The New Age Movement

The New Age has touched you. You've heard its ideas, listened to its music, viewed its artwork, watched its superstars, read its literature, and bought its products. You may even have participated in its therapies, shared in its rituals, and embraced its philosophies-all without knowing them as New Age.
The New Age spirit is a mysterious and elusive movement. Its broad umbrella covers a diverse and shifting culture that is now in the midst of a change that New Agers believe is potentially as sweeping as the Renaissance or the Protestant Reformation. They believe the world is on the verge of a profound breakthrough. The limited, finite, Old Order will give way to a glorious, unlimited New Order of peace, prosperity, and perfection This radical 'paradigm shift' is to occur as more and more people question traditional assumptions about life, the nature of reality, and the future of the planet.
The New Age consciousness is multifaceted and multi focused. There is not one New Age movement. It is all sorts of things mixed together in a big pot. It is one thing to one person and another thing to another person
It's from the grassroots up . . . a transformation going on everywhere,' said Roland Mick, director of development for the Association of Wholistic Practitioners, a New Age health organisation based in Pittsburgh. , Mick compared the movement to a 'rough gem' that's been discovered by many groups of people. And each group is busy 'polishing a particular facet' of the gem.'
New Age influence has indeed touched every facet of contemporary life. Its popularisers and their beliefs are often visible on your television set, at the movies, in printed horoscopes, or at your local health-food store. Even sports and exercise programs, motivational training, psychological counselling, and religious classes are frequent pipelines for New Age thinking.
Purveyors of New Age thought have found a receptive audience.
Thirty-four million Americans are concerned with inner growth, including mysticism, according to SRI international, an opinion research Organisation in Menlo Park, California. Nearly half of American adults (42%) now believe they have been in contact with someone who has died-up from 27% in a previous national survey eleven years earlier.
Sociologist-priest Andrew Greeley found that still higher percentages of Americans reported having had psychic experiences such as extrasensory perception (ESP)-67% of all adult Americans, or some seventy million. By comparison, 58% said in 1973 that they had experienced ESP.
Roughly 30 million Americans-about one in four-now believe in reincarnation, a key tenet~of the New Age, and 14% endorse the work of spirit mediums, or what New Agers often call 'trance channelers.'
What was paranormal is now normal,' Greeley declared. 'It's even happening to elite scientists and physicians who insist that such things cannot possibly happen.
:National surveys by the Gallup organisation corroborate these findings: paranormal experiences and belief in. New Age suppositions are on the rise, making New Age 'the fastest growing alternative belief system in the country,'
-A 1978 Gallup Poll indicated that 10 million Americans :-were engaged in some aspect of Eastern mysticism and 9 million in spirit healing. And the same polling organisation found that between 1978 and 1984 belief in astrology had risen from 40% to 59% among school children.
In May 1988 the media was abuzz with reports-based on revelations in a book by former White House chief of staff Donald T. Regan-that President and Mrs. Reagan frequently read astrology forecasts and that Nancy Reagan consulted astrologers to help schedule her husband's activities and travel.
The Northern Illinois University survey also reported that more than half of Americans think extraterrestrial-beings have visited Earth, a belief held in many New Age circles.
But this is not just in America. It is happening here too. On our High Streets there are now stores selling crystals and incense and all sorts of the paraphernalia of eastern religion. You see them even in small towns and if there is custom to sustain such a shop in a small town then it must be big business. But it is not just on the High streets but it is in the churches too. Because of a lack of proper teaching many churches have been infiltrated by New Age beliefs. Things such as the power of positive thinking or having a positive mental attitude. Many of the so-called signs and wonders used today also have their origin in eastern religion, So while it is hard to pin the New Age movement down and while we could not hope to deal with it all in one meeting yet I think that is vital that we have some idea of this movement so that we can recognise what is taking place all around us.

I The Beginning of New Age
Although the New Age Movement emerged in the 1970s, it has developed significantly in America and Europe during the 1980s and 1990's. The roots of this movement, however, go back at least to the early 1960s, when Western society was exposed increasingly to Eastern mystical teachings with their occult bias. The New Age Movement also has links with, among others, Transcendentalism, Spiritism, Theosophy, New Thought and Christian Science.
Many young people in the 1960s, including the Beatles regarded the Christian church as both irrelevant and lacking in spiritual vitality, and were fascinated by the teachings of individual gurus from the East and consequently joined groups such as Transcendental Meditation, the Rajneesh Foundation, Zen Buddhism and the Divine Light Mission. However, some people refused to restrict themselves to one particular guru or group. While committed to the basic ideas of these groups, they were especially attracted to the prospect of a new age in which they believed that differences of culture, religion and politics would be replaced by universal love and unity.
Many authorities would say that the New Age Movement can best be dated from 1971. With the relaxing of immigration laws both in the United States and Britain in the preceding decade, Asian religious teachers moved to these countries along with many other immigrants. The result was a major missionary thrust by the Eastern religions towards the West' Various ashrams and centres were established in key areas and in 1971 the East-West Journal was launched by a Boston group. This may have been the 'first national periodical to focus the issues of the New Age Movement'.The same year saw the publication of Be Here Now, by Baba Ram Dass which was the earliest book popularising the ideas of the New Age. Dass's real name is Richard Alpert, a Jew who had been a professor of psychology at Harvard before going to India in search of a guru. By 1972 New Age directories had been issued and groups had been linked together through national networks and periodicals such New Age, New Realities and the Yoga Journal.
Among the early leaders of the movement were Baba Ran. Dass, Marilyn Ferguson, David Spangler, Judith Skutch, Patricia Sun, Sam Keen, Shirley MacLaine and Paul Solomon. Paul Solomon was a Baptist pastor in the United States but is now a committed an. leading teacher in the New Age Movement. He offers seminars. and workshops on subjects such as guided meditation, dream analysis' and master-victim consciousness. Solomon established a group' called Inner Light Consciousness with a community in Virginia' Beach.Another important leader is David Spangler. He served as a leader of the Findhorn community in Scotland for three years before returning to the United States, where he established a New Age community called the Lorian Association near Madison in Wisconsin. In 1976 he published Revelation, the birth of a new age, in which he expressed New Age ideas in popular style. Perhaps even more influential than Spangler is Marilyn Ferguson, who is the editor of two bulletins, Brain mind bulletin and the Leading edge bulletin. What gave her greater prominence was her book, published in 1980, entitled The Aquarian conspiracy, which is regarded as one of the best statements of the beliefs and aims of the movement. Similarly, it was the publication of A course in miracles in 1975 by the new Foundation for Inner Peace which gave prominence to Judith Skutch. This became a popular and well-used study book among New Age groups and between 1975-1985 several hundred groups were established in North America alone.

II The Beliefs of New Age
Basic to the New Age philosophy are two convictions. The first is that all religions and secular systems of thought lead eventually to God. Secondly, they believe that New Age philosophy is superior to all other faiths, including Christianity.The New Age movement has many sub-divisions, but it is generally a collection of Eastern-influenced metaphysical thought systems, a mixture of theologies, hopes, and expectations held together It has a lot to do with "correct thinking," and "correct knowledge." And so we have the political correctness of today It is a theology of "feel-goodism," "universal tolerance," and "moral relativism. In other words nothing is really wrong. It is a matter of your own opinion. Now you do not have to think much to realise how these ideas are at the very heart of society today. If you say that something is wrong people rise up and say that you are being judgmental. They say that it is up to everybody as to the way that they live their lives. That is the New age philosophy"
. One of the things about the NAM like so many of the false religions of today is that in the NAM. Man is central. You will always find in any of the false religions and cults of today that when it comes down to it man is central. In NAM man is viewed as divine, as co-creator, as the hope for future peace and harmony.   "In Egypt, a few bemused camel drivers and tourist guides looked on as a lone young man in white shorts and a glittering shawl danced near the pyramids at Giza. 'I am God, I am God,' he shouted. In 1986 the New York times reported that in seminars and workshops on human potential which they were reporting on one of the key things that was taught ...is that because man is a deity equal to God he can do no wrong; thus, there is no sin, no reason for guilt in life That is what people are being told today. They are being told what the serpent told Eve in the garden of Eden. The Serpent told Eve that if she ate of the forbidden fruit she would be as God. Now the devil is still whispering that in the ears of people and they are falling for it. We said last week that Scientology has a relationship to this. Scientology tells people that if they can get rid of their hang-ups and fears that they will be able to fulfil their full potential. That is what New age is telling people. Get rid of your hangups by meditation or by use of crystals or by yoga or by positive thinking or by a multitude of things and you will be like God.Unfortunately for the NAM the fear they want to be released from might very well be the fear of damnation, of conviction of sin, and it is even, sometimes, fear of Christianity and Christians. Though the NAM. is tolerant of almost any theological position, it is opposed to the "narrow-mindedness" of Christianity that teaches Jesus is the only way and that there are no moral absolutes.
The New Age Movement is really a religious system with two basic beliefs: Evolutionary Godhood and Global Unity. By Evolutionary Godhood they mean that the next step in evolution will be a spiritual one:
They say that man is developing and will soon leap forward into new spiritual horizons. Many New Age practices are designed to push one ahead into that horizon. Some of them are 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 your body's and mind's energy systems; visualisation where you use mental imagery to imagine yourself as an animal, in the presence of a divine being, or being healed of sickness, etc.
Evolutionary Godhood also means that mankind will soon see itself as god, by what they call the"Christ principle. In other words just as Christ recognised himself as God so will we" The NAM. teaches that Man's basic nature is good and divine. Of course the Bible does not say that. It says that we are sinners: Romans 5:12, says 12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
.The Bible says that our nature is corrupt: Ephesians 2:3 says Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Many New agers also believe in Reincarnation Though not all New Agers adhere to reincarnation, most believe in some form or another. And, many believe the Bible was changed to remove any verses that might have taught reincarnation. But this accusation only shows the limitation of their knowledge. The Bible never had any references to reincarnation.
Reincarnation opposes the Word of God which says that it is appointed unto man to die once, but after this the judgment (Heb. 9:27).
The second major element of the New Age Movement is Global Unity which consists of three major divisions:Man with Nature; Man with Man and Man with God. ;
First of all there is to be unity of Man with nature Since the NAM. says that God is all, and all is God, then nature is also part of God. 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, on nature, and 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 different than our cousin the animal, bird, or fish. We must live in harmony with them, understand them, and learn from them, is the general philosophy of the New Age. That is why you have animal rights people who will kill people to protect animals This is opposed to the Scriptural teaching of man's superiority over animals (Gen. 1: 26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
This does not mean that Man must abuse what he is over, but Man is given the responsibility of caring for and being stewards of God's creation (Gen. 2:15). God will hold Christians responsible for the stewardship that has been entrusted to them. but the creation is not equal to man. But that is the New Age philosophy. The New Agers actually have a name for the earth. It is Gaia. Gaia is to be revered and respected. Some New Agers even worship the earth and nature. Now we have nothing against protecting the environment or being kind to animals or any of those things but I want you to see that there is a religious philosophy behind many of the things we see today and it is a devilish and a pagan philosophy and that is why we need to be careful The Scripture says we are not to have any other Gods before God (Ex. 20:3).
The Second kind of global unity the NAM is looking for is that of Man with man. The NAM teaches that we will all learn our proper divine relationship with one another and achieve harmony and mutual love and acceptance through the realisation and acceptance of this divine proper knowledge. Within this hoped harmony is economic 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, a one world religion. The New Age hope is reminiscent of the Scriptures that speak of the coming Antichrist:
2 Thess. 2:3-4, " Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. What the New Agers are looking for is one who will come and be a leader and unite the world,. That is the real New Age they are looking for
The third goal of the NAM is the unity of 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 realise our own goodness. It is obvious that this contradicts Scriptures, c.f., Rom. 3:10-12: "As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."

III The Blunder of the New AGE
The greatest blunder of the New age movement is to try and live without God. At the moment man with this philosophy is trying to do just that and what is happening. Things are going from bad to worse. Crime is increasing and morality is becoming a thing of the past. If things go on the way they are at the moment we are heading for greater and greater disaster. Living to the philosophy that there are no moral absolutes man is proving him to be more than a devil than a god. The more he adheres to this the more base he becomes. We have only to look at the media and the television to see how things have declined. Man has always tried to live without God but there is always a consequence and the ultimate consequence is that he perishes in a Christless Hell. Man was made to glorify God and enjoy fellowship with the one and only God and since he has sinned and been separated from God the only way that purpose can be fulfilled is when man turns to Christ the redeemer and is washed in his own precious blood. The Lord Jesus purchased our redemption on Calvary and what you need to do is turn to Him for salvation. You are not god but a sinner but Christ can cleanse your sin and make you fit for heaven. Turn to Him tonight.