apologetics-newage

7/28/2019 Apologetics-NEWAGE

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Understanding the

New Age Spirituality!

19 May 2011 RZIM Life Focus Society


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Do we really know them?

History -- where did they come from?

Doctrines -- what they believe Practices -- how they live

Presence in world today

When you encounter them . . .



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NAM

The New Age Movement can be described as aWesternized form of Eastern religions beliefscombined with occultic practices, self-help, holistic

medicines, and forms of astrology. The New Age Movement is not a single

organization. The term New Age Movementrefers to a large number of autonomous groups

and individuals. There are hundreds of groups and religious leaders

that could be described as New Age.

http://images.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/dws/images/dws-t-is-one-New-Age.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/dws/dws_r5_truth-faiths.html&h=278&w=278&sz=13&tbnid=qGjpT33R0pjtbM:&tbnh=109&tbnw=109&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnew%2Bage&start=1&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=1


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Assumptions

The New Age Movement contains great

diversity. However, the following ideas

characterize most NewAgers.

PantheismGod (god/goddess) is All and All is

God (god/goddess).

MonismAll is One.

ReincarnationAfter you die you will be

reborn as a baby and live another life.

You are God, and must discover your divinity.



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Assumptions

Good and evil do not exist, therefore, there

are no absolutes in morality.

Separate the historical person of Jesus from

the Christ Spirit.

A New Age of enlightenment and

transformation is coming.



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Six distinctives of New Age thinking

All is one;

All is God;

Humanity is God;

A change in consciousness

All religions are one

Cosmic evolutionary optimism.

Douglas R. Groothuis, author ofUnmasking theNew Age and Confronting the New Age

http://images.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.otago.ac.nz/humannutrition/dietetics/gfx/philosophy.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.otago.ac.nz/humannutrition/dietetics/&h=300&w=220&sz=8&tbnid=JnvuXfaLZw5aoM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=81&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthinking%2Bman&start=2&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=2


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Some prominent New Agers

Benjamin Creme,

Shirley MacLaine,

Deepak Chopra Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

http://images.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.fembio.org/images/WF-shirley-maclaine-3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fembio.org/frauen-biographie/shirley-maclaine.shtml&h=198&w=140&sz=6&tbnid=73ox5DDkPn3TBM:&tbnh=99&tbnw=70&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dshirley%2Bmaclaine&start=2&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=2http://www.shareintl.org/background/bcreme/bc_main.htmhttp://www.shareintl.org/background/bcreme/bc_main.htmhttp://images.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.fembio.org/images/WF-shirley-maclaine-3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fembio.org/frauen-biographie/shirley-maclaine.shtml&h=198&w=140&sz=6&tbnid=73ox5DDkPn3TBM:&tbnh=99&tbnw=70&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dshirley%2Bmaclaine&start=2&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=2


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Swami Chidananda on New Age

"New Age has two distinguishing featuresthat separate it from Old Age. It doesn't takeany particular religion as the authority and

secondly, it draws from all religions."

Swami Chidananda, of the Chinmaya Mission,Powai, Mumbai

http://www.lifepositive.com/chinmayamission/index.htmlhttp://www.lifepositive.com/chinmayamission/index.html


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Important expression areas of the

New Age

Intuition and feelings ( rightbrain)

Astrology

Spiritism

UFOs Sex

Ecology

Vegetarianism

Reincarnation

http://images.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.paganlink.org/clipart/astrology/astrology-04.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.paganlink.org/clipart/astrology/page01.html&h=163&w=265&sz=4&tbnid=dm4oG8NMYGH-WM:&tbnh=66&tbnw=108&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dastrology&start=2&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=2http://images.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mio.uwosh.edu/~alatov95/bryce/ufo%2520over%2520water.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.mio.uwosh.edu/~alatov95/&h=866&w=1120&sz=119&tbnid=3Pg2tx8vaH-eHM:&tbnh=115&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dufo&start=2&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=2http://images.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.spiritrealms.co.uk/ouij.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.spiritrealms.co.uk/ouija.htm&h=180&w=270&sz=14&tbnid=ThjA68ZA-pKxIM:&tbnh=72&tbnw=108&prev=/images%3Fq%3Douija%2Bboard&start=2&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=2


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Important expressions of the New Age

Intellectual movement

From logical thought (left brain) to feelings andintuition (right brain)

Dethronement of the normal (waking)

consciousness in favor of the transcendental and

mystical Contact spirits and other media

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/images/0340809094/ref=dp_image_text_0/026-9796158-2898852?ie=UTF8http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/images/0340809094/ref=dp_image_text_0/026-9796158-2898852?ie=UTF8http://images.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/contractor_images/coloron/image_2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/contractors/materials/coloron/coloron2.html&h=487&w=400&sz=45&tbnid=LarJhujeEh0d7M:&tbnh=126&tbnw=103&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dleft%2Bbrain&start=2&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=2


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Astrology and the New Age

New Age believes that we are moving to the age of

Aquarius. The earth is supposed to be moving from itsproximity to the constellation of Pisces to that of

Aquarius.

Aquarius is supposed to be the age of harmony, peace

universal brotherhood, joy , freedom (in ethics) science,

accomplishment and inspiration (in religion)

Fatalism due to causal connections

Makes some true predictions due to spiritual

connections.



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Spiritism and the New Age

Magic performed by tricks such as sleight of

hand

Psychic powers paranormal activities such as

extra sensory perception

The demonic the actual engagement with the

powers of the spiritual world.



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UFOs and the New Age

UFOs as a religious experience. The optimism of

an Aquarian rests on Extra Terrestrial help.

UFOs as an aid to self-transcendence.



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Sex and the New Age

Sex is linked upon as holding the key to

unlocking the mystery of the universe(Fritjof Capra T h e T a o o f P h y s i c s )

Perfection in sexuality is the discovery of

the perfect balance in ourselves in our

androgynous nature by uniting maleand female by certain techniques.

while making love to a woman, you are

actually making love to existence itself.

The woman is just a door, the man is justa door - Rajneesh

http://www.clipart.com/en/close-up?o=903529&memlevel=B&a=a&q=male%20female%20symbols&k_mode=&s=1&e=12&show=&c=&cid=&findincat=&g=&cc=&page=&k_exc=&pubid=


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Ecology and the New Age

Feminist spirituality rooted in the age-old

identification of woman and nature

the main problem for the earth is she is feeling

unloved She is becoming confused. This is

making her lose control and the natural order of

the plant is falling David Icke

I hug the tree because I am one with the tree so

that I can keep the illegal loggers from felling thetree. Indian conservationist Sunderlal Bahuguna

http://images.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://telematics.ex.ac.uk/butterfly/images/ecology.jpg&imgrefurl=http://telematics.ex.ac.uk/butterfly/ecology.htm&h=438&w=579&sz=114&tbnid=v7DEA5kG1Jo1LM:&tbnh=99&tbnw=132&prev=/images%3Fq%3Decology&start=3&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=3


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Vegetarianism and the New Age

Prior to 600 BC when Jainism and Buddhism

revolted against the sacrificial system in

Hinduism, vegetarianism made a debut in India.

Considered by many as a royal road to God

Mother Teresa was a non-vegetarian while Hitler

was an adamant vegetarian which remains as a

embarrassment to the proponents of

vegetarianism.

http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0028-0403-0903-0919.htmlhttp://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0059-0508-2505-0755.html


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Reincarnation and the New Age

Considered to be a liberating belief.

Recent trends in science and philosophy is

leaning towards affirming the existence of soul. Instances of near-death experiences and past-life

recalls have created new interest in reincarnation

Hinduism and Buddhism have always taught

reincarnation of the eternal soul.

http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_pages/0037-0608-2013-4602.html


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Critique of the New

Age

New Agers treasure the tenets of pantheismwhich teaches that they also (all of creation)

are gods/goddesses.

The rat rummaging through the garbage isalso God according to pantheism. If

pantheism is true then it means that evengarbage is God. It means that a worm in anapple is God!



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Pantheism is not livable

In pantheism God is an impersonal being. If this is true, it means that the impersonal must

be greater than (or at least the same value as)the personal.

But even New Agers find it very difficult to live asif this is true. They tend to value animals as having more value than

an impersonal rock.

They tend to value their families as having more valuethan a plant.

When New Agers live as if the personal is of morevalue than the impersonal, they act as if theteachings of the Bible, are true.



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Biblical critique of the New Age Areas

considered

Transcendence and immanence

Creator- creation distinction

The place and role of reason

The Spirit world Human sexuality

Ecological concern

Vegetarianism

Reincarnation



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Biblical critique of the New Age

Transcendence and Immanence

The God of the Bible is a triune God - oneDivine being of three Infinite-relationalpersons. God is Transcendent (Gen 1:1) and

also Immanent (Ps 104) over His creation. Newagers err in sacrificing the transcendence

of God in the altar of immanence!



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Creator- creation distinction

Importance of identities is central in Biblicalteaching (Gen 1:5,8,10). Bible makes a cleardistinction between God and his creation.

By removing the distinction between humanbeings and nature, New Age strikes a deadlyblow to human dignity and individuality.

In erasing the distinction between the real

world and the identities within it, New Agedestroys the basis for science.



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The place and role of reason

God created us for a

relationship with himself

(Gen 2: 15-17).

There is an intuitiveexperiential dimension that

is rooted in the being of

God.

Epistemology has to operate

on an objective-subjective

axis.



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Biblical critique of the New AgeThe Spirit

world

The spirit world is created by God

Angels are ministering spirits (Ps 91: 11,Heb 1:14)

Demons are fallen angels and we are

commanded not to dabble in any form ofspiritism (Lev 20: 6,7)



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Biblical critique of the New AgeThe Spirit

world

Bible teaches to trust in Godand not to resort to divinationor sorcery (Lev 19:26b)

Foreknowledge of future

paralyses our free will andprevents us from living as free-beings.

God is the creator of all thingsincluding ETs (if there are such

beings!)

We should refrain fromunhealthy interest in celestialbeings.

http://images.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.vgmuseum.com/scans/psx/02/et.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.vgmuseum.com/scans/psx.html&h=500&w=500&sz=74&tbnid=_KK3gjCsNulOZM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3De-t&start=2&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=2http://images.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.vgmuseum.com/scans/psx/02/et.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.vgmuseum.com/scans/psx.html&h=500&w=500&sz=74&tbnid=_KK3gjCsNulOZM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3De-t&start=2&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=2


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Biblical critique of the New Age Human

sexuality

God created sex as a fulfilling act of intimacy between one man andwoman. Marriage is a monogamous

heterosexual relationship (Gen 1&2) We are not to deify sex nor to despise

it as evil.

Our Sexuality is powerful because weare created in the image of God.

Human sexuality is meaningful becauseof the male-female distinction.



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Ecological concern

The Bible starts with creation

of the environment and its

beautifully balanced

interdependence.

The command of God to us is

stewardship of the creation.

If human beings are equal

with rest of creation how canwe justify our authority over

rest of the nature?



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Biblical critique of the New Age Vegetarianism

God created animals and human beings as

vegetarians (Gen 1:29,30)

Official sanction for non-vegetarian diet

appears only in Gen 9:2 The Christian faith is not necessarily a non-

vegetarian faith.

We may encourage vegetarianism on

aesthetic or health grounds but object to itn theological grounds!



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Reincarnation

The view of time and history in

scripture is helical-linear.

Although there is a repetition history

is moving towards its grand climax.

Reincarnation robs the human

individual of his dignity and identity

apart from reducing morality to a

cause and effect phenomenon.

We have chance of only one life

(Heb 9:27)



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Some points to remember while sharing Christ with

Newagers

Pray that God will give you direction as you share.

Always define one another's terms

Stress the uniqueness of Jesus as the Saviour and His

resurrection.

Look for opportunities to present Jesus as a person who isknowable and who desires a relationship.

Help him / her recognize the reality of evil and see that Jesus ishis / her only avenue of escape.

Show him / her that man's problem is sin and not ignorance ofhis / her personal divinity.


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