Responding to New Age Teachings

As someone who lived the first 28 years as an atheist, I became a Christian by faith in Jesus Christ. It was tough to grasp the idea of faith.  I wanted proven facts.  I wanted real experiences.  But I had to make the first step of faith without any of that.  Like a blind woman reaching out for help, I put my hand out to see if Someone would take it. 

And He did. 

I have grown my faith through applying the Bible to my life and seeing its truth manifest.  I have satisfied my intellectual questions by studying the history of the Christian faith and the scientific evidence of the creation story.  I am convinced with my ‘thinker’ that what I believe is the truth. I am glad that I am able to bring my faith and my intellect together in agreement.   There is a congruity to my life because of it. 

But still, every day in some big or small ways it comes down to holding my hand out in faith to my Maker.

Have you ever wondered where New Age beliefs came from?  I have often wondered about it.  Keep in mind that New Age beliefs are always changing.  There’s always some new “thing” floating down the mystical river of spirituality.    Who decides what is real and what is just someone’s imagination? 

I know… some people will ask me the same thing about Christianity but honestly – I know that anyone who gives Christianity a complete study will be convinced of its validity.  It happens every day to smarter people than me.

The same cannot be said about New Age beliefs.  Every airy fairy concept can only be traced back to someone’s idea.  Never to a solid truth. 

Can New Age teachings provide a woman with the reason for her being?  No.  Can they show her in intricate detail that she is valued more than precious jewels by her Creator?  No.  Can they answer the deep yearning of her soul to be in relationship with Him?  No.

They can only serve her spiritual junk food, like a great Burger King of the Universe.  Hungry? Have a hamburger?  Not fulfilled?  Have a whopper.  Still need more?  How ‘bout some fries with that?  What? You’re back?  Let’s super size that one this time and add a shake and some onion rings. 

A person keeps coming back to the counter of New Age beliefs – still hungry – still seeking.  Still needing.  Still hurting.  Still aching for the love of her Father in Heaven. 

Stop going back to the fast food joint looking for the faith that truly satisfies.  Reach out your hand to the Father.  He’ll be there.

Where do New Age beliefs come from? 

You might be surprised to learn how far back we can track these false teachings.  For this article, let’s just look at where they surfaced in America. 

The colonies were unashamedly Christian.  People were members of churches and churches were the center of the community and influential in local government. (Yes, government!)   One of the things that really bothered the King of England was that the colonies weren’t sticking with the denomination that England practiced.  History books tell you that the American Revolution was all about taxes and tea but the truth also reveals that religious freedom was also a big part of the war.

British troops destroyed churches and murdered pastors when they came into a town.  They fully intended to win the war and make the colonies re-embrace the Anglican church of England.  But, of course, they didn’t win.

After the war, there was a period of spiritual decline.  Churches and Pastors were gone.  The colleges that had been training Pastors had been shut down by the war.  It would be some time before the country recovered its spiritual health. 

Meanwhile, as the colleges opened again, a new wave of thought came around. Educated men started to re-think their Christian faith – stripping out the supernatural and keeping only the logical.  Unitarianism was born. 

Unitarianism calls Jesus a moral hero.  A great leader but not God. 

Read the Unitarian affirmation of faith:

“The fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, the leadership of Jesus, salvation by character, and the progress of mankind onward and upward forever.”

Salvation by character?   What?

As we’ve already seen, my faith is in the God of the Bible.  I believe that His Word is divine truth.  Inspired by the Holy Spirit and written by the men He chose to write it. 

John 1:1-2 says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.”

That mind spinning statement from scripture tells us that Jesus is God’s Word made flesh. Jesus also said later, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. God cannot be separated from His Word.  God can’t lie, His Son can’t lie and His Word can’t lie. 

So think of these people who introduced and taught this Unitarianism.  Who woke up one morning and decided to take some of the Bible and leave the rest? 

They exalted their own logic over God’s Word.  Such evil pride!  Strangely, they believed in the value of “religion” and so for some to observe, they may have seemed like any normal Christian, attending church, doing good deeds, giving and serving.  They extracted the ethics of Jesus but left God behind.

Then another new wave of thought came around.  There were some who believed that to truly grasp God, you had to go beyond logic and thinking.  But rather than go back to the Word of God for truth – men were influenced by the romantic authors of the day and the new wave became known as Transcendentalism.

Transcendentalism says that men have an innate understanding of God.  Knowledge is based on intuition and Christianity is just one stage in the evolution of religion. 

Do you see where this is going?

Are you surprised that these teachings were around way back in the 1800s?  Don’t be!  The enemy has been at work inspiring false teachers going all the way back to the dawn of mankind. 

You might be thinking, like I did – but America was a Christian nation right?  Yes!  But, to be truthful, many of the leaders who we would identify as Christian – were truly Unitarian or a Transcendentalist and they were not truly saved.  It is never enough to simply act like Jesus acted.  We are not saved by being good.  We are saved by His shed blood.

Unitarian and transcendental teachings led to what is known as Theological Liberalism.  There were then and still are today, people who call themselves Christians, even Pastors – who do not ascribe to the Bible but instead to a skewed application of it’s truths.  You see it today in modern politics.  Men calling themselves “Reverend so and so” and wearing the white collar of a preacher – yet they’re preaching unbiblical agendas, promoting the free availability of late term abortions and worse. 

Their brand of Christianity is that of Liberalism.  God is not a being to them but an eternal principle.  Jesus was an ideal man, but not God.  Religion is a social creation necessary for society but the bible is just another history book, not inspired in any way. 

To them, Jesus’ act of atonement was an act of moral influence – not payment for sin.

In the end, Jesus was a good man who died for a good cause. 

And if that is all He is, how does he compare to JFK or Martin Luther King Jr?  They too were good men who died for a good cause.  Right?

I hope that this is an eye opening realization for you as a reader.  Not everyone who looks like a Christian and talks like a Christian on TV is truly a believer.  They have like so many others, stripped out what suits them from God’s Word and left the rest like nothing more than pages ripped out of an old text book – no longer applicable to modern life.

In the book “The Kingdom of God in American” it is said about Liberalism:

“A God without wrath brought men without sin to a kingdom without judgment through the ministration of a Christ without a cross.”

Another wave of thought came over to America on the lips of the Russian woman, Helena Blavatsky.  She taught the ‘wisdom of the ages’ and which became known as Theosophy.  Helena taught that all world religions were good and all led people to God eventually.  Helena had been influenced by Hindu teachers and that with a mixture of mysticism is what is credited by most to be the recognizable beginnings of the new age movement in America.

Interesting isn't it?  There is no basis of truth for New Age teachings at all.  There are only men and women 'thinking' their way around from the One True God.  It is tragic to realize that they can spend their entire life being spiritual in their own minds and upon death realize that they have wasted the time on false teachers and counterfeit experiences.   And everyday of their lives God was just waiting for them to extend their hand of faith to Him.  

There is only one way to a relationship with God and that is through Jesus Christ. 

About the Author: Kelly McCausey co-hosts Women By Grace Internet Radio.  Powerful encouragement for Christian Women.