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Recognizing False Biblical Teachings and Teachers
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And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. Matthew 24:4-5
And
the
Lord
said, Behold, the people is one,
and they have all one language;
and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which
they have imagined to do.
By Greg DesVoignes
Throughout the articles on this website you will see
references to what is called, "The New
Age Movement" or just, "New Age".
This article will give insight into what the doctrine of this philosophy
is so that when you read other articles on this site you will understand more of
what I am writing about. There is
nothing "new" about this movement and it's beliefs. It has happened in the past and was always followed by drastic action
from God because it was rebellion against his word and ways.
This current movement is probably the last of the rebellions that is to
happen in what the Bible refers to as the "latter days".
Today the New Age Movement is largely based on the beliefs and some teachings
we associate with Eastern mysticism.
They are trying to use science to validate their beliefs and and
techniques.
There is a connection to astrology with it as part of it based upon the
Babylonian Zodiac. The astrological
part has to do with the belief that the earth and man are departing from the
Piscean Age and are beginning to move into the "Age of Aquarius", a
Golden Age of peace, harmony, unity, etc.
Aquarius is called "the water bearer".
In Greek mythology Aquarius aka "Water Bearer" was a god and the cup bearer for the god
Zeus. He is sometimes believed to
be Zeus himself. In Roman mythology
Zeus is known as Jupiter.
It is interesting to see that this Zeus / Jupiter is
mentioned in the Bible as the "abomination of desolation" spoken of in Daniel,
and again by Jesus in Matthew 24.
In Daniel 9 this prophecy is first spoken about referring to the Greek god-King,
Antiochus IV Epiphanes. He put up an
image of Zeus/Jupiter at the altar of the Temple in Jerusalem and demanded it be
worshiped. He also desecrated the
altar by sacrificing a pig on it. Daniel called these
acts, the "abomination of desolation".
In Matthew 24 Jesus would make mention of this "abomination of desolation" in the form of the anti-Christ who would come first as a man of peace and then enter the future temple in Jerusalem declaring he is God. This was spoken of in Daniel 11 and 12. These and other verses call this person the "anti-Christ".
In New Age beliefs, there is supposed to be an "enlightened one", an
"ascended master", returning to rule the earth during this time.
He is known in some New Age circles as Maitreya, the Cosmic
Christ, The Presence, and is supposed to be the
5th and last Buddha.
"Together with my disciples I must prepare my future incarnation on Earth."
"I come through my disciples, through those who allow me to reside in their temples, and I pave the way to my incarnation on Earth."
"I cannot come when you are not ready to accept me in your consciousness. Therefore, the only thing preventing my incarnation on Earth is the level of your consciousness" Source: sirius-eng.net/liki/maitreia.htm
It is believed by some followers that this Aquarian, or
Golden Age
started to happen in the 1960s.
Is called "The Presence" , "The Cosmic Christ"
Enlightens
Restores justice
Ushers in a society of tolerance and love, compassion, harmony
Commands cooperation
Needs co-workers (co-creators)
Has enlightened co-workers who are united through "directed thought"
Cannot return until all are enlightened.
The Explanations
In 1969 a musical group called "The 5th Dimension"
recorded a popular song called "Aquarius".
It was a song that conveyed the thought that this time period was the
beginning of this utopian new age and explained it in the lyrics.
They say in part,
When the moon is in
the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius
Age of Aquarius
Aquarius! Aquarius!
Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the mind's true liberation
Aquarius! Aquarius!
So this "New Age" is supposed to be an age of peace, love, harmony, understanding, sympathy, and abounding trust. There are not to be anymore falsehoods (they deem Christianity to be one) and no more criticizing (tolerance)
It is supposed to be a Golden Age where there will be
living dreams and visions.
They believe there will be mystical revelations and that the mind will be
liberated from its outdated thinking and become "enlightened".
The most comprehensive explanation of this New Age is really
found in a very long and detailed book by a follower of this thinking.
It is called "The Aquarian
Conspiracy; Personal and Social Transformation in the 1980s" by the late
Marilyn Ferguson. This book is
sometimes referred to as "the New Age bible". Ferguson described the movement or
"conspiracy" as, a "leaderless" network.
She says,
"A
leaderless but powerful network is working to
bring about radical change in the United States.
Its members have broken with certain key elements of Western thought, and they
may even have broken
continuity with history.
This network is the Aquarian Conspiracy. It is a conspiracy without a political
doctrine. Without a manifesto. With conspirators who seek power only to disperse
it, and whose strategies are pragmatic, even scientific, but whose perspective
sounds so mystical that they hesitate to discuss it. Activists asking different
kinds of questions, challenging the establishment from within.
Broader than reform, deeper than revolution, this benign conspiracy for a new
human agenda has triggered the most rapid cultural realignment in
history. The great shuddering, irrevocable shift overtaking us is not a new
political, religious, or philosophical system. It is a new mind—the
ascendance of a startling worldview that gathers into its framework
breakthrough science and insights from earliest recorded thought.
The Aquarian Conspirators range across all levels of income and education, from
the humblest to the highest. There are schoolteachers and office workers, famous
scientists, government officials and lawmakers, artists and millionaires, taxi
drivers and celebrities, leaders in medicine, education, law, psychology. Some
are open in their advocacy, and their names may be familiar. Others are quiet
about their involvement, believing they can be more effective if they are not
identified with ideas that have all too often been misunderstood.
There are legions of conspirators.
They are in corporations, universities and hospitals, on the faculties of public
schools, in factories and doctors' offices, in state and federal agencies, on
city councils and the White House staff, in state legislatures, in volunteer
organizations, in virtually all arenas of policy-making in the country.
Whatever their station or sophistication, the conspirators are linked, made
kindred by their inner discoveries and earthquakes."
The Aquarian Conspiracy, pgs 23, 24
So, this movement is a plan for a "new" human agenda and involves realigning the
culture. Ferguson says that it
includes what she calls new breakthroughs
in science, combined with "insights" from the ancient past.
Ferguson asserts that the movement is not religious. However, these insights
would be the occult practices and beliefs of ancient religions.
She asserts, and she is correct, that the people who believe in this movement and participate in its inner workings and methods are in every facet of society, including our own government. For instance, Ferguson spoke before congress and was invited to the White House by Al Gore. . Source: "Author Marilyn Ferguson, New Age Pioneer, Dies", Los Angeles Times, November 3, 2008. Of course Gore is now a well-known Environmentalist / Climate Change activist. She also worked with former astronaut Edgar Mitchell who had an organization called, "Institute of Noetic Sciences". Source: Huffing Post Blog, Deepak Chopra, May 25, 2011.
There are the well known celebrities involved. For instance in 2012 the Oprah Winfrey Network Twitter account quoted Marilyn Ferguson on the topic of change by saying,
"Each of us guards a gate of change that can only be unlocked from the inside" -Marilyn Ferguson. Consider this. What are you guarding? January 12, 2012"
Then there is Dr. Mehmet Oz who is into Eastern mysticism. He started out with appearances on Oprah and ended up with his own TV show. He was also used by Rick Warren as a co-contributor to his book, "The Daniel Plan" along with two others who are New Age following "scientists".
As we will see, all
of these influential areas of society she speaks of are the sources of spreading
New Age thinking and techniques.
She goes on saying,
"They have coalesced into small groups in every town and institution. They have
formed what one called "national nonorganizations." Some conspirators are keenly
aware of the national, even international, scope of the movement and are active
in linking others. They are at once antennae and transmitters, both listening
and communicating. They amplify the activities of the conspiracy by networking
and pamphleteering, articulating the new options through books,
lectures, school curricula, even Congressional hearings and
the national media…"
Of some who are not aware of the national networks back then she says,
"…
They are typically unaware of the national networks and their influence in high
places; they may have found only one or two kindred spirits in their workplace,
neighborhood, or circle of friends. Yet even in small groups—twos and threes,
eights and tens—they are having their impact.
You will look in vain for affiliations in traditional forms: political parties,
ideological groups, clubs, or fraternal organizations. You find instead little
clusters and loose networks. There are tens of thousands of entry points
to this conspiracy. Wherever people share experiences, they connect sooner or
later with each other and eventually with larger circles. Each day their number
grows."
Ibid. pgs 23-25
As we will see, Ferguson was correct in declaring that the so called "new
options" are articulated in books, lectures, school curricula, Congressional
hearings and through the national media
(what a surprise). As noted, Oprah Winfrey is
one of the largest promoters of New Age ideology and did so promoting it on the
show with the many guests she had.
What Ferguson failed to mention is that these new options are also in churches.
It is part of the Apostasy that is spoken of in the Bible.
Actually, there are many people who are involved in it and do not even know it.
So how do New Age followers get their message of ancient philosophies out
there to be so acceptable and even inviting to the masses?
New Age follower Dick Sutphen who is a writer of a number of books on
occult practices, actually says how this is accomplished.
He says;
"One
of the biggest advantages we have as New Agers is, once the occult, metaphysical
and New Age terminology is removed, we have concepts and techniques that are
very acceptable to the general public. So we can change the names to demonstrate
the power. In so doing, we open the New Age door to millions who would normally
not be receptive".
(What Is, summer 1986, Dick Sutphen, Infiltrating The New Age Into Society, pg
14)
Hopefully after reading this and other articles on this website you will be to
see through the deception.
Continuing with Ferguson, she says,
"The paradigm of the Aquarian Conspiracy sees humankind embedded in nature. It
promotes the autonomous individual in a decentralized society. It sees us as
stewards of all our resources, inner and outer. It says that we are not victims,
not pawns, not limited by conditions or conditioning. Heirs to evolutionary
riches, we are capable of imagination, invention, and
experiences we have only glimpsed.
Human nature is neither good nor bad
but open to continuous transformation and transcendence. It has only to discover
itself. The new perspective respects the ecology of everything:
birth, death, learning, health, family, work, science, spirituality,
the arts,
the community, relationships, politics."
Ibid. pg 29
Human
catalysts
like the Aquarian Conspirators describe the new options—in classrooms, on
TV, in print, in film, in art, in song, in
scientific journals, on the lecture circuit, during coffee breaks, in
government documents, at parties, and in new organizational policies and
legislation. Those who themselves might have been timid about questioning the
prevailing opinion take heart.
Transformative ideas
also appear in the guise of health
books and sports manuals, in advice on diet, business management,
self-assertion, stress, relationships, and self-improvement. Unlike "how-to”
books of the past, these emphasize attitude, not behavior. Exercises and
experiments are designed for direct experience from a new perspective.
Ibid pg 35
Here again is the deceptive method of projecting their ideas when she said their transformative ideas appear in the "guise" of various benign looking things. Take note and remember that these "new options" are being pushed in what are referred to as "the arts", government documents and legislation. These come up later.
She continues;
"It is our imminent future and, in many ways, our dynamic present. For those who
see it, the new society within the old is not a counterculture, not a reaction,
but an emergent culture—the coalescence of a new social order."
Ibid pg 38
Of this transformation into an emergent new social order Ferguson said,
"The premonition was recorded, from time to time, that minority of individuals
would someday be yeast enough
leaven a whole society. Serving as a magnet culture, they would attract order
around them, transforming the whole.
The central idea was always the same: Only through a new mind can
humanity remake itself, and the potential for such a new mind is natural."
Ibid pg 45
Notice is was having a "new mind" that will remake humanity.
Not a renewed mind through Christ.
How true the concept of it only taking a small amount to leaven
something.
It is fitting to put here as a warning to the church concerning these things it
has incorporated. Paul admonished
the Galations 5:7-9 saying,
Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?
This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.
A little leaven
leaveneth the whole lump.
So how is it that a minority could be such
a "magnetic culture" to attract masses to bring about their desired
transformation? The deceptive ways
as mentioned. Paul pointed out
the anti-Christ teachings that had come into that church.
He said,
"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an
angel of light.
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers
also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be
according to their works.
Satan's stuff looks deceptively good and
Biblical history shows his ways were chosen many times over God's.
Speaking of the "premonitions" Ferguson said,
"Those who had premonitions of transformation believed that future generations
might detect the invisible laws and forces around us: the vital networks
of relationship, the ties among all aspects of life and knowledge, the
interweaving of people, the rhythms and harmonies of the universe, the
connectedness that captures parts and makes them wholes, the patterns that
draw meaning from the web of the world. Humankind, they said, might recognize
the subtle veils imposed on seeing; might awaken to the screen of custom, the
prison of language and culture, the bonds of circumstance."
"…The themes of transformation have emerged with increasing strength and
clarity over time, gathering impetus as communication expanded. At first the
traditions were transmitted intimately, by alchemists, Gnostics, cabalists, and
hermetics. With the invention of moveable type in the mid-fifteenth century,
they became a kind of open secret but were available only to the literate few
and were often suppressed by church or state.
Among the bold and isolated voices were
Meister Eckhart,
the German churchman and mystic of the fourteenth century; Giovanni Pico della
Mirandola in the fifteenth; Jacob Boehme, a German, in the sixteenth and
seventeenth; Emanuel Swedenborg in the seventeenth and eighteenth.
We are spiritually free, they said, the stewards of our own evolution. Humankind
has a choice. We can awaken to our true nature. Drawing fully from our inner
resources we can achieve a new
dimension of mind; we can see more."
Ibid pg 46
Ferguson further said,
"Carpenter also said that the insights of the Eastern religions might be the
seed for this great change, enlarging the Western view of reality.
In Cosmic Consciousness, written in 1901, Richard
Bucke,
a Canadian physician, described the
experience of an electrifying awareness of oneness with all life.
Persons who experienced such states of consciousness were becoming more
numerous, he said, walking the earth and breathing the air with us, but at the
same time walking another earth and breathing another air of which we know
little. "This new race is in the act of being born from us, and in the near
future it will occupy and possess the earth."
In 1902 William James, the great American psychologist, redefined religion not
as dogma but as experience—the discovery of a new context, an unseen
order with which the individual might achieve harmony. Our ordinary
consciousness filters out awareness of this mysterious, enlarged dimension, yet
until we have come to terms with its existence we must beware lest we make a
"premature foreclosure on reality."
Ibid pg 48
There is the common desire of bringing about "experience" that is supposed to
bring about an awareness of "oneness".
What is this "new race" that Richard Bucke speaks of ?
An article titled, "Kundalini: The Source of Genius - Dr. R. M. Bucke"
says in part;
"To a large extent Bucke’s ideas about evolution and cosmic consciousness, as he
expressed them in his book, parallel those of modern researchers and writers in
this area, such as Pandit Gopi Krishna. Gopi Krishna speaks of Kundalini as the
evolutionary energy that is taking man towards the goal of higher (cosmic)
consciousness. Although Bucke was not familiar with the knowledge of Kundalini,
he spoke of the very same energy in his works and how it was responsible for
certain characteristics such as genius, a highly moral nature, and concepts of
world unity in highly evolved people, especially those that he considered
had attained cosmic consciousness…".
"Kundalini: The Source of Genius - Dr. R. M. Bucke", J. Norman Reed, Institute
For Consciousness Research
"Experiences" and "Enlightenment" are what these New Age Emerging Churches are
promoting. Bethel Church, Redding,
CA is just one of many who do this through several means.
One is via their Heaven Come
conferences, and their worship bands like Jesus Culture and Bethel Music.
They attempt to create experiences where conference, concert goers, and
church attendees will come into what they call, "the
Presence".
One of the main methods of this "cosmic consciousness" to create "highly evolved
people" is happening via the meditative techniques of
visualization and contemplative practices.
These are being taught in schools and churches and in many other aspects
of society.
Ferguson continues;
"… The difference between transformation
by accident and transformation by a system is like the difference between
lightning and a lamp. Both give illumination, but one is dangerous and
unreliable, while the other is relatively safe, directed, available.
The intentional triggers of transformative experiences are numberless,
yet they have a common quality. They
focus awareness on awareness—a critical shift. For all their surface
variation, most focus on something too strange, complex, diffuse, or monotonous
to be handled by the brain's analytical, intellectual half:
on breathing,
repetitious physical movement, music,
water, a flame, a meaningless sound,
a blank wall, a koan, a paradox. The intellectual brain can only dominate
awareness by affixing itself to something definite and bounded. If it is
captured by a diffuse, monotonous focus,
the signals from the other side of the mind can be heard."
Society and the church have adopted a number of these "triggers
of transformative experiences".
For instance, visualization techniques start
with breathing exercises. Those who
teach these say they are to make you aware of your breathing and your body.
What about monotonous focus?
Perhaps you are aware that many songs by CCM performers today have repetitive
words and phrases. In some concerts
and "worship" services I have viewed on line, the performers may repeat a word
or phrase up to 70 times in about twelve minutes or more.
What is interesting is that some studies have shown that continual repetition in
music whether in the music or the lyrics causes it to become meaningless.
It is called
Semantic Satiation
or Semantic Saturation.
In the world of the New Age, this repeating of words or phrases is called
a "mantra".
As noted by Ferguson, a monotonous focus starts something to happen in the
brain.
Deepak Chopra, a
follower of Ferguson and meditation program business associate of Oprah Winfrey said
” As you repeat the mantra, it creates a mental vibration
that allows the mind to experience deeper levels of awareness. As you meditate,
the mantra becomes increasingly abstract and indistinct, until
you’re finally led into the field of pure consciousness from which the vibration
arose. Repetition of the mantra helps you disconnect from the thoughts
filling your mind so that perhaps you may slip into the gap between thoughts.
The mantra is a tool to support your meditation practice. Mantras can be viewed
as ancient power words with subtle intentions that help us connect to spirit,
the source of everything in the universe. ” ~ Deepak Chopra
I find it
interesting that in Daniel 3, it appears to be musical sound that triggered a
response to bow down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar had set
up. However, while all the rest of
the nation responded at the playing of the music, Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego did not, and could not respond to it.
Perhaps because they had not involved themselves in the occult ways and
teachings of the Chaldeans of Babylon?
This is a subject for a future article.
Ferguson continues with information she got from one of the questionnaires she
sent out to followers. She says,
"Among the triggers of such experiences reported by the individuals who
responded to the Aquarian Conspiracy questionnaire:
Sensory isolation and sensory overload, because sharply altered input causes a shift in consciousness.
Biofeedback—the use of machines that feed back tones or visual readouts of body processes like brainwave activity, muscle activity, skin temperature—because learning to control these processes requires an unusually relaxed and alert state.
Autogenic training, an approach that originated in Europe more than fifty years ago—self-suggestions that the body is becoming relaxed, "breathing itself."
Music (sometimes in combination with imagery or meditation), because of the
brain's sensitivity to tone and tempo and because music engages the right
hemisphere.
Chanting.
Painting, sculpting, pottery, and similar activities that give a creator a
chance to become lost in the creation.
Improvisational theatre, with its requirement of both total attention and
spontaneity.
Psychodrama,
because it forces an awareness of roles and role playing.
Contemplation of nature and other aesthetically overwhelming experiences.
The “consciousness-raising" strategies of various social
movements that call attention to old assumptions.
Self-help and mutual-help networks—for example, Al-coholics Anonymous,
Overeaters Anonymous, and their counterparts, whose twelve rules include paying
attention to one's conscious processes and to change, acknowledg-ing that one
can choose behavior, and cooperating with “higher forces" by looking inward.
Hypnosis and self-hypnosis.
Meditation of every description: Zen, Tibetan Buddhist, chaotic, Transcendental,
Christian,
Kabbalist,
kundalini, raja yoga, tantric yoga, etc.
Psychosynthesis, a system that combines imagery and a meditative state.
Sufi stories, koans, and dervish dancing.
Various shamanic and magical techniques, which focus attention.
Seminars like
est,
Silva Mind Control, Actualizations, and Lifespring, which attempt to break the
cultural trance and open the individual to new choices.
Dream journals, because dreams are the most available medium for information
from beyond the range of ordinary consciousness.
Arica, Theosophy, and Gurdjieffian systems, which synthesize many
different mystical traditions and teach techniques for altering awareness.
Science of Mind.
An approach to healing and self healing." Ibid. pgs 85, 86
Now many of you may recognize or even be involved with some
of these triggers. Many of these
triggers are used within
and outside the church. Some of these things use visualization breathing
techniques. What was just coming
into society back in the 1960-1980 period and thought weird, are accepted as the
norm today by many. It is the norm,
but not of God.
As odd as it seems, one other aspect of this system is
"social action". It is
considered part of "Deep Ecology" and is part of the transformation process.
Ferguson says of this,
"
The person and society are yoked, like mind and body. Arguing which is more
important is like debating whether oxygen or hydrogen is the more essential
property of water. Yet the debate has raged on for centuries…
"… Martin Buber pointed out that one can never choose.
Self and society are inseparable. 'Eventually,
anyone concerned with the transformation of the individual
must engage in social action.'
"If we attempt to grow alone," Gurtov said, "we ensure that the oppressiveness
of the system eventually will close in around us. If we grow together, the
system itself must change."
Pg 191
Many churches have become involved with "social action". This includes one of the very popular aspects of it in the realm of human trafficking. For instance Kari Jobe has been involved in trying to abate sex trafficking.
Health And Medicine Fields
The New Age is also involved with the fields of health.
Ferguson writes of something that happened at a conference in 1978 that
indicates this. She says,
"The new way of thinking about health and disease, with its message of hope
and its charge of individual responsibility, is widely communicated by the
Aquarian Conspiracy, as in a 1978 Washington conference, "Holistic Health: A
Public Policy," cosponsored by several government agencies and private
organizations. Agencies from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare
were represented. So was the White House staff. Insurance companies, prepaid
health-plan organizations, and foundations sent representatives—in many cases,
their top executive officers. Politicians, physicians, psychologists,
traditional healers, spiritual teachers, researchers, futurists, sociologists,
and health policymakers shared the platform. The assistant surgeon-general
opened the conference; principal speakers included Jerome Frank on the placebo
effect, California legislator John Vasconcellos, meditation teacher Jack
Schwarz, Buckminster Fuller on human ecology.
Topics included public-health policy, implementation of holistic health centers,
crosscultural healing practices, systems theory, the holographic theory
of mind and reality, yoga, music and consciousness, acupuncture
and acupressure, Buddhist
meditative
techniques, electromedicine, alternative birth approaches, bodywork,
biofeedback, guided imagery, homeopathy, nutrition—and "the changing image of
man."
This inclusive program typifies the new paradigm,
which sees many non traditional healing systems as complementary to Western
medicine. Whether we understand how they
work or not, they can be put to our service, just as conventional medicine
uses aspirin, digitalis, and electroconvulsive shock without knowing why they
are effective.
Ibid pgs 259, 260
How interesting that even back in 1978, all of these institutions and their
leadership get together with occultists to discuss changes in medicine.
Note that Ferguson stated that the conference program
"typifies the new paradigm", the
model of their "New Age".
To these people they don't even need to know what is behind healing techniquest that makes them work;
just use them.
Another thing that started back in the times of the writing of the book is the
subject of being "creative" or being "a Creative".
You hear a lot of this rhetoric today.
Ferguson said,
"Imaginative
leaps, curiosity, synthesis, spontaneity, the flash of insight—these should not
be the franchise of a favored minority. Educator John Gowan, whose special
concern is creativity, said:
Heretofore we have harvested creativity wild. We have used as creative only
those persons who stubbornly remained so despite all efforts of the family,
religion, education, and politics to grind it out of them....
If we learn to domesticate creativity—that is, to enhance it rather than deny
it in our culture—we can increase the
number of creative persons to the point of critical mass. When this level
is reached in a culture, as it was in Peri- clean Athens, the Renaissance,
Elizabethan England, and our own Federalist period,
civilization makes a great leap forward.
We can have a golden age of this type
such as the world has never seen. ... A genius is always a forerunner; and the
best minds of this age foresee the dawn of that one.
Having no alternative, we were born creative. Our first sights and sounds
were fresh, new, and original. We explored our small universes, named things,
and knew them intimately in the I-Thou sense. Then, abruptly, formal education
interrupted his contemplation, forcing us into another, more anxious kind of
attention, shattering the state of consciousness necessary for good art and good
science.
Ibid pgs 302, 303
Ferguson also writes about New Age philosophies and techniques being taught in
schools and business. She included
the occult techniques of visualization / guided imagery and other such
meditations. Note that Ferguson
states that "we were born creative".
This concept comes up later.
Part of the Ecological aspect,
The New Age is all about removing borders and making the earth a whole single
system. She says,
"Today
there are millions of residents of that "great country, the whole earth." In
their hearts and minds, war and boundaries and dogma have indeed already died.
And they possess that large hope of which Hugo wrote;
They know each other as countrymen.
The Whole Earth is a borderless country, a paradigm of humanity with room enough
for outsiders and traditionalists, for all our ways of human knowing, for all
mysteries and all cultures. A family therapist says she urges her clients to
discover not who is right or wrong but what they have as a family. We are
beginning to make such an inventory of the Whole Earth.
Ibid pg 405
What an interesting description of the borderless world of the New Age:
A borderless world of "one" in which there is no need to know who may be
wrong about something. Dogma, such
as the Word of God, is no longer there because it is in the way of becoming a
world family. Dogma is replaced
with tolerance, which brings about the ecumenism we are seeing today.
So then, the Aquarian Conspiracy
presented us with a somewhat intellectual view of a religious system that was
birthed by sources other than the God of the Bible.
Looking At The New Age Through God's Word
While the inner workings of this movement contain many parts,
it has two main prongs to it that are seen in the Bible.
Genesis 3: You Can Be As Gods
Genesis 11: A Unified World – Becoming "One".
Each one of these prongs has methods, techniques, diverse
teachings and manipulations which Satan has contrived to achieve these two main
goals. These methods, techniques,
diverse teachings, and manipulations are all in the "New Age" philosophy.
They have also become embedded deep in Christianity.
I think Genesis 11 gives a good description of the desired
end result of following this yellow brick road to Oz.
"And
the whole earth was of one language,
and of one speech.
And
it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the
land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
And
they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.
And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
And
they said, Go to, let us
build us a city and a
tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let
us make us a name, lest we be
scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
And
the
Lord
came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men
builded.
And
the
Lord
said, Behold, the people is one,
and they have all one language;
and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which
they have imagined to do.
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they
may not understand one another's speech.
So
the
Lord
scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left
off to build the city.
Therefore is the name of it
called Babel; because the
Lord
did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the
Lord
scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
Genesis 11:1-6
This rebellion was started by Nimrod who was the great
grandson of Noah (Genesis 10). As
God said, the people were "one".
They had a totally unified world.
There was one "language" and one "speech".
It was a world in which the God of the Bible was not a part
of. This can be seen in their
mindset when they said, "let us, make us",
and when God referred to the city and the tower they decided on building.
It can be seen when God call them
"the children of men" and not the "children of God". And whatever they got
into back then, it appears that they had gained some sort of knowledge of which,
as God said,
"and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do"
Genesis 11:6
This is the intended world of those who
desire to follow the New Age philosophies.
As noted, it is close to the thought of Eastern and ancient religions, as
well as some Native American spirituality.
It is a metaphysical view of "Oneness"; an Ecology.
This view says that man is "embedded
in nature", that man is just one cell in this world of many that make up a
whole. It says that for the sake of
"the common good" man must be one with man, one "collective consciousness" or
common thinking all men, one with nature, one with the universe.
This "oneness" or unity is centered
largely under the banners of "love" and "the common good".
Under these banners come things as, "social action" and Socialism, tolerance /
acceptance of almost all things,
including religions, homosexuality, transgenderism, and the like.
I said "almost" all things because the Biblical view that Christianity
has the only true message of salvation and that Jesus is the way, the truth, and
the life, is not acceptable.
To those in this thinking, this means that
there must be a one world cooperating system(s) comprising of a one world
government, a one world economy, and a one world spirituality; a "new order".
The Bible calls this end time system, Babylon.
Unfortunately the Bible also says there would be this apostate church attached
to it. God called it, "the whore of
Babylon" (Revelation 17)
Ferguson mentioned that one of the things
discussed in the 1978 medical conference was "systems theory".
One publication defines it this way;
" 'Systems theory is an interdisciplinary theory about every system in nature, in
society and in many scientific domains as well as a framework with which we can
investigate phenomena from a holistic approach'. (Capra, 1997).
Systems thinking comes from the shift in attention from the part to the whole
(Checkland, 1997; Weinberg, 2001; Jackson, 2003), considering the observed
reality as an integrated and interacting unicuum of phenomena where the
individual properties of the single parts become indistinct.
The smallest system is a single unicellular organism; the largest one is
represented by the universe. As discussed before, it is possible to consider a
system to be “open” if it is able to exchange energy, matter and information
with the environment. These exchanges lead to internal processes of
transformation of elements such as homeostasis, self-regulation,
equilibrium/balance, autopoiesis, equifinality/common finality…
…Common finality is necessary for a system’s survival and considers
organizations as a set of parts interacting with each other, organized and
managed to reach the same final goal
(von Bertalanffy, 1962)."
Mele, Pels, and Polese: A Brief Review of Systems Theories and Their Managerial
Applications Service Science 2(1/2), pp. 129, 130
The methodology to achieve this common
goal of unity of all the parts is simple. They try to destroy
a current worldview or what they call a "paradigm" of something by tearing it
down. With propaganda precision
they try to show how the system (even the church) is no longer relevant.
They will say that in order to go on and live in peace, harmony, health,
etc., the current system must go and be replaced, or evolve and cooperate with
the whole. They call this a
"paradigm shift".
They then introduce their solutions and
methods in attempts to change our thinking to reject "the status quo" for the
newer more relevant and what they deem is needed for survival of humanity; or as
it is called in Systems Theory, the "Common
Finality"
One example of this as noted before, would be the move from
being sovereign nations to having open borders and the globalist worldview we
see being promoted today. Another
is more regionalized. For a number
of years the younger "activists" of the 1st Nations indigenous tribes
of Canada, the U.S., and Environmentalists have a desire for open borders of the
entire North American continent.
North America is referred to as "Turtle Island".
Crisis, either natural or created and combined with emotion and perceived necessity, are other methods to bring the unification ideas to the forefront. The recent world-wide immigration issues are one example. At the writing of this article there are thousands of people leaving South America in caravans to come to the U.S. But there are laws, like all countries have that one must abide by to enter into a country. The New Age ideology would ignore what their system would view as non-relevant laws, and laws without love.
If you have heard the
term, "order out of chaos", this is part of it.
The hope is that a "new order" will result, in part, from creating chaos
or taking advantage of it.
In 2008, Rahm Emanuel,
former Obama Chief of Staff and former Chicago Mayor told the Wall Street
Journal concerning the financial crisis of that time,
"You never want a
serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do
things you think you could not do before.”
Harvard Business Review, November 25, 2008, online article
hbr.org/2008/11/dont-waste-this-crisis.html
So, as you look at the world as a whole, there are mounting crisis going on all
over in the realm of governments, economies, religions, health, environmental,
gun control, and other areas. I
won't go into all the sub-crisis issues calling out for change, but some of
these are those that are pounded by media on a daily basis in an attempt to make
even the most obvious lies, believable and eventually accepted as truth so that
changes will be a welcome sacrifice.
As noted previously, the New Age movement is also ecumenical in religion.
It needs a one world cooperating "spirituality".
This means the coming together of all denominations and religions under
one leadership, unity and acceptance.
One way this can be seen today is that Pope Francis has been attempting
to make this happen. He is
attempting to bring the leadership of the charismatic / evangelical churches
together with, and under the leadership of the Catholic Church.
While at the same time he is trying to do this with the religions of the
world. His counterpart, Rick
Warren, is attempting the same.
So, aside from the above, what do they use to facilitate agreeing to and
submitting to the changes to make this New Age happen?
New Age Methods That Facilitate Change
It would appear that there are two major ways that are facilitating the message
of change today. Both were
previously discussed and are written about in other articles.
One is the promotion and teaching of relaxation and breathing techniques that
lead into, and are used in the pagan practices of visualization and guided
imagery. I have written an article
on this which is on this website.
This ancient practice of witchcraft is being taught to children in schools, in
businesses, governments, and is now in the church.
In the church it also comes partly in the form of "contemplative" meditation, and
then the
more blatant breathing exercises and visualization.
In the New Age thinking, "experience" is the way to knowledge and supersedes all
other methods of transformation.
Visualization is one major way It
brings "enlightenment" as Satan promised Even in the garden of Eden.
In this thinking one goes into altered states of mind and eventually
experiences, "oneness" with all things and a final realization that he or she is
a god and can create like a god.
The plan is to facilitate an "epiphany" moment to realize the oneness with all
things and the need for this unity.
This would be the "new race" of enlightened people.
As noted by Ferguson and Sutphen, terms are changed to facilitate acceptance.
In addition, to make this more acceptable to the majority, they have
associated this ancient witchcraft practice with science.
So it is combined with the theories of Quantum Physics and Neurobiology
or what is commonly called, Mind Sciences.
When you read and hear about the experiences some of the scientists have along
with even those in the church, you can see how this transformation of thinking
is coming about. These are
discussed in other articles.
The second is the vehicle by which many of the New Age ideas are being put
before our minds. This would be the
"Arts". Ferguson noted this.
The Arts include painting, sculpturing, literature, music, dance, and
entertainment media. For many years I have wondered what all the fuss was with
the "arts". I could not understand
why during financial issues, local, state, the federal government did not want
to cut programs having to do with the arts.
But now I see why.
One of the largest promoters of the arts is the U.S. government's strangely
powerful federal agency called the "National Endowment For The Arts"
(NEA) and associated agencies.
I'll get to them shortly.
Many
so called "evangelical" churches started getting into the arts in the 1980s
just as they did with the Eastern meditation.
Churches like Willow Creek and C. Peter Wagner's Fuller Institute of
Church Growth started putting forth the idea that church was
irrelevant in its current form. The
religious icons needed to come down and be replaced with more relevant "artful"
ones. Drama and dance became the
replacement for the teaching of the Word.
This deceptive methodology was part of what was called "The Church Growth
Movement". It was filled with media
and written material from those who are part of the New Age.
It is now called "the Emergent or Emerging Church.
(See the articles on The Church Growth Movement)
Churches have even adopted painting and sculpturing during the singing of
Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) songs and other parts of these "services".
Dancing goes on and is supposed to convey a Biblical message in a "form".
Some CCM performers have said it is music that now supersedes the
teaching of the word. Jesus has
become a lovey-dovey boyfriend in the words of some of these songs.
Many songs are directed to "Holy Spirit", or "spirit", or even angels.
Neither of these concepts are taught in the Bible.
But they are promoted in New Age practices.
Some songs are like the protest songs of the 60s and have "social action"
as their message. For instance an
Australian pastor says of a writer of some of this music;
"The emergence of Progressive Theology with its themes of
the blessings of creation, intellectual honesty, inclusiveness and an active
commitment to justice and peace has a powerful ally in George Stuart. His
new words to traditional hymn tunes enable worship leaders to introduce or
complement their proclamation of progressive theology in effective and inspiring
ways to both traditional and contemporary congregations.”
Rev Brian Brown - Hamilton Wesley Uniting Church, NSW
Another Australian progressive said of the same music writer,
“I wish to congratulate George Stuart for this Hymn Book
where he addresses many contemporary aspects of Australian religious life that
have never been addressed before in any Hymn Book. He addresses the
Environment, Social Justice and Violence, the Canberra Affirmation, Pushing the
Limits (Dreaming of a New Faith) along with Inter-faith issues…
Rev John Wessell - Uniting Church Tweed Heads, NSW
Source:
unitingearthweb.org.au/worship/prayers-poems-songs/44-singing-a-new-song-george-stuart.html
Progressive Theology is just what it is; New Age.
Ferguson what correct when pointing out that their agenda was also being
put out through music.
In addition to the music part, there are light shows where geometric symbols are flashed.
Some of these represent gods and aspects of other religions and what is
called, "sacred geometry". All are
intended to manipulate thinking, emotions, and provide some sort of
transformational "experience".
What was once called "worship" and those who are a part of this CCM business, have now become part of the transformative system in these medias.
As we look at the secular entertainment side we are seeing more movies and
cartoons with occult themes. The
cartoons are filled with suggestions of evolution, ecology, spirit contact and
other such things.
I mentioned the strange government agency called the National Endowment For
The Arts (NEA). There have been
several failed attempts to stop funding for this agency and disband it, even
though in the past the NEA included
pornography as an art form, and some of their funding is used to house
"artists".
What is interesting is that the NEA is crossing over into an area that has been
reserved for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
That crossover would be that the NEA is promoting using the "arts" as
part of medicine to heal. As noted
before, there is the attempt to combine "science" with occult things.
There is now the effort to use sciences to validate the "arts" as tools
to heal.
The NEA wishes to engage in healing via, music, dance, visual arts such as
paintings, photography, etc.
One part of the NEA explanation of this says,
When the elderly are taught how to use relaxation, imagery, music, or any
of the arts, their sympathetic response to stress is reduced and the calming
effect of the parasympathetic system takes over. Gerontological nurses can
incorporate the arts and other kinds of alternative methods into innovative
preventive and wellness-oriented programs for hospitals, clinics and
communities…
"
The arts also empower patients to endure painful treatment and post-treatment
conditions,
and to find healing and meaning in their experience.
Artists can be part of
an interdisciplinary team…."
Source:
arts.gov/accessibility/accessibility-resources/leadership-initiatives/arts-healthcare/arts-endowment-issues-3
So the NEA suggests that artists become part of a team of "healers".
In the realm of the arts, this is called, "Creative Arts Therapy"
Marilyn Ferguson noted in the 1980s what is happening now as noted with what the
NEA is doing. She said
A major task of the Aquarian Conspiracy is to foster paradigm shifts by
pointing out the flaws in the old paradigm and showing how the new
context explains more—makes more sense. As we will see, the most
powerful transformative ideas from modem science connect like parts of a
puzzle. They support each other; together they form the scaffolding for a wider
worldview.
Each of these major ideas is a whole in itself, a system for understanding a
spectrum of phenomena in our lives and in society. Each also has uncanny
parallels to ancient poetic and mystical descriptions of nature. Science is only
now verifying what humankind has known intuitively since the dawn of history.
In The Morning of the Magicians Pauwels and Bergier speculated that an open
conspiracy exists among scientists who have discovered these metaphysical
realities. Many of the Aquarian Conspirators are scientists, a fraternity of
paradigm breakers who cross into each other's territory for new insights.
Many more have an intense lay interest in the frontiers of research. They draw
their models for social change from scientific insights about how nature really,
radically works. Other conspirators have become interested in science because
they want to understand the physical basis for experiences they have had through
the psychotechnologies."
The Aquarian Conspiracy" pgs 151-152
Below is a footnote to the above.
*In a sense, the Aquarian Conspirators represent the Two Cultures:
typically, they are involved in both science and
the arts.
A high percentage
of those surveyed play a musical instrument; engage regularly in arts or crafts;
and/or read fiction, poetry, and science fiction. From science they seek more
than information; they seek meaning—the essential quest of the artist. Pg
152
Things have progressed immensely in a negative way since the
writing of "The Aquarian
Conspiracy" in 1981. Certainly it
can be seen that medicine, the sciences, and the arts are crossing over with
each other. Of course a number of
churches have incorporated this same New Age occult thinking.
For instance, Bethel Church, Redding has "The
Bethel Conservatory of The Arts".
It is described this way on their website.
"Bethel Conservatory
of the Arts exists to train and equip professional actors, musical theatre
performers, and dancers who release God's Kingdom through story, movement, and
emotion. We envision a generation of creative revivalists who know their
identity in Christ and perform in the Presence."
" Bethel's Creative
Arts team's passion is to use the arts as a supernatural way to open the
doors to the miraculous love and power of God that brings healing and
transformation."
"God is transforming
the culture of dance, and He longs for dancers who will partner with Him and
release His Presence in the studio and on the stage." Source:
bethelconservatory.com
"Bethel's Creative
Arts team's passion is to use the arts as a supernatural way to open the doors
to the miraculous love and power of God that brings healing and transformation.
Our heart is to creatively express God’s presence in church life and in the
community through training believers to prophetically call out the gold
in people. Through equipping and sending out anointed artists, musicians,
photographers, actors, and dancers, the Creative Arts is ushering in a Culture
of Celebration into the streets, businesses and schools in Redding and all over
the world." Source: bethelconservatory.com
The arts are supernatural?
The unfortunate thing is that the people of Bethel and other similar
churches do not know that their leadership, like Bill Johnson, have adopted some
basic beliefs and techniques of the New Age have been and are deceiving generations of
people. But at Bethel, "the arts"
go even further into the New Age and the National Endowment For The Arts, in
healing. For instance their arts
site also says,
"Be sure to check out
the art gallery throughout the lobby and hallway of Bethel's College View
campus.
"One woman who had
come to receive prayer in the Healing Rooms was met with an unexpected healing.
On her way to a class, in a group of about 15 people, she looked up at
Fabiana's family painting on the wall and immediately fell under the
power of God. After taking the others to class, the leader returned only to
see that another who had tried helping the woman get up and get to class,
also fell! When they all finally made it into the classroom, the class
broke out in laughter and no official 'class' was able to be taught"
Source: bethelredding.com/content/creative-arts
So there was some sort of "power" in that painting that
caused some sort of manipulation to heal, to fall, and then cause people to laugh?
The person that painted it is a member of Bethel Redding and attended
their School Of Creativity. Her
name is Fabiana Oliveira. One of her bios says,
"Fabiana Oliveira is a
member of the Prophetic Art Team at Bethel Church and the Healing Room Art Team
in Redding, California. She also travels with various teams, bringing
instruction and impartation of Kingdom culture through the arts" Source:
fabyart.com/pagina-exemplo
So in keeping with New Age thinking, Bethel promotes arts as prophecy and art / images as a means of healing. People like Fabiana and others being taught these things appears they are not aware of what God said about them as seen in the verses below.
I
am the
Lord:
that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to
graven images. Isaiah 32:8
Thy
graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of
thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands.
Micah 5:13
Thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth
Exodus 20:4
They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable
things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor
know; that they may be ashamed.
Who
hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?
Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men:
let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and
they shall be ashamed together.
The
smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with
hammers, and worketh it with the strength of
his arms: yea, he is hungry, and
his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.
The
carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it
with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the
figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain
in the house.
He
heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he
strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and
the rain doth nourish it.
Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm
himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and
worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
He
burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth
roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I
have seen the fire:
And the residue thereof he maketh a god,
even his graven image: he falleth
down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith,
Deliver me; for thou art my god.
They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they
cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
And
none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to
say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the
coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue
thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?
He
feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver
his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
Isaiah 44:9-20
How sad it is that people like those in
Bethel Church also fail to see this.
The painting was made of innate and organic things such as wood / wood
fibers, and man-made chemicals. It
was painted by the arm of a person who gets hungry and fails in strength.
Yet Bethel says people fell down before it.
God's word says that he is not in these things.
They are of another spirit.
Those in the church that profess the arts
and creativity, try to justify this New Age occult thinking by referencing those
who were gifted by God to build the tabernacle and the temple and their
implements for Him. Those that God
enabled to do these things were not Priests of His Word; nor were they healers
or prophets. The objects that they
made did not have innate powers in them to cause some sort of transformation or
healing.
Bethel is not the only church involved in utilizing the arts. Some Calvary Chapel associated churches have also joined this
New Age bandwagon. For instance,
Calvary Chapel of Downey, CA says this on their website,
"CCCS NIGHT OF THE
ARTS PERFORMANCE - APRIL 27-28, 7PM We cordially invite you to attend this
year’s performance by our CCCS Choir in the Main Sanctuary. We will feature
selections from “The Music Man” and the new Broadway musical “Hamilton.” You
don’t want to miss out! Tickets are $5 and they can be purchased in the High
School Office or “at the door” before the performances. Bring unsaved family and
friends because the Gospel message will be given at the end of each
performance!" Source:
ccdowney.com/events/2018/4/27/cccs-night-of-the-arts-performance
Calvary Chapel Ft Lauderdale even takes it a step further.
Their site talks about their theater and says,
About Our Venue
Our God is an awesome and creative God! In fact, He has set the standard and
stage for all artistry and creativity. He has blessed us with an exceptional
venue to showcase the gifts and talents He has given to each one of the
performers, musicians, and speakers who stand on our stage.
Our two-story theatre, with its contemporary décor, offers comfortable
seating and unobstructed views to go along with state-of-the-art lighting and
acoustics!
We hope you’ll join us for one of our performances, concerts, or conferences.
Membership
For the very first
time at CCA, advocates for the arts can enjoy special perks while
enjoying productions. This year’s diverse array of stories are sure to
provide something for everyone in the audience—from transformational dramas
to whimsical musicals, this truly extraordinary season will be one you don’t
want to miss, including: Bye Bye Birdie, Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka JR., and the
Building Bridges dance concert.
We are thrilled to
announce, for the first time ever, the Fine Arts Season Membership program!
It is not too late to claim one of our Mid-Season Memberships. Your
membership will allow you to experience the rest of this years’ line-up of
mainstage performances, concerts, and showcases, in a new and exclusive way.
This year’s diverse array of stories are sure to provide something for everyone
- from transformational dramas to whimsical musicals and stunning dances, this
truly extraordinary season will be one you don’t want to miss." Source:
calvaryftl.org/theatre
North Coast Calvary Chapel of Carlsbad, CA says this on their
ministries site.
The arts have
long been a natural and expressive component of our faith. We acknowledge
that all things have been crafted and created according to God’s good pleasure
and in our desire to draw nearer to Him, we too create. Our purpose is to
utilize our gifting in order
to glorify God, connect with others and communicate the Gospel. Personal
development, collaborative efforts and staying connected to artists that
you know throughout the community, are extremely important to us. This ministry
allows fellow believers to grow, create, and reach out together. Whether you are
a Beginning, Re-emerging or Professional artist…we welcome you!
Source:
northcoastcalvary.org/ministries/connect-learn-grow/the-arts/
Actually, the arts have been a natural and expressive
component of the New Age. Note that
North Coast Calvary refers to talents as "our gifting" not a gift from God.
Like the New Age, and the NEA, this church seems to think it is a
necessity to stay connected with artists.
Recall that with the NEA, artists are considered part of a "healing
team".
Calvary Ft Lauderdale sounds more like a business; selling
theater membership with perks.
And there are many other churches out there involved in this
New Age method of "transformation"
This is not new.
The same thing was going on in ancient Mesopotamia in the Assyrian and
Babylonian cultures as seen in the following;
"The cultural decline
about the year 1000 was overcome during the reigns of Ashurnasirpal II and
Shalmaneser III. The arts in particular experienced a tremendous resurgence…"
"…Stimulated by the
patronage of the kings and the great temples, the arts and crafts flourished
during this period. The policy of resettling Aramaeans and other conquered
peoples in Assyria brought many talented artists and artisans into Assyrian
cities, where they introduced new styles and techniques. High-ranking provincial
civil servants, who were often very powerful, saw to it that the provincial
capitals also benefited from this economic and cultural growth."
Source:
britannica.com/place/Mesopotamia-historical-region-Asia/Mesopotamia-to-the-end-of-the-Achaemenian-period
Art has become almost a substitute for written and spoken language.
In fact it is called a "Visual Language".
What greater way to have "one language" and "one speech" than through
art. And it can be seen that this
is a trend today.
We can look at the home page of the
National Endowment For The Arts.
On it at one time there are the words "Art Works".
Next to these words are three triangles; one facing up, the other two
facing down. This is one logo that was "under consideration" (see below)
According to the designer of this logo, the three triangles speak the words,
"Art Works" in that the upright triangle is symbolic of the letter "A" and the
two downward ones symbolize the letter "W".
It is further described as;
The symbol is a metaphor for the
three purposes of Art Works: 1. Works by Artist, 2. Art works on audiences, 3.
Art workers. Source:
underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/artistic_triangle_threesome.php
Bethel Redding provides another example of this (they are
extremely New Age). Their
"Heaven Come" conference
advertisements substitutes symbols for letters H, A, V, and E
in the spelling of "Heaven Come" as seen below.
These particular symbols are occult associated as is the entire scope of
the logo. The logo transmits the
Hermetic (god Hermes) doctrine of "As Above, So Below".
Translated from the Hermetic doctrine, this means that you can be like a
god.
Creativity
There is the deception in the New Age's assertion that
mankind is to be creative. The
church has jumped into this too. I
read and heard things being taught by pastors that "we are made in the image of
God" and are thus "co-creators" with him.
That is a New Age ideal, but is not what the situation really is.
It is a real bad half-truth.
Man was originally
made in the image of God, but has not
been in His image since Adam and Eve sinned and became decaying mortals,
separated from God. The Word tells
us that there is only one true image of God and that is His Son, Jesus.
In speaking of Jesus in 2 Corinthians 4:4 Paul says,
"In
whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them."
Matthew Henry in his commentary on God making man in His image as seen in
Genesis 1,
"But how art thou fallen, O son of the morning! How is this image of God upon
man defaced! How small are the remains of it, and how great the ruins of it! The
Lord renew it upon our souls by his sanctifying grace!"
Romans 8:29 also tells us
"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of
his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren"
Not there yet; it is a process.
We are told in 1 John 3:2
"Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be:
but we know that, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."
Well what about being "co-creators" with God.
The word "creators" is not found in the King James Version.
The word "Creator" is found five times and refers to only God.
Now what about the "arts" as being gifts to build the church?
The gifts are plainly documented in 1 Corinthians 12:1, 7-11, 28-31
"
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant…"
"…But
the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
For
to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word
of knowledge by the same Spirit;
To
another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing
by the same Spirit;
To
another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another
discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues;
to another the interpretation of tongues:
But
all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man
severally as he will..."
"…And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily
prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of
healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
Are
all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
But
covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way."
There are those that may have an
outstanding talent in the areas of dance, music, painting, sculpture, etc,; but
none of these are listed as a gift of the spirit for building the church.
Paul told Timothy to "Preach the Word", not paint it, draw it, dance it,
sculpt, or dramatize it. These
things are the additions of man from the teachings of the World and the old
religions of the New Age.
During the time of Jesus and the beginning of the church, there were those who were called "Hellenistic Jews". These were those that, while being Jews, had incorporated the ways of the Greeks. The Greeks were into the arts, including theater at that time. The Jewish Encyclopedia says this about this Hellenism.
"The Hellenic influence pervaded everything, and even in the very strongholds of Judaism it modified the organization of the state, the laws, and public affairs, art, science, and industry, affecting even the ordinary things of life and the common associations of the people."
"...By the introduction of Grecian art a door was opened to debauchery and riotous living; and though Judaism was hardly menaced by the introduction of direct idolatry, the connection of this culture with sublimated Greek polytheism became a real danger to the Jewish religion..."
"...In the field of poetry only the epic and the drama were cultivated, traces of which, but no fully developed products, are found in ancient Hebrew literature..."
"...Considering the chasm between the Jews and the pagans, it is remarkable with what zeal and cleverness the Hellenistic Jews sought under pagan masks to make propaganda for Judaism. They wrote works in the name of pagan authorities, and these stole their way into the circle of pagan readers..." Source: jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7535-hellenism
Sounds a lot like today, doesn't it? We do not see Jesus, nor any of the writings of the disciples / apostles utilizing visualization, sciences, or the arts to convey the teachings of God or follow the Hellenistic Jews. We need to understand that the church, and those in it, are built upon the Word of God, not the things of the world, or of things of other religions.
Final Words
As you read the articles on this website,
keep in mind the things you have read here.
In most of the articles where there is some sort of New Age related
teaching I am discussing, I will note that this is one of the sources.
I may go into more detail of the doctrine or practice I am discussing in
a particular article. For instance
the articles on Visualization and on the Church Growth Movement have more
detailed information and additional sources listed.
Then, as you observe what is going on in
the world, in your church and with yourself; make assessments using what you
have learned here and compare this all things with God's word.
Understand that no one is beyond being deceived.
I have been before and would be foolish to say it won't happen again.
However, after reading these things and you become aware that you have
been deceived, take it before God.
Or, on the opposite end, if you disagree and become angry at what you are reading, do
what God said, check it out to see if just by chance what you are reading might
be correct. Remember, we are told,
"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test
the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out
into the world." (1John 4:1) and that Jesus commanded,
"Take heed
that no one deceives you".
Continue to next article: Birthing Of The False Church Through Ecumenism