Am I the only one noticing a growing divide between Christianity and the New Age movement?

Question

There is a lot of discussion lately about things like intention/manifestation and the Law of Attraction. George Noory on Coast to Coast AM discusses this a lot. Essentially this means that if you put out an energy/intention/desire out into the etherial consciousness of the universe, the universe will grant your request. If you want love, love will come. If you want money, money will come. If you want success, success will come. It's not automatic, but it supposedly increases your chances. It's sort of like magic isn't it?

It has a big impact on your belief and how you live your life. The overarching philosophy of this new age belief system is the individual must come first. I am noticing a huge rift developing between two factions, one is about the individual, and the other is about community. One says that we must better ourselves before we can help one another. The other says that we must work together to better each other. One is essentially individualistic. The other is cooperative.

The faction that preaches cooperation first is the Christian one. Looking after yourself last. The faction that preaches perfecting yourself first is the New Age one. The idea being that you must have a clean house before you can clean your neighbor's house.

I notice that a lot of the IM LoA people like to combine/cherry pick the most advantageous parts of several religions like Buddism, Hinduism, Christianity, Paganism, Wicca. They sort of blend the religions and aren't judgmental towards any of them. Christianity on the other hand is against all other religions. Not the people inside the religions, but the religions themselves.

Anyone else notice this trend too? Do you think that this is a sign that the end is coming? Do you think that the end times will involve these two factions?

Answer 1

Christians tend to be against things that go against the bible, ie magic.

both are silly nonsense, but i particularly find "the Secret" to be nothing more than a huge money making scam by a bimbo from down under.  it is pretty much saying that the universe is a giant ATM, and our "energy" is the ATM card.  complete idiocy.

Answer 2

The faction is present, as it must be as the two systems of thought are diametrically opposed to one another.

I am a Christian who came out of New Age thinking.  While New Age people are self-promoting, Christianity is self-debasing.  The bible is full of warnings about pride, and careful to warn us that noone should become puffed up.  We are all sinners, and are all under the curse.  New Age thinking, on the other hand, stresses self-esteem and positive thought.

New Age thought is full of teaching to become self-fulfilled, and attain higher levels of consciousness through any means possible, whether it be yoga, visualization, chanting, crystals, or other spiritual disciplines.

Christianity is based upon Christ and his work of redemption, which is totally seperate from our own means, which the bible describes as inadequate.  In other words, human beings do not have the means to attain any higher level of spirituality apart from Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and mnds.  This is not done through our own practices, but rather IN SPITE of our own selfish will and desires.

Christianity is not so much community based, although fellowship is stressed as important for spiritual growth, as it is God based.  God does all of the work of redemption and changing our hearts and minds to conform to His standard of spirituality and righteousness, apart from our own best efforts.  It is entirely His work, giving Him all of the glory and honor for our spiritual condition, rather than giving ourselves any credit at all.

Do I think it's a sign of the end times?   There are many things happening in the world today which are consistent with end time prophecy.  Men are boasters and lovers of themselves rather than lovers of God, proud, disobedient and disrespectful to parents, loving the praise of men over the praise of God, exchanging the truth for a lie, etc.  

I think the end times will involve those who love God and those who hate God.  There is so much deception in the world today it is impossible to discern truth at all without some sort of guidance or revelation from above.  Some who are now deceived will receive revelation, and I believe some who now believe will also become deceived.  There are many Christians today who are deceived, accepting the word and doctrine of men over the word of God, whether it be about creation, the means of living, or any number of other areas where God's word is in direct contradiction to prevailing modern thought.  However, at some point, God will reveal himself to mankind, and at that point, a good majority of mankind will rebel against Him, in my opinion.  Until that time, the deception will continue to lead us astray and confuse us all, keeping many people in the dark about the character, reality, and holiness of God.

Answer 3

These mega churches teach this to make money.

They lift up man instead of Jesus.

They are usual called Family Churches.

All the big shot preachers that live in these 28

million dollar mansions teach this

Jesus did not teach this

Jesus said He who is first will be last

and He who is last will be first

Jesus slept on a rock as a pillow

He was born in a stable on a bed of straw

You are right this is the sign of the

end of times

Answer 4

that's ware the "Spirituality" comes in..

Answer 5

I have never heard of this new age religion and after reading that it makes no sense to me. I have my faith and I don't like it to be compared to any other religion. I love people cause God said I need to and cause He loves them too.  

Answer 6

This is an excellent question. Thank you for asking it.  The New Age Movement has always been an assortment of many religions. Why they call it New Age I don't know, because there is absolutely nothing NEW about it. Everything is taken from old, well established beliefs and blended together in a mish-mash of 'believe what ever you like and all will be well' attitude.

It is completely non-Christian regardless of any tidbits of Christianity they decide to stir into the pot.

The bible says 'Thou shalt have no other God but ME' and any religion, cult, group (whatever they call themselves) who states otherwise is not Christian in any sense at all.

YES, I do believe that all this is one of the signs to look for as this world approaches its end but there is still more to come and, those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, are very aware of this (as I'm sure you are).

Answer 7

In answer to your important question: please see this documented review of the book, "DECEIVED ON PURPOSE" ...

http://gracehead.com/index.php?cat=27

"New Age Spirituality" has *definitely invaded MANY of the churches, ... and it is tremendously deceptive in relation to the actual Gospel of Jesus Christ. For every Christian: Please inform yourself.

Answer 8

Great question. And I think you hit the target.

I might only add that Original Christianity started out with the light, but people who want to keep everything hidden want to avoid the light. So the division I see is those who want to increase the light, and those who want to "conserve" the darkness. More on this division between light and dark is in my biography.

Answer 9

I would like to say that sending your intention to the universe is the same as sending it to God.  A lot of this new age language is just another label of what has always been going on.  

People use the secret with every movement that they make.  It is just a label to tell us the process of life.  It is not religious at all. Unless you say that what you do in all aspects of your life is your religion that you repeat moment after moment.

What is being said about putting yourself first before helping another is really that, all the power you have is to do yourself, you can't do something for another person although some may think so.  You can influence others but each person makes their final decision and it is in that thinking that you approach to help someone, not in forcing them your decisions.

So that is how you help others. It's realizing what is within your power. What is yours to make decisions on.  Then allowing others their same right and that is where you give service to help and cooperate with others.  Without this first you couldn't possibly know where someone really needs your help.

This is not the end of the Earth/World it is the changing of each persons world by finding self understanding.  In other words (The end of your world).

Answer 10

There is a great different between Jesus and the New Age Prophets. You cannot divide something that has never been joined.

Christianity, in particular Pauline Christianity, stresses both the individual (we strive to be perfect as God is perfect) and community (the saints). Moreover, God is of the living not the dead. Christians hope for the resurrection, eternal life.

What you are describing is the "American Civil Religion". It is a set of common values that Americans share. Since Congress cannot promote any religion, Americans can choose any religion they wish; however, because America is the "great melting pot", the American Civil Religion combines many values from different religions.

Answers: The lack of a state religion resulted in Americans developing a common set of values, for example, "In God We Trust" and "God Bless America".

Answer 11

As far as I know there has always been a vast divide between Christianity and the New Age movement despite the fact that many New Agers are very much into dabbling in some Christian theology.

However, as someone who finds both Christianity and the New Age movement utterly disdainful and incomprehensible I do find both schools of thought about how to better oneself to be lacking. Christianity teaches that one can not ever do for themselves alone. All successes and enrichments in life are only through God and Christians seem to never be able to take credit for their own achievements. I find it problematic that one is taught that one must always do for others even when one is in no position to do so. The New Age movement tries to counteract this by focusing on the individual and stressing that ones successes and failures are placed squarely on the shoulders of that individual and to succeed one need only to program oneself for success. The problem with this is that the New Ager is so focused on achieving their own success they never finish with themselves so they never get around to finding the time, energy, or resources to helping anyone else. The Christian has no power, the New Ager is selfish.

Regardless, neither is beneficial in the end to the individual or the greater community. I do believe that one must meet their own needs before meeting the needs of others. It falls in line with the saying "if momma ain't happy, ain't no one happy" and the nicer sounding "the best thing you can do for your children is to take care of your marriage." These say the same thing - one must be happy before they can make others happy. But you must not be selfish with your happiness and you must be realistic about what can make you happy.

On your last point, I can't comment about any end times because I don't believe in that. I'm Wiccan and we have no end of the world doctrine. Most of believe that if the world ends it will most likely be a result of human interference, not divine intervention.  

Answer 12

"Do you think that this is a sign that the end is coming?"

I actually took your question seriously until I read that.