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.
All the NAM authors teach that the Spirit Hierarchy have a master plan for planet Earth, which they operate in every age through their disciples, who influence the course of history. Creme calls these disciples today 'the new Group of World Servers'. They are working in every field, political, religious, social, scientific, educational and cultural, so their influence is felt everywhere. The Masters train them for their specific tasks, and 'their coming influence in world affairs will be great'.156 What is afoot is the reconstruction of a new World Order, carried out by a group of high Initiates who are experts in every field.157 The New Age social structures will come from these people.158 This will lead inexorably towards a One World Government,159 where high Initiates will be in charge.
Part of this plan is also a One World Church, which these writers refer to as the New World Religion. Alice Bailey speaks of this extensively.160 The old forms of religion have to go in favour of the new form which will be one religion only,161 as the new festivals 'will gradually supersede the festivals of the present world religions in the East and in the West.'162 When the 'Christ' returns, he will assume spiritual rule in the hearts of everyone, everywhere. 'He has no place for the temples built in his name' as the simple Way to God that he taught has 'disappeared in the fogs of theology and the discussions of churchmen throughout the ages'. The great truths spoken by Christ on Earth have 'been lost in the labyrinths of the ecclesiastical minds which have sought to interpret them ... and have been superseded by the pomp and ceremony of elaborate rituals.163 The New World Church will incorporate the teachings of ALL of the great world teachers and saviours.' 164
What will happen to the religious organisations in the New World Order? Bailey says that 'the church movement, like all else, is but a temporary expedient and serves but a transient resting place for the evolving life. Eventually there will appear the Church Universal, and its definite outlines will appear towards the close of this century'.165 Creme says that the 'purified churches' can be useful as places for teaching. He says that there will be a fusion of east and west, Christianity and Buddhism, plus the NAM teachings and the occult.166
'The Christian Churches can serve as a John the Baptist, as a voice crying in the wilderness, and as a nucleus through which world illumination may be accomplished.' 167 A warning note is then sounded: the Church is warned to 'show a wide tolerance, and teach no revolutionary doctrines nor cling to reactionary ideas.' Revolutionary doctrines are those which contradict the NAM evolutionary doctrines. Miller claims that Christian dogmatism is seen as definitely anti-evolutionary, and therefore a threat to global unity. Since they see this global unity as survival for humanity, it is not difficult to see that they would find justification for the elimination of this perceived threat. 168 Bailey reveals that the three main channels through which the New World Religion will accomplish its plans are the Church, The Masonic Fraternity, and the field of education.169
Why these three? The Church, because she has influence over the minds of millions of her adherents who accept all she says. The Masonic Fraternity, because it is occultic, and Bailey calls it 'the custodian of the law, the home of the Mysteries and the seat of initiation' (ibid.). The educational institutions because they are the means of teaching these new ideas to the public. 170According to Bailey, the three paths leading to initiation are to be found among esotericists, the Church, and Masonry,171 so they will be used as initiating centres for the New World Religion (ibid.).
She states further that all those 'souls on the Probationary Path or the Path of Discipleship today will be the nucleus of this new religion. They are to be 'gathered out of all the churches .. where they can consciously place their feet upon that Path which leads to the centre of peace' (ibid.). When this preparatory phase is over the great 'Mysteries will be restored to outward expression through the Church and the Masonic Fraternity.' Therefore she urges disciples today to teach the new ideas unceasingly.172 This is being done through the multiplicity of seminars and courses that teach the NAM principles everywhere.
What would happen to the Church if she resisted this take-over? There are subtle hints in these NAM books that resistance will be crushed. Bailey says that the old forms will have to be destroyed to give way to the new.173 The term 'old forms' means the Church as we know it today. She begins to describe new forms as the Ashrams.174 The first point of the World Plan concerns the reorganisation of the World Religions in order to make of them one universal religion. It also includes a return of humanity to the simplicity of the Christ, and 'ridding the world of theology and ecclesiasticism'. The second stage is the destruction of orthodox Judaism, and the third lies in the reception of New Revelation.175 The fourth and fifth stages seek to establish closer links with the Hierarchy, and then we move towards an era of peace.176
David Spangler, speaking through the entity 'Limitless Love and Truth', is quite open about the disasters that will accompany the death of the old and the birth of the New Age.177 He says that 'this new humanity filled with my presence cannot be touched by whatever befalls the old. Should nuclear devices be used, the energies will be the revelation of me. All that will remain is what I am, and all that is not of me will disappear, to follow another law and another destiny.' This means that anyone remaining in the 'old order' will be sent off into death to continue their karmic journey to perfection! Of course we do not have to worry about this, as death has no meaning in this context.178 Again he speaks of atomic power being released (ibid.), and tells his disciples not to worry, as war and destruction are all illusion anyway!
In chapter nine Spangler (through his entity) speaks of the relationship between the Old and the New Forms. The old must disintegrate, for it is already dead. 'It will move into greater states of confusion, of chaos, of destruction in the sense of disintegration.'179 'The presence of radioactivity upon the planet will render sterile all forms which cannot attune to new energies and will make them incapable of reproducing themselves' (ibid.). 'The old will draw upon sources of energy which are intrinsically destructive and disintegrating'. 180 Of course 'it matters not what happens to the old...' (ibid.) as there 'is a sentence of absolute doom' upon the old forms (ibid.).
Why destroy the old? Well, 'the time for healing is past' and we must get on with building the New Forms. 181 Spangler says that 'if forms must be destroyed that this new presence be released then, so be it'. 182 The entity says that it is 'not ruthless' but wants to 'strike at the root cause' in order to change our thinking. There is no point 'in commiserating with the world's suffering' as you 'cannot heal a corpse' (ibid.). Finally, Spangler is told that these 'energies (of the Hierarchy) will in all ways seek to express through physical matter and ultimately will do so. If too great a stress of resistance to them is created, then the energies will work to shatter that resistance. If the resistance is in human consciousness, the new energies will remove that resistance within those human beings who have ceased to be nourished at the breast of the new heaven and the new earth.' Since this entity claims to be the source of the new heaven and new earth, it is speaking of those human beings who do not follow its guidance. 183
One might conclude from this that the destruction 'of the old forms', namely the Church and Judaism, would come from 'on high' so to speak, but as we have already seen these entities work through human beings. Elliot Miller says that the Christian faith is incompatible with the global society that the NAM is working towards. 'There is no tolerable place for true Christianity' he claims. Because of the teachings on karma, death and evolution (to mention just a few) Miller says that the NAM which he calls 'The Aquarian Regime' would justify the persecution of Christians. 184
NOTES
(Full details of the publications referred to in these notes can be found in the Select Bibliography).
156. Reappearance of Cbrist and the Masters of Wisdom, Benjamin Creme.
157. Ibid., p. 34.
158. Ibid., p. 35.
159. Ibid., pp. 167-169.
160. Externalisation of the Hierarchy, Alice Bailey, from p. 400
161. Ibid., p. 401.
162. Ibid., p. 402.
163. Ibid., p. 403.
164. Ibid., pp. 406-422.
165. Ibid., p. 510.
166. Reappearance of Cbrist and the Masters of Wisdom, Benjamin Creme, pp. 84-89.
167. Externalisation of the Hierarchy, Alice Bailey, p. 510.
168. A Crash Course in the New Age, Elliot Miller, p. 122.
169. Externalisation of the Hierarchy, Alice Bailey, p. 511.
170. Ibid., p. 512.
171. Ibid., p. 513.
172. Ibid., pp. 514-517.
173. Ibid., p. 518.
174. Ibid., p. 519.
175. Ibid., p. 551.
176. Ibid., p. 552.
177. Revelation: Birth of a New Age, David Spangler, p. 64.
178. Ibid., p. 65.
179. Ibid., p. 74.
180. Ibid., p. 75.
181. Ibid., p. 76.
182. Ibid., p. 77.
183. Ibid., p. 79.
184. A Crash Course {n the New Age, Elliot Miller, p. 122.
Last updated by ihs 20 August, 2000 12:38
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