The New Age Movement

THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT

LESSON 1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Much of the following material is taken from the book entitled “Unmasking The New Age” by Douglas Groothuis

INTRODUCTION:

Eastern religions are moving West and forming a kind of ecumenical movement of Easter, occult and New Conciousness groups that are networking together in the New Age Movement. But, the basic New Age assumption is older than history, i.e., its belief that “all is one”. To experience “oneness” we must do away not only with our uniqueness as perosns but also with our capcity for conceptual and critical thinking. It challenges not only our distinct personhood, but the reality of the world we observe and the distinction beteen good and evil. It is pantheistic in its world view believing that God is the universe and everything in it, not a personal Creator who is above it and distinct from His creation. It is therefore very difficult to evangelize a New Ager who sees himself already divine, having endless potential for self-improvement, not inherently sinful, and in need of the gracious, once-for-all provision of Jesus Christ’s atonement.

New Age advocates argue that the West has been locked in a prision of the ordianry and one-dimensional, seperated from the mystical vitality of a universe of harmonious dancing and energy. The problems besetting the modern world are blamed on a false and rapidly decaying world view, an an outmoded perspective on life. The old ways and views are impotent and cannot rescue modern humanity. Therefore a “New Conciousness” is needed to bring about a New Age. This “New Consciousness” (religion) will provide a new world view necessary to bring in the New Age. We must therefore diligently see what if affirms and why, lest we credulously follow its dictates without giving it a thought.

This study will hopefull challenge us to:

develop and teach a sound theistic world and life view
to develop a personal comprehensive Christian belief system, incorporating revealed truth relevant to physical and psychological health.
to develop a method of pre-evanglisim like that of Paul among the pantheist of ancient Athens (Acts 17:16-31) by helping New Age people understand that they are dependent on a transcendent, personal Creator, accoutable to him and guilty before Him.
SIX DISTINCTIONS OF NEW AGE THINKING
All Is One – the basic premise of the New Age Movement
1. Or, “monism” – (mono=one) the belief that all that is, is one. All is interelated, interdependent and interpenetrating. Any precieved differences between seperate entities are aonly apparent and not real.
2. Ultimate reality is beyond good and evil, the essential teaching of much Eastern religion and occultism.
3. How is this premise radically at odds with the Christian view of reality? See Genesis 1 Colossians 1:17 – undifferentiated unity or created plurality? What about the trinity )tri- unity)?
All Is God
1. Pantheism – all things said to partake of the divine essence.
2. All is one and all is god. Whatever is, is god and therefore perfect.
3. All dualities in reality dissolve into the cosmic unity including the idea of personality. Therefore, there is only one being, the One, which does not have a personality since it is beyond personality.
4. The idea of a personal God is abandoned in favor of a personal energy, force or consciousness. Ultimate reality is God.

Picture twenty-five firat-graders laying on the floor of their classroom floor. It’s not a fire drill or an air raid, but part of the new curriculum. The children are being guided through a meditation in which they are instructed to imagine the sun radiantly shining toward them. They are then told to gaze into its brightness without being hurt by the light. Next the children are asked to try to bring the sun down into their bodies and feel its warmth, power, illumination. “Imagine that you are doing something perfect,” the teacher commands, “and that you are perfect.” The children are told to see themselves as resplendent with light, they should feel at peace, for they are perfect. They “are reminded that they are intelligent, magnificent, and that they contain all of the wisdom of the universe within themselves.” This exercise acutally took place in a Los Angeles public schools. 5. What does the Bible affirm? Romans 1:25; Eccles. 5:2 What is idolatry? Is God an impersonal force? “thou shalt not” (amoral)?

C. Humanity is God

We are not only perfect, we are, in fact, gods.

“It has long been held that whoever denies [the transcendent]God asserts his own divinity. in dropping God, man recovers himself. It is time that God be put in his place, that is, in man, and no nonsense about it.” Philosopher and New Age precursor L.L. White Discussion: Is there anything new about this attitude? According to Roamsn 1:18-32, what really happends when man “drops God?” 2. We are god in disguise. Only ignorancwe keeps us from realizing our divine reality. New Age gosl, according to New Age analyst Theodore Roszak, is “to awaken the god who sleeps at the root of the human being.” “Kneel to your own self. Honor and worship your own being. God dwells within you as You!” (Suami Muktananada) Discussion: According to Romans 18:18, 19, what part does truth and ignorance play in knowing the true God? What attitude does the Bible take towards human pretenders to the divine throne? Isa. 14:13-15; Ezek. 28:1-2; Acts 12:21-23. D. A Change in Consciousness 1. If all is one; all is god; and we are god, then why don’t we know ourselves as gos? Answer, IGNORANCE. 2. Our Western culture has stiffled our metaphysical powers (i.e., mind over matter). This problem can be reversed by techniques designed to alter ordinary consciousness, enabling us to see true reality, leading to an awareness of oneness and spiritual power. For example: * Sports – according to Murphy, founder of Esalen Institute, extreme physical achievement can induce a mystical state of consciousness much like that spoken of in Eastern religions. * contact with extraterestrial beings (UFO’s) * EST (Erhard Seminars Training) – mass training session for the purpose of triggering a revoloution in consciousness (now called Forum). Participants have included Yoko Ono, Diana Ross and John Denver, a self-appointed evangelist for the cause. * Self-hypnosis * Internal Visulization (like the school children) * Biofeedback – controlling the brain wacves my mechanical means. * Sex act * Parapsychology – e.g., telepathy, ESP, precognition, (predicting the future), telekinesis, etc. 3. There are many names for this transforming experience: cosmic consciousness, God-realization, self-realization, enlightenment, illumination, Nirvana (Buddhist), Satori (Zen), at- one-ment, or satchitananada (Hindu). “Free will is simply the enactment of the realization you are God, a realization that you are divine: free will is making everything accessible to you.” (Shirely McLaine) Discussion: In what basic ways does this philosophy go against the Bible teaches free will? 4. The One cannot be grasped intellectually. It must be experienced not discussed. Discussion: How does Christianity address the need for a chanbe on consciousness? Genesis 3

THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT

LESSON 2

INTRODUCTION

This lesson will scrutinize the historical roots of the New Age Movement to help us understand the forces that propelled it into out lives.

I. The Counterculture of the Sixties – A key factor “The Sixties’ counterculture offered people a doorway into the new and the untried. The “business as usual” of American life had lost its life, they claimed. The “square” mind was enslaved by the demands of a dispirited world of technology and materialism. Secularism had paralyzed the spiritual imagination and nailed shut the doors of the soul. The appollonian attitude of hard work, restraint and disciplined achievement (or the work ethic) left the counterculture cold. Instead they celebrated they dionysian ideal: the exuberant experiences beyond the mundane and predictable.” A. Essential elements of the counterculture: 1. Imported Eastern religions 2. Sects and cults The above resulted in a generation accustomed to non- Christian spiritual beliefs and practices. 3. Hallucinogenic drugs to raise the level of consciousness 4. Psychedelic drugs, a forerunner of other transformational technologies 5. Occult – The Beatles fused hallucinogenic experience, Eastern philosophy and political dissent into songs. Counterculture announced itself as the “Age of Aquarius”. Astrology is based on a monistic philosophy and is one of the most ancient occult arts (Daniel 2:27,28). B. The “love-ins”, “happenings”, Easter religions, and occultism of the sixties became less ostentatious and quite well integrated into the general culture by the mid 1970’s and continue on in the present.

II. The Demise of Secular Humanism

Secular humanism teaches atheism, while human reasoning and scientific innovation become the final authority for life and thought.
This easily leads into nihilism – the belief that everything is meaningless and absurd. No culture is able to survive on a steady diet of atheism (e.g. Communism) because we are made in the image of God and therefore seek transcendent meaning, purpose and value.
Secular humanism has been unable to develop a durable or compelling world view. True, ideologically it has yet to lose its grip; yet the logic of its resulting nihilism can do nothing but weaken its power. While it appeals to humanity’s quest for autonomy and crowns “man the measure of all things”, we find ourselves the lords of nothing – nothing but a meaningless universe with no direction, destiny or purpose.

III. Counterculture’s Complaint

Christianity divested the world of spiritual significance by transforming it into a cold machine of natural laws and regularities (brought on by the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions). God became distant and even forgotten; nature became a testing ground for man’s technological devices. Result – the dehumanization of man and pollution of the environment.

IV. The Rise of the One

New Age advocates say West has an incorrect world view that must be overthrown.

…the dualism of Christianity and secular humanism must be eradicated so that all reality may be seen and experienced as it truly is, as one. An overly mental faith in history and doctrine must be replaced by an inner experience of truth through the raising of consciousness. – Roszak, New Age analyst and advocate Better the enchanted world of spirits than the lifeless bulk of a meaningless universe (Thompson). So we see that just when the spiritual was thought to be banished, it came back with pantheistic. insistence. B. Although no clear line of transition can be drawn from the sixties counterculture into the present New Age movement, differences can be see: Counterculture New Age Movement

Primarily a youth movement
More sophisticated and influential in culture generally and among all ages
Hardrock music a rallying point 2. Development of new age style of music combining jazz, electric and meditative elements
Free sex promoted openly and publicly, but not yet pervading society 3. Pervasive 4. Use of chemical hallucinogenics to alter consciousness
Use of meditation and hypnosis to alter consciousness
Many of those now involved in the New Age movement were not involved in the counterculture.
New Age advocates believe that the failure of secular humanism
and the rejection of Christian theism has left us with a crisis in every area of our culture and society: militarily (threat of nuclear annihilation), spiritually, politically, economically. The only solution is radical transformation and there is no turning back.
Question: What elements of truth and positive aspects, it any,
do you see in the New Age movement? How does the Bible address these matters?
The Appeal of Hope
1. The key ingredient in the appeal of the New Age is hope for personal and social transformation. They are contagiously optimistic, especially in the following areas:
  1. Spirituality – in search of meaning and self-validation 2. Ecology – they say, “Noting less than oneness of all things – god, man and nature – can insure a whole and balanced view of the natural environment.” 3. Feminism – they see the male God as being both exclusive and distant. They are promoting the maternal ground of all being, emphasizing the feminine in nature and ethics. 4. Authority – on which to build their lives. Secular humanism eroded this. Now turning to New Age ideologies to regain a sense of bearing that only comes from following an established authority and unified world view. New Age derives much of its authority and appeal from pantheism, a belief system that has touched or permeated one culture after another since the dawn of recorded history.

C.S. Lewis wrote: Pantheism is in fact the permanent natural bend of the human mind….It is the attitude into which the human mind automatically falls when left to itself. B. What hope does the Bible offer relative to transformation in the above areas? 1. Spirituality: Gal. 2:20 “loved me” II Cor. 5:17 2. Ecology: Gen. 1:26; 9:1-3; Ps. 8:6-8 3. Feminism: I Cor. 11:3-12 4. Authority: Exod. 20:1-6

VI. Cosmic Humanism vs. Secular Humanism

Secular Humanism has a monism of matter and energy while cosmic humanism (the One) has a monism of spirit – all is god.
How is salvation obtained by the secular humanist? Through rational inquiry and the development of science.

…by the cosmic humanist? By becoming one with the One and thus gaining access to unlimited potential. Man becomes the metaphysical master. C. “Secular man ‘killed a God in whom he could not believe but whose absence he could not bear.'” – Mircea Eliade How does the Bible explain this dilemma? D. Because our society cannot bear God’s absence, it is creating a variety of religious beliefs (pluralism). However, this creates another problem because gods have no equals. Result: Fragmentation and confusion. The Church must allow the true God to take advantage of this climate of instability.THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT

THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT

LESSON 3

INTRODUCTION

In this and the following lessons, the infiltration of New Age philosophy into the areas of health, psychology, science, politics and spirituality will be charted and analyzed to see if the One is truly “for all.” Lesson 3 will deal with holistic health. The goal of holistic health (from the Greek word “holos” meaning ‘whole’) is to treat not only the sickness but the whole person – body, mind and spirit. Holistic health practitioners see modern Western medicine as having reduced persons to mere bodies – machinelike assemblages of separable parts. Disease is viewed as a mechanistic malfunction remedied by chemical or surgical intervention. Spiritual concerns are banished from health considerations altogether. “Physicians pour drugs of which they know little, to cure diseases of which they know even less, into humans of which they know nothing.” -Voltaire Thus, disenchantment with modern medicine along with a gnawing sense

of helplessness in the face of death and disease has brought many to seek help from holistic health practice. While certain aspects of the movement can be helpful and corrective, most practices are based on pantheistic and/or New Age philosophy. Its goal is often said to be to attune one with the One. It uses such practices as Chinese medicine, self-hypnosis, macrobiotics, biofeedback, meditation and other means.

Question: Can Christians learn from it or must it be rejected?

Ten dominant themes that characterize its adherents (note: not all who believe in one or some of these ideas should automatically be labeled a New Ager, not do all holistic practitioners follow all ten of them)
1. The whole is greater than the parts (therefore treat the whole man) B. Health is more than an absence of disease. C. We are responsible for our own health or disease (not the doctor) “The healer resides inside us is the wisest, most complex, integrated entity on the universe. Furguson D. Natural forms of healing are preferable to drugs and surgery E. Most methods of promoting health can be holistic, but some methods are more innately holistic than others:
  1. Acupuncture, acupressure 2. Biofeedback – using electrical monitoring of brain waves to bring normally unconscious, involuntary bodily functions under conscious, voluntary control. 3. Chiropractic 4. homeopathy – small does of substances considered harmful in larger dowses are prescribed for healing 5. Iridology – inspection of the iris of the eye for irregularities that signify disorders elsewhere in the body (Prov. 15:30???) 6. Massage and body work therapies 7. Meditation techniques 8. Psychic diagnosis and psychic healing 9. Sexual/mystical practices
2. Health implies evolution – Holistic health is seen by
  many as one manifestation of the advance into the New Consciousness and New Age.
3. An understanding of energy, not matter, is the key to
  health. “We are clumps of dead matter but configurations of active energy. To increase the flow of healing energy we must attune ourselves to it and realize our unity with all things.”
4. Death is the final stage of growth. Death is viewed as a
  transition to another state of consciousness or as an illusion. Because all is one, individuals cannot die.
5. The thinking and practices of ancient civilization are a rich source for healthy living.
6. Holistic health must be incorporated into the fabric of society through public policy. They desire that its practices be implemented governmentaly through health education and health policies.

Holy or Holistic?

Christians are exhorted to test the spirits to uncover unbiblical ideas. Consider the following questions relative to the above ten themes:
1. Is it possible that a host of rebellious spirits or demons can masquerade as agents of healing and health? If so, for what purpose?
2. What does holistic health tend to ignore insofar as man’s sin and its consequences and God’s holiness is concerned?
3. Is physical health and emotional contentment synonymous with salvation? Insofar as God is concerned, what is the final goal of our salvation?
4. Satan often disguises himself as an angel of light (II Corin. 11:14) What are some of the way he can do this in holistic medicine?

NOTE: Acupuncture and acupressure is intimately connected with Taoism, and an essentially monistic world view. Shamanistic and traditional folk healing are premised on an animistic or pantheistic view. Psychic and mediumistic healing is just an old fashioned occultism. 5. Should Christians shun holistic health since some of its practices are based on a non-biblical world view? 6. Since in certain ways, “the medical establishment has become a major threat to health” should we therefore make a wholesale escape from modern medicine? 7. What guidelines for health do the following Bible concepts and passages give? The Sabbath Exod. 15:26 II Chronicles 7:14 II Chronicles 16:12 Proverbs 3:7,8 John 10:10 John 15:7 I Corinthians 6:19 Philippians 4:5 James 5:13-16

THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT

LESSON 4

INTRODUCTION: What has replaced theology in the secularized West as the center of human concern? Psychology. Result? People are looking within to find answers to our modern anxieties. According to Martin Gross, we live in “the most anxious, emotionally insecure and analyzed population in the history of man…in which, as never before, man is preoccupied with SELF.” Everything in our modern society seems up for grabs these days. Consequently, people turn inward for direction and guidance, having abandoned the social structure as incapable of providing meaning. When the social structures of society that give meaning and value collapse, we turn within. This in turn leads to anxiety and stress because the search within frequently falls short of the authenticity and assurance that is craved. Stress contributes to a host of illnesses, such as heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidental injuries, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide – six of the leading causes of death in the U.S.

Along comes the New Consciousness offering itself as a new mind, a new way of thinking and being. The help if offers is the answer within, a revitalized self seen for what it truly is: an unlimited source for growth and potential. In promising this personal transformation the New Age seeks to provide a new psychology, a psychology that becomes a main tributary for the One for all. This lesson will chart the leaning of modern psychology toward the New Consciousness.

I. The Humanistic Psychology of Abraham Maslow (1908 – 1970)

Maslow’s efforts paved the way for an exodus from the old psychological view of humanity (as set forth by Sigmund Freud and B.F. Skinner) toward a new human that is essentially good and has within himself unlimited potential for growth.

*FREUD: concluded that we are governed by the unconscious and not by reason; that we are essentially animals driven by instincts constant in collision with societal standards; that all human behavior can be reduced to sexual impulse. *SKINNER: concluded that we are programmed not by our unconscious but by our environment; behavior consists of responses to stimuli; peace and harmony for humanity attained not via the mind, but through a completely controlled environment; ordinary ideas of freedom and dignity are unscientific. B. Maslow says far more important than simply satisfying our sexual needs (Freud) or being socially conditioned (Skinner) is to experience self-actualization. Through self-actualization we can experience perfection, justice, richness, beauty, truth and self- sufficiency, etc. We become divine or godlike, going beyond the merely human. C. Maslow’s psychology contains the message at the core of New Age teaching: Human experience is the center and source of meaning and is valuable apart from any dependence on or subservience to a higher power.

Question: How could the fall of man then be portrayed by Maslow’s

followers as “the first act of freedom” for man?

Question: How could the act of disobeying God’s commandment not to eat of the forbidden fruit be portrayed as “the beginning of reason”? Fromm, another humanistic psychologist, says, “virtue is self- realization, not obedience.” Explain.

II. Other Trends

The Human Potential Movement
1. This movement also stresses human goodness and potential.
2. We are “gods of our own universe” in complete control of all that happens to us.
Transpersonal Psychology
1. Transpersonal refers to those dimensions of consciousness wherein we are one, achieved by psychic abilities and unlimited potential.
2. Old-fashioned secular humanist said, “There is no deity. Long live humanity.” The new transpersonal humanist said, “There is no deity but humanity.”

III. Self-Actualization And Morality

As one observer put it when describing the negative impact of self- actualization, “Because personal experience equals reality, once changes reality by focusing on the self.”

Question: How would such a philosophy influence one’s morality and what would be some of the consequences? (see I John 2:15-17; Galatians 5:13-15; Romans 1:24-32) B. Ironically, the New Age which proclaims pantheism (all is god, all is one) produces polytheism (many self-actualizing gods.)

IV. Divine or Inflated?

Psychologist David Myers concludes that human problems are not rooted in a poor view of self. but in an inflated self-concept. Self- deception, not self-actualization, is the true state of affairs. For example: (can you give scriptural evidence for the following?)
1. We are more likely to accept credit than to admit failure 2. Almost all people see themselves as better than average 3. Our propensity to justify ourselves in spite of the facts 4. We consistently overestimate our beliefs and judgements so as to assume our own infallibility and prophetic eloquence 5. Our unrealistic optimism, i.e., We more readily perceive, remember and communicate pleasant (information)…than unpleasant information 6. Our tendency to overestimate how desirably we would act in certain situations.

Who can actually and honestly claim Proverbs 20:9? B. QUESTION: Can the mere lack of understanding of the self’s supposed potential really account for humanity’s long history of savagery and slaughter? What hint of hope does Psalm 8:4 give to man in spite of his self-deception?

V. A Christian View of Human Nature

Discuss the ramifications of Genesis 1:26,27 relative to man’s dignity purpose personality self-sufficiency
New Age emphasizes self-actualization. What does Christianity emphasize?

THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT

LESSON 5

INTRODUCTION: After centuries of warfare between science and religion, today we see these two disciplines coming together in peace. Science is grasping hands with the spiritual and together they are following the same path. Science and technology, once they looked upon producing a spiritually cold world of barren materialism, has gained new social credibility and is being employed by the New Age to empower the One for all. New theories in the field of physics about the nature of the cosmos have opened the scientific community to some new ideas: the unity of all things, the nonexistence of an independent external world and the unity of opposites. In other words, science has been brought fact to face with ancient mysticism.

This lesson will explore those forces that have transformed a rationalistic scientism in to mysticism, the mysticism of the New Age.

I. The Fall of Newton

Physics: That branch of science which deals with mechanics, dynamics, light, heat, sound, electricity and magnetism (Webster). Simply stated, it is the scientific study of creation.

METAPHYSICS: The science of the principles and causes of all things existing: the philosophy of mind as distinguished from that of matter (Webster). It is the nature of all reality. B. Until the turn of the century, physics stood on the unshakable foundation of Newtonian mechanics: the world is made up of predictable mechanical laws set in the context of absolute space and time. The atoms of matter dutifully obeyed the unbending laws of nature. C. Albert Einstein and theory of relativity, How did this revolutionary theory impact the Newtonian world view? 1. Space and time no longer viewed as absolute, but relative to each other and in relation to the fixed speed of light. 2. Einstein’s equation, E-mc2, stated that matter and energy were not strictly separable; rather, all mass has energy and may be translated into energy – atomic energy. 3. Result: science looked for new models of the universe.

QUESTION: How at this point, do you see the new world view that is developing (under Einstein) laying some foundation stones for present New Age teachings? D. Birth of the “quantum theory” (1900): Idea that “matter absorbed heat energy and emitted light energy discontinuously” in unexpected limps or spurts called (by Einstein) “quata” (photons) . They acted unpredictably, not mechanically. Conclusion: the sub-atomic world is not a mosaic of hard bit of matter. E. Bases on the quantum theory which has established itself as the best explanation of natural phenomena, many scientists have said that reality is at best run by chance. This “achievement” has led to the marriage of science and religion.

II. The Quanta and the Buddha

“Subatomic particles….are not ‘things’ but are interconnections between ‘things’ and these ‘things’ in turn, are interconnections between other ‘things’ and so on. In quantum theory you never end up with ‘things’; you always deal with interconnections.” (Capra in Turning Point)

Therefore, we must see the “basic oneness” of the universe. B. In his very popular book, The Tao of Physics, Capra finds parallels between the new physics and that which the Eastern mystics have been saying for thousands of years (Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu): oneness of all things the unity of opposites (complementarily) the relativity of space and time the ever-changing nature of reality

III. A World Of Your Own

“The electron does not have objective properties independent of my mind”, (Capra). Thus, rather than observing and recording reality, we through consciousness determine it. This leads to the theory of “quantum solipsism”: self is the only thing that can be known and verified….Everything depends on you. You create the whole universe; you are the “you-niverse.'” (Fred Alan Wolf).
Conclusion: consciousness creates reality by means of the universal life energy that connects all things.

QUESTION: Even if quantum theory or other theories could demonstrate the substantial interconnection of all things, would this change God’s position in the order of creation?

IV. A Christian View Of Creation and Science

The solipsistic interpretation of quantum physics is hotly debated among scientists. Why would this be true?
New Age says we construct reality instead of discover it. If carried to its rational conclusion, this position opens the door to subjective existentialism in which terms like truth, reality and objectivity become mere symbols without content. What content do these terms have in a Christian world view?
Does the Bible view God as a deistic clockmaker totally removed from creation (mechanistic) or a God who pantheistically merges with His creation? John 1:1-14 Colossians 1:15-20 Hebrews 1:3
Christians are enlightened by the Logos, the Creator of all things (John 1:3,9). Can we therefore untie every scientific knot relative to creation and the universe?
How does the Bible picture God insofar as the unity, interconnection of all things, and distinction of entities of creation concerned? Gen. 1:11-25.
If the spiritistic realm of this world is courted without the protection and guidance of Christ, what will the result most likely be? Acts 19:13-16.
New Age says that perhaps nothing is beyond our powers. Read Jer. 17:5,7.

THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT

LESSON 6

INTRODUCTION: Another area of our society and world which New Age is permeating is politics. Religion can never be severed from politics since political vision stems from our deepest beliefs concerning reality and value. Politics follows faith. The New Age has a political agenda geared toward bringing in the whole society into harmony with the One as the New Consciousness produces the New Age. This philosophy is also true of the last days when the unholy trinity will work in harmony with one another: Satan will energize the false prophet (the world religious ruler), who in turn will perform miracles on behalf of Antichrist’s political platform.

This lesson will only touch briefly upon some of the more important aspects of New Age politics.

I. New Age Politics

Its name: Transformationalist politics – They say our present day political system requires not only a change of political structure but a new consciousness, a new world view. This new politics must transcend traditional ideologies and our present political purposelessness.
Its message: Our consciousness is unlimited and our responsibility is total. As gods come of age we must transform the planet.
Its agenda: To replace the old political system that sees the planet basically as a machine with a new holistic system that views the planet as an interrelated system – an orgasm.

What bearing would this have on the following political/social issues? 1. Ecology 2. Feminist movement 3. Abortion 4. Population control 5. Nuclear disarmament

II. A New World

They say, “the idea of strict national boundaries and divisions between nations and people must be transcended by the realization of unity and interdependence.”

Read Genesis 11:1-9. What happened historically when mankind insisted on a one world order? Should we try to do away with all national boundaries and language barriers? B. The following political groups are, to one degree or another, promoting New Age reformation politics: Planetary Citizens – founded 1972 by Donald Keys, a long-time consultant to U.N. delegations and committees. World Goodwill – a political lobby headquartered on U.N. Plaza. It heralds the U.N. as the agent for world peace and order. United Nations – call by Keys the “nexus (connection) of emerging planetary values” and he hopes it will establish a “planetary management system”. C. it is difficult to gauge the success of New Age politics as many of those who agree with New Age concerns may not share the pantheistic world view.

III. Faulty Foundation

New Age politicians say a holistic world view is the answer to our planets problems, However, “The holistic world views that have for thousands of years dominated in the Far East have not avoided hunger, violence, overpopulation, not the cultural revolution.”

What is mankind’s basic problem?

Can a mere change of perspective solve that problem? John 3:3 New Age lacks any absolute moral standard. What would be the outcome of a world led by such people? Romans 7:7-23. How is the putting of one’s hope for peace and prosperity into a world government equal to idolatry? How do New Age politics tend to ignore the reality of collective human evil? Satan tempted Christ to believe that the kingdoms of this world could become His on false terms (Matt. 4:8-11). What false terms is New Age using in our modern world to tempt people? What was Satan’s promise and strategy when he first tempted humanity? Genesis 3:5-6. Despite all rebellion, who remains king of all the earth? Rev. 1:5. What warning does the Bible contain for all political impostors? Ps. 2:10-12. In what ways can this lesson affect our lives practically?

THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT

LESSON 7

INTRODUCTION: This lesson deals with New Age spirituality. It reveals how the West has injected Eastern, neo-pagan and occult ideas into Western religious thought, producing a hybrid spirituality. New Age of the West has taken the essence of Eastern religions while retaining some elements of the Western Judeo- Christian world view. Eastern practices of mysticism have been stream-lined to fit into our modern fast-paced lifestyle. It repudiates the world-denying, ascetic approach in favor of a world-affirming and even hedonistic lifestyle where “enlightenment” is fully compatible with worldly success.

I. Neo-Paganism

Read Unmasking the New Age, p. 133-34 “The New Pagans”
What is it? By-passing Christianity, it is the return to pre-Christian nature religions of the West (e.g., ancient Norse, Greek, Roman religions and the surviving tribal religions) with an attempt to revive them or recreate them in new forms. Goddess worshipping groups are popular among these, as is shamanism (medicine men).
Neo-Pagan feminists: Claim that a male Deity such as God the Father leads directly to male oppression of females in society.

Questions:

Is God male or female? Read text page 139 part 2
What do the following passages tell you about God and His attitude toward the female gender? Gen. 1:26 Matt. 23:27-39 Deut. 32:18 et al.

“For the fatherhood of God to be significant, there must be a difference between fatherhood and motherhood.” Susan Foh Is the fatherhood of God significant?

II. The Essence of Eastern religion and its appeal

There exists an -all-encompassing oneness and the person is identified with the whole.

QUESTION: How does this differ substantially from Christianity? B. Experimental knowledge of the true Self releases us from illusion and the cycle of reincarnation. C. The classic Western spirituality of prayer, faith and obedience to an external God must be replaced by monistic meditation, personal experience and the God within. QUESTION: What is the Biblical meaning of meditation? See Matt. 6:7; Ps. 1:2-3; Gal. 2:20; (who is the “divine within”?) D. Beyond good and evil lies the One who is both good and evil, for He is the All.

III. Jesus goes East

One means that has been used to introduce pantheism in Christian terms in the West so as to be more acceptable is by reintroducing the heresy of Gnosticism (I John; special knowledge). The New Age seeks to place Christ in its pantheon of monistic masters by speculating on the eighteen “lost years” of Jesus not elucidated in the Gospels. During this time, Jesus is said to have traveled to the East where He learned esoteric (private) mysteries and was eventually initiated into the One.

QUESTIONS:

How would you refute a New Ager who quotes Luke 17:21 to mean that all people h ave the divine within?
How would you respond to the use of John 10:34 to assert the divinity of all people? (See Ps. 826 where term ‘gods’ was the title used to designate Jewish rulers).

IV. Other New Age Doctrines

Reincarnation or redemption? They say many lives are requires to reach oneness with the One, but what saith the Scriptures? Heb. 9:27; Jn. 1:14.
Beyond good and evil: They teach that all is one, all is god and we are beyond good and evil. Read text pgs. 153-155: Manson; thugs See Isa. 5:20; Heb. 5:14.
A knowable God: For New Age spirituality the experience of God- consciousness is beyond the personal and rational. On the contrary, the Christian God is rational and knowable. “If an experience is ‘beyond rationality’ how can it be used as a rational justification to believe that ‘all is on’? In this sense, if the One is beyond logic and language, it is beyond belief.”
An exclusive God: For New Age, the pulse of the One is at the spiritual heart of all religions. But, hear the warning of Christ – Matt. 7:13-14. “A gospel which is not exclusive will never include the world, for it will never master it. No religion will include devotees which does not exclude rivals.”

“While some truth can be found in nearly all religions, the truth of salvation is found only in Christ.” Matt. 24:24; Phil. 2:9-11. LESSON 8 INTRODUCTION: In this final lesson we will consider the following five

things: (1) How the New Age is being packaged for modern tastes; (2) The inherent flaws of the New World view; (3) The specific points at which Christianity parts ways with the New Age; (4) Compromises that christians must avoid and (5) Witnessing to the New Age.

I. Marketing the New Age

Two categories:
1. Occult New Age – any philosophy that seeks liberation from within the self by discovering the secret or hidden wisdom (gnosis). In this sense, the entire New Age movement is occult. But in another sense, “occult” refers to exotic spiritual beliefs and practices having to do with the miraculous in general. This kind of occultism is simply not palatable to many moderns.
2. Mainstream New Age – that aspect of New Age thinking that packages its occult philosophy in culturally attractive and appealing wrappings.
  1. Popularly available and attractive books that have translated occult terminology into the vernacular.
  2. Big corporations “growth seminars” that incorporate New Age concepts.
  3. The integration of “cosmic humanism” (New Age) with secular humanism. Necessary to get the modern world to listen.
This philosophy is ultimately doomed due to its inability to forge a credible synthesis between the spiritual and rational.

II. Inherent Flaws of the New Age World View

The New Age tires to erase the realities of time, space, mortality and individuality. Yet, all human experience is necessarily bracketed by our creaturely limitations which in turn point to the impossibility of self- salvation.

time – Ps. 90:10

space – Luke 16:26

mortality – Heb. 9:27

individuality – Gen. 1:27; I Cor. 12:18-20 B. The oneness of all things demands the erasing of all distinctions and dualities including the division between good and evil. QUESTION: What happens when a world view consistently denies ethical realities? See Isa. 5:20-25. Irony! By its own logic, the New Age has no basis for saying that it is good or even true. These categories cannot exist. C. The New Age appeals to human subjectivity – the divine within – as its prime source of truth, not to an objective revelation form a higher authority. All manner of subjective experiences are given free rein as the distiller of revelation and truth. QUESTION: What are the results of looking to the “divine within” as the source of truth? Does experience per se guarantee to validate the truth of the experience? see I John 4:1

III. Christian Essentials that Must be Maintained as we Confront the New Age

Personal: The cosmos and all it contains must be understood according to its personal and sovereign Creator (Cosmic personalism). WHY?

If souls are separate, love is possible. If souls are united love (other than self) is obviously impossible. B. Supernatural: While the spiritual world interpenetrates the natural world it is not identical with it. God is transcendent – above His creation; He is super-natural. He is free to miraculously intervene in the normal workings of his creation (e.g., Christ’s resurrection). The Christian seeks help “from above”, the New Ager seeks help “from within.” C. Ethical: God is holy and morally perfect. D. Rational: Christians do not denounce reason, but see it as a God- given capacity and an indication of our being created in the image of a rational God (Gen. 1;26-28; Jn. 1:1-3. 9). God’s wisdom appears foolish to unredeemed people because the pride of humanity balks at a gospel that convicts the world of its utter inability to save itself. E. Experiential: Christianity touches the heart without by-passing the mind (Matt. 22:27-29; Gal. 5:22). F. Holistic: The creation is an interrelated whole orchestrated by the plan and power of God. Therefore, the breaking of God’s covenant resulted in ecological as well as ethical desolation (Hosea 4:1-2). G. Objective: Christianity provides a standard beyond and above the created world and subjective experience by which to evaluate all of life. That standard is found in the Bible and in Christ (II Tim. 3:16). H. Historical: Christianity view history as linear, not cyclical (perpetual repetition).

IV. Compromises that Christians Must Avoid

Placing an imbalanced emphasis on subjective introspection, in that corruption, not salvation, comes from within. (Col. 3:1-2).

QUESTION: What must direct our thoughts and life? B. Mystical “Christian” writings that stress the believer’s “union with Christ” so as to border on pantheism. Salvation is not deification; redeemed humanity should never be confused with divinity. C. An over-emphasis on positive thinking or positive confession – the idea that whatever we believe or verbally affirm will become a reality. D. A pantheistic romanticizing of creation resulting from an over- concern about ecological problems.

V. Witnessing to the New Age

Become culture watchers to discern the presence and influence of New Age ideas, particularly in those mainstream areas of society that we have considered, namely; education, politics, science, psychology, health and religion.
False philosophies must be refuted, not just exposed. Therefore, have a reason FOR your faith (I Peter 3:16) and reasons against the New Age (II Cor. 10:3-5).
Make a conscious effort to reach out to the New Ager with a humble loving spirit.
Look for legitimate common ground in your beliefs while at the same time clearly specifying and defining the differences between the world views.
Rather than abandoning crucial areas of culture, i.e., education, politics, science, etc., we must fill the void and implement the truth (Ps. 127;1).

CONCLUSION: Donning the armor and weapons of the Spirit (Eph. 6:10-18) and equipped with a full-orbed Christian world view (Rom. 12:1-2), we must try to prayerfully and actively stem the tide of the One for all.

THE SECULAR HUMANIST, NEW AGE AND CHRISTIAN WORLD VIEWS

Metaphysics –
God and the world

Secular Humainst: Universe is self-existent, no God

New Age: God is the world – pantheism

Christian: Creator/creation distinction

B. Nature of God

Secular Humainst: God is a superstition

New Age: God is impersonal/amoral

Christian: God is personal/moral

C. Nature of world (cosmology)

Secular Humanist: Matter/energy, atomistic

New Age: All is spirit/consciousness, monistic Christian: Creation of God upheld by God, interconnected byt not monistic

2. Epistemology – Basis for knowledge

Secualr Humainst: Man is measure of all things

New Age: Man is all things, truth within

Christian: Truth revealed in Bible

3. Ethics –

Secular Humanist: Autononmous and situational (relative)

New Age: Autononmous and situational (relative)

Christian: Based on the revelation of God’s will, absolute

4. Nature of Humans

Secular Humanist: Evoleved animal

New Age: Spiritual being, a sleeping God

Christian: Made in the image of God, now fallen

5. Human Problem

Secular Humanist: Superstition, ignorance

New Age: Ignorance of true potential

Christian: Sin-rebellion against God and His law

6. Answer to Human Problem

Secular Humanist: Reason and technology

New Age: Change of consciousness

Christian: Faith and obediance to Christ

7. History

Secular Humainst: Linear but chance

New Age: Cyclical

Christian: Linear and providential

8. Death

Secular Humanist: End of existence

New Age: Illusion, entrance to next life (reincarnation)

Christian: Entrance to either eternal heaven or hell

9. View of Religion

Secular Humanist: Superstition, some good moral teaching

New Age: All point to the One (syncretism)

Christian: Not all from God, teach different things

10. Views of Jesus

Secular Humanist: Moral teacher

New Age: One of many avatars