BEGINNINGS

(1) Ancient Gnosticism

a) Man has the spark of the divine within b) Man is ignorant of his divinity c) Jesus came as a way-shower to bring enlightenment

(2) Transcendentalism

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82) emphasized intuition over the senses as the means of finding “truth”

(3) Occult Revival

The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus meaning “knowledge of the hidden”

Occult practices include, but are not limited to, witchcraft, palm reading, crystal work, necromancy, numerology, channeling, and astrology

Scripture strictly forbids these practices (; ; )

A former New Age leader defines spiritism as “the practice of attempting communication with departed human or extra-human intelligences (usually nonphysical) through the agency of a human medium, with the intent of receiving paranormal information”

(4) 1960’s

Miller wrote, “Key similarities between the New Age movement and the counterculture of the 1960’s include utopianism, and ecological outlook, a rejection of traditional morality, and an interest in the occult”

NEW AGE BELIEFS

(1) God Is All There Is

“God is the sum total of all that exists in the whole of the manifested and unmanifested universe - everything we know and see and hear and touch and everything we don’t know or hear or see or touch, everywhere, in the totality of the cosmos”

“With much delight I speak to you concerning life - the brotherhood of life. The universal God is one, yet he is more than one; all things are one”

A pantheistic view of God is illogical - if all is God then there is no difference between myself and anything else in the world

Jesus said to Philip, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father . . . Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me?” ()

Jesus, even though He is eternal God, became God’s fullest revelation when he took He took on human flesh ()

a) God’s immeasurable grace was revealed in Jesus () b) God’s incredible wisdom was revealed in Jesus ()

c) God’s immense love was revealed and demonstrated by Jesus () d) God’s magnificent power was revealed in Jesus ()

(2) Jesus Attained Christhood

New Agers teach that Jesus and the Christ are separate (Jesus = human vessel, Christ = divine)

a) Levi Dowling - Jesus went through seven degrees of initiation (an occultic ceremony) in Egypt, the seventh degree being THE CHRIST

b) Psychic Edgar Cayce - Jesus became the Christ in his thirtieth reincarnation, after shedding his bad karma

c) David Spangler - the Christ descended upon the human Jesus at his baptism

d) Elizabeth Clare Prophet - Jesus went through a learning process from Hindu gurus in India as a child that led to him eventually attaining Christhood

However, specifies that Jesus was “brought up” in Nazareth as a carpenter () and carpenter’s son ()

It is interesting to note that those who opposed Jesus never accused him of Eastern teaching

(3) The Bible Must Be Interpreted Esoterically

New Agers claim Jesus spoke esoterically when he spoke of His listeners in parables

This falls in line with Jesus’ teaching earlier in the Sermon on the Mount , “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs” ()

Additionally, Jesus held to a literal, as opposed to an esoteric, method of interpretation on accounts such as: a) Adam and Eve (; ; )

b) Noah’s Ark and the Flood (; ) c) Jonah and the whale ()

b) Noah’s Ark and the Flood (; )

c) Jonah and the whale ()

d) Sodom and Gomorrah () e) Lot and his wife ()

(4) Revelation Sources Are Many

New Agers believe that since all is one (monism) and all is God (pantheism) then all religious leaders speak revelation and the same core truth including Jesus

“The nations of the earth see God from different points of view, and so he does not seem the same to everyone . . . You Brahmans call him Parabrahm; in Egypt he is Thoth; and Zeus is his name in Greece; Jehovah is his Hebrew name”

In the mind of a New Ager many “revelations” are received today through channeling

Some of the more common paranormal beliefs include those related to ghosts, extraterrestrial life (alien life), UFO’s, and psychic abilities or extrasensory perception (ESP)

a) Buddha taught the concept of God was unimportant b) Muhammad taught there is only one God, but He cannot have a son

c) Jesus Christ taught there is one personal God who is triune in nature d) Zoroaster taught a religious dualism (a good god and a bad god)

e) Krishna taught a blending of polytheism and pantheism f) Confucius taught polytheism

Jesus claimed, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, except through me” ()

Jesus warned, “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many” (, )

(5) Man Is Divine

New Ager Theodore Roszak said the goal of the New Age movement is “to awaken to the god who sleeps at the root of the human being”

“Each human being is an eternal droplet of the Divine Ocean, and that potentially it can evolve into a being who can be a co-creator with God”

“What I can do all men can do. Go preach the gospel of the omnipotence of Man”

New Age authors comment on , “Jesus’ I AM Presence looks just like yours . . . He created you equal in the sense that he gave you an I AM Presence - he gave you a Divine Self”

New Agers believe tells us we are to make our “inner divinity” a high priority, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness”

(6) Sin Is Ignorance; Salvation Is Enlightenment

New Agers are taught they are ignorant if they believe they can sin

This enlightenment is referred to by many names including: Self-realization, God-realization, personal transformation, new consciousness, and at-one-ment

There are many consciousness-altering techniques to cause enlightenment including: hypnosis, chanting, meditation, guided imagery, and ecstatic dancing

“Salvation” for the New Ager involves reincarnation

New Agers believe Jesus did not die on the cross to provide salvation from sin

Karma refers to the “debt” a soul accumulates as a result of good or bad actions committed during one’s life (or “past” lives)

reads, “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”

The Jesus of the Bible did not teach that salvation is found in enlightenment but by placing faith in Him ()

(7) The Second Coming Of Christ

a) Maitreya - thought to be the Christ and the leader of the “Planetary Hierarchy” (a group of exalted Ascended Masters who guide man’s spiritual evolution)

The arrival of Maitreya has been delayed, according to New Ager Bejamin Creme, because of human apathy

b) The second coming is a mass “incarnation” - a manifestation of a consciousness within the multitudes that is happening right now

Rudolf Steiner boasted in the 1920’s that he received a “revelation” from the other side that Christ would come again as an individual but would instead come again in all humanity

However, Scripture clearly states, “This same Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” ()

Jesus will not return as, He will return as Maitreya or in a mass incarnation, He will return visibly and physically

“Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him” (Rev. 1:7)