I had the opportunity to listen to Sarah Leslie speak at a discernment seminar  in SpringHill, Florida  February 2007 . Here is an article covering much of what she taught. 

What is the New Age Movement?

A brief synopsis

By Sarah Leslie

 

See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. (Col. 2:8)

 

During the 1970s America underwent a rapid and profound transformation from a culture that was primarily Christian to one that is now mostly pagan. In the 1960s the Beatles rock group had imported eastern religion via their guru Marharishi Mahesh Yogi and popularized drug use. Eastern mysticism believes that each man determines his own truth – a very subjective way of looking at reality. In eastern religions Jesus isn’t THE way, THE truth, THE life, he is just an ascended spiritual “master” who is but one of many truths about spirituality. Jesus is not seen as the Son of God who died for our sins on the cross and was resurrected. Rather, in eastern and pagan religions, Jesus is put on a par with other deities who are worshipped, and in some case even called by the names of these other idols.

 

It is important to understand the roots of what is now called the “New Age” movement. Constance Cumbey, a Christian attorney from Michigan, was the first one to alert evangelicals to this movement in her landmark book, The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow (Huntington House, 1983). She discovered that the modern move towards pagan religions and occult practices was actually initiated in 1875 by an organized group of Satanists who called themselves the Theosophical Society, headed up by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. Their goal was to unite all world religions. From channeled demonic transmissions the Theosophists wrote extensively about how they would destroy Christianity and replace it with the occult. Alice Bailey, another Theosophist leader, wrote two dozen books laying out the specific instructions for creating a “New Age” on the Earth. The Lucifer Publishing Company (now Lucis Trust) published her writings which are still available for purchase and can be found on the Internet. Constance Cumbey warned:

“Plans for religious war, forced redistribution of the world’s resources, Luciferic initiations, mass planetary initiations, theology for the New World Religion, disarmament campaign, and elimination or sealing away of obstinate religious orthodoxies – all were covered extensively in the Alice Bailey writings.” (p. 50)

 

The Theosophists believed that they could best achieve their goals by remaining underground for a period of years and by infiltrating the world’s religious, educational, medical and governmental establishments. Their conspiracy surfaced to public view in 1976 when a modern disciple of Alice Bailey, Marilyn Ferguson, published a bestselling book called The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in the 1980s (J.P. Tarcher, Inc.). This book had a prominently displayed “666” logo on the cover, representing the Theosophical belief that this number would invite the “Christ” to their New Age. Ferguson divulged the “Plan” and bragged about how it had already become an integral part of American society.

 

A foundational doctrine for the New Age movement is the belief that humanity is evolving, and that we will attain a higher level of consciousness and emerge as a new species (homo noeticus or homo universalis). A corollary doctrine teaches that truth itself is evolving, and that our understanding of spiritual things is becoming enhanced as we work collectively for a common good on the planet. Perpetual change is seen as a method to constantly accelerate this evolution. Visioning techniques, borrowed straight from the occult, are also used. Other occult methods have been mainstreamed into medicine, education, social sciences, business, and even the church. Marilyn Ferguson even ominously suggested, “Evolution may be speeded up by certain genetic mechanisms.” (p. 160)

 

Disunity with this Plan is seen as a hindrance to this coming “paradigm shift” in which a benevolent “New Age” of peace will transform the planet. The New Agers expectantly await their own messiah, a New Age “Christ” figure (also known as Maitreya) who will institute peace on earth.

 

Constance Cumbey’s original warnings went unheeded by evangelical leadership. Over the past three decades Christians began to rapidly replace the Scriptures with this mystical “New Age” worldview. These new doctrines didn’t come into the church all at once, but in small doses of leaven, often placed in books and teachings by key evangelical leaders. The effect of this leaven has been disastrous in the church.

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