New Age Movement

“The greatest fault is to be conscious of none.”

Thomas Carlyle

Kirk Cameron’s Comment

The New Age Movement is seductive and enticing to many. It is man-centered and almost had me in its grip before I was saved. You’ll find this philosophy everywhere.

Questions & Objections

Lesson

The New Age Movement (NAM) has many subdivisions, but it is generally a collection of Eastern-influenced metaphysical thought systems, a conglomeration of theologies, hopes, and expectations held together with an eclectic teaching of salvation, of “correct thinking,” and “correct knowledge.” It is a theology of “feel-goodism,” universal tolerance, and moral relativism.

The NAM is difficult to define because there is no hierarchy, dogma, doctrine, collection plate, or membership. It is an assortment of different theologies with the common threads of toleration and divergence weaving through its tapestry of “universal truth.”

The term “New Age” refers to the “Aquarian Age” which, according to New Age followers, is dawning. It is supposed to bring in peace and enlightenment and reunite man with God. Man is presently considered separated from God not because of sin (Isaiah 59:2), but because of lack of understanding and knowledge concerning the true nature of God and reality.

New Age Beliefs

In the New Age Movement, man is central. He is viewed as divine, as cocreator, as the hope for future peace and harmony. A representative quote might be: “I am affected only by my thoughts. It needs but this to let salvation come to all the world. For in this single thought is everyone released at last from fear” (A Course in Miracles, Huntington Station, NY: The Foundation for Inner Peace, p.461).

Unfortunately for New Agers, the fear they want to be released from might very well be the fear of damnation, of conviction of sin, and sometimes even the fear of Christianity and Christians. Though the NAM is tolerant of almost any theological position, it is opposed to Christianity’s “narrow-mindedness” that there are moral absolutes and that Jesus is the only way. Following are their views on the main tenets of Christianity:

God is not a personal heavenly Father but an impersonal force.

God is all and all is God. God is not the “wholly other” Creator of all, but part of all that exists. There is nothing that is not God. (This is pantheism, an eastern mystical belief system that has crept into mainstream America.)

There is no sin, only incorrect understanding of truth. Since the NAM doesn’t acknowledge sin or sinfulness, there is no need for a Redeemer like Jesus.

Salvation, in the New Age sense, is self-achieved through understanding your natural godlikeness and goodness, combined with proper knowledge. It means to be in tune with the divine consciousness, in harmony with reality and whatever is perceived to be true. Because salvation is a form of knowledge, of achieving correct thought—the realization of our divine nature—we need to be saved from ignorance, not sin. Therefore knowledge is what saves, not Jesus.

Jesus was just one of many teachers of divine truth. He exemplified the “Christ consciousness” probably better than anyone else. Christ is a consciousness, a form of the higher self. It is possessed by all because everyone is divine.

Hell is not a place but an experience here on Earth; it is a state of mind.

After death, most New Agers believe that the soul is reincarnated. Many even believe the Bible was changed to remove any verses that taught reincarnation, but the Bible, of course, never contained any references supporting the concept. Reincarnation opposes the Word of God, which says that it is appointed for man to die once, and then face judgment (Heb. 9:27). Reincarnation is appealing to New Agers because with it there is no judgment, and there is a second chance, a third chance, a fourth, etc.

The New Age Movement is a religious system with two basic beliefs: evolutionary godhood and global unity.

Evolutionary Godhood

Since all is God, and man is part of all, then man is God. Therefore, man has infinite potential. In evolutionary godhood, mankind will soon see itself as god, as the “Christ principle.” For the most part, the NAM espouses evolution of both body and spirit, and views this as the next step in humanity’s evolution. Man is developing and will soon leap forward into new spiritual horizons.

The NAM teaches that man’s basic nature is good and divine. This opposes God’s Word which says that we are sinners (Rom. 5:12) and that our nature is corrupt (Eph. 2:3). It teaches that since man is divine by nature, he then has divine qualities. This is an important aspect of NAM thinking. Because the average New Ager believes himself to be divine, he can create his own reality. If, for example, a person believes that reincarnation is true, that’s fine because that is his reality. If someone else doesn’t believe in it, that is all right too because that is his reality. They can each have a reality for themselves that “follows a different path.”

New Agers who believe in their own divinity and ability to create usurp the authority and position of God. Their arrogant conclusion, based on concepts of grandiose self-worth, is a deceptive, self-satisfying indulgence into pride. As Satan wanted to be like God (Isaiah 14:12–17) and encouraged Adam and Eve to be like God also (Gen. 3:1–5), the New Ager listens to the echo of that Edenic lie and yields to it willingly.

Global Unity

The second major element of the New Age Movement is global unity, which consists of three major divisions: man with man; man with nature; and man with God.

Man with man: The NAM teaches that we will all learn our proper divine relationship with one another and achieve harmony, mutual love, and acceptance through the realization and acceptance of this divine proper knowledge.

The New Age Movement attempts to absorb all religions, cultures, and governments. It seeks to unify all systems into one spiritual, socioeconomic unity. The average New Ager is looking for a single world leader who, with New Age principles, will guide the world into a single harmonious economic whole. It is also hoped that this leader will unite the world into a spiritual unity; that is, one world religion. The New Age hope is reminiscent of the Scriptures that speak of the coming Antichrist (2 Thes. 2:3, 4; Rev. 13:17; 14:9, 11; 16:2; 19:20).

Man with nature: Since the NAM says that God is all, and all is God, then nature is also part of God. Man is also one with the universe. Man must then get in tune with nature and learn to nurture it and be nurtured by it. In this, all people can unite. American Indian philosophies are popular among New Agers because they focus on the earth and nature, and on man’s relationship to them.

New Age philosophy generally seeks to merge with those philosophies that put man and nature on an equal level. We are no more or less important or no different than our cousins the animals, birds, and fish. We must live in harmony with them, understand them, and learn from them. This is opposed to the Scriptural teaching of man’s superiority over animals (Gen. 1:26, 27; 2:19). This does not mean that man may abuse them, but he is given the responsibility of caring for and being a steward of God’s creation (Gen. 2:15). God will hold Christians responsible for the stewardship that has been entrusted to them.

The New Agers have a name for the earth: Gaia. Gaia is to be revered and respected. Some New Agers even worship the earth and nature. This opposes the Scripture that says we are not to have any other gods before God (Ex. 20:3).

Man with God: Since the NAM teaches that man is divine by nature, all people, once they see themselves as such, will be helped in their unity of purpose, love, and development. The goal is to fully realize our own goodness. It is obvious that this contradicts Scripture, such as in Rom. 3:10–12.

Because the New Ager seeks to elevate himself to godhood, he must lower the majesty and personhood of the true God. In other words, the universe isn’t big enough for one true God, but it is big enough for a bunch of little ones. New Agers view God as impersonal, omnipresent, and benevolent, therefore he (it) won’t condemn anyone. An impersonal God will not reveal himself nor will he have specific requirements regarding morality, belief, and behavior.

As such, there are no moral absolutes in the New Age. Instead, they claim to have a spiritual tolerance for all “truth systems,” which they call “harmonization.” There is an obvious problem here. To say that there are no moral absolutes is an absolute in itself, which is self-contradictory. Also, if morality is relative, then stealing may be right sometimes, along with lying, adultery, cheating, etc. Living in a world of moral relativism would not bring a promising future.

It would follow that if reality is relative and truth is too, then driving a car would be difficult. After all, if one New Ager thinks the light is red and another thinks it is green, when they collide, their different realities will come crashing down on them. That is something most interesting about New Agers: they don’t live what they believe. That is because, in reality, New Age thinking doesn’t work.

The New Age movement does espouse honesty, integrity, love, peace, etc.—just without the true God. New Agers want to live not on His terms, but on their own.

New Age Terminology

The New Age Movement has its own vocabulary, including such words as: holistic, holographic, synergistic, unity, oneness, harmony, at-one-ment, awakening, networking, energy, consciousness, transformation, personal growth, and human potential. These words are prevalent in New Age conversations and writings. In fact, if you were to scan the titles in a New Age bookstore, you would see that a disproportionate number contain the word “self.”

New Age Practices

Many New Age practices are designed to push New Agers into the new spiritual horizons of evolutionary godhood. These practices include astral projection, which is training your soul to leave your body and travel around; contacting spirits so they may speak through you or guide you; using crystals to purify the energy systems of your body and mind; and visualization, where you use mental imagery to imagine yourself as an animal, in the presence of a divine being, being healed of sickness, etc.

New Agers use various means to have mystical experiences with God and/or nature and/or self. Some of the methods were described in the Dec. 1988 Omni magazine in an article entitled “How to Have a Mystical Experience”: imagining, where you are told to imagine your own reality; transcendence, going beyond the limits of time; sleep deprivation, with the purpose of inducing a mystical experience; focusing, “to experience all of reality as unified and not as a collection of disparate objects”; avoidance, where communication with the outside world is stopped in order to reinterpret the world without its influence on you; identification, “To trade places mentally with a dog or a cat, canary, or animal in the zoo”; reflection, an exercise designed to help you to view the year to come, differently; and star-gazing, “to induce a sense of objectivity about your life and a feeling of connectedness to the rest of cosmos” (pp.137–145).

As you can see, the New Age Movement is a false religious system that contradicts Christianity in almost all of its main tenets. As Christians, we should be watchful to recognize what is false and teach what is true. We should be wary because the Edenic lie still rings strong in the hearts of the deceived—and they want us to believe as they.

Witnessing to New Agers

1. Ask questions. For example, ask them how, if we are divine, our mere ignorant self could so easily override our divine goodness. Also ask if truth contradicts itself. It does not. If we each have our own truth, these different truths can’t ultimately contradict each other—or they wouldn’t be true. The NAM says that Jesus is only one of many ways to God; but Jesus said He is the only way to God (John 14:6). They can’t both be right; therefore, the NAM teaching that we can create our own truths cannot be true.

2. Don’t let them use Christian words out of the context of biblical meaning. New Agers recognize the tremendous influence and spotless reputation of Jesus. They want Him to be associated with their beliefs. As a result, you might find yourself facing New Agers who use Christian words—but with non-Christian definitions. Listen carefully, and question the terms they use. Make sure that what they mean by Christian terms is the same thing that you mean by them.

3. Listen for internal contradictions. Listen to what New Agers are saying and you will hear inconsistencies arise, usually when discussing the relationship between reality and belief. For example, a New Ager might say that you can create your own reality. You might reply, “Good. Then if I believe red lights are really green, would you want to go driving with me?”

Feathers for Arrows

There was once a portion of road on which there were continual fatalities. Drivers, despite warning signs, would speed around a corner and be killed. Finally, one of the local councilmen had a bright idea. He suggested putting a flock of chickens on the side of the road. This was done, and fatalities dramatically dropped. The drivers slowed down for the sake of the chickens.

It would seem that the speedsters saw the danger of speed for chickens, but not for themselves. Why? Because inherent within each of us is this senseless idea that “it will never happen to me.” It’s always the other guy who gets killed; it’s always the other guy who gets cancer. You can be sure that every person who died before us had the “I never thought it would happen to me” attitude.

Questions

1. Why is the NAM difficult to define?
2. How is man viewed in the New Age Movement?
3. How does the New Age Movement view God?
4. Does the NAM believe that people can sin?
5. What is salvation according to the NAM?
6. The New Age Movement is a religious system with two basic beliefs. What are they?

Answers to these review questions are provided in the back of the printed book / source PDF.

Memory Verse

“Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, and he that formed you from the womb, I am the LORD that makes all things; that stretches forth the heavens alone; that spreads abroad the earth by myself.”

Isaiah 44:24

Last Words

It is a matter of lamentation that men know not for what end they were born into the world until they are ready to go out of it.

Sir Thomas Smith, Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth I (died 1577)