Excerpt from chapter three in: A Catholic Response to the New Age Phenomenon by the Irish Theological Commission in 1994. To see the contents of the whole chapter, click here.
"New Age Movement" is abbreviated as NAM.
Christians have had to discern false prophets and teachers from the beginning of the Church. False doctrine is nothing new. Both Jesus himself, and the early Church teachers warned us of this. The Apostle John warns us: 'It is not every spirit, my dear people, that you can trust; test them, to see if they come from God, there are many false prophets, now, in the world.
'You can tell the spirits that come from God by this: every spirit which acknowledges that Jesus, the Christ has come in the flesh is from God; but any spirit which will not say this of Jesus is not from God, but is the spirit of Antichrist, whose coming you were warned about' (I Jn 4: 1-3).
Paul also warned the Thessalonians to 'test everything and hold on to what is good and shun every form of evil' (I Th 5:21). Jesus warned us about counterfeit Christs in Matthew 24:5 and counterfeit prophets in Matthew 7:1-20. We read in Mark 13:21-23: 'If anyone says to you then, "Look, here is the Christ" or, "Look, he is there", do not believe it; for false christs and false prophets will arise and produce signs and portents to deceive the elect, if that were possible. You must therefore be on your guard. I have forewarned you of everything'.
Jesus laid down the principle that we would recognise them by their fruits. If they remove themselves from revealed truth, holiness, and obedience to God's will and word then do not follow them. If they remove themselves from the Church founded by Christ, then they are false prophets. We must continuously question what is the source of this new teaching, or these so-called miracles or signs. If the source is not God, as he has revealed himself in the Holy Scriptures, then it is counterfeit, even if it appears to be good.
The doctrine of reincarnation has become very popular, with people testifying to 'other lives' when they regress under hypnosis. Some people even offer detailed information about their 'past lives'. One must ask how this happens, and what is going on. Are our minds being manipulated to produce 'evidence', or is reincarnation fact? The Scriptures are quite clear that reincarnation does not occur, no matter what these people claim. Hebrews 9:27 states that 'human beings die only once, after which comes judgment'. I Thessalonians 4:13-14 states that we can 'be quite certain about those who have died, to make sure that you do not grieve about them, like the other people who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus: God will bring them with him.' Paul's glorious passage in I Corinthians 15:35-58 explains the manner of our resurrection. He concludes the passage with this triumphant burst of praise: 'When this perishable nature of ours puts on imperishability, and when this mortal nature has put on immortality, then the words of scripture will come true: Death is swallowed up in victory ... let us thank God for giving us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ.'
Jesus, gave us the truth about death, forgiveness and mercy. In II Corinthians 5:17 Paul tells us that Jesus makes 'a new creation' even in this life, and eternal joy in Heaven follows it. This is the Good News of Christianity. The doctrine of the Resurrection is in complete contradiction to that of reincarnation. Reincarnation says that the body is not important. It is just the vehicle you have chosen in which you want to learn some lessons. Romans 8:11 and 8:18-22 tells us that our body, and eventually all creation, participates in Redemption. Our bodies will be raised up on the Last Day to join us for ever in glory.
When groups claim that they can heal at a distance, or by clairvoyance, we must ask 'By what power is this done?' (see Ac 4:7). Is that power human and natural or is it from the occult (even if veiled by modern terminology or techniques), or is it from God? If the source is God, then the healing will further the eternal salvation of that individual who received the gift. It will being peace of soul, grace and a desire to serve God. If it is from an evil source it brings disquiet, unease, and pushes the person away from God and his Church towards self-deception, or sometimes attracts the person to the occult.
When we are invited to a 'prayer meeting' it is now necessary, unfortunately, to ask if it is a Christian group, as many NAM groups call their weekly get-togethers 'prayer' meetings, even though their activities concentrate on the self. So one must question what is going on at the meeting. Find out who or what is the 'god' or 'source' being contacted. Ask to know the theology and doctrines of the teachers. Enquire about their holy books, and then seek advice from competent persons, for these groups sometimes go under the heading of meditation groups, but the meditation is not on God. Christian meditation concentrates on the Life, Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus so that we can grow in his likeness. It requires no initiation ceremony, as does TM, but it is good to receive spiritual direction from a competent person.
One must question also why the NAM is so hostile to revealed truth. NAM leaders say that it accepts the Bible, but only conditionally, as one holy book among others. It is not absolute truth, nor do they accept that it has any more authority than other ancient books, whether accepted as inspired by other religions or not. NAM not only picks and chooses what it likes from the Bible, but also reinterprets the passages it selects and gives them the NAM metaphysical slant.190 Texe Marrs in Dark Secrets of the New Age agrees that the NAM rejects Christian doctrine as intolerant, because it claims to be the truth.191
NAM rejects Christian Revelation, and at the same time teaches the doctrines of the occult mysteries as if they were truth. Their teaching on Lucifer as 'The Light' applies the attributes of God to Satan, who is worshipped as God. Jesus referred to Satan as 'the prince of this world' in John 12:31; 14:30. He called the reign of this prince 'the reign of darkness' in Luke 22:53. Hence we can see the spiritual darkness of the best-known teachers of the NAM, who are convincing others that this rejection of the truth of Revelation is somehow 'enlightenment'! Let us remember the warning of Scripture in Isaiah 5:20: 'Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, who substitute darkness for light, and light for darkness....'
NOTES
(Full details of the publications referred to in these notes can be found in the Select Bibliography).
190. See Inside the New Age Nightmare, Randall N. Baer, p. 61. See also a reinterpretation of Christ by David Spangler in Reimagination of the World pp. 136-147. It is a discussion paper on the Cosmic Christ, and he makes it clear that he is not referring to the historical Jesus of Nazareth in any way. He is speaking about our own evolution to the 'Christ' status. It is definitely a 'new gospel and a new Christ' as St Paul condemned in Galatians 1.
191. Dark Secrets of the New Age, Texe Marrs, p. 45.
