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                     SHOULD NEW AGE CHANGE STRATEGY BE USED IN 
         
                          EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN CHURCHES?

                              ---------------------
         
                                   A Term Paper 
                                   
                                   Presented to
         
                               Dr. V.L. Mike Mahoney

                               --------------------
         
                              In Partial Fulfillment
         
                          Of the Requirements of ACED 680
         
                               --------------------
         
                                        by

                                Richard N. Olivieri

                                 (c) May 1986

         
                     Should New Age change strategy be used in 
                          Evangelical Christian Churches?
                          (c) 1986 By Richard N. Olivieri


         Overview

              To answer this question it is necessary to first define "New 
         Age" and survey the basic root components and origins of New Age 
         change strategy. In addition a comparison of the resultant philosophy 
         of "New Age" to Evangelical Christian theology is needed to determine 
         if the two are compatible.  

              New Age change strategy is being formulated by a very diverse 
         collection of special interest groups, political positions and 
         philosophical views which has been given the name "New Age Movement."  
         There are two major publications that are voices for the movement; 
         The New Age Journal and The East-West Journal.  Because of the 
         diverse nature of the groups within the movement it would appear that 
         there is no single coherent position that binds the members of the 
         movement together.  This is not at all the case.  
         
         Origins of the New Age Groups
         
              The New Age groups are apparently brought together by underlying 
         concepts and philosophies from several origins.  These origins 
         include: 
         
         MYSTICISM:   Mysticism here is that belief which relies on an 
         intuitive body of knowledge that is hidden, but can be known through 
         transcendental reality and which leads to union with the divine.  
         Mysticism is linked with magic, theurgy, prayer, worship, religion, 
         metaphysics, science and occultism.   It is easy for a Christian to 
         see that mysticism when it is involved with magic, metaphysics and 
         occultism is not Christian and should be avoided. This distinction is 
         less clear in the areas of prayer, worship, religion and perhaps even 
         theurgy (compelling or persuading the God to do or not to do 
         something). 
         
              The aspect of mysticism is seen through out the origins of the 
         New Age Movement and seems to be a distinctive quality of the 
         movement's diverse groups.  There is a valid Christian mysticism 
         which can be seen in the functions of prayer, worship and the work of 
         the Holy Spirit in the believer.  It seems that the prime difference 
         between New Age mysticism and Christian mysticism lies in the purpose 
         and source of the mysticism.  In New Age mysticism the purpose of 
         mysticism is to enable the mystic to be empowered with secret hidden 
         knowledge and power which will allow the mystic to control the 
         elements of nature.  

              The source of New Age mystical power is from an impersonal "Life 
         Force" or also called the "Other".  This  Other or Life Force is a 
         reservoir of spiritual power located or comprising a spiritual 
         dimension or sphere which surrounds the earth.  An advertisement from 
         the May 1986 issue of New Age Journal best illustrates this concept.  
         The advertisement describes the "Reiki" program; "The inherent 
         Purpose of Reiki science is to give YOU  direct contact and personal 
         experience with universal energy without harm.  This whole energy can 
         be applied to ANY particular." (emphasis the same)  The advertisement 
         defines "rei ki" as "...a generic Japanese word meaning universal 
         life energy."  Here the purpose of New Age mysticism is clearly to 
         plug the individual into the "socket" of Power, a power which is an 
         impersonal Life force (shades of Star Wars!).  The individual having 
         been plugged in can then use this power on any particular area of 
         life.  
         
         SWEDENBORG, EMANUEL was an 18th Century mystic theologian and 
         philosopher who influenced science, philosophy and religion.  
         Swedenborg believed that the end goal of creation could only be 
         achieved through man, but the process of achieving that goal is 
         presently disrupted by man's misuse of freewill.  

         TEILHARD de CHARDIN, PIERRE was a 20th century Jesuit philosopher who 
         attempted to blend Christianity with evolution. He coined the words 
         "cosmogenesis"-man is central in the world and "noogenesis"-growth of 
         man's mind.[actually the word was first used by Vladimir Vernadsky]  
         In Teilhard de Chardin's philosophic interpretation of Christian 
         theology a cosmic process of evolution is moving all things toward a 
         perfection in an "Omega" point.  To Vernadsky earth is evolving from 
         a biological stage to a stage of global conscious human effort 
         (nooshpere).  Chardin merely elaborates Vernadsky's view into a 
         convergence of all things into the "Great Christ".  Thus, to Chardin 
         all roads lead to Christ and all things are accepted into Christ.  
         This means all religions on earth will evolve into Christ.  To the 
         Evangelical Christian this is not Christian but anti-Christian.  When 
         Christ said "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No man comes 
         to the Father except through me. John 14:6 NIV", he did not mean that 
         anyone believing anything could come to the Father.  Christ meant 
         that through personal faith in Him as Savior one has access to the 
         Father.  Chardin's theology is universalism mixed with evolution. 

         THEOSOPHY is a religious philosophy with emphasis on mysticism, 
         esoteric doctrine, occultism, monism and Eastern philosophy.  
         Theosophy though ancient in origin is presently promoted through the 
         Theosophical Society, founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and is 
         espoused by the New Age Movement.  It is through the ideas and 
         tenents of theosophy that the many diverse groups within the New Age 
         find a common ground of purpose.  

                       The Theosophical Society affirms the following 
                   objectives: (1) to form a nucleus of the universal 
                   brotherhood of humanity, without distinction of race, 
                   creed, sex, caste or colour; (2) to encourage the 
                   study of comparative religion, philosophy, and 
                   science; and (3) to investigate unexplained laws of 
                   nature and the powers latent in man.
                       ...One of the society's most controversial claims 
                   concerns the existence of a brotherhood of Great 
                   Masters or Adepts, who, it is asserted, have perfected 
                   themselves and are directing the spiritual evolution 
                   of humanity. (Ency. Brit:Vol 18, pg. 277)
             
              One of the fundamental principles of theosophy is that all souls 
         are identified with the Universal Over-Soul and are obliged to 
         undergo a cyclic pilgrimage through the Cycle of Incarnation. 

         NEW THOUGHT is a metaphysical mind-healing movement that stresses 
         "constructive thinking" (also known as "positive thinking"); 
         Transcendentalism and "mind over matter" . 
              
              Phineas P. Quimby is viewed as the leading originator of 
         the New Thought movement.  Quimby was a practicing hynotist and 
         firmly believed that illness is a matter of the mind.  From 
         Quimby's writings a number of persons were influenced who then    
         spread New Thought ideas into other groups and movements.  These 
         groups are not in total agreement on all of Quimby's or today's 
         New Thought principles, but they all share in placing emphasis 
         on the importance of the mind and proper thinking. According to 
         New Thought principles, problems in life including illness are a 
         matter of incorrect thinking.  
              
              Groups which are usually considered to be within the New Thought 
         movement or have adopted New Thought concepts include; Christian 
         Science, Unity, Psychiana, and The I Am movement.  Not all of these 
         groups have prospered, but the basic principles of New Thought have 
         been accepted into a wide range of modern day movements.  Concepts 
         like; mind-healing, divinity of man, and material prosperity as a 
         result of "right thinking" can all be seen today in both secular and 
         religious groups. 
         
              It should be noted that several groups within the New Thought 
         camp consider themselves Christian.  The purpose of this paper is not 
         to dispute the claims of groups, but to show the origins of New Age 
         and to determine whether the New Age change strategy should be 
         applied to Evangelical Christian churches.  This author is well aware 
         that many groups claim to be Christian and dispute of that claim 
         would be and has been the subject of extended debate.  
         
              There are certain aspects of New Thought which in themselves are 
         not anti-Christian.  Christians are to be constructive and positive 
         in their thinking, but Evangelical Christian thought does not and 
         should not encourage Christians to place their trust in 
         "constructive/positive thinking" as their savior.  Christians are to 
         place their trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior.  Christians are to 
         believe in miracles and that prayer is a viable way to communicate 
         their praise and requests to God. (Ryrie:14-15)  But prayer is not 
         some power to be conjured up with which the Christian then uses to 
         cast a spell on the events of life.  In Evangelical Christian thought 
         prayer is not used to manipulate God so that the Christian may then 
         live in wealth and good health.  To accept such a view of prayer as a 
         power to achieve wealth and health is to deny the very ministries of 
         Paul, Peter, John, Stephen, and others in the New Testament who died 
         without wealth and sometimes lived with enduring ailments (eg. Paul 
         and Timothy). 

         Resultant Philosophy and Change Strategy of the New Age Movement

              From the origins of mysticism, Swedenborg, Chardin, theosophy 
         and New Thought there emerges a resultant philosophy and change 
         strategy of the New Age movement.  Within popular circles this 
         philosophy is quite benign and unobtrusive.  New Age is well 
         represented by activists from a variety of popular causes.  The 
         "global consciousness" expressed by Chardin fuels the purpose of 
         conservationists, environmentalists, Anti-apartheid, anti-nuclear 
         groups causes .  The onward momentum expressed in Chardin's mystical 
         evolution suggests to New Age social change agents that solutions to 
         society's problems cannot be found in the empiricism of the past.  
         New Age change agents though in agreement with Marxist socialism in 
         form are not willing to wait the indefinite period of time for 
         society to develop into a utopia.  New age agents are pushing for a 
         radical change in history within the immediate future. (Bennis:413-
         425) 
         
              The philosophers of the New Age readily combine Eastern 
         mysticism, evolution, chiliasm and Marxism into a change strategy 
         which claims to be egalitarian but in fact is power-coercive in 
         focus.  Elise Boulding (whose view is echoed in the New Age Journal) 
         calls for a break in history which is brought on by a global 
         conscientization(Bennis:413-425).   This conscientization is the 
         result of intentional learning communities who have been "awakened" 
         by making contact with the Other through the "dimension of 
         transcendence. "  Having tapped into the "dimension of transcendence" 
         the members of these learning communities willingly, excitedly and 
         joyfully commit their lives totally to the learning community and the 
         task of being coparticipants with the Other in the awakening of 
         society.  This concept is straight out of the principles of theosophy 
         placed within Chardin's global sphere. 
         
         Conclusion
              
              As it has been noted, much of the New Age concepts and methods 
         for change are not compatible with Evangelical Christian thought.  It 
         would appear that a few of the New Age ideas were in fact taken from 
         Biblical and early Christian sources and then merged with mysticism 
         and Eastern philosophy so that the result makes the ideas 
         unacceptable to Evangelical Christian churches.  
              
              Apart from the philosophy certain methods and concepts have been 
         employed and should continued to be used in Evangelical churches. The 
         sense of community within the church of believers and the aspect of a 
         teaching church society are concepts that are seen in Biblical 
         accounts of the early church and should be practiced in Evangelical 
         churches today.  The key difficulty of accepting New Age change 
         strategy within the Evangelical Christian church lies in the focus of 
         change. 

              In Evangelical Christian thought Christ is not merely a great 
         human who lived, died and was then raised to be a great master of the 
         human race.  Christ is the God-man, the ONLY begotten and INCARNATE 
         Son of God who took on a perfect human nature.  Ryrie states: 
         
                   Orthodoxy has always held that Jesus Christ was fully 
                God and perfect man, and that these two natures were 
                united in one person without forming a third nature (as 
                Eutychius said) or two separate persons (as Nestorious 
                taught). 
        
              The central focus of the New Age is "man" and mankind's ability 
         to shape its own future through transcendental communion with each 
         other and the wholly Other.  The "Other" is an impersonal supreme 
         being (or force) which surrounds the earth and other worlds [Note: 
         there are some variations of this description depending on the 
         group].  This is in sharp contrast to Evangelical Christian thought 
         which puts the focus on God who is directing a plan for the salvation 
         of man through His Son, Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the 
         Trinity.  In Evangelical Christian thought God is a Tri-Unity of 
         three Persons in One; whereas in New Age thought there is only the 
         impersonal Other, a mystical force surrounding the Earth.  In New Age 
         "all roads lead to God"; whereas in Evangelical Christian thought 
         there is only one way to God, Jesus Christ the Son of God.  

         

                                   BIBLIOGRAPHY

         Bennis, Warren G., Kenneth D. Benne and Robert Chin, eds.  The
              Planning of Change.  New York: CBS College Publishing,
              1985.

         Cairns, Earle E.  Christianity Through the Centuries .  Grand
              Rapids :  Zondervan Publishing House, 1967.
         
         Crouse, Bill.  The New Age Movement .  Dallas: Probe Ministries,
              n.d. 
         
         Hunt, Dave and T.A. McMahon.  The Seduction of Christianity .
              Eugene :  Harvest House Publishers, 1985.
         
         New Age Journal .  Brighton, MA: Rising Star Associates, May
              1986. 

         Ryrie, Charles C.  A Survey of Bible Doctrine .  Chicago: Moody
              Press, 1972.
         
         Wasserman, Harvey.  "The New Age Movement: The Politics of 
              Transcendence."  The Nation .  31 Aug. 1985, pp. 145-148.
         
                                    REFERENCES 

         Bible.  New International Version 
         
         Encyclopaedia Britannica , 15th ed., S.v. "Mysticism, New
              Thought, Teilhard de Chardin, Theosophy" 

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