The New Age: A Counterfeit Philosophy?

I was alerted to a recent post by our old friend, the "angel lady," on Instagram. I was disheartened to read that she has condemned the entirety of the New Age movement and has condemned the beliefs of other cultures, including First peoples of the Americas and the cultures of India as well. In her solid attempt to save people from the New Age agenda, she referred multiple followers to the following article,

"The New Age movement is a counterfeit philosophy that appeals to the feelings of individuals, leading them to think that that they are God and can enhance their lives through their own person. The reality is that we are born, grow up, live a while on planet Earth, and die. Humans are finite. We can never be God. We need someone greater than we who can provide us forgiveness and life eternal. "**

"New Agers create their own reality. They believe they can create reality by what they believe, and, by changing what they believe, they can change reality. All moral boundaries have been erased. There are no absolutes because there is no distinction between good and evil. Nothing has reality until one says that it is reality or says that it is truth."**

Obviously this is just an excerpt, but I feel like it says a lot.

My goal isn't to be divisive, but to serve up a healthy dose of truth.

1. "We can never be God."

I would personally argue that a majority of people who subscribe to the beliefs and values of this movement do not define themselves as, "GOD." In clear opposition, this movement aims to help us remember that there is no separation between our spirits and God. With that said, this movement also seeks to pointedly dismantle the existing belief that God is a man; this movement postulates that God is the creator spirit and we, as spirits of God, are co-creators as we are made in the image of God.

2. "Humans are finite." The New Age Movement does not dispute this. The difference between major tenets of this movement and Christianity is that we, being the New Age movement, do not believe in resurrection of the physical body, with the exception of reincarnation. It is contradictory to say that humans are finite but then that upon the return of Jesus, they will be reanimated.

3. "We need someone greater than we who can provide us forgiveness and life eternal. " In this movement, there is a great attempt at re-envisioning our relationship with "God." Meaning that rather than only going to God to be forgiven or beg for forgiveness, a more holy relationship is forged. And in this newly re-envisioned relationship, God helps us to understand and make readjustments as we grow and learn and as we learn to forgive ourselves; God always forgives.

In reference to "life eternal," there is a huge difference between traditional Christian thought and this movement at large. Unlike Christianity, eternal life is bestowed to everyone from ALL cultures; it is not reserved for those who "accept Jesus as savior."

4. "This is a counterfeit philosophy." I would ask, counterfeit in comparison to what? To the dominant narrative of Christianity where millions of people were FORCIBLY converted or had to face death? There are religions much older than Christianity who would argue that Christianity itself is counterfeit. For example, Paganism, whose beliefs and holidays were co-opted and repackaged by Christianity in an attempt to eradicate that spiritual belief system.

5. "New Agers create their own reality. They believe they can create reality by what they believe, and, by changing what they believe, they can change reality. All moral boundaries have been erased. There are no absolutes because there is no distinction between good and evil. Nothing has reality until one says that it is reality or says that it is truth."

This is a distorted interpretation of the belief that as spirits, we are co-creative agents. Again, in this movement, there is a belief that like God, and in the image of God, we are active participants in creation as a whole. Implicit within the argument listed above is the notion that New Agers are greedy, "sinful," materialistic, and co-agents in the moral degradation and destruction of the world. In the New age movement, there is actually less focus on materialism and the self, and more focus on the whole and bringing the darkness to light for healing. Therefore there is a distinction between health and sickness, darkness and light, and between fear and love, which you could redefine as good and evil.

In terms of creating your own reality, the law of cause and effect is indeed a powerful tenet of this movement as well. Meaning, that our actions will always have an effect and that our thoughts/consciousness, which are reflections of the state of our heart, will indeed create form at some level. This does not mean that the planet we are living on does not exist. It does not mean that the atrocities that occur here do not exist. It further does not mean that we do not see, hear, and feel in the 3 dimensional plane. Rather, that it is our hearts and minds, which inform our actions or inactions, that are the root cause of the collective reality we are all experiencing and that we have the power to change it.

I know that this movement does not need defending, and it is definitely not my intention to bash Christianity as I do hold close many of the teachings in the New Testament. However, I do feel compelled to clear up any inaccuracies that are circulating around. As with any spiritual/religious movement, there are ALWAYS varying degrees of disparate thoughts/interpretations within the same belief system, thus it is fruitless to generalize wholeheartedly. With that said, I hope that in this very brief response, I have cleared up some points of confusion and assumptions made on behalf of this article.

**Please read: https://www.gotquestions.org/new-age-movement.html for the complete article.