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Questions and Answers About the New
Age Movement
WHAT IS THE NEW AGE?
I have been writing articles about the New Age for over 4 years, although I have
spent
several years prior to this studying the New Age philosophy. During this time
many questions have
been asked about the New Age and its beliefs. The purpose of this booklet is to
try to answer some
of these questions.
1. WHAT IS THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT AND WHAT ARE SOME OF ITS GOALS?
The New Age Movement is a group of networking organizations that is working
toward specific
goals. One of the main goals is to bring to the forefront a one world leader who
is called "The
Christ" or "Maitreya." This person actually has nothing to do with the Christ of
the Bible. Rather,
this person is the one of whom John refers to in Revelation -- the antichrist.
The New Agers
themselves tell us specifically that the Christ they are looking for WILL NOT BE
Jesus of
Nazareth, but rather a NEW Messiah. Ruth Montgomery, one of the "heralds of the
New Age," tells
us that Jesus is not the Christ and that it will be a DIFFERENT Christ than in
the Bible who will
come to bring world peace. While in a trance, she asked her Spirit Guide (demon)
about the
Second Coming of Christ. She said: "I asked if Jesus of Nazareth would again
reincarnate, in order
to 'prepare the body for the Christ Spirit', and the Guides said that he would
NOT [emphasis mine
throughout booklet]." [1] The Guides continue: " 'In the twenty-first century,
the soul of
ANOTHER PERFECTED BEING will return to human incarnation . . . and . . . Christ will
arrive at the beginning of a NEW ERA after the shift and the chaos. But it WILL
NOT be the man
who was ONCE incarnate and known as... JESUS. It will be another Wise One.'" [2]
Other New Agers deny the literal existence of Jesus Christ, yet, they, too, are
looking for a
"Messiah" who will soon come on the scene. If Jesus never lived, as some claim,
who then are
they expecting? Of course, it's the antichrist.
John tells us that "all the world wondered after the beast" (Revelation 13:3),
and today we
see more and more people turning to false cults and Eastern religions than ever
before. The "whole
world" (except God's people) is anxious about the great new leader that is on
the horizon, and
without knowing the Bible, they are helping to fulfill the prophecies that deal
with the coming of
the antichrist. Ruth Montgomery says that "in the New Age this warring planet
will become
unified, with ONE GOVERNMENT, ONE LANGUAGE, and ONE CURRENCY." [3] If you know
anything at all about end-time Bible prophecy, you can readily see that this is
the EXACT plan of
the antichrist in Daniel [11] and Revelation 13.
2. WHEN DID IT BEGIN? David Spangler, a New Ager, tells us "the image of a new
age
is not really new at all." [4] He is right. In fact, it is as old as the Garden
of Eden. There Satan
appeared unto Eve and told her she would not die as God had said (Genesis 3:4).
This is the
SAME LIE that the New Agers are promoting today. They teach that there is no
such thing as death.
They believe all that happens to a person is that when his spirit leaves the
body, he will be
reincarnated or reborn into another body. This process continues ON AND ON until
we become
perfected. The other lie that Satan told Eve was "ye shall be as gods" (Genesis
3:5). This lie also
is promoted by New Agers. They claim that we continue to be reborn until we will
be a God. New
Age literature is filled with such statements. For example, in Reflections on
the Christ, we find:
"The New Age is essentially a time in planetary history when the fruits of
revelation given and
anchored by Jesus came into being. In human terms, this means it is a time when
we learn to be at
one with God ourselves, TO BE CHRISTS OURSELVES." [5] Man's Role in Evolution
states:
"For this purpose of the Universe is to create a new God -- and we are that
God'." [6] Another
New Age magazine, Self-Help Update, claims: "Thus you are part of God ... thus
you are God." [7]
In The Occult: A History, we find: "Man is literally a god . . . " [8] David
Spangler says: ". . . I can
say with all truth and honesty and sincerity and reality, 'I am God'." [9] You
can see that Satan's lie
"ye shall be as gods" certainly has a foothold in New Age beliefs.
3. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE NEW AGE BELIEFS? Although each group differs, some
of the basic beliefs include: Jesus and the Christ are two SEPARATE entities,
salvation by works,
a hatred for fundamentalists and Jews, atheism or polytheism, amorality
(homosexuality, abortion,
etc.), socialism, a one world government, communal sharing or communism,
evolution,
reincarnation, we will be a God someday, God is not a Personal Being -- only an
impersonal
force, God is within everyone -- not somewhere out in the universe, and no right
or wrong, no
good or evil, no heaven or hell.
4. IS THE NEW AGE VIEW RELIGIOUS? Yes! The New Age is definitely a religion.
They imitate almost every facet of Christianity, including a born-again
experience (called
"rebirthing"), and prayers. In fact, they even have their own bibles. Some of
these "bibles" are:
The Secret Doctrine, Revelation: The Birth of a New Age, The Book of Urantia,
Oahspe, The
Book of Hu/Tyana, The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ, etc.
5. IS THERE MORE THAN ONE NEW AGE GOD? Certainly! Many New Agers believe
in many gods or polytheism. Hinduism, which is basically the foundation for the
New Age, has
literally millions of gods that are worshiped. Witches and pagans also have
numerous gods and
goddesses that they revere. Some of these gods are: Orion, Lucifer, Pan, Ceres,
Diana, Tammuz,
Baal, Isis, Amitabha, Baphomet, Hecate, Horus, Hypnos, Indra, Osiris, Jupiter,
Kuan-Yin, Moloch,
Vishnu, Brahma, Shiva, and Satan.
6. IS THE NEW AGE PHILOSOPHY WIDESPREAD? Marilyn Ferguson and other New
Age sources claim that they are in every city and institution in the world.
David Spangler tells us
more about the extent of the New Age: "There really is no single, universal
model for a new age
group. They come in all forms and sizes and engage in a multitude of activities.
The book
Networking lists over TWELVE-HUNDRED organizations, centers, cooperatives,
groups,
communities, and networks in fields ranging from health care and spiritual
growth through politics,
economics, and ecology to education, communications, personal growth, and
inter-cultural
relations. THERE IS HARDLY ANY AREA OF HUMAN INTEREST THAT DOES NOT HAVE
SOME PEOPLE SOMEWHERE EXPLORING IT FROM A NEW AGE POINT OF VIEW....
"Most new age organizations work in areas of education, counseling, personal
growth,
ecology, health care, and international issues....
"One might not expect the military to be a scene of new age activity, but it
is....
"There are also new age political organizations, such as the New World Alliance,
which
provides educational services to persons working at EVERY LEVEL of government."
[10]
7. CAN YOU NAME SOME PEOPLE WHO ARE INVOLVED? There are so many people
involved that it is impossible to name them all. However, I will list a FEW of
the more prominent
New Agers. They include: David Spangler, Dick Sutphen, Hazel Henderson, Peter
and Eileen
Caddy, Ruth Montgomery, Brad Steiger, Stuart Wilde, Paul Horn, Alan Leventhal,
Ed Mitchell,
James Robertson, Dr. Barbara Ray, Andreas Vollenweider, Fritz Hull, Fritjof
Capra, Steven
Halpern, Donald Keys, George Trevelyan (frequently
known as "England's father of the New
Age"), Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Norman Cousins, Paul Winter, William Irwin
Thompson, Gina
Cerminara, Robert Ellwood, Peter Russell, Marilyn
Ferguson, Dion Fortune, Manly Hall, Willis
Harman, Jessica Lipnack, Jeffrey Stamps, Shirley MacLaine, Sri Chinmoy, Benjamin
Creme,
Foster and Mary Bailey, Dr. Carlos Romulo, George Leonard, John Denver, Paul
Hawken, Alvin
Toffler, Jeremy Rifkin, Norman Lear, and Jim Channon.
8. ARE THERE ANY NEW AGE MAGAZINES? Below are a FEW that are taken from
NEW AGE MAGAZINES or NEW AGE ADS that state OUTRIGHTLY that the magazines are
NEW AGE magazines: Crystal Well, Psychic Guide, New Times, Alternative Sources
of Energy,
Ecology Digest, Southern Exposure, Muscle & Fitness, Astrology '90, Cincinnati
Journal of
Ceremonial Magic, Organic Gardening, Circle Network News, Laughing Man,
Co-Evolution
Quarterly, Communities, Dawn, East West Journal, In Business, Mother Jones,
Newservice,
Parabola, Prevention, New Age Journal, Yoga Journal, Self-Help Update, Fine
Homebuilding, At
Home Together, Fine Woodworking, Solar Age, Let's Live, Vegetarian Times, Raise
the Stakes, In
Context, Many Smokes, Community Jobs, Your Good Health, Heart, Brain/Mind
Bulletin, Magical
Blend, Lady-Unique-Inclination-of-the-Night, Mothering, New Age Book Review,
Leading Edge
Bulletin, Macromuse, Women, Medical Self-Care, New Farm, ReVISION, The Movement,
New
Body, Total Fitness, Working Papers, South, Sing Out, Lorian Journal, Mother
Earth News,
Practicing Midwife, One Earth, Modern Times, The Sun, Sunrise Theosophic
Perspectives, Rain,
Herb Quarterly, and Songsmith Journal. There may be some good articles in some
of these
magazines, but the New Age philosophy is nonetheless scattered throughout these
periodicals.
9. ARE NEW AGE GROUPS COMMON? New Times sends their catalog to OVER 5000
NEW AGE BOOKSTORES. The book, Networking, lists OVER 1200 ORGANIZATIONS. The
New Age Directory: Holistic Health Guide includes OVER 3700 LISTINGS. The New
Consciousness Sourcebook: Spiritual Community Guide No. 5 lists THOUSANDS more
and
publishes a directory with OVER 10,000 LISTINGS. Again, the list is far too long
to list all the
groups, but here are a FEW that are called "New Age Groups" by New Agers
themselves:
Findhorn Community, The Farm, Interface, Tara Center, Lorian Association,
Lindisfarne, Chinook
Learning Center, Earth Community, High Wind Association, Sirius Community, and
Reincarnationists.
10. IS THE NEW AGE KNOWN BY ANY OTHER TERMS? Yes! Other names include
(but are not limited to) the following: Age of Aquarius, Networking Movement,
Aquarian
Conspiracy, Kingdom Age, Golden Age, Humanistic Psychology, Humanism, Secular
Humanism,
Christ Age, Age of Maitreya, Third Force, Atomic Age, Solar Age, Latter Days,
New
Consciousness, New Church, New Spirituality, Space Age, New Thought Religion,
Human
Potential Movement, War of Armageddon, End Time, Purification Period, and
Transcendental
Movement.
11. WHAT ARE SOME NEW AGE SYMBOLS? Some New Age symbols are the
pentagram, unicorn, rainbow, 666, triangle (or pyramid), pegasus (wingedhorse),
yin/yang, and the
swastika.
12. WHAT ARE SOME "KEY WORDS" THAT NEW AGERS USE? The New Agers
communicate in "code" or "buzz" words. This means that there are certain words,
when used
FREQUENTLY, that ALMOST CERTAINLY indicate that a person has some New Age ties.
If you
hear or read several of these words in a short time or space, you can get a good
indication that the
person with whom you are dealing is most likely a New Ager. However, NOT EVERY
ONE who
uses the following words IS a New Ager or even has New Age ties. The purpose of
this list is to
ALERT you to some of the New Age terminology and to watch ANY person MORE
CLOSELY
who uses a number of them or question them more directly as to what they really
believe. Some
code words are: global village, global vision, planetary, new age, peace, one
world government,
consciousness, altered states, spaceship earth, manifestation, initiation,
transformation, meditation,
global thread, holistic, wholistic, holism, oneness, interdependence, crowded
planet, planetization,
world citizenship, paradigm, transcendent, earth shift, spirit guides, world
servers, transpersonal,
redistribution, well-being, human potential, divinity of man, positive thinking,
light, emerging
planetary culture, guided imagery, brotherhood, UFO'S, ESP, cataclysm,
mysticism, new world
order, new culture, enlightenment, reappearance of the Christ, transition, Age
of Pisces, Age of
Aquarius, planetary citizen, Lucifer, right brain/left brain, metaphysics, life
force, chi, prana,
herbal remedies, and ecology.
13. WHAT TECHNIQUES ARE PART OF THE NEW AGE PHILOSOPHY? A few
techniques which are most familiar are: Acupuncture, Acupressure, Martial Arts
(such as Karate,
Judo, Aikido, etc.), Biofeedback, Positive Thinking, Positive Mental Attitude
(PMA), Holistic
Health, Transcendental Meditation (TM), Reflexology, Visualization, Hypnosis,
Silva Mind
Control, Erhard Seminar Training (est), Zen, Yoga, and Relaxation. There is
nothing wrong with
taking a break or resting, but the New Agers use the word "RELAXATION" as a
COVER-UP for
MEDITATION, ZEN, YOGA, AND OTHER FORMS OF OCCULTISM. If your doctor
recommends "STRESS REDUCTION" or "RELAXATION" be VERY CAREFUL of what
techniques are being employed. Most often you will discover that these
"RELAXATION" sessions
INCLUDE biofeedback, visualization and other New Age techniques. By using the
term
'RELAXATION", New Agers have been able to ensnare Christians into OCCULT
PRACTICES
WITHOUT the Christian being aware of what is actually involved. One New Age
magazine
proudly states:
"One of the biggest
advantages we have as New Agers is, once the OCCULT,
METAPHYSICAL AND NEW AGE TERMINOLOGY IS REMOVED, we have concepts and
techniques that are very acceptable to the general public. So we can CHANGE THE
NAMES and demonstrate the power. In so doing, we open the New Age door to
millions who normally would not be receptive." [11]
14. IS THERE ANY GOOD IN THE NEW AGE? After all I've said, you probably have
gotten the impression that there is nothing good about the New Age. This is
incorrect. There are
SOME good things taking place within the New Age ranks, such as the food for the
hungry.
However, most often this is only a COVER-UP to fund other New Age activities.
The Hunger
Project was estab lished to deal with world hunger, but it has been reported
that NONE of the over
one million dollars has gone to feed starving people. More often such funds are
used to
PROMOTE a New World Government in which all the wealth of the world is to be
redistributed.
Tara Center, the main New Age group to promote a New Age Christ, states: "In the
first stage
REDISTRIBUTION will be the keynote . . . This is nothing more than COMMUNISM on
a
WORLD-WIDE scale.
New Agers will promote many things that SOUND GOOD, just to get supporters. The
problem is that MOST PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW what the OBJECTIVE is BEHIND the cause
they are supporting. Peace is an excellent idea, however, the Great Peace March
that has taken
place has really NOTHING to do with peace. It is being promoted by New Age
groups and it is
just another gimmick to gain ground in their plan to take over the world and
bring in a leader who
is to be the new "Christ" (the antichrist!). New Agers will worm their way into
ANYTHING that
will help promote the cause of the New Age. This includes churches, education,
government,
health care, and hundreds of other areas.
15. WHO'S THE HEAD OF THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT? Although the New Age is
mainly promoted through the Lucis Trust (formerly LUCIFER PUBLISHING COMPANY)
and its
affiliates, the head of the New Age Movement is really SATAN. Satan has always
wanted to be
worshiped. If you read Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 you will find that he wanted to
be like the Most
High. Satan's original name was LUCIFER which means "LIGHTBEARER," and II
Corinthians
11:14 tells us that "Satan himself is transformed into an ANGEL OF LIGHT." If
Satan can get man
to believe that humans are God, then Satan himself is being worshiped in a
round-about way and
this is what he wants.
If Satan, or Lucifer, is the originator of the New Age Movement, you would think
that the
New Agers would revere him. Do they? Believe it or not, they CERTAINLY DO! For
proof let's
look at David Spangler's book, Reflections on the Christ: "Lucifer prepares man
in all ways for the
experience of Christhood and the Christ prepares man for the experience of
God.... But the light
that reveals to us the presence of the Christ, the light that reveals to us that
path to the Christ
COMES FROM LUCIFER. He is the light giver . . . it is his light that heralds for
man the dawn of a
greater consciousness . . .
"LUCIFER works within each of us to bring us to wholeness, and as we move into a
new
age, which is the age of man's wholeness, each of us in some way is brought to
that point which I term the LUCIFERIC INITIATION, the particular doorway through
which the individual MUST PASS if he is to come 'fully' into the presence of his
light and his wholeness." [12]
Later in the book he says: "LUCIFER came to give us the final gift of wholeness.
If we
accept it then he is free and we are free. That is the LUCIFERIC INITIATION. It
is one that many
people now, and in the days ahead will be facing, for it is an initiation into
the New Age." [13]
Revelation 13 tells us that there will be a day when no one can buy or sell
WITHOUT the
antichrist's mark. Could this possibly be the LUCIFERIC INITIATION Spangler says
that we will
be faced with soon? I think it is and if we are not careful we will be taking
this LUCIFERIC
INITIATION WITHOUT even really realizing what we are doing. You may ask, "How
could we
not know?" The answer really is simple. If we are involved in New Age practices,
we will
become SO ACCUSTOMED to the New Age ideas and beliefs that we, too, will be
DECEIVED
into thinking that Lucifer is God. If we believe he is God, it certainly won't
be hard to take an oath
to that effect. II Timothy 3:13 says: "Evil men and seducers shall wax WORSE AND
WORSE,
DECEIVING and BEING DECEIVED."
You may wonder how such a change in our thinking could take place. Actually, it
is FAR
MORE SUBTLE than you may believe. For instance, a woman who has migraine
headaches sees
her physician. He tells her to try VISUALIZATION or BIOFEEDBACK. She may think
that it is a
HARMLESS technique, but what MOST PEOPLE, including many physicians, DO NOT KNOW
is
that VISUALIZATION is an ancient OCCULT TECHNIQUE! SORCERERS, VOODOO PRIESTS,
and WITCH DOCTORS have practiced VISUALIZATION for thousands of years in their
MAGICAL RITES for both cures and curses, but now it is considered a "neutral"
MIND
CONTROL method by which to obtain health, wealth, and happiness. The procedure
has NEVER
changed, but the name by which it was known has! New Agers BRAG that they have
taken
OCCULT and WITCHCRAFT techniques, CHANGED THEIR NAMES, and then presented it to
the uninformed public as a "SCIENTIFIC" method, and that these people have
fallen for it. We
must be VERY CAREFUL that we do not become ensnared in the New Age trap. Don't
say that we
will never be deceived, for the Bible tells us "let him that THINKETH he
standeth TAKE HEED
lest he fall" (I Corinthians 10:12).
If you are a Christian but have been ensnared in New Age techniques, confess
your
involvement and ask God to forgive you. If you have never accepted Christ as
your PERSONAL
Savior, the first step is to be born again. John 3:3: "EXCEPT a man be born
AGAIN, he CANNOT
see the kingdom of God." How can one be born AGAIN? We all know that we were
born once,
our physical birth, but can we enter into our mother's womb and be born the
second time (see John 3:1-17)? No. The second birth comes by being born into the
family of God. John 3:16: "For God so LOVED the world [that includes YOU!] that
He GAVE His only Begotten Son, that
WHOSOEVER [that includes YOU] BELIEVETH [trusts, clings to, relies on] Him
[God's Son,
Jesus] should not perish [in hell], but have everlasting life." All you need to
do is sincerely
believe with all your heart that Jesus is the Son of God and to be willing to
turn from your sins and
ask Jesus to come into your heart and help you to live for Him, and He WILL do
it. John 6:37:
"Him that cometh to Me I will IN NO WISE cast out." I John 1:9: "If we CONFESS
our sins [not
to men, but to God], He is FAITHFUL and JUST to FORGIVE us our sins, and to
CLEANSE us
from ALL unrighteousness." Romans 10:9: "If thou shalt CONFESS with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus,
and shalt BELIEVE in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou
SHALT be saved
[born again]."
If you would like to be born again, pray your own prayer or sincerely pray the
following:
Dear Jesus, I realize that I am a sinner. I believe that You died for my sins.
Please forgive me of
my past sins and come into my heart. Save me for Your sake, and help me to live
for You. I ask this
in Your name. Amen.
If you sincerely prayed and asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins, you will
have the
assurance that you are now a child of God. John 1:12: "But AS MANY as received
Him, to them
gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that BELIEVE on His name."
Read your
Bible EVERY day (start with the book of John), and find a Bible-believing church
where you can
worship God with other born again believers.
* * * * * * *
ENDNOTES
1. Ruth Montgomery, Strangers Among Us (New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan,
1979), p.
251.
2. Ibid., pp. 251-252.
3. Ibid., p. 35.
4. David Spangler, Emergence: The Rebirth of the Sacred (New York: Dell
Publishing, 1984), p.
19.
5. David Spangler, Reflections on the Christ (Scotland, Findhorn Publication,
1977), p. 29.
6. Man's Role in Evolution (pamphlet issued by the Theosophical Society in
England), p. 5.
7. Dick Sutphen, ed., Self-Help Update (Issue #26) p. 8.
8. Colin Wilson, The Occult: A History (NewYork: Random House, Inc., 1971), p.
568.
9. Spangler, Reflections, op. cit., p. 62.
10. Spangler, Emergence, op.cit., pp. 119-123.
11. "Infiltrating the New Age into Society," What Is, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Summer
1986), p. 14.
12. Spangler, Reflections, op.cit., pp. 43-44.
13. Ibid., p. 45.
* * * * * * *
THE END
Index of Articles by Dr. Cathy Burns |