In the last instalment of our discussion, we have considered the basics of the New Age Movement. According to the New Age Movement, all of nature can be worshipped as god and should be worshipped as god. It is with this very mindset that the New Agers believe all religions lead to the same goal: spiritual enlightenment.

(Continues with Theology of the New Age Occultism)

All religions lead to the same goal

Throughout the ages, Satan has been the arch-enemy of God’s people and God’s plan of salvation for mankind, though he can only act within God’s permissive will. What many of us do not realise is that his primary tactic in opposing God’s plan is not to foster atheism, but religion, the religion of self. Satan does not try to prove that there is no God but to promote the worship of self. In view of this fact, essentially there is no pure form of atheism because it is ultimately a form of self-worship. Free-thinkers also are not “free” either. The human mind is either enslaved by sin (Rom. 6:6,7) or freed by God’s grace to serve righteousness. (Rom. 6:22) For that matter, the yet-to-come Anti-christ will not deny that there is no god, but he will demand the whole earth to worship him as god (2 Thess 2:4). An unconverted man may choose to worship whoever and whatever he wishes in the sin of idolatry (Rom 1:21-22) but it eventually leads to self-worship and self-destruction (Rom 1:24-28). Self-worship is also the essence of occultism and Satanism (Gen 3:3b; Ezek. 28:2,9; Rev. 13:4,13). Lord Maitreya who is regarded by the New Agers as “Christ, the Messiah,” “the Imam Mahdi,” “Krishna” and “the Fifth Buddha” says, "I have not come to found a new religion. I have come to teach the art of Self-realization. Something which is neither an ideology nor a religion, but benefits people of all religions and those who have none.” Strangely enough, one of the most influential evangelical leaders in our days also made a shocking yet uncomfortably similar statement, “….everybody that loves Christ, or knows Christ, whether they\'re conscious of it or not, they\'re members of the Body of Christ… whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing world, they are members of the Body of Christ….They may not even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their hearts that they need something that they don\'t have, and they turn to the only light that they have, and I think they are saved, and that they\'re going to be with us in heaven." (Source: Television interview of Billy Graham by Robert Schuller. Part 1, an approximately 7-minute-long broadcast in Southern California on Saturday, May 31, 1997) Considered the above, it is not an overstatement to say that the “ecumenical movement” is essentially “New Age Occultism” repackaged. Therefore, God’s people should have no part in the satanically-inspired ecumenical movement.

Anthropology and Soteriology of New Age Occultism

New Age anthropology: no sin and eternal judgement

In order to understand the New Age Movement better, we need to understand its anthropology and Soteriology. The former refers to the doctrines pertaining to man and the latter refers to the doctrines of man’s salvation. New Agers deny the existence of sin. This naturally leads them to also deny the existence of eternal judgement in hell then in the lake of fire. Why do they deny the existence of sin? Undoubtedly it is because the New Agers’ god, the universe itself, is alleged to be beyond good and evil. It is likened to the Chinese cosmic philosophy of “Yin” and “Yang” – each opposing force stands in equal strength to the other. Man is supposedly believed to be part of and connected with the greater universe; therefore, man cannot be born with sin, but is born neutral and sinless and subjected to good and bad influences in the society. Interestingly, this philosophy complements seamlessly well with the core philosophy of modern-day psychology popularised by Dr. Sigmund Freud, Dr. Carl Rogers and Dr. B.F. Skinner. If the New Ageism was true, man does not need a Saviour, and Christ has died in vain and his followers would not need to evangelize to the lost— because no one is ever “lost” who needs to be freed from the bondage of sin and be delivered from eternal damnation. The word of God rightly says, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death”? (Prov 14:12) The New Agers definitely have found a way which seems right to them – but it is the way of death!

Do New Agers believe in a “saviour”? Not quite, but a great “Enlightener”. Nevertheless, depending on which branch of the New Age movement one encounters, there may or may not be a great world leader who will emerge to lead mankind to “enlightenment”. Some New Agers await the advent of the “Lord Maitreya,” the supposed coming Buddha, Cosmic Christ, Planetary Buddha, and the Great Initiator. While others believe mankind will all become so godlike that he will not need any spiritual leaders, the Bible predicts an age when God is going to permit Satan to actually rule in person on this earth through Anti-christ. The Apostle John forewarns his readers, “1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” (1 Jn. 4:1-3) If a great New Age leader is to emerge, it is very likely that he will be the Anti-christ who would lead the world into terrible and final rebellion against God but eventually would be destroyed along with his blind followers!

New Age Soteriology: man is his own saviour

What is New Agers’ Soteriology? It basically teaches that man is his own saviour. This is because New Ageism embraces supernaturalism and ascribes it to the creature, not the Creator as Paul condemns in Romans 1:22-24. They flaunt the “I am God concept” as it naturally appeals to man\'s ego and thirst for power – an appeal as old as the Garden of Eden, where Satan promised Eve: Ye shall be as gods! (Gen 3:5b) It is no wonder that Mormonism is one of the fastest growing religions in the world today! Mormonism teaches that man is his own saviour because man is his own god! As of 2007, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormons, claims membership of a little more than 13 million worldwide. Mormon membership has increased ten-fold in the last fifty years. This means in the last fifteen years, an average of eight hundred people have joined the Church of Mormons every day! Most unfortunately, these false christs and false prophets will deceive many more to follow their damnable doctrine! As the Lord warned the scribes and Pharisees of old, the same applies to the New Agers and those who preach the satanic gospel today, “Woe unto you…for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” (Matt. 23:15)

What is the goal of the New Age Movement? In a nutshell, the goal of the New Ageism is to cause people to rebel against the one true God of the Bible and to believe that man can be his own saviour! With a mind already clouded, confused and darkened by sin man will, unfortunately, then be called for greater service to the Prince of Darkness believing that he can save himself and encouraging others to save himself. The word of God predicted this thousands of years ago. The Lord gives us many definite signs that point to His second coming—one of the signs of the end time is the increasing number of false Christs and false prophets who preach the santanic gospel of “ye shall be as gods”! (Matt. 24:24) How often do we hear people, even Christians say, “you must believe in yourself,” “you must trust yourself”? Or, have we ever heard people say, “I am finding myself in the desert” or “I am going into the jungle of Africa to find myself.” Man can never become a god no matter how hard he tries; neither can he find anything in him that would save himself or satisfies his wretched and sinful soul which needs God’s grace! Nevertheless, the New Agers would like us to believe otherwise. In order to confound even the elect, Satan has even come up with counterfeit bibliology and pneumatology of New Ageism. What is the bibliology and pneumatology of the New Age Movement? We will consider this in the next article.

Ps Weng

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