N E W A G E
New Age
Historical Aspects
New Age has its modern roots in the Theosophical Society, which was founded in New York in 1875 by Helene Petrovna Blavatsky, a native of Russia. The central teaching of this organisation was and is that all world religions share a truth that transcends potential differences. The members of this organisation believe in the existence of "masters" who are either spiritual beings, or fortunate human beings who are "more highly" developed than the "great masses" - in other words, particularly enlightened persons.
One of the main figures to emerge from the Theosophical Society was Alice A. Bailey (1880-1949), an Englishwoman who emigrated to the USA. She laid the actual foundations of New Age and is considered its high priestess. As a psychic medium, she received messages from a so-called Master of Wisdom, the Tibetan Djwal Khul. These messages, which she wrote down according to the dictates of this being, were published in numerous books. Her secret teachings, which are followed meticulously by New Age circles to this day, are described in the "Plan".
According to the secret instructions, this movement was not to become publicly known until 1975. Then, however, it was to come into the light of the public and fully reveal the fact and essence of the "Plan for the New World Order". Since then, all appropriate media have been used to spread the New Age doctrine worldwide; this was accompanied by the expectation that there would be a New Age Christ. And this then also happened.
In fact, I have recently been encouraged in my intention to write this article by several publications that have appeared in the secular press and consistently represent New Age thought in one form or another. One frequently comes across names such as Marilyn Ferguson, the author of "The Aquarian Conspiracy", and Fritjof Capra, the author of "The Turning Point".
New Age programmes have found their way into the business world and all walks of life, as well as into Christian communities. One tactic followed from the beginning was to gain many sympathisers through a new ecological consciousness. The direction in which this consciousness should go is often influenced by New Age philosophy. For example, Devall and Session, in their book " Deep Ecology", conclude that all organisms and things in the ecosphere are part of an interrelated whole and of equal value. All things in the biosphere have the right to self-realisation. The holistic philosophy of New Age is clearly behind this. This leads to the conclusion that man has his happiness in his own hands, provided he bears in mind that all things are interrelated. He has to integrate himself into this ecosystem, which will guarantee his happiness. Life then no longer consists of a mere satisfaction of the material needs of the body, but requires a physical and mental development to harmonise only with the ecosystem. Self-realisation is the goal and result of this evolution. To achieve this, many methods are offered.
Many seemingly harmless course programmes are available. Healthy eating and fitness, relaxation therapies, especially positive thinking, are often used. All these programmes involve some form of meditation - Yoga, hypnosis, spiritual healing, visualisation, positive thinking. These are all methods in which there is some truth. However, to the extent that they are incompatible with the Christian understanding (e.g. of man's dependence on the Creator God), these methods can open a channel for occult powers in a person and thus cause harm. Especially meditation without the Word of God can become harmful. But to further complicate the understanding of New Age philosophy, Bible verses are often thrown in. Positive thinking in particular often uses passages from the Bible and is therefore presented as faith, despite the non-Christian premise that every person's "primary power" is good (cf. Romans 3:10: "“None is righteous, no, not one;").
With its wide range of offers, New Age draws from many sources. Especially in the field of education and counselling, one encounters methods that have their roots in the anthroposophy of Rudolf Steiner. New Age is very successful in first popularising one area of interest after another and then exploiting it for its own benefit, in order to systematically infiltrate our society. Even children and teenagers are being influenced by New Age ideas through a flood of fantasy games, videos, films, audio cassettes, comics, writings, board games and toys. Films such as "Star Wars" have contributed a lot to the spread of the idea that "masters" guide the destiny of humanity. Many such games have seduced young people into conjuring spirits, trying their hand at clairvoyance, telepathy and telekinesis, moving objects by the power of thought (the Ouija board is one of the most popular games at present). Of course, music is also abused, and highly unpleasant and scary sounds are already generally accepted as being "beautiful". (I would leave out the example here, as it is very well known to many).
Equally striking is the connection of New Age to celebrities who, although not always directly linked to the NA movement, are themselves seeking people who have recognised the necessity of a new beginning for humanity. Sometimes they themselves are members of organisations that are not grounded in Christianity. (E.g.: Pop singer Madonna is among those who believe teachings of a group called "Kabala"; actor Henry Winkler alias "The Fonz" in the well-known film 'Happy Days' belongs to the Scientologists. Actor Tom Cruise is also said to belong to this group).
In this way, New Age ideas about a new humanity that is to be realised without the grace of God, through human effort alone, are successfully spread.
New-Age-Philosophy
The New Age movement strives for a new and perfect world. But to achieve this goal, a "paradigm shift" (a change in conventional thinking) in terms of New Age philosophy must take place. The conventional analytical way of thinking, which corresponds to the linear and mechanistic world view, is replaced by a new, holistic perspective, the belief in the inner interconnectedness of all things. Each individual feels himself or herself to be part of nature and the whole cosmos, as well as a microcosm in the macrocosm. Rational thinking has to give way to synthetic thinking and intuitive knowledge.
New Age philosophy aims at the reconciliation of opposites. Knowledge and occultism are placed on an equal footing. All ethical values collapse: Good and evil no longer exist, everything is one. This explains the tendency towards the synthesis of all religions.
For New Age, man's highest goal is to find happiness. The fear of impending apocalyptic events (fear of death) leads to a flight into a utopian "world society in which there are no more tensions."
The plan, allegedly communicated to Alice Bailey by means of mediumistic dictation, is to establish a new world order, a new world government and a new world religion. The main political goal of New Age is global control. The dissolution of individual states is publicly advocated in the interest of peace. Although world rule is the ultimate goal, there are numerous intermediate goals of a political, social and economic nature of the following content: a universal credit card system, a world food authority, a world tax, recognition of worldwide biological population and disease controls, etc.
While the goals of the New Age may take many forms, from a Christian perspective there seems to be only one goal: Lucifer's inspiration that man is equal to God, that man is God, that there is no sin but only stages of development of human consciousness. Man can achieve his own happiness when he becomes part of the totality of creation. Before that, man must have completed his self-realisation.
To this end, the New Age movement promotes a sceptical and destructive approach to religions that believe in personal immortality.
Resurrection is replaced by reincarnation. The belief that man lives on and his consciousness is absorbed in the Universal Consciousness leads man away from his responsibility to God during his life; leads him away from sin (cf. Rom 5:12) and justification through Jesus' death on the cross. Forgiveness of sins through contrite repentance towards him has no room in such a philosophy. In fact, New Age constitutes a religion.
The concept of this religion is as old as humanity. Many world religions outside the God-given Judeo-Christian revelation have similar or even the same views by which New Age differs significantly from our Christian faith:
1. An impersonal God (power) - not the personal Creator God who is not identical with creation ( cf. Gen 1:1).
2. An eternal universe - not a creation that will have an end (cf. 2 Pet 3:10-13; Mt 5:18)
3. A pseudo-nature of things -contrary to biblical teaching: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.(Gen 1:1) ... God saw that it was good (Gen 1:12) ... Let us make man ... Let them have dominion over the fish, over the birds and over all the animals ..." (Gen 1:26). And again, "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good." (Gen 1:31).
4. A cyclical nature of life - not a linear - historical development.
5. The necessity of reincarnation - unlike what Heb. 9:27 says, "And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment."
6. Man's evolution to divinity - instead of the eternal life obtained for us through Jesus' death and resurrection.
7. Continued revelations by beings from the afterlife - instead of the revelation of God in His Son Jesus, which, once made, is forever.
8. The need for meditation as a means of changing consciousness - instead of contrite repentance of the heart (metanoia) which brings us eternal life.
9. Occult practices (disregarding the divine instruction in Dt 18:10 ff) as a means of acquiring self-realisation - instead of faith in Jesus Christ as the only means of attaining full humanity.
As apart from Christian thought, other philosophical and religious ideas are widespread in the former Christian West, we must expect that New Age ideas will spill over to all parts of society. This is all the more true for countries with a predominantly non-Christian culture, personalities and International Organisations such as the UN, UNESCO, the World Council of Churches, the Club of Rome, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, etc.. These organisations knowingly or unknowingly contribute to the spreading of New Age ideas.