Well, imagine a captivating cocktail of spiritual beliefs, self-help techniques, and alternative philosophies, all wrapped up in a shiny package promising personal enlightenment, fulfillment, mastery of the self and the ability to tap into the spiritual.
The New Age Movement
Has anyone ever told you that you have the power to change your own destiny or even to find happiness? That everything you need comes from within you? Have you ever practiced yoga, or meditation? Have you witnessed a significant rise in certain practices such as the use of crystals, dream catchers, burning sages, horoscopes, use of mediums, tarot cards, ouija boards, yoga , mediation, sound healing, astrology etc. All these are examples and concepts, and practices popularized by the New Age Movement.
There is one thing that stands out from new-age beliefs and practices, and it’s the fact that they represent the incorporation of different ideas and beliefs (pluralism).
Another element that stands out is that these beliefs, concepts, and practices represent a significant departure from fundamental Christian beliefs.
Why is the New Age Movement Pervasive Now
The development of the New Age Movement is linked to secularization and decreasing popularity of traditional religious movements. People became disillusioned by the churches that failed to meet their spiritual needs. Big churches’ past and present crimes came to light, further decreasing their popularity. As Christians in religious institutions seek help and guidance from God and the holy teachings of the Bible, the New Agers consult spirits through witchcraft and cultism to come to their rescue.
New Agers reject the authority of spiritual texts like the Bible. The lie begins with an emphasis on the self and discovering the truth through their own will. This encourages the New Agers to seek perfection within themselves instead of trusting the word of God through wisdom from the Holy Bible, where Jesus taught,
‘I am the way, the truth, and light’ John 14: 6.
Self seeking efforts are based on the lie that there is something beyond what God has revealed that people can find out for themselves. This is one of the primary ways that the devil drives a wedge between people and God. That they can trust in themselves and their own understanding and not God. by driving them away from God they are then introduced to a mixture of other beliefs and practices that push them towards witchcraft and cultism.
There cannot be two truths; therefore, one is a lie, and the underlying fact about the New Age movement is that it represents efforts to move away from Christian values and Biblical teachings. The new age movement represents a significant departure from the primary Biblical principle of complete trust in God. You can believe in anything else but not God.
The beliefs and practices explore the breaking of the first and second commandments:
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
The new age beliefs and practices represent disobedience to God because they propose a belief system that departs from God’s will. The movement, therefore, differs from Christian teachings in different ways.
- Therefore, the new age movement has no centralized authority and draws its influence from many other beliefs and practices from different parts of the world. This is different from Christianity, whose source of authority is the Bible which represents the word of God.
- In the new age movement, God is viewed as an energy and an impersonal force that exists everywhere and, therefore, permeates all things. According to religion, people have the ability to tap into the divine essence and energy for enlightenment as well as physical and spiritual growth. This differs from Christianity, which holds a monotheistic belief in one personal God distinct from the creation. God is eternal and exist beyond time, space and matter.
- The concept of salvation and the afterlife in the New Age movement is based on spiritual development through inner transformation and self-realization. However, the movement also adopts different beliefs of the afterlife that come from adopting beliefs from other religious practices such as reincarnation, the transformation into energy, and, therefore, merging with a universal energy system.
- It is important to understand that in the New Age movement, individuals have the ability to create their own reality by empowering their thoughts. Sin and redemption, therefore, do not apply because there is no absolute source of authority, and therefore, people rely on their own strength to find happiness and purpose in life. However, this is part of the enemy’s plan, which is to incept the idea that there is no God and that people can do whatever they want.
The basis of the new age movement begs the question of what is the role of Jesus. Jesus Christ plays a central role in Christianity as the son of God who came to reverse the fall of humanity by saving people from sin. Salvation is, therefore, a fundamental element of Christianity, and it only comes through faith in Jesus Christ, where people can attain eternal life only through God’s grace. God’s grace, in this case, means that salvation is a free gift to humanity, and they can access it by having faith in Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice provided an opportunity for humanity to reconcile with God.
A departure from the full trust and belief in God through His Son Jesus Christ is idolatry and based on the examination of the fundamentals of the new age, which prioritize the self above everything else, result in idolatry.
In the new age movement, people seek the freedom to pick and mix those spiritual beliefs and practices which they feel best to help them achieve peace of mind and realize their full human potential, and this is based on their own will rather than God’s will. Individuals in the New Age Movement are united in their rejection of belief in one all-powerful God but, instead, the belief in a god based on their own liking. They are against the fact that God is holy, eternal, the Creator of all things and source of all authority.
Deuteronomy 18:10-12: “Let no one is found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spirits or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord.”
In this verse, it is clear that God wanted a separation between the people of Israel and the people of the world and their practices. The verse also provides a stern warning against engaging in such practices, and this is because these practices lead people to contact evil forces that can put them in danger.
Leviticus 19:31, “Do not turn to mediums or seek out spirits, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God”.
This is a verse that emphasizes the need to trust God alone. He should be our sole source of hope in this life; therefore, we should not rely on other avenues. New age practices and beliefs provide multiple physical, emotional, and spiritual growth avenues. They represent what God explicitly warns us about.
It is important to understand why the New Age movement and its practices are so pervasive now and also in the past.
In the book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, the emphasis on the different practices highlight a strong influence on the people of Israel. This is mostly explored by their faith and worship of idols.
The Old testaments have multiple examples of the influences of beliefs and practices that characterize today’s new age movement. The worship of Baal, who was a Canaanite go represents a prevalent issue that faced Israelites. God warned them to maintain a strong separation from the Canaanites, and this is because of the influence of their religion, which includes gods such as Baal. This worship is considered pagan in nature and involves the worship of nature and its element.
The practices associated with the worship of Baal were strongly condemned. The Bible highlights the falsehood of pagan worship that emphasizes worshipping creation rather than the Creator and highlights the fundamental issues with the new age movement that elevates creation higher than the Creator.
Romans 1:25 states, “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
This verse sheds light on the lie and confirms the concerns of God associated with the need to understand that the worship and trusting of other gods will cause defilement.
Fortune telling and divination was also a major problem that affected. They were always enticed to trust them and seek information from them. However, the Bible also highlights the major risks associated with taking part in these practices.
The book of Acts 16:16-18 explores a situation where Paul is tasked with rebuking and freeing a girl from a spirit of divination. This instance demonstrates that engaging in most new-age practices opens doors to evil spirits.
What is Inclusion, pluralism and how does it relate to syncretism
One of the critical aspects of the new age movement is the inclusion of all people from all walks of life into one system of religious belief. However, this form of inclusion is dangerous because inclusion is used to mask an important lie that all religious beliefs and values can should be tolerant of one another and, therefore, coexist.
However, this idea goes against the principles of the Bible, including the command that people should only have one God, who is the God of the Israelites. They should also stay clear of other practices because they will cause defilement.
The new age movement does not operate based on the above command and warning and instead encourages incorporating different beliefs. Inclusion, tolerance, and pluralism seem to be the foundation of this religious movement; the danger is that it leads to mixing. Syncretism in Christianity and other beliefs is a problem that the Israelites faced. They believed they could combine their worship of Asherah and their Worship of Yahweh.
However, God strongly forbade this amalgamation of worship because it represents a strong form of spiritual adultery and departure from God, which leads to condemnation.
Deuteronomy 32: 16-17 clearly shows that what the new age religious movement proposes is demonic and provokes God.
“They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods;
With abominations, they provoked Him to anger.
They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
To gods, they did not know,
To new gods, new arrivals
That your fathers did not fear.”
This is also confirmed by 1 Corinthians 10:20, which states,
“Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.”
The new age movement has become very influential in global society. Globalization means that there is significant sharing of cultures, ideas, values, and beliefs. This movement, therefore, strongly thrives in this age. Israelites were warned by God concerning strongly mingling with Canaanites because of the risk of influence from them.
They worshipped idols, sought mediums, tied to talk to the dead, practiced witchcraft, and many other practices that characterize the new age movement today. It is important to understand that this movement encourages disobedience and represents a strong departure from Jesus Christ. The movement promises peace through Inclusion, tolerance, pluralism, and syncretism. However, these promises push for a one-world religion that promotes an anti-Christ system of religious belief.
The New Age Movement is the greatest enemy of Christianity. Being a member of this movement is like having a direct ticket to hell. The Bible is very clear about the risks of spiritual adultery that characterize these practices. The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. He is also the deceiver of the world. The pervasiveness of the movement and the fact that it represent strong contradictions from Gods will means that it can only come from the devil. The Bible especially in the old testament highlights many instances of disobedience based on practices that characterize the new age movement today. They also show God’s judgement because of disobedience.
God warned the Israelites and warns us now. We should put all our trust in Him through Jesus Christ, for us to receive the promise of eternal life.
