INTRODUCTION

    A. The New Age Movement has permeated the society in which we live. 

        1. In times past the Movement was characterized by a promotion of the
            bizarre which trig-gered some resistance.  Russell Chandler, author of
            Understanding The New Age, said that as a result of the resistance
            “behind the scenes . . . New Age thinkers quickly realized they needed
            to evolve and become more respectable.  Thus, the fads have faded, but
            key New Age principles are now part of the cultural landscape.” 

        2. Dick Sutphen “also emphasizes that once the occult and New Age
            terminologies are re-moved, these ideas become acceptable to the
            general public.” 

    A. Christians need to be aware of the teachings of this movement so they may
         compare them to Bible Truth and not be influenced to leave God and turn
         to self.

    B. A brief study such as this cannot do justice to the scope of the movement. 
        We can only hope to spark some interest for further study.

DISCUSSION

  I. WHAT IS THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT?

    A. Marilyn Ferguson describes this movement as a “leaderless but powerful
         network” which “promotes the autonomous individual in a decentralized
         society.” 

    B. Douglas Groothuis defines the adherents of this movement as “a
        constellation of like-minded people and groups all desiring a spiritual and
        social change that will usher in a New Age of self-actualization.” 

    C. Elliot Miller summarizes the movement as “an extremely large, loosely
         structured network of organizations and individuals bound together by
         common values (based in mysticism and monism—the world view that “all
         is one”) and a common vision (a coming “new age” of peace and mass
         enlightenment, the “Age of Aquarius”).” 

    D. D. A. Carson states that “the aim is . . . to grow in self-awareness and
         self-fulfillment, to become self-actualized, to grow to our full potential, until
         we are rather more at one with the god/universe than we would otherwise
         be.  The focus, in short is self…” 

    E. Dennis McCallum defines New Age Mysticism as a “diverse assortment of
        modern mysticism, ranging from the occult to traditional Eastern and
        Native American spiri-tuality.” 

    F. Gary DeMar says that in “the case of the New Age Movement, pagan
        philosophies have merely been reformulated.”   He further observed that
        “what’s being sold to the West today as the “New Age Movement” is a
        repackaged, Madison Avenue approach to Eastern thought forms.” 

    G. Randall Baer, a member of the New Age Movement for 15 years and one
         who rose to nationwide fame as an expert on crystal power, wrote:
         "Essentially, it is a Satan-controlled, modern-day mass revival of
         occult-based philosophies and practices in both obvious and cleverly
         disguised forms.” 

    H. In describing a “psychic faire” which took place in San Rafael, California,
         The Gwinnett Daily News on Thursday, August 31, 1989, on page 21A
         reported:

     It is a fair that surely is out of this world, even by the stratospheric stan-dards of higher consciousness in Marin County.  The card games are all tarot and the rides are said to take you all the way to the farthest edges of the astral plane, where you can free-fall through an out-of-body experi-ence and get grounded in one of a dozen or so past lives – all without leav-ing your folding chair.  There are touchy-feely booths where you can plumb your own space, raise your kundalini energy and determine the color of your aura.  And there are the workshops on bloodless Philippine-style miracle healings, achieving your goals in ‘this life-time’ and the ever-popular demonstrations of trance channeling – the eerie act of conjur-ing voices from the spirit world.  Yes, the energy is flowing at the Psychic Faire in the sprawling Marin County Civic Center, where hundreds of practitioners of New Age spirituality have assembled to test their sixth-sense strengths.

  II. THE HISTORY OF THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT.

    A.  This movement has its roots in transcendentalism. 

        1. Transcendentalism is “1 :  a philosophy that emphasizes the a priori
            conditions of knowledge and experience or the unknowable character of
            ultimate reality or that emphasizes the transcendent as the fundamental
            reality 2 : a philosophy that as-serts the primacy of the spiritual and
            transcendental over the material and empirical . . . .” 

        2. “Transcendentalism made it possible for man to be his own god.” 

        3. “The worldview of transcendentalism was close to pantheism which
            denied the need for salvation or for a Savior.” 

        4. “Transcendentalism ‘sought an end to the dispassionate rationalism of
            the Enlightenment by combining mysticism with romanticism.  The
            generally ac-cepted notions among the Transcendentalists are that God
            is immanent, that truth is perceived not through rationalism but by
            intuition, and that all dogmatism and authority-based religion is to be
            rejected.’” 

        5. Some of the early leaders in the acceptance of transcendentalism were
            Henry David Thoreau (1817-62), Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82),
            and Theodore Parker (1810-60).

        6. “The New Age Movement, a revival of nineteenth-century
            transcendentalism, be-came a spiritual respite for a number of
            beleaguered souls who have shaken off the meaningless that comes with
            naturalism, scientism, and materialism.  The New Age Movement meets
            spiritual yearnings without requiring subordination of the will to a
            personal and sovereign God, a hopeless situation.

    B. “Pythagoras, born about 570 B.C. was teaching the belief in Greece
         almost as far back as the ancient Upanishads; the documents which first
         taught the doctrine in India …Herodotus, one of the earliest to mention the
         belief, claims that certain Greeks took the doctrine from Egypt and passed
         it off as their own.” 

    C. “Constance Cumbey explains that ‘the New Age Movement received its
         modern start in 1875 with the founding of the Theosophical Society by
         Helena Petrovna Blavat-sky,’ who ‘worked in ‘telepathic communication’
         serving as a ‘fulcrum’ for the mas-ters..’”   Duane McCampbell adds that
         “a Civil War Colonel, H. B. Olcott” was in-volved with Blavatsky in
         beginning the movement in New York City. 

    D. “After Blavatsky died, Alice Ann Bailey wrote more than twenty books in
        an effort to provide foundational instructions for the New Age to come. 
        ‘Alice showed tenacious hatred for orthodox Christianity and fierce loyalty
        to the cause of occultism and East-ern mysticism.’” 

    E. James Redfield’s book, The Celestine Prophecy, has enjoyed much
        success.  A work of fiction, the book “concerns the discovery of nine
        insights that were written in Aramaic in Peru about 600 B. C. (9)…the
        appeal of the book is the nine insights…” 

    F. ‘The hippies may be gone, but the effect of the counterculture remains. 
        The age of exotic, Eastern ‘guruism’ may be waning, but the gurus’
        teachings are not.  What was once on the esoteric periphery has moved
        into the spotlight.  Much of what used to be underground is seeping — if
        not rushing — into the mainstream, as a plethora of New Age teachers,
        practices and events contend for our souls.’” 

    G. “Among the more affluent in particular, the religion du jour is the New Age
         move-ment, whose roots are both premodern and pagan, though much of
         it is so intertwined with postmodern relativism as to make it difficult
         sometimes to distinguish them.” 

  III. THE TEACHINGS OF THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT.

    A. Monism, which is “the view that reality is one unitary organic whole with
         no inde-pendent parts,”  plays a large part in the thought of New Ageism.

        1. Listen to “the concise summary of monism given by Fritjof Capra.  He
            says that the ultimate state of consciousness is one ‘in which all
            boundaries and dualisms have been transcended and all individuality
            dissolves into universal, undifferenti-ated oneness.’” 

        2. Shirley MacLaine explains: “My whole body seemed to float too, not
            only my arms, but all of me.  Slowly, slowly, I became the water, and
            each tingling bubble was a component part of the water…I felt the
            interconnection of my breathing with the pulse of the energy around me. 
            The air itself seemed to pulsate.  In fact, I was the air.  I was the air, the
            water, the darkness, the walls, the bubbles, the candle, the wet rocks
            under the water, and even the sound of the rushing river out-side.” 

        3. “The NAM also draws upon the Chinese religion/philosophy of Taoism
             for an ex-planation for this all-is-one belief.  Primary to Taoism is the
             T’ai-chi which pictures the two symmetrically balanced but opposing
             forces yin and yang…The ideal is to keep these two opposing forces in
             balance.” 

        4. Monism is not new.  “It was the view of Parmenides (500-450 B.C.)
            and had a strong influence on Plato (400-350 B.C.).” 

        5. Monism eliminates an objective standard of morality.

            a. “Guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh stated: ‘I don’t believe in morality’
                and ‘I am bent on destroying it;’ ‘to emphasize morality is mean,
                degrading, it is inhu-man.’” 

            b. Terry Cole-Whittaker, in her book, The Inner Path from Where You
                are to Where You Want to Be, writes: “Because life does not have a
                purpose per se, you are free to assign it one at will.  (That is what is
                meant by free will, not the ability to do something God opposes.  It is
                not possible to do something God opposes.  You are the All and the
                Everything and you cannot oppose yourself.)  In this, as in all things,
                your will is God’s will and Thy will be done on Earth as it is in
                Heaven.” 

    B. Pantheism, which is “a doctrine that equates God with the forces and laws
        of the uni-verse,”  is acquainted with Monism in this system.

        1. “Eastern thought is essentially pantheistic…‘New Age’ thinking is a
            blend of western naturalism and eastern pantheism …But, in order to be
            born to the east, one must actually die to the west.  That is, one cannot
            accept eastern philosophy without virtually surrendering any connection
            to the thought patterns of western culture.” 

        2. MacLaine further explains: “The same divine will was in all living things. 
            We were part of it, and it was part of us.  The task was to find that
            divinity in our-selves and live by it.  Hence the answers are all within the
            self.  Look into your-selves, explore yourselves, you are the universe.” 

        3. “In the world of pantheism, God did not create the world; He is the
            world.  Men were not made in the image of God; we are God. 
            Mankind thereby exalts him-self.” 

        4. “L. L. White, philosopher and New Age precursor, forthrightly
            proclaims the po-sition: ‘It has long been held that whoever denies (the
            transcendent) God asserts his own divinity.  In dropping God, man
            recovers himself.  It is time that God be put in his place, that is, in man,
            and no nonsense about it.’” 

        5. “Swami Muktanada, who had tremendous influence on Werner Erhard,
            founder of EST and Forum, pulls no punches: ‘Kneel to your own self. 
            Honor and worship your own being.  God dwells within you as You!’” 

        6. “Steward Brand, writing in the introduction to the popular The Next
            Whole Earth Catalogue, says: ‘We are Gods and might as well get good
            at it.’” 

        7. Observe this statement from a New Age magazine.  “All paths lead to
            God.  The true path finally becomes self empowerment: the path of
            self-love.  Then one demonstrates that they can manifest God and no
            longer need to look outside themselves for this information.  They have
            become the path themselves.” 

        8. The Gwinnett Daily News of Thursday, August 31, 1989, on page 21A,
            reported on a “psychic faire” held in San Rafael, California.  It was
            sponsored by the “Church of Divine Man,” a Berkeley-based religious
            sect.  Of these matters, the article further stated:

     The latter day infatuation with the psychic world has prompted dozens of self-avowed New Age ‘readers’ and ‘healers’ to hang their shingles out in Marin County, which also harbors the Deja Vu Publishing arm of the Church of Divine Man, a branch of the movement’s Yin Yang Seminary for clairvoyant children and the Marin Birth Center in San Rafael.  That clinic provides expectant parents with certified nurse midwives and ‘spiritual birth atten-dants’ who offer guidance on communication with ‘baby beings’ both during and after pregnancy.

        9. Since we are God, we may create our own reality.  Shirley MacLaine
            writes: “I have come to realize that ‘reality’ is basically that which each
            of us perceives it to be.  That is, what may be real to me is not
            necessarily real to a friend, much less a stranger.  We each live in a
            separate world or reality.” 

        10. “Perhaps no other form of radical individualism can claim to go further
              than New Age.” 

            a. Genesis 3:1-6

            b. Randall Baer wrote: “New Age man, believing himself to be divinely
                perfect and ultimately all-powerful, sets himself up on a cosmic
                throne.  This highly touted god-man claims to have inherently
                unlimited powers to command and manipulate the universe according
                to his sovereign will.  Man is elevated to divinity, deity, and
                sovereignty–the essence of the blasphemy of the New Age spiritual
                humanism that seeks to exalt sinful man to godhood and to displace
                Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” 

    C. Evolution.

        1. “Before the ink was dry on Darwin’s The Origin of the [sic] Species,
            occult cir-cles had appropriated the theory for their own ends. 
            Evolutionary theory reso-nated perfectly with the notion of gradual
            progress that was implicit in the emana-tionist cosmology of occultists
            and mystics, seeming to put the authority of sci-ence behind what they
            had always believed.  For if humanity had become human by passing
            through ape-hood, it seemed plausible enough that it was headed
            to-ward godhood.” 

        2. “Since the overall thrust of New Ageism is self-discovery, it only makes
            sense to imagine that we have reached our high state of development
            through evolution—and that we can advance even further with just a
            little cerebral development.” 

        3. Shirley MacLaine wrote: “As I lay in the tub thinking, I wondered how
            long it would be before scientists would find ways to verify the evolution
            of the soul in the same way that they had verified the evolution of the
            body.” 

        4. James Redfield wrote: “I perceived everything to be somehow part of
            me…I experienced the entire universe looking out on itself through
            me…The realization was present that my life did not, in fact, begin with
            my conception and birth on this planet.  It began much earlier with the
            formation of the rest of me, my real body, the universe itself…I watched
            as the first matter exploded in the uni-verse…” 

        5. Theistic evolution, the idea that God began things and then allowed them
            to con-tinue through the process of organic evolution, paved the way
            for a New Age the-ory that is “greatly expanded and is not based upon
            acceptance of the Genesis ver-sion of creation…One of the dominant
            leaders in the movement to accept the New Age philosophy that
            evolution was overseen by some Supreme Being was Pierre Teilhard
            de Chardin.  A French Jesuit priest, Teilhard lived from 1881 to 1955. 
            Today there are at least thirty-four groups in the Teilhard
            network…Teilhard be-lieved man had evolved as far as he could
            physically, but was continuing to evolve mentally and spiritually. 
            Spiritual evolution would eventually lead to a ‘single consciousness,’
            culminating in the transformation of the earth into the New Jerusalem. 
            During this time, ‘Christ’ is to return in the flesh, according to Teilhard,
            and rid the world of all divisive thoughts.  We will have reached the
            ul-timate goal—‘universal unification.’” 

        6. “Marilyn Ferguson, an active and well-known proponent of New Age
            thinking, made the same point in her book, The Brain Revolution.  She
            said: ‘Are we evolv-ing as a species?  That seems to be the question of
            the hour...Man’s next stage of evolution is envisioned as a
            transformation of consciousness, an expanding awareness of his own
            potential and his place in the universe.  Shortly before his death in 1961,
            Carl Jung said that modern man was faced with the necessity of
            re-discovering the life of the spirit because “it is the only way in which
            we can break the spell that binds us to the cycle of biological events.” 
            Jung, Burbank, and Pi-erre Teilhard de Chardin predicted that the line
            between the physical and the psy-chic would disappear.  Teilhard said,
            “Matter no longer exists.  There is nothing but spirit.”’” 

        7. Theodore Roszak, a historian of modern culture wrote: “We undergo
            the devel-opment we envision for ourselves; we get the evolution we
            deserve.  If we con-tinue to see evolution as an empty game of chance
            in which will and aspiration play no part, then we doom our own higher
            development.  We will, in effect, have willed ourselves into impotent
            drift and stagnation.  If we recognize evolution as the unfoldment of
            visionary energies, then we will have liberated those energies as an
            evolutionary force, and not only within our own lives, but within the
            history of our species as a whole.” 

    D. Reincarnation and Karma. 

        1. Reincarnation is the belief in the “rebirth in new bodies or forms of life;
            esp: a re-birth of a soul in a new human body.” 

            a. There are many versions of reincarnation.  “The early
                reincarnationists, and still the majority of all present-day
                reincarnationists, believe that the soul also incarnates into non-human
                forms, such as rocks, frogs, or trees.”   This is a part of reincarnation
                that many of the New Agers ignore.

            b. “…the most basic teaching is that each soul is immortal, having
                always ex-isted from the very beginning…” 

            c. “It is a chief doctrine of Hinduism.  It is an important part of
                Theosophy, Sci-entology, as well as Witchcraft.  A self-proclaimed
                20th century witch, Syble Leek has written a book, Reincarnation A
                Second Chance.” 

            d. “Reincarnation is supposed to explain many of life’s problems.  For
                instance, homosexuality.  New Age advocates claim that we have all
                experienced living in different lives as different sexes (male and
                female).  In Shirley MacLaine’s book Out on A Limb, she presents
                her claim, through a revelation from the “John character,” to have
                lived several times, twice as a male and once as a female (pp.
               198-200).” 

            e. Celebrities have claimed to have lived in previous lives.

                1) “General George Patton, a leading U.S. General in World War II,
                    fancied he was a reincarnated soldier.” 

                    a) “When his nephew asked him point blank if he believed in
                        reincarnation he responded, ‘For myself, there has never been
                        any question.  I don’t just think, I know there are places I have
                        been and not in this lifetime.’” 

                    b) “Patton is reported to have told friends ‘that he could recall
                        fighting with the Greeks on the plains of Troy, and that he has
                        served in Caesar’s legions, battled the Huns and ridden with
                        the crusaders to the Holy Land.’” 

               2) Helen Reddy claimed to have been a man several times in other
                    lives.  She said: “I’ve been a man many times.  That’s what I’m 
                    trying to atone for now…I first saw a past life transgression when I
                    was 17…I’ve seen a lot of them.  I had an out of body experience
                    when I was 12.  I’ve always had some sort of physic sense, but I
                    didn’t really delve into past lives until my teens…I keep coming
                    back.  I can’t seem to get it right.  I just keep com-ing back and
                    back and back.”   She claimed to have been a 12th century stable
                    boy and a horse-riding bodyguard for an aristocrat.

                3) “The movie actor, Alan Ladd, is an example of one who under
                    hypnosis recalls being a knight in King Arthur’s Court in a previous
                    incarnation.  Investigators have found that as a child Mr. Ladd
                    spent huge amounts of time pretending he was a knight in King
                   Arthur’s Court and is recalling those experiences under hypnosis.” 

            f. Movies have taught reincarnation.

                1) A mid-seventies movie entitled, “The Reincarnation Of Peter
                    Proud,” taught reincarnation.

                2) Another mid-seventies moved entitled, “Audry Rose,” taught
                    reincarnation.

            g. Randal Clayton Bradford, a psychic counselor in Los Angeles, in
                commenting on people rushing to cash in on the New Age
                phenomenon stated: “‘First, you have to devote 15 or 20 lifetimes to
                refining and developing your talents,’…‘and then you devote 10 to
                20 years to being trained by the higher powers who walk the
                earth…’” 

            h. F. Lagard Smith, in an interview with the Gospel Advocate, revealed
                that “New Age reincarnationists are telling us that abortion is all right
                because, af-ter all, the entity that is entering the fetus simply decides
                not to go ahead with a life plan and communicates psychically with
               the mother in her decision to have an abortion.” 

            i. New Agers misapply Scriptures to, seemingly, teach their dogma of
               reincarnation.

                1)  They misapply Matthew 11:8-14 to teach that John was the
                      reincarnation of Elijah.

                2) They misapply John 9:1-3 to teach that the disciples believed in
                     reincarnation and that Jesus did not correct them.

                3) They misapply Exodus 20:5 to teach that this points to punishment
                     in future lives for present sins.

                4) They misapply Matthew 5:48 to teach that Jesus was promising
                     perfection to all men and this will finally be accomplished through
                     the cycle of reincarnation.

                5) They misapply John 3:5 to say that Jesus was teaching
                     reincarnation.

                6) They misapply Matthew 16:13,14.  “I. S. Cooper, one of the early
                     leaders of Theosophy draws from this the following conclusion: ‘In
                     short, the rumor was current that in the person of Jesus ‘one of 
                     the old prophets is risen again,’ which indicates how widespread
                     was the idea of reincarnation at the time,’ (I. S. Cooper,
                     Reincarnation: The Hope of the World, p. 10).” 

        2. Karma is believed to be “the force generated by a person’s actions held
            in Hinduism and Buddhism to perpetuate transmigration and in its ethical
            consequences to determine his destiny in his next existence.” 

            a. “The doctrine of karma teaches that each soul is working its way to
                perfection by overcoming imperfections in previous lives.” 

            b. “Buddhism teaches that the goal of the spirit’s many incarnations is to
                achieve nirvana – a blowing out of the spirit flame – which frees the
                spirit from having to suffer through any future incarnations.” 

            c. MacLaine writes: “It was up to us to get in touch with ourselves
                spiritually so that we might achieve some insight as to what our
                purposes in life are.  For every act, for every indifference, for every
                misuse of life, we are finally held accountable.” 

                1) “The way that the theory can capitalize on unexplainable disasters
                     is well illustrated by the explanations given by Theosophists after
                     the sinking of the Titanic.  Theosophists explained that those who
                     went down with the ship were being punished for their sins in a
                     previous life.” 

                2) MacLaine’s friend, David, states: “All our previous lives are what
                    have molded us.  We are the product of all the lives we have led.” 

            d. In a conversation between MacLaine and her mother in Dancing in
                the Light, we read: “And I think that our family, and every family for
                that matter, is a group of souls very closely connected because we
                have been through many incarnations together.  I think we choose to
                be together, to work out our drama.  We choose our parents, and I
                think the parents choose the children they want to have before they
                ever come into an incarnation.” 

            e. New Agers misapply Matthew 16:27; Romans 2:6; and Galatians 6:7
                by saying that these teach karma.

    E. Spiritism.

        1. The beginning of the movement.

            a. “Often credited with beginning the modern movement is John Fox
                from Hydesville, New York.  In 1848 people flocked to his house to
                hear rappings’ that presumably came from a peddler who had been
                murdered on the premises and buried beneath the house.  For some
                reason he allegedly had messages for the living…Seances became
                popular as heartsick souls craved to hear a message from beyond
                the grave.” 

            b. Gary DeMar attributes the beginning to the Fox sisters, Margaret and
                Katie on March 31, 1848.  DeMar observes: “The sisters eventually
                became mediums.  Their communications with these supposed dead
                spirits became known as ‘The Rochester Rappings.’  While the Fox
                sisters later disavowed any super-natural powers – they stated that
                the noises originated from their cracking the joints in their toes – their
                cottage had become a spiritualistic shrine, with a large marker, ‘There
                is No Death,’ affixed to the property.” 

        2. “A number of spiritist bibles have been published, such as A Course in
            Miracles, Oahspe, Cosmic Consciousness, and The Spirit’s Book.  A
            description of the largest one follows:

 The Urantia Book was received via automatic writing by anonymous individuals in the 1930s.  It is 2,100 pages long and details a vast aggregate of ascending universes and evolving beings, and purports to disclose previously unknown information about the histories of the earth (“Urantia”) and Jesus.” 

        3. “The latest surge of popularity began with Jane Roberts in 1963.”   Her
            “books were based on messages spoken through her mouth by an entity
            who called himself Seth.  Seth’s main message to the world, reiterated
            again and again through-out the hundreds of pages of Seth books, is that
            life and death are mere illusions we create out of our own minds.  He
            wants us to believe that our spirits survive death and may come back to
            live on earth again in a different body, or may move onto a higher plane
            of existence such as he had achieved.” 

        4. John Klimo, in his book Channeling, (Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher,
            Inc., 1987, p. 2), describes channeling this way: “Channeling is the
            communication of information to or through a physically embodied
            human being from a source that is said to exist on some other level or
            dimension of reality than the physical as we know it, and that is not from
            the normal mind (or self) of the channel.” 

        5. Three well-known spiritists.

            a. Ramtha. 

                1) Ramtha “is supposedly a 35,000 year old ‘ascended master’ from
                    whom we should purportedly learn.” 

                2) He “communicates through a housewife…J. Z. Knight from the
                    state of Washington.  Ramtha purports to be a former warrior king
                    (seven feet tall) who became more enlightened in India.” 

                    a) “Douglas James Mahr describes what happens to J. Z.
                        Knight…when she begins to channel…Ramtha: ‘When Ramtha
                        begins his appearance in the embodiment of J. Z. Knight, a
                        completely different sensation from that of J. Z.’s embodiment is
                        felt.  The body of J. Z. Knight is still present, but a totally
                        different personality emerges – her body seems larger and
                        stronger, bursting at the seams; the softness of J. Z.’s
                        mannerisms and facial expressions are replaced by those of a
                        man; body postures and gestures are surging with power; his
                        concentration becomes an intensity, the voice is that of another
                        knowingness.’” 

                    b) Mrs. Knight also claims to have channeled Jesus Christ.  She
                        said “she made contact with Jesus at a Christmas event in
                       1983.” 

                    c) Jeffrey Knight, her fifth husband, sued “his former wife because
                        he claims he accepted her $120,000 divorce settlement in 1989
                        while under Ramtha’s influence.”  He claimed “the Ramtha
                        business is a fake.” 

                3) Dick Sztanyo quoted Ramtha from Voyage to the New World
                    (Ballentine, 1987).  The following quotes come from Sztanyo: 

                    a) He teaches that the Christian God is an “idiotic deity” (p. 219). 
                        “God, the principal, is all things” (p. 250).

                    b) “You are God” (p. 61).  “God, the Father is you” (p. 136). 
                        “Love yourself…live in the moment, to exalt all that you are” (p.
                        149).

                    c) “There is no such thing as evil” (p. 60).  “For 2000 years we
                        have been called sinful creatures but we are equal with God or
                        Christ” (pp. 180-81).

                    d)  “Do not preach to this world…the world doesn’t need
                         saving—leave it alone” (p. 130).  “Relinquish guilt…do not live
                         by rules, live by feelings…You are the Lord of Hosts, you are
                         the Prince of Peace” (p. 149).

                    e) “God has never judged you or anyone” (p. 62).  “No, there is
                        no Hell and there is no devil” (p. 252).

            b. Lazaris.  He “channels himself through former insurance supervisor
                Jach Pursel.  Shirley MacLaine called him to public attention in her
                1987 book, It’s All in the Playing.” 

            c. Tom McPherson.  He is “a former Irish pickpocket from Elizabethon
                items (sic)” who “speaks through Kevin Ryerson, but so do John, an
                Essene scholar from the time of Jesus, and a few others.  Shirley
                MacLaine catapulted his personalities into the limelight in Out on a
                Lim…Those who channel through Kevin are spirits between
                incarnations; generally, they just want to make the world a better
                place.”   “F. LaGard Smith asked Kevin Ryerson to interpret the
                same dream on two occasions four months apart.  He received two
                different interpretations of the same dream from the same ‘psychic.’” 

        6. “Marilyn vos Savant summed up this channeling business well in the
            August 29, 1995 Parade Magazine, when asked, ‘Are the abilities of
            channelers real?’  She responded:

“Channeling” is an act staged by people who pretend to “channel” the spirit of an ancient or mystical figure through themselves.  Then they speak words designed to make others think the imaginary figure is speaking.  In my opinion, only their ability to deceive innocent people is real (14).” 

        7. If we are God, as the New Age doctrine claims, why the need for these
            spiritual guides?  Does God need a guide?

    F. The New Age Movement is a mixture of Hinduism and other Eastern
        religions mingled with witchcraft, Satanism, necromancy and other occultic
        practices along with feminism, astrology, evolution, holistic medicine, and
        extreme ecology.

        1. Hinduism: 

            a. Shirley MacLaine wrote: “The ancient Hindu vedas claimed that the
                spoken words I am, or Aum in Hindi, set up a vibrational frequency
                in the body and mind which align the individual with his or her higher
                self and thus with the God-source.  The word God in any language
                carries the highest vibrational frequency of any word in that language. 
                Therefore, if one says audibly I am God, the sound vibrations literally
                align the energies of the body to a higher atunement.  You can use I
                am God or I am that I am as Christ often did, or you can extend the
                affirmations to fit your own needs.” 

            b. Reincarnation and karma have their roots in Hinduism.  “Hinduism
                teaches that souls transmigrate to various physical forms until they
                finally achieve union with Brahman and are absorbed as a raindrop
                in the ocean, losing all individuality.” 

            c. “The range of options is formidable—crystals, meditation,
                homegrown Hinduism…” 

        2. Extreme ecology.

            a. Many New Age Movement adherents are involved in ecological
                movements as well.  “Offenses against the earth are also believed to
                be offenses against deity, which is sometimes portrayed in the form of
                the mother goddess of the earth, or Gaia.” 

            b. “The Celestine Prophecy stresses having more forests and fewer
                children in the future…The author of The Aquarian Conspiracy writes
                that we now know the earth is ‘a jewel in space, a fragile water
                planet...All countries are eco-nomically and ecologically involved with
                each other, politically enmeshed.’” 

            c. “An Earth ‘goddess,’ usually called Gaia, is venerated by many New
                Age feminists who believe that cultures in Earth’s ancient past
                worshipped her.” 

        3. Occult practices.

            a. New Agers rely on crystals which supposedly contain healing and
                energizing powers.  They also believe in “the seven chakras (nerve
                centers) of the body through which ‘a mysterious fire of love’ rises up
                (during meditation) within the individual in his cerebrospinal system
                known as kundalini shakti.” 

                1) Catherine Bowman wrote: “Crystals are here to teach and serve
                    us.  To the awakening mind, they are capable of performing a
                    multitude of functions such as dream guidance and direction,
                    cleansing the body of negative energies, focusing the mind, mental
                    and physical healing, telepathy, linkages to special places, and
                    other potentially limitless tasks.” 

                2) “Crystal expert Connie Church lists these other handy uses for
                    Crystals:

                    – Bury your crystal in the soil for a day to perk up a potted plant.
                    – Put your crystal in your fruit or vegetable bin to enhance
                       freshness.
                    – Place it on your sixth chakra . . . and ask it for the lottery
                       numbers…
                    – Tell your crystal you’ll get caught up on your backlog of
                        paperwork.…Place it on your pile of papers as you work,
                       and watch yourself zoom through the pile.
                    – Put your crystal on the dashboard while you are driving and let it
                       guide you to the perfect parking spot …” 

            b. They also refer to the “third eye,” “an occultic belief that a center of
                psychic powers is located at the forehead between the two (physical)
                eyes.” 

        4. Holistic medicine.

            a. This “is a New Age theory which says a patient’s psychological and
                mental health must be involved in treating his body.” 

            b. Holistic medicine includes acupuncture, visualization, meditation,
                yoga, hypnosis and massage.

                1) “Through meditation, hypnosis, ‘creative visualization,’ and
                    ‘centering,’ we are taught that we can become conscious of our
                    ‘higher self,’ our god within.” 

                2) “In practical terms, adherents can use the power of visualization
                    and imaging to enhance physical and emotional health…” 

            c. “New Agers have borrowed from Hinduism the theory that there are
                seven ‘energy centers’ in the body which are called ‘chakras’ (a
                Hindi word).  They control the various aspects of one’s well being. 
                The seventh chakra is sup-posed to be located in the top of the head;
                through it, one finally reaches integration with God.  Each chakra in
                the body is symbolized by a color of the rainbow; the rainbow has
                come to symbolize the New Age Movement…” 

                1) “In Going Within, she [MacLaine] describes how that in meditation
                    one is able to concentrate on, and align his seven primary chakras,
                    thereby balancing his whole being.” 

                2) “The Chakras are listed as follows:

                    a) “The first, the base or root chakra, is located at the root of the
                        spine and governs the understanding of the physical dimension. 
                        It is the center through which one experiences the ‘fight’ or
                        ‘flight’ responses.  It externalizes in the adrenal gland, governs
                        the kidneys and the spinal column, and is perceived as RED.

                   b) “The second chakra is located in the sexual organs and is the
                       chakra of creativity.  It governs attitudes in relationships, sex,
                       and reproduction.  It is seen as ORANGE.

                  c) “The third chakra is located in the solar plexus.  It externalizes as
                      the pancreas, governs the action of the liver, spleen, stomach, gall
                      bladder, and aspects of the nervous system.  It is the
                      clearinghouse for emotional sensitivity and issues of personal
                      power.  It is YELLOW.

                  d) “The fourth chakra is the heart chakra.  It externalizes as the
                      thymus gland.  This chakra governs the heart, blood, and
                      circulatory system and influences the immune and endocrine
                      systems.  It is the center through which we feel love, and is the
                      color GREEN.

                  e) “The fifth chakra is the throat chakra.  It externalizes as the
                      thyroid gland, and governs the lungs, vocal chords, bronchial
                      apparatus, and metabolism.  It is the center of expression,
                      communication, and judgment, and is BLUE.

                   f) “The sixth chakra is located in the center of the forehead, and is
                       better known as the ‘third eye.’  It externalizes as the pituitary
                       gland, and governs the lower brain, nervous system, the ears,
                       nose, and left eye–the eye of personality.  Through this center we
                       consider our spiritual nature.  It is seen as the color INDIGO.

                    g) “The seventh chakra is located at the top of the head.  It
                        externalizes as the pineal gland and governs the upper brain and
                        the right eye.  Through this chakra one may ultimately reach the
                        feeling of integration with God.  It is seen as VIOLET or
                        sometimes the combination of all colors, hence WHITE.” 

                3) “The seven chakras correspond to the seven notes on the music
                    scale as follows:

                     RED chakra = C
                     ORANGE = D
                     YELLOW = E
                     GREEN = F
                     BLUE  = G
                     INDIGO = A
                     VIOLET = B

During meditation, one visualizes the chakra, concentrating on its color and humming its matching note.  This will help one to feel harmonious.  In keeping with this chakra-sound connection, New Age music has been de-veloped to help soothe the mind, heal the body, and raise one’s consciousness.” 

    G. The New Age Movement stresses the hemispheric distinctions of the brain
         and uses this to move Westerners toward Eastern thought.

        1. Shirley MacLaine wrote: “The Eastern system of thought tends toward
            going within for the answer.  It is right-brained: intuitive, open, capable
            of holding contradictory concepts without confusion.  The traditional
            Western system of thinking is more left-brained: linear, logical, and
            rational.” 

        2. “If a New Ager is caught in a logical absurdity or contradiction he may
            simply remind you that the problem lies with you for depending upon the
            linear logic of your left hemisphere!” 

        3. “To understand how the field of physics has gotten into the realm of
            religious metaphysics, one must look back a century to the start of
            relativity and quantum mechanics.  The misinterpretation of two sets of
            laboratory experiments is the ba-sis of all of ‘modern’ physics…These
            two misinterpretations have given rise to many contradictions and 
            paradoxes found in modern physics.  It is little wonder that this has
            produced the trend toward the acceptance of the Eastern mystic
            religions whose underlying theme is that two contradictory statements
            can both be true …If these ideas were, indeed, true, there could be no
            such thing as science.  The very foundation of science is the idea of
            cause and effect.  If contradictions and indeterminacy were the rules of
            nature, it would be impossible to repeat experiments in the laboratory.” 

    H. The New Age Movement promotes a world religion which paves the way
         for a world government. 

        1. “The ‘brotherhood’ of all mankind is taught.  It matters not whether one
            is called a Christian (the world’s usage of the term), Buddhist, Hindu, or
            even an atheist.  The goal is a spiritual unity of all the world.  World
            religion is the result.  New Agers depict this as an all-inclusive circle. 
            However, its shuts out all true Christians who recognize the narrow path
            leading to life eternal (Matthew 7:14).  Persecution will result as these 
            individuals are ostracized as being unloving, unkind, and 
            narrow-minded.” 

        2. “Before the New Age Movement gained so much prominence,
            humanists were world government’s major propagandists…Now the 
            New Age leaders have taken the baton and are running for all they are 
            worth toward world government.  Their inspiration is the unity of all 
            mankind…World religion is the exit ramp leading off the road of 
            nationalism and onto the road of world government.  Under no 
            circumstances would world government be able to tolerate 
            Bible-believing Christians saying Jesus Christ is ‘the way, the truth, and 
            the life,’ and that no man can come to the Father but through Jesus 
            Christ (John 14:6)…the key to opening the door to world government 
            is world religion…In order to bring about world government, there
            MUST be unity.  World religion provides this necessary unity.” 

        3. B. F. Skinner of Harvard University “published a frightening book 
            entitled: Beyond Freedom and Dignity” in which he wrote: “My book is
            an effort to demonstrate how things go bad when you make a fetish out 
            of individual freedom and dignity.  If you insist that individual rights are 
            the ‘summum bonum’; then the whole structure of society falls down.” 

        4. “In the struggle to establish an adequate world government, the teacher 
            has many parts to play.  He must begin with his own attitude and 
            knowledge and purpose.  He can do much to prepare the hearts and 
            minds of children for global understanding and cooperation.  At the top 
            of all the agencies which will assume the coming of world government 
            must be the school, the teachers and the organized professional.” 

    I. The New Age Movement is connected with postmodernism. 

        1. “Having evolved rapidly along with the rest of culture, the movement
            has now moved almost completely into the sphere of the postmodern.  
            Today, New Age consciousness and postmodernism share an 
            overlapping philosophical base.” 

        2. “New Age consciousness is an effort to affirm the good parts of all 
            religions and develop a new meaning for spirituality.  New Agers 
           generally follow postmodern assumptions, and should therefore be 
           viewed as within the postmodern fold.” 

        3. Russell Chandler observed that “the goal is to redefine spirituality…to 
            change our culture’s dominant world view — which is still Christian, 
            more or less…This all seems so tolerant.  It seems like it combines the 
            best of all the religions.  Every-one is right…It doesn’t matter if you’re 
            praying to your inner light, to Sophia, to the Trinity or whoever.  
            Whatever works for you is fine.  After all, there are no standards.” 

    J. The New Age Movement promotes idolatry.  “Images of ancient
       goddesses are offered for sale.  These include ‘Sekmet, powerful of heart,’
       ‘Gaia, goddess of the earth,’ ‘the snake goddess of Crete,’ ‘Kuan Yin, 
       goddess of compassion and Great Mother of Asia,’ and other better 
       known goddesses, such as Venus and Aphrodite.” 

  IV. THE SPREAD OF THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT.

    A. “A few years ago, most generic bookstores had a ‘New Age’ section.  
         Today, this is rare, but that doesn’t mean that the wave of religious trends
         that crested in the 1980s simply vanished.  Truth is, it soaked in.  ‘You 
         don’t see New Age shelves anymore because you can find New Age 
         books in almost every part of the store,’ said Russell Chandler . . . 
         They’re in the psychology section, and over on the women’s shelf.  You’ll 
         find them under self-help, stress, holistic health and the environment, too.’
         . . . New Age faith, said Chandler, has ‘become so visible that it’s now all
         but invisible.’” 

    B. New Age ideas are spread by those in the entertainment industry.

        1. Shirley MacLaine is probably one of the most well-known of the 
            promoters of New Ageism.  “She has popularized the teachings of the 
            New Age movement and embodies just about all of its facets.” 

        2. Linda Evans found wisdom in the words of Ramtha. 

        3. “‘When Sharon Gless (of the ‘Cagney and Lacey’ show) accepted her 
            Emmy award in September 1987, she included Lazaris among the 
            people she thanked.’” 

        4. Bruce Willis, in discussing his brother’s death stated: “‘I was in the
            room when Robert died…I kept talking to him with the hope that he 
            could hear me.  I never knew if he did.  But Demi later introduced me to
            this woman who can receive information from the other side.  Until then,
            I was always up in the air about what happens when we die.  I had a 
           question for this woman: ‘Did my brother know we were in the room 
           that night?’  And she began speaking in the voice of my brother, in his 
           cadence, cursing like he did…For the next five minutes, she talked as 
           my brother, and tears rolled down my face.” 

        5. Richard Gere “sums up the spirit of the age: ‘Cosmically, there’s nothing
            wrong with being heterosexual, homosexual or omnisexual – with being 
            anything, as long as you don’t hurt anybody, yourself included.” 

    C. New Age ideas are spread by songs.

        1. Joe South’s 1970 song, “Walk a Mile in My Shoes,” contains the
            words:  “And the law of karma says you’re gonna reap just what you 
            sow.” 

        2. John Lennon’s song, “Instant Karma” (1970) also promoted this false
            idea.

        3. Culture Club sang “Karma Chameleon” (1983).

        4. Willie Nelson sang “Just a Little Old-Fashioned Karma.”

        5. “John Denver, heavily influenced by Werner Erhard’s est programs
            (now called ‘The Forum’) said: ‘One of these days I’ll be so complete 
            I won’t be human.  I’ll be a God.’” 

    D. New Age ideas are spread through the educational system and especially 
         through psychology courses.

        1. “Many educators are involved in the New Age, as reported in a survey
            taken by Marilyn Ferguson: Of the Aquarian Conspirators surveyed, 
            more were involved in education than in any other single category or 
            work.  They were teachers, administrators, policymakers, educational 
            psychologists (p. 280, The Aquarian Conspiracy).” 

            a. “Do you know what happens to your child once he or she is bundled
                up and sent off to school each day?  Are you aware of the ideas 
                teachers are putting into your child’s head?  Beneath the calm exterior
                of our nation’s schools lies a raging volcano known as the New Age 
                doctrine and ritual.  Each day, chil-dren are made to walk through
                the fire of this volcano so that the values of the New Age will
                become second nature to the upcoming generation.” 

            b. “Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was mentioned most often as having 
                influenced the thinking of the respondents.  Teilhard’s writings are 
                uniting the areas of science and religion into one convergent view of 
                the Universe and Man’s future.” 

             c. “‘One of the founding fathers of New Age psychologies is Carl
                 Jung.’”   He was listed “second in influence” among those surveyed.
                 He shares many of Teilhard’s philosophies.

            d. “Mentioned third, Abraham Maslow presents many of the same 
                underlying thoughts as Teilhard, but from a different perspective. 
                He adheres to an aspect of the New Age often referred to as ‘third 
                force’ psychology . . . .” 

        2. “Many New Age psychology courses have been developed and some
            of them have been mixed with Eastern mysticism such as ‘Werner 
            Erhard’s the Forum (formerly est) and John Hanley’s Lifespring.’” 

        3. Many of the teachings of New Age psychology center in man’s loving
            himself and finding fulfillment therein.  Implicit in this connotation is the 
            inessentiality of using Biblical doctrine to select our values.  How then 
            will students learn to select values?  Goble explains:

Perhaps the most unique aspect of Maslow’s Third Force Theory is the belief that there are values or moral principles common to the entire human species, which can be scientifically confirmed.  Maslow strongly feels the need for a usable system of values that does not rest upon blind faith alone.  ‘It is certainly true that mankind, throughout history, has looked for guiding values, for principles of right and wrong.  But he has tended to look outside of himself, outside of mankind to a god, to some sort of sacred book perhaps, or to a ruling class.  What I am doing is to explore the theory that you can find the values by which mankind must live, and for which man has always sought, by digging into the best people in depth.  I believe, in other words, that I can find ultimate values which are right for mankind by observing the best of mankind.  If under the best conditions and in a scientific way what these human values are, I find values that are the old values of truth, goodness, and beauty, and some additional ones as well — for instance, gaiety, justice, and joy.’  They are intrinsic in human nature, a part of man’s biological nature, instinctual rather than acquired (pp. 87-88, The Third Force). 

        4. Early in the last century Alice Ann Bailey wrote the book, Education in 
            the New Age. 

        5. “Randall Baer, once a New Age insider states: Personally, I recall quite
            a few conversations with teachers who would boast of how they were 
            using their position to insert various enlightened New Age ideas into 
            their curriculum, and how easy they found this task to be in many 
            cases.” 

        6. “Elementary school children may learn to meditate on an inner light, 
            while teens devour science fiction parables about interplanetary 
            prophets and amoral aliens.” 

        7. Global Education promotes the New Age agenda in public school
            systems. 

    E. New Age ideas are spread through reports of UFOs.

        1. “‘Would you believe that more than 75 percent of New Agers hold a 
            completely unshakeable belief in the reality of UFOs?’” 

        2. John Denver claimed to have come from near the Lyra nebula.

        3. “Randall Baer convinced himself that his celestial home was Orion 
            (before he left New Ageism).” 

        4. Marshall Herff Applewhite convinced his Heaven’s Gate cult to commit
            suicide so they could meet with a UFO which was said to be trailing the
            Hale-Bopp comet.

    F. New Age ideas are spread through the media. 

        1. How much money has the Psychic Hotline generated?

        2. “To millions of people in America, the most powerful influences on their
            thinking processes are the authors of secular books and magazines; 
            editors and journalists of our daily print press; radio disc jockeys and 
            news interpreters; movie producers and screenwriters; and, perhaps 
            heading the list, television program producers, news anchorpersons, 
            and other opinion molders of television.” 

        3. “Today, Americans watch television and aren’t jarred by commercials
            claiming that pickup trucks are ‘a spiritual thing’ that help drivers feel
            good inside . . . spir-its and goddesses frolic in Saturday cartoons.” 

    G. New Age ideas are spread through politicians.  “We learned in 1988 
         through Donald Regan, former secretary of the Treasury and White
         House chief of staff, that ‘Nancy Reagan, had been consulting an
         astrologer and actually influencing the chief executive’s decisions on the 
         basis of astral predictions.  The first lady had been dabbling in the occult 
         as early as 1967, when her husband was governor of California, by 
         relying upon the advice of prophetess Jeanne Dixon’…Donald Regan 
         writes, ‘Virtually every major move or decision the Reagans made during 
         my time as White House chief of staff was cleared in advance with a 
         woman in San Francisco who drew up horoscopes to make certain that 
         the planets were in a favorable alignment for the enterprise.’” 

    H. New Age ideas are spread through monuments.  Approximately seven 
         miles outside Elberton, Georgia stands a 20 feet high monument consisting
         of 951 cubic feet of granite and weighing an estimated 245,000 pounds.  
         This monument is dedicated to an “Age of Reason.”  On this monument 
         are carved the ten commandments of the New Age of Reason.  These 
         commandments promote New Age teachings.

    I. New Age ideas are spread through religion.  “In the mid-1980s, a few 
       Christians began experimenting with Wicca and other forms of witchcraft
       and natural religion … Now, discussions of the goddess Gaia, or the spirit 
       of the earth, are filtering into environmental programs.  Many seminaries 
       and a few national church groups have embraced rituals praising the 
       goddess Sophia or ‘wisdom.’” 

  V. THE APPEAL OF THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT.

    A.  Some people will believe anything as long as it is not in the Bible!

    B.  Gary Summers lists three appeals of New Ageism. 

        1. The so-called appeal to freedom, which is the way many characterize
            the absence of restraints (or self-control).

        2. The inner peace that it promises.

        3. The promise of power.

  VI. THE ANSWERS TO THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT.

    A.  God has the answer to this and all other false doctrines.

    B.  The answer to Monism and Pantheism.

        1. Genesis 1:26.  God created us in his “image” but not in his “essence.”

        2. Numbers 23:19.

        3. Psalm 8:5-8.

        4. Isaiah 55:8,9.

        5. Job 38-41.

        6. Romans 9:20,21.

        7. 1 Corinthians 15:39-41.  Everything is not one.  Things were created to
            fill a separate role in the Universe.

    C.  The answer to evolution.

        1. Genesis 1.

        2. “New Age thought is simply another attempt to make evolution seem 
            like it will work – and a desperate try at that!  Up until New Age 
            thought, physics, and all of the sciences were operating in Newton’s 
            world where there is an objective reality because there is a transcendent
            Creator.  Evolution cannot be made to work in such a world.  But the 
            New Age world, redefined by New Age physics, is said to make 
            evolution work.  This is the primary appeal for those who deal in New 
            Age physics.  Of course this imagined gain has a cost.  The assumption 
            of objective reality, which made modern science possible, is replaced in
            New Age physics with a subjective reality.” 

    D.  The answer to reincarnation and karma.

        1. Genesis 1,2.  Man has not always existed, but was created by God.

        2. Job 7:9; 16:22.  Man only lives once and does not return to the earth
            after death.

        3. Ecclesiastes 9:5,6; 12:7.  The spirit does not enter into another body
            and there is a distinction between the material and the spiritual realm.

        4. 2 Samuel 12:23.  David knew this baby would not be coming back to
            earth.

        5. 2 Corinthians 5:10.  Notice “body,” not “bodies.”  We only have one
            lifetime in which to determine our eternal destiny.

        6. Acts 17:31.

        7. John 5:27-29.

        8. Luke 16:19-31.  These souls did not enter into other bodies.

        9. Hebrews 9:27.

            a. Man dies but once, not many times.

            b. Man is judged but once, not many times with each new life being a
                 judgment on conduct in a past life.

    E.  The answer to spiritism.

        1. God condemned it in the Old Testament.

            a. Leviticus 19:31; 20:6.

            b. Deuteronomy 18:10-12.

            c. Isaiah 8:19.

            d. “It is interesting to note that the term ‘familiar spirit,’ as employed in
                the Old Testament, was, in the Septuagint (Greek Version of O.T.) 
                rendered by the term eggastrimuthos, meaning ‘to prophesy from the
                belly,’ thus suggesting ventriloquism rather than actual conversation