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Index To All Six Sections
General Beliefs
It has to be emphasized that although the New Age Movement professes a broad-minded openness to all religions, it strenuously opposes virtually all Christian beliefs. For example,
God, Most New Agers believe that 'god' is an impersonal life force, consciousness or energy, present in all creation, including man. And because "god" is an abstract concept 'He' is often referred to as God-consciousness, Self-Realization, The I AM, Higher Self etc. And just to keep us peasants thoroughly confused, whether one sees 'god' as mother or father, god or goddess is a matter of personal preference. This god does not actually "do" anything, He just is.
The Scriptures are crystal clear that there are no gods beside God the Father...
"You are My witnesses," declares the Lord, "And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. (Isaiah 43:10 NASB)
"Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me. (Isaiah 44:6 NASB)
"Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, 'My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure'; (Isaiah 46:9-10 NASB)
And that God is a living Being who loves (ex. John 3:16), communicates (ex. Exodus 3:13-15), has a will (ex. 1 John 2:17), knows everything there is to know (ex. Isaiah 37:28-29), and controls the destiny of the world (ex. Isaiah 46:10)
Religion All religions and religious teachings lead to the same goal. All are equally of merit. There are many different paths to the goal of spiritual perfection. No one path is the only correct path. Again, this does not make logical sense. Virtually all religions and belief systems contradict each other on major points. See Religious Pluralism
Jesus was a man who evolved spiritually to the state of being "the Christ".. In other words, He was more in touch with his godhood than most humans are. After illustrating the divine principle of "God within us all," Jesus ascended to a place of distinction to live among the Masters of the Spiritual Hierarchy. He is one of many ascended masters - a way-shower, whose function is to awaken humanity and illumine the path. Some believe the apostles got Jesus' message wrong and/or deliberately added teachings and requirements not endorsed by God. Again... I have to wonder how anyone could possibly know this. I strongly suggest you read Motive... Did the Gospel Writers Intend To Record History, Or Did They Have A Hidden Agenda? DETAILS
Sin And Evil: Because there is no transcendent God who has set the standard, there is no absolute good or evil and no rules or absolute moral imperatives. Because sin does not exist, there is no need for repentance or forgiveness. Man's problem is that he is lacking in enlightenment, and needs to become conscious of his "inner divinity." This directly contradicts Biblical teachings that men are sinners who need a savior and must be disciples of Christ in order to inherit eternal life. See Sin
Satan: Many in the New Age world believe satan to be a mighty being of light who has made tremendous sacrifices for the good of mankind... specifically, to help us evolve and reach our full potential. Here are a few examples of what some prominent New Agers say
Blavatsky: In The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky said "Lucifer was really the first Archangel who was transformed by the church into Lucifer or Satan because he is higher and older than Jehovah, and had to be sacrificed to the new dogma. [26]
Lucis Trust: In discussing the original name of the organization, Lucis Trust says, "The Baileys' reasons for choosing the original name ("Lucifer Publishing Company") are not known to us, but we can only surmise that they, like the great teacher H.P. Blavatsky, for whom they had enormous respect, sought to elicit a deeper understanding of the sacrifice made by Lucifer". [27]
Benjamin Creme, a leading lecturer and proponent of the New Age literally equates him with God, and says we are all a part of the "divine" Lucifer.
Lucifer is the name of a great Angel, not an upstart in heaven who revolted against God and was put down into the nether regions as the Devil. That is a complete misinterpretation. Lucifer means light, and comes from the Latin lux, lucis, meaning light. It is the name of the Angel Who ensouls the human kingdom; every person, therefore, is a fragment of Lucifer. [28]
David Spangler: In his book Reflections on the Christ David Spangler, a new age philosopher and author tells his followers that,
"Lucifer, like Christ, stands at the door... and knocks." Also "Lucifer comes to give to us the final gift of . If we accept it then he is free and we are free. This is the Luciferic initiation. It is one that many people now, and in the days ahead, will be facing, for it is an initiation in the New Age." [29]
The Bible
As pastor Gregory Koukl put it "Christians are made to look like the local yokels that really don't know the truth and the truth is that the Bible is a bunch of malarky, myths and made-up stories to make us feel better about life after death ... narrow-minded, provincial types, the fundamentalists who just haven't caught up with twentieth century scholarship". See Jesus Plain And Simple Also The Birth of Christ - Hype of History?
However, every difference listed (and some that aren't) comes down to one question - The reliability of the Bible. Most New Agers believe that it is just another holy book but, on the whole, cannot be trusted since it has been tampered with over the centuries, the victim of innumerable additions and deletions.
I wonder how they know this when much of it is written by someone whose sole qualifications are that he/she has an opinion, and access to the internet. On the other hand, as Apologetics Press so rightly points out...
"men who have literally spent their lives poring over ancient Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, devoting their lives to meticulous, tedious analysis of the evidence, conversant with the original languages, without peer in their expertise and qualifications, have concluded that the Bible has been transmitted accurately". See Academia’s Asinine Assault on the Bible.
See The Bible... Then And Now
Not only do the number of manuscript copies of the New Testament far surpass the number of copies of any other ancient document, but the New Testaments 6,000 full, or partial, Greek manuscripts, the roughly 8,000 Latin translations, the copies and fragments in various other languages, and the copious quotes by early church writers, make the New Testament the best authenticated ancient document... miles ahead of any of the others. Additionally, the length of time between the original Biblical document and the earliest copies is the shortest, by far, of any ancient writing.
Besides which the very authorship of the Bible makes it impossible to account for upon ordinary principles. See Authorship of the Bible
As far as alleged discrepancies are concerned, I have to ask you if you can actually, off the top of your head, name even one? Or are you relying on what 'so and so said'. The vast majority of alleged discrepancies arise from a shallow and incomplete understanding of the book. As shown above, well known New Age leaders assume Lucifer is another name for Satan. However, had they done their homework they would have known that the name "Lucifer" does not exist in either the original Hebrew text. See Is Lucifer Another Name For Satan?
Most skeptics do not bring to the Bible the powers of comprehension and understanding, that they would bring to a reading of the average newspaper, often assuming that because something is unexplained, it is unexplainable. They rarely take into account that the Bible was written in another time and culture (s), a basic understanding of both required to understand much of what is written in it's pages.
Study The Subject For Yourself
The Bible does not spoon feed anyone. It takes time, effort and study... things that a generation accustomed to 30 second sound bites is rarely willing to do. But the link below is for those who have even the slightest interest in pursuing a matter which has eternal consequences. However, it is detailed and could take a while to get through to get through.
Choose Life That You Might Live
Many, if not most, non-Christians assume that Christianity is a "blind faith"... that Christians ignore reality and have unquestioning loyalty to an absolute belief system without proof or evidence. In fact, that they believe contrary to all evidence and facts. Much to the contrary, the Christian faith is a commitment based on evidence. The Judeo-Christian faith consistently stresses the importance of truth, and makes appeal to evidence to support it's truth claims. In fact, it is actually quite remarkable as to how many times, God, Jesus, and the prophets of both the Old and New Testaments, appealed to facts to support what they said and taught. This evidence includes the Bible's humanly impossible authorship, its candor about the faults and failings of it's main characters, fulfilled prophecy, and its archaeological and scientific accuracy... none of which are seen in the books of other religions.
However, the Christian position only asks that the same criteria used to judge the truth of other ancient documents, that told us about historical people and events, be applied to the Bible. Bias aside, the question that must be honestly answered is whether or not the New Testament records fulfill the historian's requirements of internal, external and transmissional reliability. In other words, when were the Gospel accounts written, were they authored by the people whose name they bear, did the authors intend to record history, or did they have a hidden agenda? Finally, can we be reasonably certain that the text we have to today is what was originally written.
God's kingdom... His gift of eternal life, while free, does not come cheap. You do not attain "enlightenment" by fifteen minutes of chanting "Ohmmm", but obtain eternal life by belief in Him and in what He has done and will do for you and a lifelong commitment to His ways.
And why is this important? Simply because far from being outdated, out of touch, and largely irrelevant to modern society, the Kingdom of God Jesus was sent to earth to proclaim (No, His main message wasn't about love) is exactly the utopian world most men and women can only dream of.
The Message of The Bible
All too many people picking out a random phrase or two, think 'love' was Jesus' core message. Unfortunately, they are terribly wrong... In fact, Jesus never stopped talking about the "kingdom of God", which phrase is used over 50 times in the four Gospels alone. He even said that the proclamation of the Kingdom was the reason He was sent to earth (Luke 4:43). But what and where is this kingdom? Here is what is few realize... the Bible's description of this kingdom of God (also called heaven) is no pie in the sky ethereal place 'somewhere out there' but matches in every respect, the world most men and women would choose to live in. A place of peace and safety, where there is no crime, hunger and disease, war and above all... no death. Far from being outdated, out of touch, and largely irrelevant to modern society, Christianity promises exactly the utopian world humanity can only dream of. Unless, of course, your idea of paradise is "an ineffable transcendental state" (whatever that means).
However, there is also a warning. The Bible very clearly tells us that we all have a choice to make in this life - the most important decision we will ever make. And, if the Bible is indeed the word of God as it claims to be, and Jesus is the Son of God as He said He was, the consequences for the individual who chooses to ignore, or counter the evidence with clever arguments, will be fatal.
And if you actually get through any of the above and now have reason to believe that the Bible is not the bunch of malarkey you once thought it to be, then it is time to read the information on sin, repentance, salvation and the coming kingdom of God... which is the whole point of the Scriptures. The Heart of The Matter
Remember one thing the Father said to the Israelites
Therefore thus says the Lord God, 'Because you have made your heart Like the heart of God, Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon you, The most ruthless of the nations. And they will draw their swords Against the beauty of your wisdom And defile your splendor. 'They will bring you down to the pit, And you will die the death of those who are slain In the heart of the seas. 'Will you still say, "I am a god," In the presence of your slayer, Though you are a man and not God, In the hands of those who wound you? 'You will die the death of the uncircumcised By the hand of strangers, For I have spoken!' declares the Lord God !"'" (Ezekiel 28:6-10 NASB)
Nothing has changed
Also See The Deification Of Man
Intellectual Dishonesty
However, claiming that the Bible is not to be trusted, does not stop people from embracing parts of the Bible, while rejecting the rest. They decide what is good for them and reject what curtails their freedom. This is not only dishonest, but self serving in the extreme.
For example Eric Butterworth claimed that two thousand years ago a man named Jesus found and shared the secret of divinity (see Chapter II). The only source that tells us that Jesus lived two centuries ago is the Bible. Quite apparently, Butterworth believed this, but then proceeded to ignore everything else the New Testament said about what He said and did on earth. This is carrying cherry picking to the extreme - use the parts that suit you - discard the rest.
Similarly, in his book The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom, Benjamin Creme says...
It is an enormous, and embarrassing, claim to have to make - that the Christ is giving messages through oneself. But is people can rid their minds of the idea of the Christ as some sort of spirit, sitting in 'heaven' as God's right hand; if they can begin to see Him as indeed He is, a real and living man (albeit a Divine man - Who has never left the world; Who descended, not from 'heaven', but from His ancient retreat in the Himalayas, to complete the task He began in Palestine; as a great Master; an Adept and Yogi; as the chief actor in a Gospel Story which is essentially true, but much simpler than hitherto presented; if people can accept that possibility, the the claim to receive telepathic communications from such a closer and more knowable Being is also, perhaps, more acceptable. In any case, I leave it to a study of the quality of the Messages themselves to convince or otherwise. [30]
The problem here is that the only way we know that Christ preached the gospel message in Palestine, is from the Bible. Yet, Creme is willing to accept that the Bible was truthful about that, but lied about other details of Christ's life and death. The very same books that tell us that Christ preached in Palestine, also tell us that the Savior has already come, and He is the only way to the Father.
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11 NASB)
"He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18 NASB)
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. [John 14:6 NASB)
Again, so many are all too happy to believe Benjamin Creme when he says Jesus "descended, not from 'heaven', but from His ancient retreat in the Himalayas", and "never left the world". But once more, these very books tell us that He came from heaven, ascended back into heaven after His resurrection and will, in future, return in the same way He left.
"No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. (John 3:13 NASB)
And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven." (Acts 1:10-11 NASB)
There is no intellectually honest way to carve up Biblical texts according to ones own liking and spiritual preferences.
Incidentally, when Christ does return, he will not do so surreptitiously, but it will be an event that every person in the world will see.
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. (Revelation 1:7 NASB)
And the "every eye" will include Benjamin Creme, Neale Donald Walsch, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Eckhart Tolle, and the so called "Ascended Masters".
Continue on To Part V - Our Extreme Gullibility HERE
End Notes. Part IV
Unless Otherwise Stated, All URLs were accessed in February 2018.
[26] Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.The Secret Doctrine Paperback. Publisher: Tarcher; abridged edition annotated edition edition (
July 23, 2009) Pg. 71
[27] Lucis Trust. The Esoteric Meaning of Lucifer.
https://www.lucistrust.org/arcane_school/talks_and_articles/the_esoteric_meaning_lucifer
[28] Benjamin Creme. Ageless Wisdom teachings and spirituality. Basic tenets FAQ.
http://www.share-international.org/archives/agelesswisdom/faq_basic.htm
[29] David Spangler. Reflections on the Christ, p. 45 As quoted in Lucifer Rising - Part 2: by Carl Teichrib.
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/2002/carl-teichrib/lucifer2.htm
[30] Benjamin Creme. Maitreya's public messages.. http://www.share-international.org/background/bcreme/BC_work.htm
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