "Say to this mountain;"
"Believe in your heart that you receive . . ."

And man says, "Oh, no, no, no! The demons said
that if we imagine what we want, they will take
that as honoring them and will give us whatsoever
we ask for. Saying to the mountain and believing
in our hearts -- that's all Devil worship!
Sorcery! We'd have to stone ourselves."

Egad.

Not that there isn't a lot of error mixed in
with proper doctrine: we are not becoming gods;
it is not the power of our minds that causes
manifestation; we can not "command" anything to
happen (except for demons to leave); and we do
not put faith our faith, but in God's faith.