One of the major goals of the New Age Movement
is to create a Universal Religious System with all historic doctrinal distinctions
removed. It is so dangerous because it's so widespread, infiltrating every
aspect of our lives. New Ager's believe they are chosen to usher in Peace,
Love and Brotherhood under the leadership of a personality they call the
Christ and claim is alive today awaiting his entrance to the world stage
at any moment.
The New Age influence is found in the Women's Movement, the Peace Movement,
and the Ecological Movement. It is not organized with one single leader
but rather happens out of people's lives. It is a loose network of thousands
of groups with a common ingredient of Hindu religion and a common aversion
to traditional Christianity and is a movement that is rapidly replacing
Judeo-Christian values with new values.
Instead of destroying religion, they are figuring out how to use it for
their own means. President Bill Clinton said, "We are redefining in practical
terms the immutable ideals that have guided us from the beginning."
It's not too difficult to see what ideals he is talking about - the moral
commandments put forth in the Bible. Thus, this popular president has possibly
done more in the recent years to erode values such as honesty, integrity,
purity and faithfulness than anyone in recent history.
Vice-President Al Gore co-opts religion for his pagan goals, writing, "The
richness and diversity of our religious tradition throughout history is
a spiritual resource long ignored by people of faith, who are often afraid
to open their minds to teachings first offered outside their own system
of belief. But the emergence of a civilization in which knowledge moves
freely and almost instantaneously through the world has ... spurred a renewed
investigation of the wisdom distilled by all faiths. This panreligious perspective
may prove especially important where our global civiilzation's responsibility
for the earth is concerned." (Earth in the Balance;
Ecology and the Human Spirit, pp. 258-259)
This dangerous new, counterfeit spirituality is putting on a righteous face
and emerging as the answer for an American society gone violently and perversely
mad. What the social engineers need is something watered down that sounds
religious, something mystical and full of mystery that makes everybody feel
really devout, and certainly something that is politically correct, yet
fulfills everybody's yearning to be at peace with God.
"In the early seventies, ten years before the term "New Age" appeared, Brooks
Alexander, founder and director of Spiritual Counterfeit Projects, wrote:
"The Bible gives us a clear, if unpleasant picture: in the last days of
history as we know it, our race will be brought together in a common expression
of cosmic humanism. This coming great world religion will offer itself to
us as the ancient wisdom and hidden truth underlying all the religious forms
of history."" (Tal Brooke, When The World Will Be As One,
pg. 237.)
Pop-Psychology
The infiltration of New Age style psychology into the church has also strengthened
the trend toward ecumenism. Psychology plays a major ecumenical role by
providing common faith, language and ritual for everyone from atheists,
cultists and occultists to Roman Catholics and evangelicals. Most Christian
radio stations are saturated with Christian psychology programs, yet the
vast majority of listeners to these programs know very little about the
doctrine or church affiliation of the men they listen to. These men are
accepted as authorities on Christian living simply because they say they
are Christians and believe the Bible. These men unify Christians, not on
the basis of Scripture but on their psychological influence which is trans-doctrinal.
Other Modern Ecumenical Movements
- (ECT) Evangelicals and Catholics Together
- Freemasonry
- Baha'i World Faith
- Pro-Life Movement
- Promise Keepers
