New Age/Old Story

Colossians 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”

Even though I’ve heard of  the “New Age” movement and experience training at work 35-40 years ago in “New Age” thinking philosophy, I never researched the details of this belief system. I recently read that, although the New Age movement is attracting many converts again, the only thing “new” about it is its slick makeover and repackaging. It has actually existed since the Garden of Eden. It’s the old serpent in a new skin, still saying: “You can be as God”. That intrigued me to take a look at the New Age details deeper. The internet states that the New Age Movement is typically viewing human history as being divided into a series of distinct ages, a common New Age belief is that whereas once humanity lived in an age of great technological advancement and spiritual wisdom, it has entered a period of spiritual degeneracy, which will be remedied through the establishment of a coming Age of Aquarius, from which the movement gets its name. The term "new age", along with related terms like "new era" and "new world", long predate the emergence of the New Age movement, and have widely been used to assert that a better way of life for humanity is dawning. The Age of Aquarius is not viewed as eternal, but it is instead believed that it will last for around two thousand years, before being replaced by a further age. There are various beliefs within the movement as to how this new age will come about, but most emphasize the idea that it will be established through human agency; others assert that it will be established with the aid of non-human forces such as spirits. Participants in the movement typically express the view that their own spiritual actions are helping to bring about the Age of Aquarius, with a common belief also being that there are higher powers in the universe that are helping to birth the new age.

So, the term “new age” refers to an astrological belief that every two thousand years the world a new zodiac age. New Agers believe that at the beginning of the twenty-first century, we will pass out of the house of Pisces and into the age of Aquarius. And I just thought that it was an old Fifth Dimension song “Let the sunshine in”. Come to find out, the movement has many different strands, but there are three dogmas underlying it: (1) The material world is an illusion. Only things in the spiritual realm are authentic. (2) Only one infinite, eternal reality exists – the force, one life energy, one spirit – and it envelops everything, including us. Each of us is one spark from the same fire … each of us is “god”. (3) Since each of us is “god’ or a part of “god”, we don’t need the “old fashioned” Christian concepts of sin, guilt, and redemption. We only need enlightenment to recognize that we are “god’.

It has be identified that New Age religion takes bits from Eastern mystical religions: Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism plus Western neo-pagan occultism, ancient philosophy and modern psychology. When mixed together the result is the original lie that Satan gave to mankind in the Garden of Eden: The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” - Genesis 3:4-5.

New Age thinking weasels its way into many places, even into so-called Christian organizations. We need to teat the philosophies we hear and if anything sounds suspect, seek the truth in God’s Word and by His Holy Spirit. God will never lead you into anything contrary to His being or His will. Know the truth and bring to light the lies.

In Christ, Brian