See to it that
no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,
which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this
world rather than on Christ. - Colossians 2:8
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.]
Despite
its popularity, the New Age is hard to define. It includes a variety of
beliefs, fads, and rituals. It seems to be a marriage of Science &
Easternism Cult-religious organizations and can be a mixture of
Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Spiritualism such as, Church
Universal & Triumphant (Elizabeth Clare Prophet). 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.
Jesus was
not and is not the only Christ, nor is he God. Some may
think that everyone means the same thing when they say
"Christ." Christians see the one and only begotten Son of God,
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Many New Age writers on the other
hand refer to a Christ spirit. They believe there have been many Christ,
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 perfect
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.
"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 energy; force, 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.
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."
It is of of the goals of the New Age Movement to cause people to rebel
against the true God of the Bible and to believe that they are deities.
Once Satan has the person in this heretical frame of mind, then the
battle is won. The individual will then be called for greater service to
the Prince of Darkness. And with a mind clouded and confused, he or she
will comply. The individual will have become a member, knowingly or
unknowingly, of the Satanic conspiracy. [Texe Marrs, Millennium, pp.
224-25]
Man should
seek and accept spiritual instruction and direction directly from the
spirit world. The lure of
the occult is almost always on the basis of acquiring knowledge or
power. [Neil T. Anderson, The Bondage Breaker, pg. 114] 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.
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.
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. "Ecumenism
is essential in creating a "Christianity" which embraces all
religions. Psychology plays a major ecumenical role by providing common
faith, language and ritual for everyone from atheists, cultists and
occultists to Roman Catholics and evangelicals." [Dave Hunt,
"Mystery Babylon Part II," The Berean Call, August 1993]
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.]
Sin and
evil do not exist. Peace and love are the ultimate realities. New Agers
deny the existence of a hell (gehenna fire) and a judgment. They also
deny that sin and evil exist. God (The universe) is alleged to be beyond
good and evil. The New Age
gospel is not a system of revolutionary principles. It does not promote
strife and war, but aims at peace and unity. It seeks not to set the
mother against her daughter nor the father against his son, but fosters
the fraternal spirit whereby the human race is regarded as one great
"brotherhood." It does not seek to drag down the natural man,
but to improve and uplift him. 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.
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.
The
question is, do you KNOW God in Christ
Jesus ... as He has revealed Himself in the Scriptures? Have you read
His Book? Have you studied it? How can you be sure you know the real God
in Christ Jesus if you have not studied what He has said about Himself?
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