4/3a The Seven Major teachings of the New Age that Challenge Christianity
So far in this series on the New Age, we have looked at the foundations and roots of this movement. We have also seen how the influence of the music, politics and world events shaped the ‘potential to be god’ aims and teachings.
In our continuing discussion of the New Age and its Challenge to the Christian faith, we present a post was sent to us by one of our readers. I am unsure of the author and could only trace down the following website as a possible source: www.believerscorner /bible-study.htm
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A. INTRODUCTION
We can find seven major teachings involving the New Age movement in our Western wo5rld. In this article, I wish to briefly cover each of the areas. To start with, we need to realise that the New Age teaching is not new. Actually it is an updated, revised and adapted teach from the ancient traditions.
These teachings have been blended into a ‘potpourri’ of religions that are more acceptable to the Western thinking and lifestyle. Thrown in the mix, we find eastern mysticism, modern philosophy and psychology, science and science fiction. Somewhere along the line, cult religious organizations become involved as a mixture of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Spiritualism.
Such groups as the Church Universal & Triumphant (Elizabeth Clare Prophet), the Lucis Trust among the forefront for spreading ‘the truth’. All these views had such an impact on the counterculture lifestyles of the 50s and 60s with some New Agers following some parts and some to others.
Today we see this mix advertised as a combination of spirituality and superstition, fad and false ideas … but one thing is certain, they are not ‘new ideas’.
“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 holistic healing, fortune-telling and transmigration of souls, go back for centuries.” [Otto Friedrich, “New Age Harmonies,” TIME, Dec. 7, 1987.]
Adding all the elements together, it is basically a religious movement that is centered in SELF – all you need is within. There is 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.
B. THE SEVEN MAJOR BELIEFS OF THE NEW AGE
LIE # 1 – 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.” In other words, he is sent to bring ‘the will to good’.
However, 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. However, they see the historical Jesus as only one of several manifestations of Christ on equal ground as Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Zoroastrian, Buddha, Mohammed, the Bab, and their founder: Baha’u’llah.
LIE # 2 – “God” is impersonal, cosmic, a God of energy forces.
All things, including man, constitute, the ONE, also called ‘The 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. a force, immanent in all things (including man).
God can be referred to either as she or he, mother or father, god or goddess. Most New Age teachers hold that Mother Earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars, indeed all of Nature can be worshipped as God. These views are very, very different to God or Jesus Christ of the Bible.
LIE #3 – Man is himself God, for he consists of and is the creator of “the forces.”
They believe that Man already exercises the powers inherent in his divinity and needs only to awaken to this fact. This brings in super-naturalism, but ascribes it to the creature, not the Creator (as in Romans 1:22-24). at the heart of the movement is the “I am God” concept as it naturally appeals to man’s ego and thirst for power. However, this is an appeal as old as the Garden of Eden. Satan promised Eve: “Ye shall be as God,” Genesis 3:5.
The results 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, themselves are deities.
“Once the person is 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. 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]
LIE # 4 – 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]
Just like Adam and Even were promised, they can now seek a special knowledge that is esoteric, not normally available to the ordinary person. So with the New Age, people want to experience a power that is spiritual and supernatural in origin.
As a result, People don’t seem to want to hear what God has to say. The New Age thinking encourages information and direction from someone else who “knows”. These people are usually 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 and from the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. 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.
******* To be continued!
In our next post, we shall continue with these seven foundation beliefs of the New Age movement. Please join us for the rest of this article,
Susanne Fengler, Blog Author
www.hjearinggod.mentorsnotebook.com/blog
Tags: 7 lies of the New Age
Filed under: Challenges to the Christian Faith
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