If you have been reading this blog from the beginning, then you might recall that I said I was going to examine and discuss several religions in addition to mine which is Christianity. As a seeker of my "spiritual truth" I felt it important to be sure that I research all the religions and spiritual movements in search of that truth, which I found in Christianity. You may also recall that I said that prior to becoming a Christian, that I considered myself agnostic, that is I did not subscribe to any particular religion or spiritual movement. If there was any "spiritual" path I subscribed to at all it was The New Age Movement.
I want to stress that as I share information that is a result of many years and hours of research about several of the prominent world religions, that I am in no way criticizing or judging anyone who may be reading this who identifies,subscribes or is a member of any of the religions I will discuss. I will say that I am often surprised to see that people may say they are "a Mormon" or "A Buddhist" or "A "Spiritual" person ie: New Age Thinker", but have never taken the time to dig really deep into what they believe in. It is my belief that we can not afford to only partially understand or follow the crowd in matters of spirituality. As a past journalism major and reporter for my college newspaper I learned that research reveals the truth. Blind faith does not. Adhering spiritually to what is politically correct, what is popular or even what your parent's taught you is not going to matter very much when it comes to matters of your soul's eternal resting place. It is up to you to be sure that you do the research and truly understand what it is that you believe in. With that said, If you are reading this then you are most likely seeking answers regarding spiritual truth and my goal is to give you all the keys necessary to unlock the door to spiritual truth.
* My goal is to share to the best of my ability the information that I have found on several world religions, starting with The New Age Movement. Clearly, I have found all of the religions I will talk about to not be true and I feel it is my responsibility as an evangelist and disciple of Jesus to expose the truth about these religions. Once again, this is in no way a personal attack on anyone who is a member of or adheres to any of the spiritual movements that I will discuss.
I will refer to The New Age Movement as (NAM) throughout this post. New Age" Movement (NAM), sometimes also referred to as the "Human Potential Movement", is a loosely connected network of people, groups, activities and practices which, according to its adherents, purportedly foster and produce a vast array of beneficial results such as "spiritual" and personal growth, financial success, improvement in relationships, physical and psychological healing, individual and global peace, stabilization of the environment, etc.
Warning! This is a long, in depth post on the NAM. There are many important things to cover and I feel it is very important to devote the time and space to that effort.
BACKGROUND
Although the words "New Age" could cause one to assume that these beliefs are new, little is new in the New Age Movement. The words "New Age" are derived from the idea that the world is about to enter a utopian age of Aquarius. Astrology -- the belief that the heavenly
bodies affect the mundane matters of humanity -- gets a lot of attention from the New Agers. It is from astrology that the "age of Aquarius" is derived.
The NAM was born in the U.S. during the rebellious 1960's when all traditional institutions and values, especially in relation to the Church and the family were under attack. The forerunner and vanguard of the New Age was the "Peace Movement" of the 1960's which condemned traditional morality. The NAM also drew from Radical Environmentalism, Radical Feminism and Feminist spirituality of the 1970's while it gained popularity around the world. Today the NAM has been able to successfully infiltrate almost every major institution, both religious and secular.
The New Age Movement seems to be a reaction to the scientific age. During a time when everything has become so objective and particularized, the shift now is to emphasize the subjective and the whole. This shift has focused attention on the "inner" feelings and on
wholistic (or holistic) health, as well as on global matters rather than nationalistic ones.
BELIEFS
Douglas R. Groothuis, research associate with Probe Ministries
(Seattle, Wash.), identifies six distinctives of New Age thinking:
All is One
All is God
Humanity is God
A change in consciousness
All religions are one
Cosmic evolutionary optimism
Norman L. Geisler focuses on 14 doctrines typical of New Age
religions:
1) an impersonal god (force)
2) an eternal universe
3) an illusory nature of matter
4) a cyclical nature of life
5) the necessity of reincarnations
6) the evolution of man into godhood
7) continuing revelations from beings beyond the world
8) the identity of man with God
9) the need for meditation (or other consciousness-changing
techniques)
10) occult practices (astrology, mediums and so forth)
11) vegetarianism and holistic health
12) pacifism (or anti-war activities)
13) one world (global) order
14) syncretism (unity of all religions)
SOURCE OF AUTHORITY
Generally, New Agers do not speak of a source of authority. If such is referred to, it is not an external authority but an internal one. In the New Age Movement, the individual is considered to be the standard of truth. New Age proponent Shirley MacLaine reveals the supposed power of the individual when commenting, "It's all my dream. I'm making all of it happen -- good and bad -- and I have the choice of how I'll relate to it and what I'll do about it." MacLaine goes on to say, "Perhaps everyone has his own truth, and truth as an objective reality simply does not exist."
The Scriptures, on the other hand, present objective truths. They are inspired (literally, "God-breathed"); therefore, they can be fully relied on. The fact of the inspiration of the Scriptures is seen in 2 Timothy 3:16: "All Scripture is inspired by God, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness." The method of inspiration is seen in 2 Peter 1:21: "No prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." The extent of inspiration is seen in Matthew 5:18: "For truly I say to you," said the Lord Jesus Christ, "until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished." So no individual is left to himself and his inner feelings as final authority; the Bible serves as this objective standard.
Although I do not believe we "create our own reality" like most New Agers believe, I see nothing wrong with having a good overall attitude towards the future and envisioning good things for yourself. I would imagine that God would not want you to focus on the negative, but instead to project a positive attitude towards the future and all the good things that one can expect as a result of the many blessings that God promises to those who love Him.
I sometimes will write down scriptures or positive biblical affirmations on post-it notes and put them around my house. Filling our minds with the love of Christ and His promises is never bad! Visualizing God's love and the things that He has promised to do in your life are positive, life affirming practices.
GOD
New Age thinkers show their true colors in what they believe about God. To them, God is not a Supreme Being distinct from creation -- He IS creation. In developing a worldview about the material and immaterial world, New Agers reach a faulty conclusion. To them there is
only one essence in the universe, and everything and everyone is part of that essence. This is known as "monism," which comes from the Greek word monos, meaning "one".
Monism is a common view of Eastern religions, especially Hinduism. All creatures, as well as inanimate objects, are viewed as part of this divine essence. Some of the more commonly known groups in the United States that share this Hindu view with the New Agers are Transcendental Meditation (also known as the Science of Creative Intelligence), Christian Science and Unity School of Christianity. The monism of the New Age Movement is really pantheism, believing that all (pan) is God (theos). Following this line of reasoning, whatever exists -- whether it's a person, a poodle or a pickle -- is part of God. This leads observers to say that the worldview in the United States has switched from the atheism of secular humanism (man is the measure of all things) to the pantheism of the New Age Movement (man is god).
The God of the New Age Movement is an impersonal presence, not a person with intellect, emotions and a will, as the Bible presents Him.
The God of the Bible is a personal Father, not an impersonal force. This reveals why New Agers cannot accept the teaching of the Bible. They are not able to get beyond the first five words: "In the beginning God created" (Gen. 1:1). Because they confuse God with creation, the New Agers see God as part of creation -- not separate from it. Biblical Christianity clearly distinguishes between God and creation.
While rejecting the Bible's distinction between God and creation, the New Agers accept and believe the lie of Satan. Eve told the Tempter that God had said they would die if Adam and she ate from the tree in the middle of the garden. But the Seducer said, "You surely shall not
die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:4,5).
Notice that not even Satan indicated they would not "be" God -- only that they would be "like" God. And even this was in only one aspect: "knowing good and evil." After the fall of Adam and Eve, God acknowledged what had occurred: "Behold, the man has become like one of
Us, knowing good and evil" (v.22). "This knowledge, as absolute, is an attribute of God (3:5), who is omniscient," wrote Merrill F. Unger. "But man, created with only the knowledge of good, acquired the experiential knowledge of evil through pride and disobedience, and in this manner fell into a state of sin and misery."
Satan's lie -- as verified by history -- was "You surely shall not die!" (v.4). Adam and Eve immediately died spiritually, for their act of disobedience separated them from God. They later died physically as a result of their sin (see Romans 5:1 2).
Because the New Agers think all is One, this leads them to thinking they -- and everything else -- are part of this divine essence. They believe each person is "intertwined" with God. New Agers even use the Bible to support their erroneous beliefs. They are especially fond of
Jesus' words "the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21, KJV). New Agers use these words to claim that each one has a divine spark within because he or she is part of the divine essence.
As in other instances where they use the Bible, New Agers twist the context and words to mean what they wish. Jesus Christ had come to earth to present Himself as the Messiah of Israel. The Pharisees were opposed to Him because He was ruining their established man-made rules, which they had added to Old Testament revelation. They were always trying to
pose some question to disprove the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. When they demanded of Him an answer concerning when the kingdom of God would come (v.20), He answered, "The kingdom of God is within you" (v.21).
Jesus did not mean that these Pharisees had the kingdom of God inside of them. To the contrary, they were the enemies of everything the kingdom stood for. The word translated "within" is entos. Although it can have the meaning of "inside", it can also mean "in your midst". This latter possibility fits the context, as well as the rest of the Bible's teaching. Jesus Christ Himself was the King -- the ruler of the kingdom. When the Pharisees asked Him when the kingdom would arrive, Jesus told them that the kingdom was in their midst, because the King (whom hey rejected) was standing right in their presence.
Appearance of Good/Reality of Evil
The NAM, on the surface, appears to be a good thing. It promises global peace, health, personal and spiritual growth, and environmental stability. However, the methods it promotes to achieve these goals are cleverly hidden beneath this benevolent surface appearance. A closer scrutiny reveals a dark, sinister methodology for drawing people away from the Jesus Christ and towards individualism, and the religious practices of pagans, belief in reincarnation, and the power of the "Self".
Nevertheless, the NAM, on the surface, does not deny the existence of Jesus Christ - to do so would scare off most Christians in an instant. Instead, clever syntax is applied, while traditional aspects of the Christian faith are redefined. Jesus Christ becomes less than what He is, God, and instead is relegated to becoming one of a number of "Spiritual Guides" or "Ascended Masters" who were mere humans who "evolved" into higher beings after discovering and using "ancient wisdom." Indeed, the NAM promises that any individual can attain this status through "Self Realization" or "Higher Consciousness" of the fact of one's own "Higher Self", "God-Self", or "Divinity". Essentially, each individual can become God.
Forbidden Fruit
The NAM is riddled with occult and other forbidden practices which make up the "ancient wisdom", including mediumship, channeling, divination, astrology, consulting spirits of the dead, tarot cards, crystals, palm reading, ouija boards, psychic powers, some forms of Yoga, transcendental meditation, rose poetry, past-life regression, etc. God spoke to Moses about such practices:
"Let there not be found among you anyone who immolates his son or daughter in the
fire, nor fortune teller, soothsayer, charmer, diviner, or caster of spells, nor one who consults ghosts and spirits or seeks oracles from the dead. Anyone who does such things is an abomination to the Lord" (Deut 18:10-12)
"Do not turn aside to idols, nor make molten gods for yourselves. I, the Lord, am your
God." (Lev 19:4)
"The Spirit says clearly that some men will abandon their faith in later times. They will obey lying spirits and follow the teaching of demons." (1 Timothy 4:1)
Despite the clear implications of such practices, an increasing number of people are abandoning their true faith to follow some or many aspects of the NAM. People today are replacing God with evil spirits and pagan gods, just as the ancient Israelites and Egyptians did during the time of Moses. The seductions are subtle, but at its core is Satan himself.
What appears to some New Agers to be a "Divine Light" is, in reality, the "Shining Darkness" of Satan. Despite the attractiveness, and apparent concern shown by these "Spirit Guides", these spirits will ultimately lead to spiritual oppression and other forms of spiritual destruction here on Earth, and possibly serious consequences in the life to come.
Because of my past association with the NAM I not only have sought out advice from a psychic in the past, but I have also had a session with a medium and sought to speak to a deceased loved one. I also once attended a channeling. At the time, the experience seemed very real and the thought was "there is no way this person would have known all these things about me or about the deceased loved one if they were not truly a psychic or medium". It is undeniable that psychics sometimes know things that should be impossible for them to know. Where do they get this information? The answer is from Satan and his demons. “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15) (Acts 16:16-18) describes a fortune teller who was able to predict the future until the apostle Paul rebuked a demon out of her.
Satan pretends to be kind and helpful. He tries to appear as something good. Satan and his demons will give a psychic information about a person in order to get that person hooked into spiritism, something that God forbids. It appears innocent at first, but soon people can find themselves addicted to psychics and unwittingly allow Satan to control and destroy their lives. Peter proclaimed, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1Peter 5:8). In some cases, the psychics themselves are deceived, not knowing the true source of the information they receive. Whatever the case and wherever the source of the information, nothing connected to spiritism, witchcraft, or astrology is a godly means of discovering information. How does God want us to discern His will for our life? God’s plan is simple, yet powerful and effective: study the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and pray for wisdom (James 1:5). Clearly, I no longer seek the counsel of psychics or mediums. I seek only one source now for direction and that is the Bible.
"No Sin, No Hell"
In New Age writings, I've searched in vain to find references to sin. Because New Agers believe that each person is God, they don't believe in sin as the Bible defines it. Any lack a person has, they say, is a lack of enlightenment. Their solution is to alter that person's consciousness
so he will think properly about his oneness with the Force, or the impersonal presence. Because they explain away sin, they have no need for salvation in the biblical sense. In their minds, any salvation would simply be a more complete unification with the One.
But this is not what the Bible teaches. Genesis 3, previously referred to, reveals that mankind was separated from God when he disobeyed God in the Garden. Because of this sin, a curse was placed on both mankind and nature (see vv. 14-19). The New Testament confirms that each individual is a sinful being (see Romans 5:12). Note that the reason death passed to all of us is that we all have a sin nature. Contrary to what the New Agers tell us, each person is not god; each person is separated from God.
The concepts of sin and hell do not exist in the NAM. Reincarnation and "ascension" are the explanations given by the NAM. "Original blessing" replace the concept of original sin, and Man's fall from grace is now termed Man's "ascension". The redemptive power of the cross is no longer needed, and in this way Jesus' Crucifixion is no longer meaningful and can therefore be totally ignored. Some aspects of the "New Age" depersonalize Jesus Christ by referring to a "Christ Consciousness" (Eckankar) -who came through various persons in channelings throughout the ages, or a "Cosmic Christ" (Rosecrusianism).
JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE NAM
Many counterfeit religious groups use the same tactic when explaining who Jesus Christ is - they deny His deity by distinguishing between "Jesus" and "Christ". Those who believe that "all is One" cannot accept the teaching of the Bible concerning Christ. The Bible teaches
that Jesus Christ is God. It teaches that He took upon Himself human form to redeem mankind from sin's penalty.
Typically, those who believe all is of one essence make "Christ" the cosmic principle, or ideal. Jesus was simply an unusual man, they say, who had this ideal within Him as we all do. Barbara Marx Hubbard says we need to recognize that the "Messiah is within."
The human potential movement among the New Agers is based on the faulty premise that each person is god and needs only to have his consciousness enlightened so he will realize that fact. And the means to this enlightenment is meditation. But the forms of meditation are many.
Daniel Coleman, writing in Psychology Today (March, 1977), described 13 different forms of meditation. "Each of these approaches," wrote Coleman, "seeks the same basic psychological change in the meditator's awareness."
The New Age Movement is not the only group that emphasizes human potential. Biblical Christianity releases individuals to achieve their true potential in Jesus Christ by freeing them from the burden of sin and condemnation and by giving them untold optimism for this life. But
biblical Christianity is also concerned about preparing people for eternity - not just preparing them to reach their maximum potential on earth.
Although the emphasis on human potential is selling well in the business world, when a person truly looks inside of himself, he finds wickedness and ugliness - not God. "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick," says Jeremiah 17:9, "who can understand
it?"
We cannot separate the human Jesus from the divine Christ, as the New Agers attempt to do. They believe that the same Christ ideal, or spirit, dwelt in "Hercules, Hermes, Rama, Mithra ... Krishna, Buddha, and the Christ."
Sound confusing? It is. The Bible, however, does not leave a person wondering about who Jesus Christ is. The name "Jesus" means "Savior." Referring to the child who would be born to the virgin Mary, the angel told Joseph, "You shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save
His people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21).
The name "Christ" means "anointed one," or "Messiah." In Bible times, saying "Jesus Christ" was the same as saying "Jesus, the Messiah." After Andrew first began to follow Jesus, he went looking for his brother, Simon Peter. When he found him, Andrew announced, "We have
found the Messiah." By inspiration, the Apostle John added in his record of this event: "which translated means Christ" (John 1:41).
Jesus is like no other. He was unique in His birth, life, death and resurrection. He was virgin born (see Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23); He lived a sinless life (see 1 John 3:5); He died in the place of others to pay the penalty for sin (see 2 Cor. 5:2 1); and He was raised from the dead on
the third day and ascended to the Heavenly Father (see 1 Cor. 15:3,4; Acts 1:11).
FUTURE LIFE (REINCARNATION)
Reincarnation is the central belief of the NAM and says that the soul survives death and is reborn in another body, destined to repeat this cycle of death and rebirth until enlightenment is achieved. In the East, the doctrine is sometimes referred to as transmigration of the soul, wherein a soul may return to earth as any number of creatures such as an insect, mammal, person, and so on. The tendency in the West is to view reincarnation as dying and returning as another person. The belief itself is foundational to both Hinduism and Buddhism.
The system of reincarnation depends on belief in karma. Based on moral cause and effect, karma is essentially responsible for human fate. In relation to reincarnation, if in a past life one developed bad karma by committing, for instance, murder, then this bad karma must be balanced with good karma in a future life in order to make progress on the path to enlightenment or spiritual liberation. Within certain Hindu traditions that adhere to monistic pantheism (“all is one, all is divine”), such as Advaita Vedanta, enlightenment is attained when, following a series of reincarnations, a soul is ready to be released from the cycle of death and reincarnation (samsara) and be absorbed into the impersonal Brahman.
However if reincarnation, in the end, leads to an absorption into something impersonal, how did such a personal system ever get started? Moreover, if after countless reincarnations we finally reach enlightenment, what is the lasting purpose of this spiritual liberation if we are then absorbed into an impersonal force? How did the system of reincarnation get started? If we presumably had a first life, was it tainted already? How so? If we don’t recall our past lives in our current life, what’s the point? Doesn’t all the spiritual progress we may have made in past lives seem empty if we can’t even remember what we did or did not do? Furthermore, since believers in the NAM don't typically adhere to any authority, who is it that decides who is reincarnated into what? Is there a big "reincarnation mill in the sky"?
Some point to past life regressions as proving they lived past lifes. Others may say that a spirit came through in a channeling and told humanity that reincarnation was true. These "spirits" are not evolved souls from the past, they are Satan and his demons aimed at misleading, confusing and drawing humanity away from God and Jesus. If reincarnation is true, then there is no need for a savior. Satan has pulled off this scheme with great success and many believe that reincarnation is what can be expected for your soul to experience when you die. There is no proof source for this theory, unlike the Bible which is a historically accurate, proven and trusted word of God. If you are questioning whether the Bible is the word of God or is accurate, please see my posts under the label at the top of my blog called " The Bible" where I show many evidences of it's authencity.
God makes it abundantly clear that those who are believers in His son Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior will live forever in heaven. Those who reject His Son will be eternally separated from God. We live once and then we face God for judgement. Are you ready to face God at your time of death? Or, are you going to hope that there is some cosmic reincarnation mill out in space that will recycle your soul into a new body for another "go around" here on earth? If you are not entirely sure of the answer to this question than I encourage you to do the work in researching what the future holds for your soul.
There is absolutely no proof source for the theory of reincarnation, however there is over whelming proof that the Bible is truly the word of God, that Jesus lived, died and was risen from the dead. The work he did on the cross was to save all mankind from their sins and those who believe in Him can be sure where they will spend eternity with God in Heaven. Why a need for a savior? As I've explained in past posts, God, the source from which there is no source, is HOLY. He is unable to be in the presence of sin. Since all men are sinners and fall short of the glory of God they can not approach God and be in His presence on their own. God said that the wages for sin is death. In the old testament times (before Jesus) sacrifices were made to cleanse people of their sins so they could be right before God. Typically a goat or a lamb was used as a sacrifice. God so loved the world, that He gave his one and only son, Jesus to once a for all pay the price of death on the cross to wash us clean of our sin, so that we could be in the presence of our almighty creator and God. If we accept this truth and accept Jesus as our Savior from sin, we are saved....and we can be in the presence of God! We can be with God forever in his kingdom of heaven upon our death. God promises eternal life to all who are saved through His son.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The concepts of the New Age Movement are not new - they are based on ancient erroneous beliefs about God, man and the world. The Movement is to be commended for its spiritual concern, but it has turned away from the true God to gods of the spirit world. As Paul said of the Jewish leaders of his day, "They have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge" (Romans 10:2).
Anyone who is tempted to delve into the teachings of the New Age Movement needs to heed the warnings of the Bible (see Deut. 13:1-3;18:9-12). God has given us His completed revelation, so we have no need to seek further information through the spirit world. Our need is to know the clear teachings of the Bible better.
We should be concerned about world peace, the environment, humane treatment of animals and reaching our full potential in Christ. Our concern should not be based, however, on the theology of Eastern religions - believing that all these things are part of the One, or the
impersonal Force. Above all, we should not be naive when we hear someone mention the terms "God" and "Christ." When the New Agers use these terms, they are not talking about the God and the Christ of the Bible.
Truth=Jesus Christ
We need to become more aware of the lures and traps of the NAM in order to avoid them. We must reject the lies and false promises of Satan's NAM, and give ourselves completely to the Truth that is Jesus Christ. Satan wishes to rule the world, but God will ultimately triumph. He alone is our hope and our salvation. Thank you for reading my first blog post installment of EXAMINING WORLD RELIGIONS. Next up will be Mormonism.
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