New Age vs. Christianity

Gunny

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GOD
New Age: God is an impersonal, amoral, creative evolutionary force within the universe.
Christianity: God is a moral, personal Being, who is the all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere-present Creator of the universe.



CREATION
New Age: The universe has always existed as the material manifestation of the creative God-Force.
Christianity: God created the universe out of nothing; it is distinct from Himself.


MAN
New Age: Humans are the apex of earthly evolution, having unlimited potential, giving self-awareness to the Divine Force, and capable of guiding the universal process of evolution.
Christianity: Man was created by God in His image as a personal, rational, moral being.


REVELATION
New Age: We can mystically become aware of the divinity of all things, and we can experience union with the divine Life Force. "Guides" from other dimensions assist in this.
Christianity: God has revealed Himself through natural revelation (nature and conscience) and special revelation (theophanies, the prophets, the Scriptures, Jesus Christ).


JESUS CHRIST
New Age: He was an incomparable spiritual teacher who was aware of His deity and dedicated to helping each of us become aware of ours.
Christianity: He is the Son of God, the eternal second person of the Trinity, both God and man, and Redeemer of the human race and the universe.


SIN
New Age: Sin is a failure to recognize one's own deity. Both "good" and "evil" contribute to the evolution of consciousness, the Life Force.
Christianity: Sin is moral evil, a willful violation of God's absolute moral law.


SALVATION
New Age: Salvation is deliverance from fear and guilt through awareness of our own deity.
Christianity: Salvation is deliverance from the penalty and power of sin through faith in Jesus, whose death on the cross paid the penalty for sin.


JUDGMENT
New Age: Since evil and sin are illusory and no personal Judge exists, we will be purified through an endless series of reincarnations, attaining ever higher levels of consciousness.
Christianity: Believers will be rewarded in heaven according to their faithfulness, and nonbelievers will be punished in hell according to the degree of their rebellion against the Creator.


ANGELS
New Age: Angels in the biblical sense do not exist. However, there are many spiritual beings in the universe who are more highly developed than man and are eager to guide our spiritual evolution.
Christianity: Angels are spirit-beings, created by God. Some of them (Satan and his demons) rebelled against God and are enemies of Him and His creation. The rest remained faithful and continue to serve Him.

Article from Christianity News
 

Gunny

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New Age teachers are right on one important count: In order to reach our highest potential as humans, we need to be personally transformed. But New Age teaching leads people astray in two crucial areas: how that transformation should occur and what we are trying to become.

Jesus said that we can be spiritually reborn as we put our faith in Him (John 3:1-21). Our need is not to realize our imagined godhood but to be reconciled to the real God. Our aim should be to experience the joy of a personal relationship with the One who made heaven and earth (1:12; 17:3).



Jesus is the true source of personal transformation, fulfillment, purpose, and meaning. We must reject Satan's counterfeit forms of spirituality. We need to accept the truth that we deserve judgment for sin, and that Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God, died for us.

If you have never done so before, put your trust in Christ and come to know the personal God. Jesus wants to transform you, fulfill you, and prepare you for His coming eternal kingdom.


Article by Christianity News
 
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Gunny

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The New Age Movement:
What Christians Should Know

By Dr. Dale A. Robbins.


For nearly two thousand years, Christians have pondered the end-time prophecy’s of the New Testament, and especially the revelation of John. In his apocalyptic writing he described the coming of a diabolical world leader called the “Beast” or the “Antichrist,” who would arise among a one world religion and government in the last days (Rev. 13:2).


During the recent years of international turmoil and crisis, an enormous neopolitical/religious order, called the New Age movement, has quietly emerged. They are made up of a world-wide network of thousands of cooperating organizations. They are united under the common bond of esoteric or occult teachings, with the goal of forming a “one world order.”


Many students of Bible prophecy have carefully watched the development of this movement, and feel that this may very well be that predicted entity from which the Antichrist will emerge.


A Brief History of the New Age Movement


The origin of the movement dates back to at least 1875 with the theosophical teachings of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, and later in the 1920’s with the teachings of Alice Ann Bailey. The Theosophical Society, as it was called, espoused the abolishment of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, promoting the unity of other world religions. They claimed that their teachings were revealed by “spirit” or elemental guides (demons). They emphasized heavily the evolution of a self deified, master aryan society, and a one world “new age” religion and social order.


In 1922, Baily founded the “Lucifer Publishing Company,” which printed and distributed their teachings (Lucifer was Satan’s first name). These teachings were very complete in their intent and goals. Step by step they plotted the coming new age with instructions for the institution of the necessary new world order.


Baily’s teachings established the symbol of a rainbow as their identification sign, and discussed extensively, plans for religious war, forced redistribution of the world’s resources, mass planetary initiations, theology for a new world order, world-wide disarmament, and elimination of obstinate religions. She even discussed the sacredness of the new world leader’s number, 666 (the number of the Beast).


The Present New Age Movement


Today, the New Age movement appears to be a loose knit group of innocent organizations with ambiguous goals or leadership. But beneath the surface there is a definite, organized, secret leadership and strategy which guides the vast movement. The main body of leadership resides in an organization called “The Planetary Initiative For The World We Choose.”


One of their most celebrated demonstrations of unity and public relations occurred on August 16-17, 1988. Over eighty million New Agers unified themselves for what was called the largest assembly of mass meditation in history. Widely reported by the news media, the “Harmonic Convergence,” also referred to as the “Planetary Surrender,” occurred simultaneously in nearly every nation and major city. Led and organized largely by 144,000 Shamans, witches, witch doctors and a whole assortment of New Age mystics, they joined in a period of meditation agreement for the release of “spiritual forces” which would bring about their desire for a “one world government and world religion.” Only two years earlier, on December 31, 1986, a slightly smaller gathering of fifty million New Age adherents joined in meditation for the purpose to “alter the manner which humanity understands reality.”


In actuality, these gatherings of meditation were acts of worship and service to the Devil. One can only imagine what kind of demons and evil spiritual forces were unleashed upon the world as witch doctors, shamans and mystics called upon the powers of darkness to distort humanity’s perception of truth.


Is it no wonder that evil and wickedness has intensified in the world since that time? Think of the power of God that could be released if eighty million Christians combined their faith in one massive prayer meeting!


Who They Are And What They Believe


Publications which list the numerous cooperating groups are the “Spiritual Community Guide,” and “The New Age Magazine,” with thousands of listings. New agers claim that all mind science groups are a part of the new age. They also include various occult groups, mystic religions, witchcraft organizations, pagan religions, ecological organizations, neopolicital and secular organizations. In the U.S. and Canada over ten thousand organizations are identified as New Age, such as “Amnesty International, Greenpeace, The Sierra Club, Zero Population, The Guardian Angels,” and thousands of other secular and religious organizations. Other groups synonymous with the New Age are “The Age of Aquarius, The Aquarian Conspiracy, The Human Potential Movement, The Holistic Movement, Humanistic Psychology,” and a host of others.


The modern New Age movement has a definite agenda which has been agreed upon by their constituents. Adopted much after the same original ideals as Alice Ann Baily, the manifesto of the New Age movement calls for a:


(1) New world order
(2) Universal credit card system
(3) World food authority
(4) World Health Authority
(5) World water authority
(6) Universal tax
(7) Universal military draft
(8) Abolishing of Christianity, Judaism and Islam
(9) One world leader


After extensive analysis of its teachings and goals, expert political scientists agree that the New Age movement parallels the ideals and philosophy of Nazism of the 1930’s and 1940’s. New Age writings even claim that leaders such as Adolph Hitler and Jim Jones were disciples of the movement. Before the Jonestown, Guyana massacre, Jones’ Peoples Temple was listed as a New Age “Spiritual Center,” in the “Spiritual Community Guide” (a handbook for New Agers).


The Coming Antichrist


In the late 1980’s, prominent New Agers, David Spangler and Benjamin Creme ran full page ads in many of the world’s newspapers announcing the soon appearance of the “Christ.” This personality was introduced as the “Lord Maitraya,” alleged to be a world-class “messiah” and great teacher whom they claimed would bring world peace and solutions to the worlds problems. To date, their Maitraya has not yet emerged as a celebrated leader, and may not. But the aspirations of Creme, Spangler and other New Agers are clearly seen. They are seeking a man, whether god or devil, who will be their image of a messiah, coming to save the planet.


Finally, what we know about the New Age movement so far is this: It is extremely large and is made up of an extensive network of mystic, occultish figures devoted to the goals of a forced global government and religion. They have expressed their rejection and hostility toward Christianity and other major religions, and seek to establish a universal leader who will fulfill the description of a satanic deity.


Truly there has never been a more ideal environment to produce that man of deception, the personification of the Devil himself. And if this is the organization of the Beast, we know that this means the rapture, the tribulation period, and the second coming of Jesus Christ is close at hand (2 Thes. 2:2-9, Rev. 13:11-18).


Acknowledgments:
“Dark Secrets of the New Age,” Texe Marrs
“The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow,” Constance Cumbey
 
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Havoc

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What Dale Robbins know about the "New Age Movement" couldn't fill a thimble. This article has been around the net more times than a inappropriate content site and it's been laughed at more times than Alan Thicke (ok a LOT more times).

Today, the New Age movement appears to be a loose knit group of innocent organizations with ambiguous goals or leadership. But beneath the surface there is a definite, organized, secret leadership and strategy which guides the vast movement. The main body of leadership resides in an organization called “The Planetary Initiative For The World We Choose.”
BWAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!
One of their most celebrated demonstrations of unity and public relations occurred on August 16-17, 1988. Over eighty million New Agers unified themselves for what was called the largest assembly of mass meditation in history. Widely reported by the news media, the “Harmonic Convergence,” also referred to as the “Planetary Surrender,” occurred simultaneously in nearly every nation and major city. Led and organized largely by 144,000 Shamans, witches, witch doctors and a whole assortment of New Age mystics, they joined in a period of meditation agreement for the release of “spiritual forces” which would bring about their desire for a “one world government and world religion.”
Listen mister you can't get ten Witches to show up on time, I know. I was also around on that date and I didn't get any invite, CAUSE THIS EVENT DIDN"T HAPPEN!!! 144,000 is a number that is menaingless to most Pagans. We don't much care about any "one world government, that's a particularly Christian paranoia. We definately do NOT want one world religion, Christians have done enough to try to make that happen.

This guy ranks right up there with Mike Warnke, Bill Schnoeblen (sp), and Rebecca Brown in the "havn't got the slightest grip on reality" department. The trouble is with these conspiracy nutcases is that the more you show them what is really out there the more they think it proves there's a cover up.

"The most outrageous lies that can be invented will find believers if a person only tells them with all his might." Mark Twain.

Havoc
 
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Gunny

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Seven Major Teachings by Christian Revival Ministries
of the New Age

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. - Colossians 2:8

New Age is not new ... it is a modern revival of ancient religious traditions, along with a potpourri of influences: Eastern mysticism, modern philosophy and psychology, science and science fiction, and the counterculture of the 50s and 60s. "... So here we are in the New Age, a combination of spirituality and superstition, fad and farce, about which the only thing certain is that it is not new. Nobody seems to know exactly where the term came from, but it has been around for several decades or more, and many elements of the New Age, like faith healing, fortune-telling and transmigration of souls, go back for centuries." [Otto Friedrich, "New Age Harmonies," TIME, Dec. 7, 1987.]

Despite its popularity, the New Age is hard to define. It includes a variety of beliefs, fads, and rituals. It seems to be a marriage of Science & Easternism Cult-religious organizations and can be a mixture of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Spiritualism such as, Church Universal & Triumphant (Elizabeth Clare Prophet). Some New Agers subscribe to some parts, some to others.
It is a religious movement that is centered in SELF- all you need is within - with no defined order of sin, repentance or salvation! You become your own god! The people worship the god of forces and promote The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus was not and is not the only Christ, nor is he God.
Some may think that everyone means the same thing when they say "Christ." Christians see the one and only begotten Son of God, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Many New Age writers on the other hand refer to a Christ spirit. They believe there have been many Christ, Jesus being only one of many.
New Age prophetess Alice Bailey and author of many occult books, including The Reappearance of The Christ, describes the "Avatar of Synthesis," who she says is a "close Associate" of "the Christ." She says: "He works under the great natural Law of Synthesis, producing at-one-ment, unification and fusion. His function (in unison with the energy of Christ) is to generate spiritual will in humanity, the will-to good.
The New Ager understands Christ as a reincarnated avatar, Messiah, or messenger sent from the 'hierarchy' to give the living on earth spiritually advanced revelation. The New Age accepts that Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, Jesus, and many others were 'Christ'.
The Baha'i World Faith claims to be in perfect harmony with the Christian Faith yet see the historical Jesus as only one of several manifestations of Christ on equal ground as Abraham, Moses, Krishna, Zoroastrian, Budda, Mohammed, the Bab, and their founder: Baha'u'llah.

"God" is impersonal, cosmic, a God of energy forces.
All things, including man, constitute, the ONE - called Universal Mind, The Source, Universal Self, Cosmic Consciousness, Universal Presence, or The Force" - your Inner Voice, Higher Self, or Intuition. " God is an impersonal energy; force, immanent in all things (including man). God can be referred to either as she or he, mother or father, god or goddess. Do not be deceived! New Agers do not mean God or Jesus Christ of the Bible. Most New Age teachers hold that Mother Earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars, indeed all of Nature can be worshipped as God.

Man is himself God, for he consists of and is the creator of "the forces." Man already exercises the powers inherent in his divinity and needs only to awaken to this fact.
New Ageism embraces supernaturalism, but ascribes it to the creature, not the Creator (as in Romans 1:22-24). They flaunt the "I am God" concept as it naturally appeals to man's ego and thirst for power, an appeal as old as the Garden of Eden. Satan promised Eve: "Ye shall be as God."
It is of of the goals of the New Age Movement to cause people to rebel against the true God of the Bible and to believe that they are deities. Once Satan has the person in this heretical frame of mind, then the battle is won. The individual will then be called for greater service to the Prince of Darkness. And with a mind clouded and confused, he or she will comply. The individual will have become a member, knowingly or unknowingly, of the Satanic conspiracy. [Texe Marrs, Millennium, pp. 224-25]

Man should seek and accept spiritual instruction and direction directly from the spirit world.
The lure of the occult is almost always on the basis of acquiring knowledge or power. [Neil T. Anderson, The Bondage Breaker, pg. 114] We crave a knowledge that is esoteric, not normally available to the ordinary person. We want to experience a power that is spiritual and supernatural in origin. People don't seem to want to hear what God has to say, they want information and direction from someone else who "knows"; a psychic, a channeler, a palm-reader, a card-reader, Ouija boards, astrology, magic charming, automatic writing, or the spirit of a dead friend of relative. In a sense these are God-given desire, but they are intended to be fulfilled by the knowledge and power which comes from God. However, Satan is busy trying to pass off his counterfeits for God's knowledge and power as the real thing. If he can get us to accept his versions of knowledge and power, he has a foothold in our life.

All religions and religious teachings lead to the same goal. All are equally of merit.
Satan's primary tactic in opposing God is not to foster atheism but religion; not to prove there is no God but to be worshipped as God. "I have not come to found a new religion," Lord Maitreya says. "I have come to teach the art of Self-realization," something which is neither an ideology nor a religion, but benefits people of all religions and those who have none. "I come to you 'like a thief in the night'", He tells us, "so that you will not become too excited. Slowly, as you become aware, you can 'digest' what is 'eaten'. In awareness you will know Me. In 'isms' you will fight against me".
The New Age does express a cloudy sort of religion, claiming vague connections with both Christianity and the major faiths of the East (New Agers like to say the Jesus spent 18 years in India absorbing Hinduism and the teachings of Buddha), plus an occasional dab of pantheism and sorcery. The underlying faith is a lack of faith in the orthodoxies of rationalism, high technology, routine living, spiritual law-and-order. Somehow, the New Agers believe, there must be some secret and mysterious shortcut or alternative path to happiness and health.
"Ecumenism is essential in creating a "Christianity" which embraces all religions. 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." [Dave Hunt, "Mystery Babylon Part II," The Berean Call, August 1993]

The "ancient wisdom" of Babylon, Egypt and Greece - not the Bible - is the basis of all truth.
Vice President Albert Gore in his book Earth in the Balance; Ecology and the Human Spirit, reveals himself as a person who believes we should have a "mother goddess" that we can worship. He points back to ancient religions and Hinduism and says that they have something good in their worship of "mother earth," and claims that our modern slogan should be the worship of "mother earth"; that man and nature are one, and that God is part of nature, and nature is part of God. On pages 258 through 259 of his book, he shows where he departed from the Baptist faith and entered in to the New Age Religion. He says "The richness and diversity of our religious tradition through out 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." "This Pan-religious perspective may prove especially important where our global civilizations responsibility for the earth is concerned." "Native American Religions for instance offer a rich tapestry of ideas about our relationship to the earth."[Al Gore, Earth In the Balance; Ecology and the Human Spirit, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992.]

Sin and evil do not exist. Peace and love are the ultimate realities.
New Agers deny the existence of a hell (gehenna fire) and a judgment. They also deny that sin and evil exist. God (The universe) is alleged to be beyond good and evil.
The New Age gospel is not a system of revolutionary principles. It does not promote strife and war, but aims at peace and unity. It seeks not to set the mother against her daughter nor the father against his son, but fosters the fraternal spirit whereby the human race is regarded as one great "brotherhood." It does not seek to drag down the natural man, but to improve and uplift him. It advocates education and cultivation and appeals to "the best that is within us." It aims to make this world such a comfortable and congenial habitat that Christ's absence from it will not be felt and God will not be needed.

Depending on which branch of the New Age movement you encounter, there may or may not be a great world leader who will emerge to lead us all to enlightenment. Some New Agers await the advent of the Lord Maitreya while others believe we will all become so godlike that we will not need any leaders. The Bible tells of an age when God is going to permit Satan to actually rule in person on this earth! If a New Age leader emerges, he could well be the Antichrist, an enemy of mankind who will be intent on leading the world into terrible rebellion against God and who will be destroyed along with his followers. Although God's prophets foretold many explicit signs of Christ's first coming most people missed Him. Likewise, God has given many definite signs that point to the second coming of Jesus. False Christ's and false prophets are high on the list.

The question is, do you KNOW God in Christ Jesus ... as He has revealed Himself in the Scriptures? Have you read His Book? Have you studied it? How can you be sure you know the real God in Christ Jesus if you have not studied what He has said about Himself?
 
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Havoc

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There is no "New Age Movement" in any sense that there is an organised agenda. This "New Age" is made up of a variety of beliefs systems so diverse and separate that any attempt to classify it is doomed to failure.

Which makes it perfect for the fertile imaginations of conspiracy theorists to jump on. Not that Conspiracy lovers have ever needed any excuse or logic.
 
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Thinker

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I do seem to recollect that the New Age guru's at the time of the Harmonic Convergance were about the only ones who came anywhere near correctly predicting the fall of the old Soviet Empire... as I recollect, it were the bible believing christians who had the greatest difficulty accepting that; the religious wisdom of the times (put forth by Hal Lindsay and crew) was that the only way the Cold War could end would be via WWIII, and WWIII was the literal biblical Armageddon.
 
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Havoc

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The problem is you keep referring to them as "they"...

They do this...

They believe that...

There is no homogenous "they", You're looking at an incredibly diverse and differentiated groups of faiths and religions, most of whom bear no resembence to each other. The idea that they all are under the sway of some great illuminati is ridiculous.

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"New Age" is a garbage-can term for the revival of the non-Christian belief systems that occurred in the 'Sixties. Popular singers such as The Beatles became interested in Eastern religions, and stuff blossomed from there. Wicca became fashionable. Druidism was vitalized. Hare Krishna set up shop in the airports all over the country. Astrology and the "Age of Aquarius" hit the big time. People became interested in Tarot, Ouija, seances, and the like.

There's nothing "new" about it.

Most of these have some kernal of similarity, often in a belief of a type of reincarnation. The theme with that is, we are on some kind of Cosmic Journey, and we will reappear in different lives, until we perfect ourselves to the ultimate, and become "one" with the Universe.

or something like that....

All of this is an attempt by mortals to explain the "why" as to our existence. Where did we come from, where are we going? Sometimes bad things happen, sometimes good things happen. Life is extremely unfair. We can dabble in unseen energies to try to change the effects to our benefit, or we can resign ourselves, hoping that the next plane of existence will be better. But we WILL get our answers, and when we do, that will make us the equal of the sum of the powers of the Universe.

Sounds a little bit like Adam and Eve and the discussion they had with the serpent, to me.

I can sit, and listen to the explanations, and agree with the reasoning, up to a point: eventually these philosophies lead to the thinking that we can progress, or evolve, or develop, or ascend to God-Consciousness-Power.

And that's when I part company. Because the God I believe in, the God I know, the God I fear, the God I worship, is so much more powerful than anything a mere mortal can ever DREAM of becoming, no matter how many lifetimes or enlightenments, or achievements he can obtain. Just the thought that a mortal can reach some level of greatness to be considered "god" cheapens and lessens and devalues my entire concept of God.

My God cannot be "demoted" to such a level.

An ant, no matter how lofty, how grand, how eager he may be, could never become an elephant.


Peace be with you,
~VOW
 
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perhaps those of you that "think" that you have the "old" religions in a nutshell, think again.

Our deities are far from amoral (we have more than one you might want to know) A male and a female. A world without a female is to not grow, and same with a male. One makes up for the others faults. Two opposites.

Sin does not mean not being aware of our deities. If you bring harm to anything you are "sinning"

Salvation? Whether or not we respect the fact that our deities are still there, they love us, not turn us out onto our faces

Oh yes, a judge DOES exist. It is called Karma, and what you do comes back to you stronger than you put out.
If you do good it "rewards" you. If you do evil, it "punishes" you. Neutral? I'll bet you could guess.

These are just a few of the corrections that I choose to make. If you want to compare something, make sure you know what you are comparing against please.
 
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Havoc

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"Does that automatically mean that their beliefs and search for the divine are invalid from Gods POV?"

If they start from the premise that they are Gods, yes.
I'm sorry but I find this question and statement a little confusing.

If they believe in your God as defined by your bible then they wouldn't have other beliefs would they? And if they don't believe in your God why would his supposed POV have any relevance to them?

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"If they believe in your God as defined by your bible then they wouldn't have other beliefs would they? And if they don't believe in your God why would his supposed POV have any relevance to them?"

No, the statement is if I believe X and search for Y knowing that X contradicts Y then yes. Is that as clear as mud? ;) If they assume they are gods (new age) and search for God...they have started out with a wrong assumption. Thus it would be wrong in God's POV. Like doing tests trying to prove ice is a liquid. The premise is wrong (ice is a solid) thus all the tests will be wrong.
 
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Havoc

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No, the statement is if I believe X and search for Y knowing that X contradicts Y then yes. Is that as clear as mud?
Lets take a moment to examine that train of thought. Then yes what? You've stated a premise but not a conclusion. Plus you've assumed that they "know" X contradicts Y, what if they believe X does not contradict Y?

If they assume they are gods (new age) and search for God...they have started out with a wrong assumption.
Or more correctly they have started out with a wrong assumption in your opinion. One can search for God. One can search for Oneself. If God is Oneself then the search for oneself is the search for God. I don't particularly believe it myself but it is an example how your way of thinking is not the only way of thinking. Just because their assumption doesn't fit your beliefs does not make it a wrong assumption.

Thus it would be wrong in God's POV.
Again a correction if I may. You believe it wwould be wrong in God's POV. They may have a different belief of what God's POV is. They may not believe in your God at all, in which case his POV would be irrelevant to them, if indeed he has a POV at all.


Like doing tests trying to prove ice is a liquid. The premise is wrong (ice is a solid) thus all the tests will be wrong.
You know Ice is a solid because the tests have already been done and you trust the results. Before the tests were done (rather simplistic considering the material in question but the principle is the same) any premise could have been right or wrong. Oh and BTW, tests are never right or wrong. Theories and premises may be correct or incorrect but tests are only procedures.

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Does that automatically mean that their beliefs and search for the divine are invalid from Gods POV?"

"If they start from the premise that they are Gods, yes."

And if they start from some other premise? If they assume that some of their mmmm.... `interesting' methods (chaneling, tarot cards, whatnot) may represent a way of directly speaking with God instead of merely seeking inferences from an ancient book... does that still make their quest invalid from Gods POV? Does he completely ignore such attempts to communicate with him? And keep in mind, christian doctrine claims him to be all-knowing and all-powerfull, so such communication is at least theoretically possible. And would Gods revelations, if any, to these New Agers (nonchristians) carry any weight among christians?
 
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To Thinker:

The idea that "interesting method" can be used to speak to God is where your premise falls apart. God don't answer dem phones!

However, you might get someone on the other end of the line who SAYS he is God. According to the Christian teachings, you reached a wrong number with that one. And the New Ager has no way to check the identity of the entity he has reached.

The entire New Age philosophy can be summed up as "Glory to Self." Whatever means you use: Wicca, Channeling, Druidism... it's all about self-discovery, self-progression, self-promotion.

The Christian faith is summed us as "Glory to God." There is a complete submission of self to the higher power. Our lives are dedicated to the service to others. That's why you find Christian schools, Christian charities, Christian hospitals, Christian missions.

There ISN'T any "New Age Hospital," or "New Age Charity." You can find New Age schools, and generally they want a hefty hunk of money so you can learn the ways of enlightenment and advance yourself to the next spiritual plane.

Just something to think about.



Peace be with you,
~VOW
 
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