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ON THIS PAGE
Introduction
History
Founder
Disguises
General Beliefs
Beliefs about God
Man as god
Beliefs about Jesus
Beliefs about Sin and Evil
A World Leader
Pluralism
Ancient Wisdom
Christians and The New Age
The Antichrist
Introduction: ‘New’ Age Is not new ... it is a modern revival of ancient religious traditions, along with a potpourri of influences: Eastern mysticism, modern philosophy and psychology, science and science fiction, and the counterculture of the 50s and 60s.
"... So here we are in the New Age, a combination of spirituality and superstition, fad and farce, about which the only thing certain is that it is not new. Nobody seems to know exactly where the term came from, but it has been around for several decades or more, and many elements of the New Age, like faith healing, fortune-telling and transmigration of souls, go back for centuries." [Otto Friedrich, "New Age Harmonies," TIME, Dec. 7, 1987.] {TOP OF PAGE}
Despite its popularity, New Age is hard to define. The term "New Age" is an informal term derived from astrology, which indicates that this earth, if not the cosmos, is on the verge of an evolutionary transition from the Piscean Age (rationality) to the Aquarian Age of spirituality, bliss, and harmony of all things.
"There are those who feel we are into the 'Shift of the Ages' . . . The shift is supposed to occur somewhere between the 1980s and through 2012 . . . I feel all of this is happening now . . . Our solar system passes through this Photon Light particles every twenty-six thousand years. Apparently we entered this belt in the early 1980s and will be going through it for a thousand years . . . The photon energy frequencies accelerate everything. They accelerate understanding, awareness, self-knowledge . . . they also accelerate confusion, chaos, anger, and negativity. I believe that is what is accelerating. We are having a healing crisis. When that crisis subsides, I believe we will begin emotionally to feel that we are all one and that we are divine as well. Because of this crisis . . . karmic issues will be resolved. We will go through a healing process which will also be extremely painful because we will be detoxing . . .
". . . in effect, every twenty-six thousand years the build up of emotional and karmic toxins is cleared. . . I call it Karma-geddon. Instead of Armageddon, a Karma-geddon will be occurring which will be the resolution of all our karmic issues down through the ages. Therefore . . . the world will shed the old ways of living . . ." [Shirley MacLaine. "Sage-ing While Age-ing." Pgs 191-192. As Quoted in Shirley Maclaine's "Karma-Geddon" By: Attorney Constance Cumbey.November 20, 2007. NewsWithViews.com
The New Age includes a variety of beliefs, fads, and rituals and seems to be a marriage of Science & Easternism. Cult and religious organizations such as Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Spiritualism such as, Church Universal & Triumphant (Elizabeth Clare Prophet).
“The New Age Movement consists of an incredibly huge and well organized network consisting of thousands of groups, trusts, foundations, clubs, lodges, and religious groups whose goal and purpose is to prepare the world to enter the coming "Age Of Aquarius." A small sampling of only a few of the organizations involved would include: Amnesty International, Zero Population Growth, California New Age Caucus, New World Alliance, World Goodwill, The Church Universal and Triumphant, The Theosophical Society, the Forum, Planetary Initiative for the World We Choose, the Club of Rome, Christian Science, and the Unity School of Christianity. This list, by no means all inclusive, demonstrates the diversity of organizations operating in economic, political, and religious spheres of influence.
The New Age movement is not a unified, traditional cult system of beliefs and practices, even though its roots derive from Eastern religions and the occult. It has no official leader, headquarters, nor membership list, but instead is a network of groups working toward specific goals. One of its main goals is to bring to the forefront a one-world leader who is called "The Christ" or "Maitreya." Nevertheless, it is estimated that there are millions of worldwide followers of various New Age practices and/or holders of one or more of the major beliefs of the New Age” (Bible Discernment Ministries).
Some New Agers subscribe to some parts, some to others. It is a religious movement that is centered in SELF- all you need is within - with no defined order of sin, repentance or salvation! You become your own god! The people worship the god of forces and promote ‘The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Christ’.
The gospel according to the New Age Movement is an expansive idea centered around the birth of a new world “consciousness.” As a religion of monism (all is one), New Agers hope to accomplish what the builders of the Tower of Babel failed to do—unify the masses of the world under a single religious umbrella, and, at the macro level, harmonically converge the world’s energies with the power of Gaia. [Also See Men Who Run The World]
“Many New Agers attach great importance to artifacts, relics, and sacred objects, all of which can be profitably offered for sale: Tibetan bells, exotic herbal teas, Viking runes, solar energizers, colored candles for "chromotherapy," and a plethora of occult books, pamphlets, instructions, and tape recordings. Crystals are the favorite New Age object. These are not only thought to have mysterious healing powers, but are considered programmable, like a computer, if one just concentrates hard enough. Other New Age objects would include the rainbow; butterfly; pyramid; triangle; eye in triangle/pyramid; unicorn; Pegasus (winged-horse); swastika; yin-yang; goathead on pentagram; concentric circles; rays of light; crescent moon; etc”. (Bible Discernment Ministries).
New Age beliefs are increasingly popular.. Athletes are using guided imagery. Graduate schools of business are invoking Zen, yoga, and tarot cards in teaching courses on creativity in business (e.g., Stanford Graduate School of Business). Stock market gurus employ Fibonacci numbers and "wave theory" in their forecasting, both based upon astrology. Even some churches teach that the best way to get to know God is to visualize Christ, ignoring that visualization is a powerful occult device. (Visualizing an entity, even God or Christ, ultimately puts one in touch with a masquerading demon.) {TOP OF PAGE}
Goals: The major goal of the New Age Movement is to bring peace to the world upon entering the Age of Aquarius. This will be accomplished primarily through the leadership of "the Christ" (also known as "Lord Maitreya"), who will supposedly come to teach us to live at peace with each other. Some of the other stated goals of the movement are to establish a World Food Authority, World Water Authority, World Economic Order, and an entirely New World Order.
History: Pagans claim such a religion of Self-realization is older than Christianity, which is true. The gospel according to the New Age Movement—a gospel of “becoming god”— is as old as the fall of man. It began when the serpent said to the woman “ye shall be as gods” (Gen. 3:5) and reverberates throughout the movement's continued historical expressions. In the original lie, Satan questions God's word, His authority and benevolent rule (v. 1), disputes that death results from disobedience (v. 4), and claims that through the acquisition of secret or Gnostic wisdom man can be enlightened and can be "like God" (v. 5). Thus, history repeats itself, and the ancient Egyptian gospel of men becoming “gods” is fashionable again!
Prominent expressions of the NAM were carried on into more modern times in Europe and America by Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), transcendentalists like Thoreau, Emerson, and Wordsworth (early 1800's), and Theosophy introduced by Madame Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891) (The New Age Rage, pp. 22-4). [Also See Beware The New Age]
The decade of the sixties witnessed a revival of Eastern mysticism as traditional values were being challenged. Zen, Carlos Castañada, the Beatles, Transcendal Meditation, and yoga all became popular.
In the eighties, Shirley MacLaine's autobiographical books and television mini-series gave the NAM more popular exposure and momentum. Today, various research polls are consistently demonstrating that a significant shift has been occurring in the West, both in the beliefs and practices of the New Age world-view. For example, 36% of Americans believe that astrology is scientific, and 25% now believe in reincarnation (Russell Chandler, Understanding the New Age, pp. 20, 130-133).
Some of the most notable celebrities who have joined the political ambitions of the New Age Movement (goals include a United Nation’s sponsored Environmental Sabbath for the Goddess Earth), including Shirley MacLaine, Dick Gregory, Lindsay Wagner, Dennis Weaver, Dirk Benedict, Cloris Leachman, Richard Gere, Ally Sheedy, and the late John Denver. {TOP OF PAGE}
Founder/s: Being an eclectic blend of many ancient and modern religions and philosophies, there is no single human founder. Many attribute the rise of the current New Age Movement (NAM) to evolving occult movements, such as New Thought and Theosophy in the late 1800's, and the counter-culture movement of the 1960's. Its root forms, however, actually are expressed in Satan's temptation of man in Genesis 3, and in the beliefs of many pagan and eastern religions, thousands of years old.
Due to the lack of a central organization and the diversity of emphasis adhered to by the various New Age groups there are literally hundreds of publications. Some popular publications and journals are New Age Journal, Body Mind Spirit, Yoga Journal, Gnosis, East West, Noetic Sciences, and Omega. {TOP OF PAGE}
Doctrine of Devils? The dogmas, which were once embraced by pagan cultures, (and still are through the New Age Movement) as the wisdom of the gods, are defined in the scriptures as the ‘doctrines of devils’.
The Apostle Paul said: “the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils” (1 Cor. 10:20). As in antiquity, so in modern times, those who practice paganism are guilty of worshipping ‘devils’ (Rev. 9:20). Psalm 96:5 concludes, “all the gods of the nations are idols” (LXX daimonia [demons]). Behind the pagan images, which represented the ancient gods and goddesses, the spiritual objects of heathen adoration were the daimonia (demons) of the Bible.
Since the Bible clearly defines idolatry as the worship of demons, and since demons are eternal personalities, which desire the worship of men, it is fair to conclude the characterization of such deities as “Zeus,” “Amun-Ra,” “Demeter,” and “Isis,” were simply the classical names attributed to specific fallen spirits. In other words, Apollo was a real personality; Osiris was a genuine underworld fiend; Hecate actually lived, and still does! The Hindu gods ‘Shiva’ and the eight-armed ‘Kali’ are far more than man made images. The images of the gods (falcon headed statues, animal forms, etc) provided a point of focus. (Kali is even ‘demonic looking’ and is depicted as holding a skull in one of her hands).
It is interesting to note that each of these deities has specific characteristics such as nature, gender and authority which would probably not be the case if they were nothing but man made ‘statues’
Much of what is currently published under the guise of New Age “enlightenment”, is nothing less than Old Age doctrines of nefarious invisible hosts. The connection between the New Age Movement and the gods of mythology is strong. Nothing has changed in Satan’s game plan, just the names of the players, and, in some instances, even the names are the same.” {TOP OF PAGE}
Disguises: Higher Consciousness Movement, Occultism, Eastern Mysticism, Eastern Spirituality, Ancient or Perennial Wisdom, Age of Aquarius, Holistic Health Movement all fall under the umbrella of New Age. NAM sometimes appears in secularized forms. i.e., transcendental meditation, some alternative holistic health practices, and certain curriculum in public (and private) schools.
It is important for Christians to recognize even the most disguised forms of the New Age Movement. The following is a list of some of the organizations, beliefs and practices associated with the NAM: Astrology, aura, black and white magic, bioenergy, Brahman, Buddhism, chakras, chi, energy, Christ consciousness, Christian Science, Church Universal Triumphant, Unity School of Christianity, crystals, Druidism, Eastern mysticism, ESP, est, extraterrestrials, the Forum, fire-walking, Gaia, gnosticism, Hare Krishna, higher consciousness, Hinduism, human potential movement, Kaballah, karma, Magick, Mind Science, Native American Spirituality, near-death experiences, new-paganism, nirvana, parapsychology, prana, psi, psychic, reflexology, reiki, reincarnation, Religious Science, shamanism, Silva Mind Control, spiritism, Tai Chi, Taoism, tarot cards, theosophy, therapeutic touch, trance-channeling, Transcendal Meditation, transpersonal psychology, UFOs, Unity School of Christianity, Witchcraft, Yin-Yang, Yoga, and Zen. {TOP OF PAGE}
New Age music is a term applied to the works of various composers and musicians who strive to create soothing audio environments rather than follow song structures. Born of an interest in spirituality and healing in the late 1970s, it is often used as an aid in meditation. The defining features of New Age music are harmonic consonance, contemplative melodies, nonlinear song forms, and uplifting themes. New Age performers may use traditional ethnic, acoustic, electric, or electronic instruments, or even sounds from nature. New Age music is meditative, almost invariably instrumental style with roots in Oriental, jazz, and classical music; often derivative, New Age compositions can sound like minimalist music or like lush evocations of the natural environment. Prominent New Age musicians include electronic-music pioneer Brian Eno, multi-instrumentalist Kitaro; solo-piano artist George Winston, vocalist Liz Story; harpist Andreas Vollenweider, and electric violinist Jean-Luc Ponty.
General Beliefs:
Douglas R. Groothuis, author of Unmasking the New Age and Confronting the New Age, identifies six distinctives of New Age thinking: (1) all is one; (2) all is God; (3) humanity is God; (4) a change in consciousness; (5) all religions are one; and (6) cosmic evolutionary optimism.
Norman Geisler details 14 primary "doctrines" 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, etc.); (11) vegetarianism and holistic health; (12) pacifism (or anti-war activities); (13) one world (global) order; and (14) syncretism (unity of all religions).
The most central and commonly shared beliefs among New Agers are various combinations of gnosticism and occultism. Although the New Age Movement professes a broad-minded openness to all religions, its basic underlying philosophy represents a carefully calculated undermining of Judeo-Christian beliefs.
Gnosticism is an ancient world-view stating that Divine essence is the only true or highest reality, and that the unconscious Self of man is actually this essence. It is through intuitional discovery, "visionary experience or initiation into secret doctrine" (not the plenary revelation of propositional truth in the Bible), that man becomes conscious of this true Self. (Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 10, 1968, p. 506; J.D. Douglas, ed., New Bible Dictionary, pp. 473-4).{TOP OF PAGE}
Occultism is a "general designation for various theories, practices, and rituals based on esoteric knowledge, especially alleged knowledge about the world of spirits and unknown forces of the universe" (Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 7, p. 469).
Many of the occult practices and beliefs revived by the modern NAM were a part of very early pagan cultures. Many practices common to the NAM such as witchcraft and sorcery, spiritism, divination, (clairvoyance; seeing the future), necromancy (consulting the dead), and astrology are clearly and strongly condemned in Scripture (Deuteronomy 18: 9-17; Isaiah 47: 9-15).
These and other occult practices were spread through the ancient magic and mystery religions of the Chaldeans, Egyptians, and most notably the Assyrian-Babylonian culture. Another prominent occult influence in Europe was Druidism, the religion of the Celts, which extended from 300 B.C. into the middle ages. (Modern Druids heal through “visualization.” They “see” people in their mind’s eye who have various diseases, and send energy to heal them. In groups like this, the leader often has a list of people who are sick. This gives them a way to follow through and see who is healed. There is no doubt some people are healed, but since they invoke power other than that of the real God, who are they invoking?)
The acquisition of power and/or knowledge is much of the lure of the occult. We crave a knowledge that is esoteric, not normally available to the ordinary person. We want to experience a power that is spiritual and supernatural in origin. People don't seem to want to hear what God has to say, they want information and direction from someone else who "knows"; a psychic, a channeler, a palm-reader, a card-reader, Ouija boards, astrology, magic charming, automatic writing, or the spirit of a dead friend of relative. In a sense these are God-given desire, but they are intended to be fulfilled by the knowledge and power which comes from God. However, Satan is busy trying to pass off his counterfeits for God's knowledge and power as the real thing. If he can get us to accept his versions of knowledge and power, he has a foothold in our life.
The Following is a General Description of The More Prominent Unifying Themes of The NAM.
God: "God" is impersonal, cosmic, a God of energy forces. All things, including man, constitute, the ONE - called Universal Mind, The Source, Universal Self, Cosmic Consciousness, Universal Presence, or The Force" - your Inner Voice, Higher Self, or Intuition. " God is an impersonal life force, consciousness or energy; immanent in all things (including man). God can be referred to either as she or he, mother or father, god or goddess. Do not be deceived! New Agers do not mean God or Jesus Christ of the Bible. Most New Age teachers hold that Mother Earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars, indeed all of Nature can be worshipped as God. The state of God is called by various terms among different New Age groups, i.e., God-consciousness, Universal Love, Self-Realization, The I AM, Higher Self, Brahman, Nirvana, etc {TOP OF PAGE}
Man Is Himself God: for he consists of and is the creator of "the forces." Man already exercises the powers inherent in his divinity and needs only to awaken to this fact. New Ageism embraces supernaturalism, but ascribes it to the creature, not the Creator (as in Romans 1:22-24). They flaunt the "I am God" concept as it naturally appeals to man's ego and thirst for power, an appeal as old as the Garden of Eden. Satan promised Eve: "Ye shall be as God." Man is not sinful since his true essence is divine and perfect. The only discontinuity between man and "God" is man's ignorance of his unlimited potential. Man is divine. He creates his own reality. Absolute truth is replaced by relativistic, subjective experience. An almost universal belief among New Agers is an adaptation of the Hindu concept of reincarnation which teaches that after death the soul, or essence comes back in another form to continue spiritual evolvement. New Agers misrepresent church history, the doctrines of Christianity, and often twist Scripture to support the idea that original Christianity taught reincarnation. They wrongly argue that the early church suppressed the doctrine and censored its teaching (Kenneth Ring, Heading Toward Omega, p. 158). Jesus Christ: {TOP OF PAGE}
Jesus: was not and is not the only Christ, nor is he God, but a man who evolved spiritually to the state of "the Christ" being. "The Christ" is an actual state of ultimate essence. Everyone's true being is "the Christ:" and each person's goal is to come to that self-realization (A Course in Miracles, Vol. 3, pp. 83-4). So to the New Ager, Jesus, the Christ, is one of many ascended masters - a way-shower, whose function is to awaken humanity and illumine the path. After illustrating the divine principle of “God within us all,” Jesus ascended to a place of distinction to live among the Masters of the Spiritual Hierarchy—Buddha and Krishna. Jesus promised that the essence of God would be revealed from time to time, and thus New Agers look for the imminent appearing of a World Teacher who will, as Jesus did, illustrate the divine human potential. In this way, New Age theology prepares the world for the coming of the False Prophet and the Antichrist. (See Section on Jesus)
Many even reinvent the historical Jesus by claiming that He traveled to India and learned the New Age doctrines there during His "silent years" (Shirley MacLaine, Out on a Limb, pp. 233-34). (See The Lost Years of Jesus)
Many New Age writers on the other hand believe there have been many Christs, Jesus being only one of many. New Age prophetess Alice Bailey and author of many occult books, including The Reappearance of The Christ, describes the "Avatar of Synthesis," who she says is a "close Associate" of "the Christ." She says:
"He works under the great natural Law of Synthesis, producing at-one-ment, unification and fusion. His function (in unison with the energy of Christ) is to generate spiritual will in humanity, the will-to good.
The New Ager understands Christ as a reincarnated avatar, Messiah, or messenger sent from the 'hierarchy' to give the living on earth spiritually advanced revelation. The New Age accepts that Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, Jesus, and many others were 'Christ'.
The Baha'i World Faith claims to be in pefect harmony with the Christian faith, yet see the historical Jesus as only one of several manifestations of Christ on equal ground as Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Zoroastrian, Budda, Mohammed, the Bab, and their founder: Baha'u'llah. {TOP OF PAGE}
Sin And Evil: There is no place for the Biblical concept of sin in the New Age. There can be no sin because there is no transcendent God to rebel against. There are no rules or absolute moral imperatives. Sin is merely ignorance of one's "inner divinity." Because sin does no exist, there is no need for repentance or forgiveness, and Jesus did not die for our sins. They think that any perceived lack that man might have is merely a lack of enlightenment, thereby eliminating the need of salvation or a Savior. [In fact, salvation is not even an issue for New Agers. The soul is part of the universe and never dies. It is reborn or reincarnated in different physical bodies in a succession of future lives. The good or bad "karma" earned in the present lifetime determines one's subsequent incarnation. Humans should seek to progress to higher states of consciousness and higher planes of existence. There are many different paths to the goal of spiritual perfection. No one path is the only correct path. It advocates education and cultivation and appeals to "the best that is within us." It aims to make this world such a comfortable and congenial habitat that Christ's absence from it will not be felt and God will not be needed. [Also See Sin and evil]. {TOP OF PAGE}
Satan: There are different views on satan in the New Age world. In his book Reflections on the Christ David Spangler, a new age philosopher and author, states that if there is a satan you are your own satan. Alice Bailey, foundational apostle and leading writer of the New Age Movement described him as a mighty being of light and the "Ruler of Humanity,". Benjamin Creme, a leading lecturer and proponent of the New Age, says, "Lucifer came from the planet Venus 18.5 million years ago; he's the director of our planetary evolution, he is the sacrificial lamb, and the prodigal son. Lucifer made an incredible sacrifice, a supreme sacrifice for our planet."
World leader: Depending on which branch of the New Age movement you encounter, there may or may not be a great world leader who will emerge to lead us all to enlightenment. Some New Agers await the advent of the Lord Maitreya, while others believe we will all become so godlike that we will not need any leaders. The Bible tells of an age when God is going to permit Satan to actually rule in person on this earth! If a New Age leader emerges, he could well be the Antichrist, an enemy of mankind who will be intent on leading the world into terrible rebellion against God and who will be destroyed along with his followers. Although God's prophets foretold many explicit signs of Christ's first coming most people missed Him. Likewise, God has given many definite signs that point to the second coming of Jesus. False Christ's and false prophets are high on the list. {TOP OF PAGE}
Pluralism: All religions and religious teachings lead to the same goal. All are equally of merit: Satan's primary tactic in opposing God is not to foster atheism but religion; not to prove there is no God but to be worshipped as God. "I have not come to found a new religion," Lord Maitreya says. "I have come to teach the art of Self-realization," something which is neither an ideology nor a religion, but benefits people of all religions and those who have none. "I come to you 'like a thief in the night'", He tells us, "so that you will not become too excited. Slowly, as you become aware, you can 'digest' what is 'eaten'. In awareness you will know Me. In 'isms' you will fight against me".
The New Age does express a cloudy sort of religion, claiming vague connections with both Christianity and the major faiths of the East (New Agers like to say the Jesus spent 18 years in India absorbing Hinduism and the teachings of Buddha), plus an occasional dab of pantheism and sorcery. (See The Lost Years of Jesus) The underlying faith is a lack of faith in the orthodoxies of rationalism, high technology, routine living, spiritual law-and-order. Somehow, the New Agers believe, there must be some secret and mysterious shortcut or alternative path to happiness and health. {TOP OF PAGE}
Salvation: The salvation of the world depends upon human beings. When enough people harmonize their positive energy and turn their thoughts to peace, the world will be cleansed or negative elements and New Age ideals will be realized in an era of spiritual enlightenment.
(See Related Articles Jesus..The Only Way? and All Paths..One Destination?
Ancient Wisdom: The "ancient wisdom" of Babylon, Egypt and Greece - not the Bible - is the basis of all truth: Vice President Albert Gore in his book Earth in the Balance; Ecology and the Human Spirit, reveals himself as a person who believes we should have a "mother goddess" that we can worship. He points back to ancient religions and Hinduism and says that they have something good in their worship of "mother earth," and claims that our modern slogan should be the worship of "mother earth"; that man and nature are one, and that God is part of nature, and nature is part of God. On pages 258 through 259 of his book, he shows where he departed from the Baptist faith and entered in to the New Age Religion. He says "The richness and diversity of our religious tradition through out history is a spiritual resource long ignored by people of faith, who are often afraid to open their minds to teachings first offered outside their own system of belief." "This Pan-religious perspective may prove especially important where our global civilizations responsibility for the earth is concerned." "Native American Religions for instance offer a rich tapestry of ideas about our relationship to the earth."[Al Gore, Earth In the Balance; Ecology and the Human Spirit, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992.] [See Men Who Run The World and Gaia Worship]
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Christians and The New Age: Paganism in America is exploding since it’s emergence in the US in the sixties and throughout the country and even the church, people rush to embrace the religious philosophies of the New Age of Aquarius. Americans have gradually abandoned the fundamental precepts of Christianity (prayer in school, Bible in courts, etc), which provided the cornerstone of civil life and jurisprudence in American society for more than 200 years. As a generation of baby-boomers has focused on human potential and the “god within us all”, Eastern philosophies of Monism, Pantheism, Hinduism, and Self Realization, continue to provide Americans, and even some Christians, with an alluring opportunity to throw off the “outdated ideas” of fundamental Christianity and to espouse a more ‘enlightened’ worldview of God and reality. Tal Brooke—former New Age disciple of Hindu holy man, Sai Baba, confirms that “the New Age movement, and its progeny, Gaia, are spiritually correct for a new world order. Christianity is not.” [See Section Our Country Our Children]
Many mainstream “Christian” denominations have annexed the New Age ideas, and believers that once held strong doctrinal positions of the supremacy of Christ, have abandoned those views in exchange for a New Age universal philosophy. Examples include a witch who teaches principles of Goddess worship at a Roman Catholic college in California, and United Methodist pastors who propose replacing the name of Jesus with Sophia (Goddess of Wisdom) when reading about the crucifixion. Such persons claim we should join the efforts of New Agers and be sympathetic to “Goddess-minded Christians” and advocate a universal religious system, one designed to be inoffensive to people of any theological persuasion… [See World Council Of Churches]
Many of the popular “Christian” doctrines advocated today are nothing more than the cultic propositions of Eastern mysticism and ancient paganism. These include concepts of psychic healing, self-realization, emotional experiences, rules of success, breathing techniques, positive confession, name it and claim it, environmental theology, the ecumenical movement, visualization, hypnosis by clergy, mind manipulation, and so on.
At times, even the activity within the “fundamental” church, including certain physical phenomena we sometimes embrace as the miraculous evidence of “revival,” is a modern form of magic and opens the door for “old gods” and their mysticism to invade the church. The line between a true manifestation of God, and human orchestration, is often blurred. Sincere people, in a quest to experience God, frequently mimic the doctrinal and physical activity of others. Some Christians have been drawn to mystical experiences rather than concentrating on God and His Word.
The “princes” of this world, the mystical forces of the New Age movement are genuine, powerful, and willing to protect their territory! We should enter their arena only after prayer, and at the prompting of the Lord. Intercessory prayer is absolutely necessary. The battle for the souls of men is won through God's grace, intervening and drawing them to Himself. {TOP OF PAGE}
Antichrist: For many years Christians wondered how the Antichrist would deceive the earth’s masses. How does one convince millions of people, especially in countries where Christianity exists, to exchange their souls for temporary earthly benefits? Then the New Age Movement came along with its focus on human-potential and self-empowerment and successfully drew many Christians away from Christ-exalting doctrines. Old-fashioned gospel preaching was replaced with positive thinking, self-realization, and pop psychology, and mystical experiences which tantalize the flesh were sanctioned as “the last great revival.” As a result, celebrity preachers advance sermons focusing on “the inner self,” and Sunday morning services begin with shouts of “Are you ready for God to do great things!?” The implication that God will meet with believers and grant their many requests is touted as dynamic Christianity. The days of unconditional Christian devotion are threatened as contemporary congregations expect God to “manifest” Himself and please the whims of the audience. Although Jesus warned of an “evil and adulterous generation [that] seeketh after a sign,” physical and mystical “thrills” have become the benchmark of many popular Christian gathering places. The result is a growing superficiality among some Christians who are preoccupied with mysticism and “me-ism.” [See Section Mysticism in The Church And How Not To Get Spiritually Weird]
An inward-focusing generation of “religious people” willing to trade their soul for whatever makes them happy is exactly what is necessary for the appearance of Antichrist. “You can stamp my hand if you’ll give me what I want” is the required attitude. The New Age Movement is nevertheless demonic, self-absorbed, and paves the way for the coming of paganism’s preeminent materialization—the god-king of the Great Tribulation.’ {TOP OF PAGE}
RESOURCES
Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, John Ankerberg and John Weldon. This well researched work covers a wide range of New Age beliefs, practices, and leaders, providing a Christian analysis. 670 pages with index, $17.
A Crash Course on the New Age Movement, Elliot Miller. One of the best overall analysis and critiques of New Age ideology and trends. 260 pages with index, $13.
Thieves of Innocence, John Ankerberg, John Weldon, Craig Branch. Covers the beliefs of NAM and uncovers its strategy to infiltrate schools to capture the minds and souls of children. Offers practical steps to eliminate it. 345 pages with index, $10.
The Counterfeit Christ of the New Age Movement, Ron Rhodes. Reveals the false history and deception of the reconstructed "Jesus" presented by the New Agers, and contrasts it with the authentic Jesus. 255 pages, $12.
New Age Movement: Space Age Heresy, James Walker. This 90 minute cassette tape and manual provide an overview of New Age theology and history, $8
Credits
Seven Major Teachings of the New Age by The Jeremiah Project
New Age or Old Occult?* by Biblical Discernment Ministries
The New Age Movement by Craig Branch Watchman Expositor published by Watchman Fellowship, Inc.
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