Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Religion, Gnosticism, the New Age and all that….

There is more than one path to God.

Ever heard that before?

What about this?

All religions contain truth.

I’d like to relate a conversation I had with an atheist I once knew. The person in question is highly intelligent; a University graduate and a lecturer in food science. This occurred during my New Age days when I practised meditation and yoga. The atheist in question was a Malaysian Buddhist who practised Vipassana meditation and regularly attended retreats in Burma. At that time, I considered him to be advanced on the path. One day as we were talking about meditation experiences and techniques, the subject came around on the existence of a God. He made the following blunt and confident statements that somewhat startled me at the time:

“When you go deeply enough into meditation you eventually reach a point when you can actually see that there is no God. All our masters and teachers know this. You will soon see for yourself.”

Oh really?

I can’t recall how I answered. I remember thinking of a number of rebuttals off the top on my head, but we were in a gym and in between sets and I really liked the guy. And from previous conversations I considered him to be a tad smarter than the average Neanderthal I trained with. I remember thinking if my friend was right then these “masters and teachers” could tell us what was on the other side of the universe without having to send out space probes…right? They could tell us which planets were inhabited or not – all from sitting down and monitoring their breaths.

Do I sound cynical?

I hope so!

This intelligent man was telling me that by using the faculty of his own mind in meditation (but without rational thought), he could ponder the existence of God. Think about that for a while. This is a common presumption of New Age devotees…but there is one problem.

Some months later we were talking about a TV special where the Illusionist, David Copperfield, performed the stunt where he apparently walks through the Great Wall of China. My intelligent friend made another startling statement. He casually informed me that his teachers told him Copperfield had gone over to the dark side in misusing his powers.

Say that again!

It seemed that in this simple statement, the “Enlightened” house of cards was suddenly blown down by the wind of gullibility. It was then that I really probed him about his beliefs. No, he didn’t believe in a God but he did believe in “deities”…of course there are deities…and we are like “gods” learning through progressive incarnations. Proof? All we have to do is meditate and realize this for ourselves. My intelligent friend was deluded. He left logic and objectivity behind. Basically he was an accomplished food scientist and that’s all.

Over the years, I’ve researched more books and articles about the New Age, meditation and yoga than I care to admit. I read about Edgar Cayce’s jaunts through the Akashic records. I was even a member of the ARE. I also practised Kriya yoga through Pramahansa Yogananda’s “Self Realization Fellowship”. I read Annie Besant, Neale Donald Walsch, Richard Bach, Helen Schucman’s A Course In Miracles and many, many others. There are two main threads that run through all the claims made by most of these people and systems.

1) They claim some special knowledge of TRUTH that is derived by their own efforts or transmitted by certain masters (received in meditation).

2) They all - without exception - deny that Jesus Christ died to save us!

Now, someone might say, “If they all deny Jesus Christ died for our sins then, hey, maybe they’re right!”

This is where we get to the problem that I referred to earlier.

Here’s the thing: In all the research I’ve done; what with all the Akashic record readings and teachings by supposed ascended masters ad nauseam, none of these charlatans (yes, they are all charlatans) agree with each other except on that one thing:

That Christ did not come to die for us.

For example, Yogananda will tell you about Christ’s previous incarnations and so will Besant, Cayce and a host of others…but they’ll all contradict each other.

Now Neale Donald Walsch takes contradictions to new levels – he actually regularly contradicts his own statements in the “Conversations With God” books.

Walsch’s contradictions

Conversations With God

All paths and religions lead to God?

This is a logical fallacy based on careless assumptions. This can only be true if they all agree with each other about how this is achieved and if they all agree with each other, then there is only One Way.

The Buddhists are predominantly atheists. The Hindus believe in multiple gods. Islam contradicts Christianity regarding salvation. Islam teaches salvation by works (as does the New Age when you really dig into it).

The New Age. What is it?

World Views in Contrast

Assorted articles

Salvation According to the Old Testament: By Faith in Christ or by Faith and Works Apart from Christ?

The Teaching Of Islam


Christianity (true Christianity) is unique in that it teaches that it was Christ’s work on the cross that facilitated our salvation by Faith through Grace, not by works.


Salvation

I believe the presumption that there are many paths to God or “whatever” has one basic motivation driving it - it frees the believer to do whatever he or she chooses without compunction. The alternative is an obligation to follow a certain path which may be choice restrictive. I think this is what motivates people like Oprah Winfrey and the gurus she surrounds herself with.

To this I say – CAVEAT EMPTOR

What do these people really know that you don’t and why would you trust them?

Would you buy a car or a house without checking it out first?

Would you marry a person without knowing something about them?

If there is a God who offers multiple viable alternatives to salvation, then is it logical that these paths contradict each other?

Think about it. Your decision may affect where you spend eternity

Choose well.

A presentation, explanation, and mini-argument for the faith

9 comments:

Kathy Hall said...

Hi Mac,

Creation is just too amazing for there not to be a Creator. Jesus Christ simply spoke the universe into existence, and He did it without any effort! If He can do that, He can certainly save those who are lost.

Kathy

Kathy Hall said...

ps...If you think about it, in all religions except for Christianity, men go out seeking to find God and in so doing make up their own. But natural man cannot escape into the supernatural. God became man so that He could tell us about Himself. He burst from the supernatural into the natural so we could know Him. Such thoughts blow my mind and heart into praise!!!

Alf Cengia said...

Thanks, for the comments, Kathy. The idea for the post came to me at three AM the previous night when I had a raging fever and couldn’t sleep because of the flu.

You hit the nail on the head regarding creation. I remember back when I was 12 years old arguing against evolution with older atheists. I strongly believe that anyone who looks at the evidence objectively cannot honestly believe the universe was a cosmic accident. People like Dawkins have psychological motivations for not believing in a creator. I think even Dawkins has his doubts. In the new film, Expelled, he is seen suggesting that the Earth may well have been seeded from an extra terrestrial source. Of course, that merely transplants the problem to a different location. Dawkins knows (but won’t admit it) that science has not yet found a mechanism to build information in the genome. People often think that evolution can be facilitated by mutation but mutation is always a loss of information in the DNA and rarely beneficial.

In the video below, Dawkins is asked a question that has him stumped. I’m actually embarrassed for him. After it was posted, he cried foul and claimed he was set up and that it was edited etc, etc. In fact, the video was shortened and his pause was much longer. He was stumped and to this day, after several feeble attempts, has not been able to answer the question. His supporters went into frenzy and claimed it was a creationist hoax. It isn’t. The truth is Dawkins was asked a simple question that he couldn't answer.

Richard Dawkins stumped by creationists' question

Antony Flew, the celebrated atheist who debated Intelligent Design proponents for years, has finally become a Deist due to what he feels to be overwhelming evidence for design. Pray that he now accepts Christ!

Also, people tend to want or create God in their own image. How often have we heard, “I can’t believe in a God that…..” Fill in the blank.

And some people are actually motivated to not believe in God because of the consequences. Take Aldous Huxley’s famous statement:

“For myself, as, no doubt, for most of my contemporaries, the philosophy of meaningless was essentially an instrument of liberation. The liberation we desired was simultaneously liberation from a certain political and economic system and liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom; we objected to the political and economic system because it was unjust. The supporters of these systems claimed that in some way they embodied the meaning (a Christian meaning, they insisted) of the world. There was one admirably simple method of confuting these people and at the same time justifying ourselves in our political and erotical revolt: we could deny that the world had any meaning whatsoever.”

GingerKrick said...

Edgar Cayce doesn't deny Christ. I think you need to re-read whatever it is you've read about him.

Kathy Hall said...

I think I saw Dawkin's cheeks blush after about 12 seconds. =) Hope you are feeling better Mac. So far we've avoided being bitten by the flu bug at our house.

Alf Cengia said...

Hi Jennie, thanks for posting your comment.

I will clarify what I mean by Cayce denying Christ.

But first let me say that I was very fond of Cayce and the ARE. I can’t recall how long I was an associate member. I received and devoured the “Venture Inward” magazines for a number of years. The thing I liked about Cayce was his devotional style and attitude to Jesus as Master and Elder Brother. Unlike some other New Age personas and organizations who were Christophobic, Cayce and the ARE regularly featured articles about Jesus. In fact at one point, several readers wrote in to complain about how often Jesus was referenced. At the time, the ARE stuck to its guns although I don’t know what their policy is now. The other thing I liked about Cayce was his teachings about serving others. Many of the other New Age teachings were selfish in focus, especially in regards to marriage, divorce and karma. In contrast, Cayce and the ARE promoted unselfish service.

But it’s important to understand what Cayce taught about Jesus’ origin and purpose and whether it contradicted the Bible, especially regarding SALVATION.

Remember that Cayce encouraged Bible reading and he read it himself many times over. If the information that came out of the readings contradicted what the Bible taught about who Jesus was and why He came to this earth, then which is correct and why would Cayce advise it? Cayce taught that Jesus was a soul entity who, along with a host of others came to this earth…
The Past Lives of Jesus According to Edgar Cayce

From the ARE…
Was Edgar Cayce a Christian?

Remember, Cayce encouraged people to read the Bible from cover to cover – not just selected texts like the Sermon on the Mount. Also, Cayce’s perspective of Christ’s supposed incarnations conflicts with other New Age accounts. In fact, none of them agree.

The problem is that Cayce’s Jesus totally conflicts with scripture.

The Worldview of Edgar Cayce

Who is Jesus Christ?

Is the deity of Christ Biblical?

The NT Witness: Summary--The Deity of Jesus Christ

The NT Witness: The Self-Understanding of Jesus (Gospel of John)

Fundamentally, Cayce taught that Jesus was an enlightened being that had achieved the At-One-Ment and the Christ-Consciousness. Jesus and Christ are two separate ideas, according to Cayce. He taught that Jesus was the pattern and that we regularly incarnated into this earth to eventually become like Him.

Whereas the Bible teaches that Jesus is Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament. Jesus did not incarnate as Adam – He created the universe and he created Adam and Eve. Furthermore, God came into this world as a man to offer Himself up as a sacrifice at Golgotha so that those who believed on Him could be saved. There is no Salvation process in reincarnation. The true Gospel, as offensive as it may be, is the Old Rugged Cross.

So, in that regard, and despite the best of intentions, Edgar Cayce does, in fact, deny the true nature and mission of Jesus Christ.

I know what my attitude would have been not too long ago, after reading this so I can imagine what you’re thinking. Crazy fundamentalist!

But I pray you read and mull it over and perhaps visit the Salvation links I provided.

May God guide and bless you, Jennie.


The meaning of the words Christ and Messiah in the Bible according to Strong’s concordance is not a consciousness at all:

משׁיח
mâshîyach
maw-shee'-akh
From H4886; anointed; usually a consecrated person (as a king, priest, or saint); specifically the Messiah: - anointed, Messiah.

Χριστός
Christos
khris-tos'
From G5548; anointed, that is, the Messiah, an epithet of Jesus: - Christ.

GT said...

mac; Very good post! All false "religion" does have one thing in common, that they all deny that Jesus came to die for all sins and that He is the only way to heaven and the Father.

Along this line of thinking, I came across this article:

http://www.christianworldviewnetwork.com/article.php/3226/Ingrid_Schlueter

and wondered what you think of it. I surmised that these things were linked but didn't know for certain. You had answered my question about a related matter at the cave and I wondered if you knew about the info in this article. This stuff concerns me because I was caught up to a degree in this type of teaching some time back and see it is coming to the front in this "secret" teaching. I am seeing such an acceleration of this "junk" coming out now and even in the Churches!! I ask because you have some direct backround with new age ect. Thanks!

God Bless!

Alf Cengia said...

Hi GT. I guess this is the article you were talking about:

Oral Roberts, John Bevere Featured on New “Secret” DVD

I was drawn into the new age through the self-help, pop-psychology industry. Catherine Ponder, Wayne Dyer, Richard Bach etc. Check out the Catherine Ponder site and scroll down to see the many names of the usual suspects. I became pretty familiar with 29 of them.

Catherine Ponder: One of the World's Leading Prosperity Writers

Ponder used the Bible to teach the Law of Attraction philosophy. She didn’t actually take the Bible literally but taught that it contained symbols of Truth. She taught positive thinking and the power of the spoken word to claim your right as a “god” through the promises of the Bible. You know, that fine new job, new car, house etc, etc - all you had to do was speak the word and act as if your request had already manifested, and it would. Wayne Dyer had a book out called, “You’ll See It When You Believe It”. In his books, he sometimes picks and chooses various Bible verses to support his theories. He was also a devotee of Swami Muktananda.

Well that stuff never worked for me!

Ponder and Dyer would tell me that it was because I didn’t have enough faith etc. Well, I’ve had some amazing answers to prayer…but only when my motives were unselfish. So I would beg to differ.

There are a range of beliefs within this group. Richard Bach, for example, believes we’re spirit beings having fun re-incarnating in a material world, just to learn. His book “Illusions” is all about this. Others believe God is an impersonal force that can be used or activated by meditation or by enlisting our sub-conscious minds. Others believe we are god but somehow we’ve forgotten it – so they chant the “I AM” in order to somehow reconnect to their divinity.

There are various approaches and beliefs but they all emanate from the Eastern Religions and are an extension of Hindu philosophy. Even the various Buddhist philosophies evolved out of Hinduism.

It’s disconcerting to see Christian churches and groups getting involved in these things. In fact, New Age philosophies have been creeping into the church for some time via yoga, meditation, prosperity, labyrinth walking and so on.

Ingrid has a good site that keeps track of these trends:Slice of Laodicea

See also: Christian Research Network

Christians should busy themselves witnessing for the Gospel not peddling prosperity and teaching meditation etc. Time is short.

GT, I’ve been rambling and I’m not even sure if I’ve answered your question. If not, I’m sorry. Feel free to comment anytime.

YBIC

mac

GT said...

mac; Thanks for the reply, that was the link I tried to post (still don't do the blue thing) sorry. WOW, I just looked at the link you posted and had no idea that much "stuff" was out there on "prosperity". I have probably seen only 1 or 2 names on that list that I recognize, don't know anyone who was new age before. That is a good source for info, thanks. I also didn't know that the "prosperity gospel" was so tied to false religion.

I guess it shocked me that Oral Roberts is now being tied to new age "prosperity" teaching. He is one of the oldest teachers of this kind of thing from the bible prospective. I guess that all the others, Ken Hagin, Coplan, and most teaching on TBN are also tied in with this stuff. I had heard the teaching some time ago and it is convincing but not really biblical. It is odd that the new age teachers also use the Bible to push their views, makes me wary of the prosperity gospel no matter where it comes from, especially with the link to new age.

Anyway, thanks for your replies. I'm more convinced we are seeing the begining of the final world religious system coming together.

God Bless!