“YOU WILL SURELY NOT DIE,” THE SERPENT SAID TO THE WOMAN. “FOR GOD KNOWS THAT WHEN YOU EAT OF IT YOUR EYES WILL BE OPENED AND YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD” (GENESIS 3:1-15).
The NEW-AGE MOVEMENT is an umbrella referring to a variety of people, organizations, events, practices and ideas. Theologically speaking, it is not a centrally organized movement with one human leader…rather, it is a constellation of like-minded people and groups all desiring a spiritual and social change that will usher in a new age of self-actualization.
1. NEW – AGE DEFINITION
The following is a brief overview of the basic teachings of the majority of New-Age groups.
1. All is one. All reality is a unitary whole.
2. Everything is God (god) and God (god) is everything.
3. You (as an individual) are God. You are divine; God is within you.
4. You will never die; you lived before and you will live again (reincarnation).
5. You can create your own reality or transform your own consciousness.
6. All religions are true and, therefore, one.
7. A new age is coming, a new age is dawning.
Eldon K. Winker (The New-Age is Lying to You, St. Louis, Concordia Publishing House, 1994) states “The New-Age Movement is an eclectic, occult-based evolution-promoting, man-centered, self-deifying, pervasive world view (philosophy of life) that seeks, through the transformation of individuals, to bring about a transformation of society in order to achieve the ultimate goal of a new world order of complete global harmony”
11. THE SIX SUMMARY PRINCIPLES THAT UNDERLINE THE NEW-AGE PHILOSOPHY
(Studied in conjunction with six corresponding Orthodox Christian principles)
1. ALL IS ONE; THEREFORE ALL IS GOD.
The core teaching of the New-Age…Monism-good and evil have no real existence, for all is one. What is sinful for one is not necessarily sinful for another. Only what you perceive exists. There is no objective reality.. The divine mind, universal energy, “The Force”…there is no difference between God, a tree or a human being. What makes New-Age philosophy so attractive..New-Age “Pantheism.”
ALL IS NOT ONE; ALL IS NOT GOD.
The biblical God is distinct and separate from his creation (Colossians 1:15-17)…the Creator is far above his creation (Romans 1:25)..God is personal (Matthew 6:9)…(John 20:17).
2. MANKIND IS DIVINE AND HAS UNLIMITED POTENTIAL.
You are God in the same sense that Jesus was…being one’s own god, each person creates his/her own reality..Erhart’s Seminary Training (EST)…The Forum.
MANKIND IS NOT DIVINE; HIS POTENTIAL IS LIMITED.
The meaning of “the image of God”…the shattering of the image of God..God alone is God and there is none other beside him (Genesis 1:26-27)…(Deuteronomy 32:39)…(Isaiah 45:5-6).
3. MANKIND’S BASIC FLAW IS THE IGNORANCE OF HIS DIVINITY.
The force of human problems..the problem is not sin for there is no personal god to whom we are held accountable..we are ignorant of our status as gods…Tal Brooke, “When the world will be as one” summarizes the second and third principles of the New-Age:
The mystery of man’s ultimate identity is finally revealed as the divinity within. This is a basic tenant of Pantheism, the core belief of Hinduism: all things are one. Since all things are made of God, man in his deepest self is none other than God, but without “enlightenment,” he does not know this and, in effect, lives as an amnesiac.
MANKIND’S BASIC FLAW IS NOT IGNORANCE OF HIS DIVINITY; IT IS SIN.
Looking within does not provide the answer…looking within provides the problem (Matthew 15:19)..the result of mankind’s original sin is summed up in (Ecclesiastes 7:20)…(Romans 3:23).
4. MANKIND’S BASIC NEED IS PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION PRODUCED BY CONSCIENCENESS-ALTERING TECHNIQUES.
Mankind needs no savior, mankind needs ENLIGHTENMENT…meditation, creative visualization, yoga, reflexology, iridology, acupuncture, the martial arts, therapeutic touch..higher touch.
MANKIND’S BASIC NEED IS NOT ENLIGHTENMENT, BUT SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH.
Humanity does not need enlightenment: “living in darkness” (Matthew 4:16), we need to begin to “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7)..the coming into relationship with the one who is the light of the world(John 8:12)…
The doctrine of justification: central to humanity…
Jesus becomes our sin, we become the righteousness of God(2 Corinthians 5:21).
Christ is the atoning sacrifice for the whole world (1 John 2:2).
He came not to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20:28).
We who are sinners and enemies of God (Romans 5:8, 10) have become saints through Christ (Revelation 7:14)
5. PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION IS THE SPRINGBOARD TO GLOBAL TRANSFORMATION.
The future depends on our accepting our role as creators of reality..Christian “dabblers” and New-Age “dabblers”..serious Christians versus serious New-Agers …the goal, the global village.
NOT PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION, BUT GOD’S CREATION OF A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH WILL BRING GLOBAL TRANSFORMATION.
Global transformation will not happen prior to the Second Coming (Matthew 24)..the day of judgment will bring about the destruction of the heavens and the earth and a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness, will be brought forth (2 Peter 3: 12-13).
6. ALL RELIGIONS ARE ONE AND LEAD TO COSMIC UNITY.
This teaching is identified as SYNCRETISM (a fusion of religions)..the distinctive and exclusive nature of Christianity is denied..the hidden teachings of Jesus excluded from the Bible.
The New-Age version of the teachings of Jesus Christ…
1. Jesus taught that all is one, all is God, and man is God.
2. Jesus taught and believed in a unity of world religions.
3. Jesus taught that he was not uniquely God, but was a human being who became “enlightened”.
4. Jesus taught that he was way-shower for humanity, not a savior.
5. Jesus taught that every human being has the potential and ability to save himself.
6. Jesus taught that esoteric knowledge is all-important to man’s self-salvation (Gnosticism).
7. Jesus taught that part of man’s self-salvation involves a transformation of conscienceness.
8. Jesus taught and believed in God the Father, and God the mother (the Gaia hypotheses).
ALL RELIGIONS ARE NOT ONE. ONLY ONE RELIGION LEADS TO THE RENEWAL OF ALL CREATION.
All religions are not one, all religious teachings do not lead to “At-one-ment” with God…salvation is found in no one else (Acts 4:12)…Jesus’ claim concerning himself is exclusive (John 14:6)…the stumbling block and foolishness of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:23).
111. THE NEW-AGE MOVEMENT: EASTERN RELIGIONS IN WESTERN DRESS.
1. HINDUISM
400 Million people with no formal belief structure, no single founder, no single book as source of doctrine…Vedic literature…the two chief elements of Hinduism…extraordinary variations of belief…the basic concepts of Hinduism..the many heavens and hells..Hindu worship…the “guru”…westernized Hinduism: transcendental
meditation..the Hare Krishna sect.
2.TAOISM
More a philosophy than a religion…Tao, the Way…Yin (good, light, life, masculinity)…Yang (evil, darkness, death, femininity).
3. BUDDHISM
Developed out of Hinduism..the Eight-fold Path to Enlightenment and the removal of all desire…the illusion of man’s existence.
THE APPEAL OF EASTERN RELIGIONS.
Greedy western consumerism.
The modern church’s drift toward liberal theology.
The inability of science and technology to answer life’s most basic questions.
THE CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO EASTERN RELIGIONS.
God is deeply concerned about your present and future life(John 3:16)
God has already reconciled you to himself (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
Our purpose in life- live for him who died for you (2 Corinthians 5:15).
IV. THE ALL-PERVASIVE INFLUENCE OF THE NEW-AGE MOVEMENT.
1. NEW-AGE ENTERTAINMENT.
The Star Wars saga…the Force…the Pantheistic, Taoist theology of George Lucas..the God of New-Age theology…The empire Strikes Back…Raiders of the Lost Ark..the Star Trek series…”innocent”children’s Saturday cartoons…New-Age personalities…Barnes & Noble, B. Dalton and Waldenbooks…New-Age music.
2. NEW AGE ENVIRONMENTALISM.
The Green Movement, the healing of Mother Earth…the judean Christian tradition is the primary cause for the environmental crisis…manipulating ecological crises…Albert Gore “Earth in the Balance”.
3. NEW-AGE POLITICS/GLOBALISM.
No deity will save us; we must save ourselves…(Humanistic Manifesto)…motivating people and nations to unify against the new common enemy…the meaning of “zero population growth”…the role of the United Nations…Clinton’s new guidelines on US nuclear weapons doctrine…the implications of New-Age politics for Christianity.
4.NEW-AGE EDUCATION.
Values-neutral educational philosophy..the double standard in matters related to religion and spirituality…Christianity rendered invisible..getting in touch with your feelings…Whole Language.
5. NEW-AGE HEALTH CARE.
Holistic health and the occult…growth of New-Age health care…sickness and disease are an illusion…occult leanings for chiropractic?…beware of therapies that manipulate “life energies”.
V. A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO THE NEW-AGE MOVEMENT.
1. Grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).
2. Christians must become informed about the basic ideas of the New-Age Movement.
3. A Christian needs to be alert and discerning as to how the New-Age affects personal circumstances (public education).
4. Christians need to stand firmly on the truth of the Gospel as it applies to a given situation.
5. Christians must pray that God will lead his redeemed to grow in grace and knowledge and be kept in the faith (1 Peter 5:10-11).