By Jason Charles on 5/8/2019 (4 years 348 days ago) New Age & Occult
Thanks to a media obsession, New Age, or should we say Old Age spirituality has fused itself to American culture and life. Even though most still identify as Christian in America, New Age perspectives and ways of thinking about God, the universe, creation, spirituality, and our destiny as humans have shaped our vision and perception on these topics. We can’t even visualize spiritual concepts apart from New Age language and frameworks of description due to their pervasive nature. Virtually everything including evangelical Christianity has been tainted with New Age undercurrents and perspectives as suggested by a Pew research study on the seven categories of spirituality in America,
“New Age beliefs are common, even among Americans who are highly religious in traditional ways. For example, about three-in-ten Sunday Stalwarts believe in psychics, and a similar share say that spiritual energy can be located in physical objects such as mountains, trees and crystals. Smaller shares believe in reincarnation and astrology. Overall, half of Sunday Stalwarts and God-and-Country Believers and nearly all of the Diversely Devout affirm at least one of these four New Age beliefs. One of these items was among the characteristics used to create the groups, and it helps define the boundaries of the two somewhat religious typology groups, as well as the two nonreligious groups: Nearly all of the Spiritually Awake and Religion Resisters believe there is spiritual energy in physical objects, while virtually none of the Relaxed Religious or the Solidly Secular do.” (PewForum.org)
The question is, with so many people now accepting and holding to New Age spirituality and ideas we have to ask how do we begin to witness to these people with often times deeply held beliefs.
A Logical Progression of Reasoning that Demonstrates the God of the Bible
The underlining theme behind all universalist religions such as Hinduism, Shamanism, Buddhism, Mysticism, New Age, etc is we are all simply God experiencing ourselves, we can train our body, mind and spirit to transcend the limits of our physical existence, we are here learning the lessons of our past selves in preparation of some higher plane of existence, and that humanity is headed to an age of spiritual awakening in the very near future.
With this in mind the first major points we have to recognize when talking to someone who demonstrates this view is that they believe at the very least in a higher-power, which is great starting point.
No matter how nebulous this universal power may be in their minds, if you follow this prescribed progression of reasoning even the most entrenched follower of the New Age, must admit the possibility of a self-named, self-revealed and historically active God exists.
Here is a quick logical progression that can easily blow the minds of any New Ager towards Christ. All we do is simply prove how foolish the notion that God is an ambiguous force; or that this force has not expressly named itself, communicated that name, and has been historically present.
When these points are conceded one-by-one over the course of a witnessing conversation you can take a New Ager easily from agnosticism to Biblical fundamentalism simply and effectively.
- Is this universal God consciousness self-aware?
As a person describes their belief that God is an energy, or radiating cosmic force throughout creation simply ask this question, “Is this universal energy or consciousness self-aware? Does it know that it started all creation?” If Yes, move to the next point.
- If aware of itself has this universal force named itself?
We humans name everything including ourselves, labeling oneself and the components of the created world is a compulsion in humans, surely this concept would extend to this higher, universal power, right?
- A self-aware, self-naming universal power?
Has this self-named, creative being interacted with human kind at all in the Historical record? If so, which religious traditions best record God revealing himself to mankind and having an impact on our world?
- Is it possible the Bible is a history of these interaction?
If this creator God has potentially revealed Himself to humankind wouldn’t you want to know why and to what effect?
And just like that with a very simple line of questioning you can take someone from an agnostic viewpoint, to one open to the possibility that a volitional God is intelligently acting on creation. Then seeing evidence of such actions throughout human history, it is very safe to say that the Bible could be a historical record of how an all-powerful creator chooses to interact with His own creation. Giving us His name, preferences towards law, order, and justice, movements within the created order, personal motives and intentions, everything you could possible conceive of in terms of a volitional God becoming active in His own creation is in the Bible.
New Agers hide behind the nebulous nature of words like “universe” or “cosmic consciousness”, these are purposefully used to strip away the personage of the Godhead. A personable God means accountability to God. People like unaccountability and feigned ignorance of His means of communicating to the created order, His laws and judgments, and even his entrance into history as a suffering savior.
It simply is flawed thinking to believe a hyper-intelligent, super-consciousness wouldn’t have a name and method of revelation for its creation. The Bible is without question the most plausible record of these interactions and therefore one would be wise to study the prescriptions of this creator God with the utmost attention.
Work based religions
The other thing to point out here is the un-attainability of enlightenment for any human. The fact is, every New Ager out there will tell you that to find meaning and purpose one must dedicate their lives to meditation and spiritual practices that place you on a path toward absolute knowledge and truth. The emphasis is on the practitioner, a person who without question has no real way of knowing if their crystals, candles, incantations, lucid dreams, psychotropic drug use will ever actually give them enough power and spiritual momentum to beat death and transcend this existence. If it were attainable we would see it on TV, but every spiritual power ever demonstrated by people often prove to be con-artist charlatans that talk a lot of words but fail to demonstrate the powers of their supposed messianic state of heightened awareness.
The New Age religion is nothing more than a fool’s errand given to people by the devil himself. Keep God unknowable, all the while telling you through discipline and self-empowerment you can achieve godhood. This is the oldest lie ever to be circulated among the created order.
Conclusion
By meditating and finding one’s own heart and purpose according to New Agers is how you get to know God. The Bible says otherwise, saying the heart is deceitful above all else.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9
If a New Ager is really honest with themselves, they will quickly find that no matter how much meditation, drug use, spiritual practices, New Age books they read, or gurus they sit under they are still completely subject to their own fallen and wicked habits and nature. Once the temporary euphoria and highs associated with some spiritual practices passes, people are left feeling empty and inadequately far from the promises of enlightenment and peace embedded in every New Age doctrine. They are as wretched as they ever were because all they have done is fill their heads with New Age frameworks of thought and empty promises.
New Agers are dangerous because they literally are enablers for large scale messianic movements. They are most prime towards the acceptance of messianic type charlatans and figures out of all religious groups. Outside of Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism which is replete with messianic personalities, New Age doctrine teaches us to embrace a coming messiah as a core tenant making it susceptible to any and all devilish and anti-christ ambitions of Satan. There is no caution, skepticism, or scrutiny applied to anyone claiming to be of a high-self, and they will embrace any such movement at a moments notice as proof of their knowledge and spirituality.
It is little wonder why the church has been such a target for such teachings. Under the guise of Judaized prophetic teachings, name-it-claim it faith healing, prosperity doctrines, and charismatic power shows the New Age religion has hijacked much of what the Church is now. The church along with the rest of the world is being led into a system of thinking that will embrace a messianic leader in the near future.
We have to remember if God is named, revealed and active in creation then the only thing that matters is what He says and want His method of salvation is. A method which can only be found in the revealed, historically active personage of Christ. God knew we would never be able to attain the devils promises of self-salvation, knowing this He offers us the free gift of salvation in the form of Jesus. It is a beautiful act of Love that transcends the promises and work offered to us in any New Age practice or promise by taking on our failings and redeeming us from our sins. It is His work not ours that brings the promise of salvation to humanity.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
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