Is the New Age Movement the Way to God?
The "New Age Movement" is the name of a new religion, but there is nothing new about it. It has no leader, council, or headquarters governing it. It has no single book which authorizes or determines its faith and practices. The New Age Movement allows for many beliefs and practices. Nothing is defined. Nothing is set. There is nothing official or absolute about it.
Under the New Age Movement, the earth can be “god,” but man can also be called “god.” In fact, anything can be called “god” or nothing can be “god.” Making up this strange movement is a wide range of groups and individuals. They contradict each other in their beliefs. The New Age Movement is not united under who is to be worshipped, or how. It is, however, united by certain ideas which come from paganism and humanism.
According to the New Age Movement, religion is centered in the desires of the individual. Religions which have a standard of authority such as the Bible must be rejected. The individual may believe in a “god,” but he is not in subjection to the “god.” The foundation of the New Age Movement is based on the wants of the individual and their fulfillment. The desires of man create the religion he practices. The will of a man creates his god and how he worships him. In New Age thought, man does not conform to the will of God, nor are religious practices set by God, but God and religion are formed by the will of man. Everyone may worship the god of his choice and still be united with others who follow the New Age Movement.
The term "New Age Movement" is a way of describing various groups which follow belief in magic, witchcraft, communication with the dead, worship of Satan, etc. It is used to refer to modern followers of the occult to distinguish them from those in the past who followed the same beliefs. The New Age Movement has brought back the worship of many of the gods and goddesses from ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology. It has mixed ancient paganism with modern pagan religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism, as well as Native American spiritualism.
The New Age view of Christ is very different from what the Bible teaches. In the New Age Movement, Jesus Christ is regarded as a great religious teacher, but no greater than many others. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the only way to God (John 14:6). According to the New Age Movement, He is only one of many ways to God. The Bible presents Christ as One Who has all authority both in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18; Matthew 7:24-29). The New Age Movement ignores Christ’s own claims and says He is a spiritual teacher who accepted many ways to “god.”
The New Age Movement rejects the idea that man is given the ability to discover truth by the use of the mind his Creator gave him. The New Age Movement says truth is revealed by intuition (man’s feelings) rather than found by examination of facts (Jeremiah 10:23). It is believed that intuition brings enlightenment. When all people are enlightened through their own personal feelings, then there will be peace in all the world.
The roots of the New Age Movement go back to the works of various writers, artists and philosophers of the 19th century. With the rise of atheism, there came the desire for mysticism and the occult. People cannot live in a spiritual void as demanded by atheism. People must worship something. When God is taken out of their lives, they will replace Him with something else. He can never be replaced by rational thought or enlightenment. New Agers exchange God for darkness, ignorance, and immorality as can be seen in Romans 1:18-32. Thus the New Age Movement can never bring enlightenment, truth or any good thing. It follows the path of the ancient Gentile world as described in Romans, chapter one. They have exchanged truth for a lie and received nothing good in return.
The New Age Movement is a return to paganism, ignorance and mysticism. Its teachings come from a rebellion against God and lead to immorality. When a man becomes his own god, then every immoral act will follow. There will be no distinction between good or evil. Under the New Age teachings, man becomes his own standard of right and wrong. Therefore, nothing is wrong unless one decides for himself it is wrong. This is in complete disagreement with Proverbs 14:12: "There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death."
The teachings of the New Age Movement are destructive. They are the same teachings that corrupted so many people and nations in the past. The nations who followed these same ungodly principles ended in moral decay and chaos. The New Age Movement is nothing more than foolishness which has been brought in again from the distant past. It must be rejected!
Let us go back to the Bible, God’s Book! It reveals to us Jesus Christ who alone is “The Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6)!