7 Problems with New Age Movement

Any bookstore worth its salt will have at least a few shelves packed with new age books, usually under the generic title of Religion and Spirituality. In fact most stores have entire sections devoted to the fastest growing spiritual movement because apart from being a profitiable business, people are earnestly seeking answers to many of lifes big questions.

There is a problem with the new age movement, however, and for truth seekers everywhere these issues cannot be ignored.

1. New Age & Truth: One of the main beliefs within the new age movement is that everyone has their own truth and that what is true for me may not be true for you but regardless, it still remains a truth for us both. This by definition cannot then be truth, because there cannot be more than one truth.

One dictionary defines truth as "the true or actual state of the matter". Therefore there can only be one state, that is the true state. Therefore if i did not believe in gravity but you did, the truth is I would be wrong, even if I believed it to be true.

In actual fact, truth is not a thing but a person. Only one person ever claimed to be the truth and that was Jesus Christ who said in John 14:6 "I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by me."

2. Reincarnation: The thought of living multiple lives until we reach perfection or enlightenment sounds wonderful - especially if you have made a lot of mistakes in life. It is reassuring to think we will always get another chance. The belief in reincarnation isn't black and white, some people such as Hindu's believe we progress from ants to humans or conversley from humans to ants, depending on how we live our life. Others believe we go around the karmic wheel as humans and reap what we sow depending on how we treat others etc.

The new age belief renders Christ's sacrafice as irrelevant and totally pointless. The truth is Jesus had to die to restore our relationship with God and entitle us to eternal life through forgiveness of sins. Reincarnationists instead believe we need simply negotiate our own way to enlightenment or nirvana by going around the karmic wheel. Anything that seeks to replace Christ or oppose his authority is of the anti-christ and reincarnation makes a mockery of the life he laid down for us - out of sheer love.

3. Anything goes. Spirituality today is almost difficult to pin down and define because for many people anything goes. People who embrace one set of new age beliefs are likely to embrace any number of practices ie meditation, trance, hypnosis, chanting, aromatherapy etc in the belief that if it is spiritual it is good.

The spiritual realm is very real and very dangerous and the only way we can operate in that realm is in the name of Jesus, who is above every power and principality. If we choose to go another route, we open ourselves up to deceiving spirits who are out to steal kill and destroy. Lucifer appears as an angel of light, not darkness the Bible teaches us and worryingly many people practice meditation, trance technique, hypno and open themselves up to deceiving spirits. How? By letting go of their consciousness or by deliberately seeking spirit guides through occult practices.

4. The God of your choosing: Our God has given us very clear revelation on who he is through scriptures, prophets and through his Son, Jesus Christ. For Jesus said, "If you have seen me you have seen the Father". The creator of the universe makes the rules, of himself he said I AM THAT I AM, not I AM WHATEVER YOU MAKE ME.

The new agers believe God can be a woman, black, yellow, white, all things to all people. God is God, period.

5. Many ways to God: God of the Bible is very clear about there being one way to Him, and that is through Christ who was the perfect sacrafice for our sins. We cannot therefore access God or heaven without our sins being atoned for by Christ.

6. God/Universe: Hundreds of books encourage us to ask the universe for our dream job, or husband or our favourite sports car. The universe is a created thing, just like a chair, but we don't turn to a chair for lifes answers, why the universe?

7. Enlightened masters: Buddha, Krishna, Mohammed and even Jesus many claim to be nothing more than enlightened masters. Men who walked the earth showing us how to live and laying down helpful prinicples along the way. All of those and others died and their bodies decayed, only Jesus rose and could not be found. He is alive and he is more than an enlightened master, he is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings who is coming back. He loves us all and he died for the whole world, no one else did that nor could they.