The New Age Movement
The New Age Movement, sometimes called the New Spirituality, isn’t really new at all. Many old-school religions make up the New Age Movement’s core beliefs, because they maintain “all religions lead to God.” With all due respect, this doesn’t make a lot of sense. After all, all religions frequently contradict each other. Mormons believe in many gods, Muslims believe in one God, many Hindus claim everything is ‘God’ and atheists say there is no God. They can’t all be right.
Regardless, like many Hindus, the New Age Movement teaches that everything is “God.” Often, New Agers say “all is one.” Yet, this presents problems. Indeed, if everything is the same, why does each person have their own ideas, opinions and judgments? Why do we have different memories? If we’re all part of the “Divine Consciousness,” why must we be convinced of our own deity? Shouldn’t we already know that, if everyone and everything is the same? Naturally, since the New Spirituality teaches that everything is “God,” it is believed that we can create our own reality. This raises the question: why aren’t more New Agers good-looking billionaires? Besides, if everything is “divine,” doesn’t this mean that snails have the same rights as humans? Likewise, without God, right and wrong would be decided by personal opinion. Since everyone is “God,” why would we punish criminals for their wrongdoing?
Ultimately, the major beliefs of the New Age Movement line up with some of Satan’s oldest lies. For instance, in the Garden of Eden, he tempted Eve to rebel against God (Genesis 3:1-6). Satan told her that she wouldn’t die if she disobeyed. This statement is similar to reincarnation, which is the belief that life is a continual process of birth, death and rebirth until a person becomes “enlightened.” In other words, nobody ever really dies, so there aren’t eternal consequences for our actions. Of course, since someone has to die to be reborn, and there were fewer people in the past than there are now, who is being reincarnated to account for the current human population? How did this cycle of reincarnation start in the first place?
Unfortunately, Satan added that when Eve disobeyed, her eyes would be opened and she would be like God (Genesis 3:5). Well, the New Age Movement teaches we need to be “enlightened” to our own divinity. Unfortunately, Eve believed Satan, and it didn’t bring about a ‘New Age’ of world peace. It had the opposite effect (Genesis 3:6-18).
The Bible says “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). He’s also called “the god of this world” who “has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). He “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He is a liar, and works to deceive people into worshiping him instead of the Lord (John 8:44). Naturally, his lies are very appealing. If they weren’t, nobody would believe them. We all have an enemy, and security from deception is in Jesus Christ alone (Ephesians 6:10-18).
So, when some streams of the New Spirituality promote contacting “higher spiritual beings” to receive enlightenment, that raises some red flags. It would be wise to avoid astral projection, channeling and other means of getting in touch with so-called “higher spiritual beings.” There’s a reason God forbids divination, consulting mediums and other occult practices (Deuteronomy 18:9-12). Satan and his angels (Matthew 25:41), called demons (Luke 4:41), are real, and they are extremely dangerous (1 Timothy 4:1). If you are feeling troubled or oppressed after channeling, call upon the name of Jesus. Ask Him to save you from your sins and deliver you from the evil one (Matthew 6:13).