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.
The NAM sees God, not as a personal being, but an impersonal force that can be manipulated. Their thinking does not appear to be altogether clear, even though they use terms such as ' Force, Energy, Essence, Consciousness, Vibration, Principle and Being' to describe God. Their idea seems to be that 'It' is infinite but impersonal. 36 When asked 'What do you mean by God?', Creme replied that 'It' should be spoken of 'in planetary terms, because this planet is actually a vehicle of expression for a Cosmic Entity, a great Heavenly Man. It is a Centre in the body of God of our solar system .... The planetary Logos is a little God in a bigger God which is the systemic Logos - which Itself is only a little God in an even bigger galactic system - at the centre of which is another greater God.' Then he goes on to speak of a hierarchy of beings that is somehow part of this system. 'There is a gradation of divinity from the lowest crystal of the mineral world up to and beyond the Galactic God himself, about Whom we can say nothing at all. This is not a man but a Great Consciousness'. 37
NAM believes that there are other beings in the universe whom they call 'Ascended Masters'. These are said to be especially evolved beings, who can be either the dead, or spirits. Spangler says of them: 'These formative forces (which are at work in those who open up to Cosmic Consciousness in meditation) ... are mediated and directed by purposeful entities whom we might call angels or archangels, along with other beings both human and non-human who work out the specific application and incarnation of these forces'. 38 Meditators allow themselves to be guided by these entities through a process called channelling, which involves becoming a medium, whereby they permit themselves to be taken over by these spirits and guided by them.
Alice Bailey speaks about a special group of Ascended Masters called 'The Hierarchy' who appear to be very much involved in the affairs of humanity through those who open up to Cosmic Consciousness. These are especially evolved beings who guide people who seek spiritual help through the channelling process. She describes them as 'human beings who have lived, suffered, achieved, failed, attained success, endured death and passed through the experience of resurrection. They are the same in nature as are those who struggle today' on earth. All states of consciousness are known to them and they have mastered them all ... their great Master is the Christ (who is not a person according to them). 39
Some of these Masters have become internationally known, such as the famous 'Rather' who is channeled by Mrs. J.Z. Knight, who holds public seminars to allow the spirit to teach and guide others. There is also Lazarus, who is channelled by Jack Pursell, and a host of others, many of which masquerade under biblical names to confuse people. Two entities calling themselves 'Christ', and 'John' are channelled by David Spangler, one of the world leaders of the NAM. He has written a book under this influence called Revelations on the Cbrist.40 Since channelling involves both the personality of the medium and that of the entity, there must be signs of two sources at work, one human, the other preternatural, i.e. from a source outside nature, that is not God. (This is usually called the supernatural in the NAM). Randall N. Baer, a former top New Age leader and writer in America says that channelling is the single most influential phenomenon inside the New Age today.41 It became popular in the 1980s when everyone had to be taught by these 'ascended masters', which are variously called 'The Council of the Twelve' for the properly initiated, or simply extra-terrestrials, dolphins, or spirit-gods to others.42 Russell Chandler claims that the NAM is a descent into darkness, one which occurs subtly, almost imperceptibly, as the helpful gives way to the dubious, and the dubious descends to the dangerous.43 The NAM claims that these ascended masters can teach wisdom and bring us to true enlightenment. 44 Yet former NAM devotees like Elliot Miller and Randall Baer testify that they were led into spirit infestation that they do not hesitate to call demonic. 45
NOTES
(Full details of the publications referred to in these notes can be found in the Select Bibliography).
36. Confronting The New Age, Douglas Groothuis, p. 107.
37. Reappearance of Cbrist and The Masters of Wisdom, Benjamin Creme, p. 116.
38. Inside the New Age Nightmare, Randall N. Baer, a former top NAM: leader in the USA: Reimagination of the World, DavidSpangler/William Thompson, p. 29.
39. Externalisation of the Hierarchy, Alice Bailey, pp. 472-576.
40. Reimagination of the World, David Spangler/William Thompson, p. 206, where Spangler speaks about this 'John'. See also: Understanding the New Age, Russell Chandler, p.54-55. A Crasb Course in the New Age, Elliot Miller, p. 141-182. In this book Miller gives both the background and an analysis of this phenomenon. Like Chandler, he is inclinedto give more psychological weight to the activity of channelling, than to accept that it is purely demonic activity.
41. Inside the New Age Nightmare, Randall N. Baer, p. 103.
42. Ibid., and p. 175 of Reimagination of the World, David Spangler/ William Thompson.
43. Understanding the New Age, Russell Chandler, p. 254.
44. Revelation: The Birtb of a New Age, David Spangler. The theme of the whole book is enlightenment from these Masters.
45. A Crasb Course in the NAM, Elliot Miller, pp. 217-223. Inside the New Age Nightmare, Randall N. Baer, pp. 1-22. Both of them used drugs to achieve altered states of consciousness.
