Apostasy: The New Age Plan to take over the Christian Church

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Apostasy: The New Age Plan to take over the Christian Church

Forum: Messageboard
Date: 2001, Nov 15
From: Ivan Ivan

Hi all,
In his book, "Dark Secrets of the New Age", Texe Marrs unveiled the Plan of the New Age on Chapter 16 of his book, to take over every Christian church and every Jewish temple in the world and to turn these great and small architectural structures into centres of New Age World Religion. He also unfolded the 3-pronged Plan of the leaders of the New Age to replace Christianity and Judaism with their own World Religion. The 3 phases of this scheme are to discredit, infiltrate and deceive. I would just select pertinent portions to show their devilish scheme to discredit Jesus and the Bible, to infiltrate the Christian churches with new wave, Cosmic Christians and to deceive the Christian churches with the empty commitment to Peace and Love and the Prosperity Gospel.

OBJECTIVE: DISCREDIT JESUS AND THE BIBLE

How can the Christian church best be strangled and rendered lifeless? Satan knows that all he has to do is to first undermine belief in Jesus Christ, and second, discredit the Bible.

The New Age war on Jesus and the Bible is vile and vicious. Some New Agers seek to portray Jesus as just a man, a man who studied at the feet of his spiritual superiors-Tibetan, Egyptian, and Indian priests, priestesses, and gurus. Others attempt to label Jesus a rich man's son, as a teacher whose supposed miracles were faked, or even as a powerless disciple who was raised from the dead by the Lord Maitreya, the New Age "Christ," in an occult manner. By some New Age accounts, Jesus' mother, Mary was a Temple prostitute and Jesus Himself had an extra-marital affair with Mary Magdalene.

Perhaps the most prevalent lies by New Age leaders are accounts of what happened to Jesus during the so-called "lost years" between His boyhood and the beginning of His ministry. Since these 18 years are omitted from the accounts in the Gospels, the New Age has, like a ravenously starving vulture, moved in with dispatch to fill the gap. Kevin Ryerson, the demon channeler for Shirley Maclaine and other celebrities, says his spirits have told him that "the man Jesus studied for 18 years in India before he returned to Jerusalem. He was studying the teachings of Buddha and became an adept Yogi himself."

Elizabeth Clare Prophet claims to have come across documents from deep in the Himalayas which describe what Jesus did and said in India, Nepal, and Tibet. Her book, The Lost Years of Jesus, "reveals" that the youth Jesus joined a caravan headed for the East, where he studied under wise men who taught him mysticism. Rev J.Finley Cooper, a priest in the Episcopal Church of the United States, has said of Prophet's book: "I am indeed grateful to Elizabeth Clare Prophet....I commend the book to all of God's sons and daughters."

Edgar Cayce's demon guides gave him the revelation that Jesus travelled extensively in Egypt,India and Persia. In Persia, said cayce, Jesus learned from Mystery Religion teachers about the truth of Zu and Ra, two Babylonian gods. In Egypt, as an initiate of the Mysteries, He was tested at the Great Pyramid, earning membership into the exalted White Brotherhood of Masters.

These heretical accounts of Jesus' travels and of His being initiated into the Satanic Mystery Teachings are not supported by one shred of evidence. But they are made more palatable by scheming New Age leaders who claim that "Much of this information was probably cut from the Bible in the 6th century by the church, along with reincarnation, as being an 'embarrassment' and threat to the exclusiveness of the doctrines and their power over the people."

DID CHRIST DIE IN VAIN?

Denying Jesus' sacrifice on the cross is common among New Agers. Elizabeth Clare Prophet, the fount of so many lies regarding Jesus and the Bible, writes:

...the erroneous doctrine concerning the blood sacrifice of Jesus-which he himself never taught-has been perpetuated to the present hour, a remnant of pagan rite long refuted by the Word of God. God the Father did not require the sacrifice of His Son Christ Jesus, or of any other incarnation for the sins of the world....

That Jesus died on the cross as an atonement for our sins is indelibly stamped throughout the Old and NT. Here are just a few passages: Jn 1:1,14; 3:16; Mt 1:18-25; 20:28; Gal 4:4,5; Phil 2:5-11; 1 Cor 15:3-8; 2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:14-16; 1 Jn 2:1,2; Rom 4:25; 5:18,19; Isa 53:6. In the face of such voluminous evidence, Prophet's statement that God did not require the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus is exposed as a bold lie unsupported by the Scriptures.

The New Age elite also says there will be no real Second Coming of the Lord. This untruth goes hand-in-hand with the New Age doctrine that Jesus is not Christ. Emmett Fox, formerly a prominent liberal Christian minister whose books are very popular among New Agers, has written:

The Christ is not Jesus. The Christ is the active presence of God-the incarnation of God-in living men and women... In the history of all races the Cosmic Christ has incarnated in man-Buddha, Moses, Elijah and in many other leaders....However, in his New Age, the Cosmic Christ will come into millions of men and women who are ready to receive it. This will be the second coming of Christ for them.

It is important to the New Age that Jesus' divinity be discredited, that He be demoted from Godhood to manhood. Jesus the man will not return as God to rule humanity. That role is reserved for the Lord Maitreya. This blasphemous teaching fufills the prophecy of Saint Peter:

...there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. (2 Pet 3:3,4)

DOES GOD WANT EVERYONE TO BE RICH?

An un-Biblical doctrine gathering steam in Christian churches in the "Prosperity Gospel." This unholy doctrine is a key tenet of the New Age which falsely claims that riches are marks of the truly religious person. Lola Davis explains that since God is in everything-trees, grass, automobiles and paintings-material possessions must be the "bounties of God." "Would it not," she asks, "contribute to peace and joy on earth if we accepted material things as expressions of God and therefore, as spiritual elements? Only this way," Davis exclaims, "can mankind develop God-like qualities."

Fashion and success consultant Robert Pante, who has been called the "high priest of prosperity, minister to the moneyed," scoffingly remarks, "Those who pray with a poverty consciousness aren't going anywhere. Lots of poor folks pray and don't get anything."

Pante specialises in conducting seminars in which he berates women attendees who don't dress great-ie, who are not up to Pante's standards-with such derisive comments as, "You look like you don't get out much," and "She looks like an aging cheerleader."

Pante, the author of "Dressing to Win," says that he is "a social worker for the rich, soon to be rich and those strongly desiring to be rich." He believes that the problem with the poor is that they don't believe they are gods. That's how he acquired wealth, Pante insists. "I was very poor. Then I found out I was god, a co-creator." Riches and success ensued, Pante assures his audiences.

These sentiments are shared by many other New Age spokesmen. They say that not only does induction into the New Age World Religion certify a person as a scientific-minded and a thinking person, but it also makes him destined to become blessedly affluent.

The New Age leader lures new converts by holding out the carrot of riches and prosperity through their mind power. Man-gods supposedly will money to come their way. John Randolph Price thrills his followers by telling them, "You were born to be rich!" He teaches that all that's necessary is for the individual to develop a prosperity consciousness through willpower, which Price terms the "Will of Wealth."

Dr Catherine Ponder, a minister of the Unity Church in Palm Desert, California has been described as the "Norman Vincent Peale among lady ministers." She teaches positive thinking and powers of the mind, asserting that a person can profit from prosperity "secrets." Her books allege that Biblical heroes were wealthy because of their spiritually advanced minds. Her book, "The Millionaire from Nazareth: His Prosperity Secrets for You" proclaims that there is gold in the gospel for you. According to Ponder, "Jesus understood, used, and taught the mental and spiritual laws of prosperity A part of Jesus' mission was expressly to save mankind from its belief about financial limitations." She further claims that Jesus practised what He preached. He was not a poor illiterate carpenter. Jesus was a world-travelled rich man: "Contrary to what most of us have believed, Jesus certainly was not poor. Instead, Jesus was the wealthiest man who ever trod the earth."

She goes on to say that it is pagan to be poor. "The prosperous truth is that, as a child of God, it is a sin to be poor and it is your birthright to prosper and succeed."

Ponder's claims are ridiculous but contain within them a covetous message that has captivated tens of thousands of people who want desperately to become rich. Certainly, if Jesus, a simple carpenter's son, had been a materially wealthy man, He would not have had to resort to the miracle of the fishes and loaves of bread. He would not have been without honour in His own city, and after His arrest, His disciples could have paid off the authorities to win His release. Instead, He went to the cross a pauper. The Roman guards attending His execution cast lots for His only worldly possession: His cloak.

The promise to deliver prosperity to its converts is the driving force behind at least some of the New Age success. Unfortunately, some Christian leaders have taken this same tack, preaching that a Christian can have Cadillacs, mansions, millions of dollars. "Just name it and claim it."

Some, like Harlem's Rev Ike, are terribly blatant. The ministry of Rev Ike, known as the flamboyant "money preacher" because of his penchant for diamond rings, gaudy gold jewelry, and expensive luxury cars, continues to thrive even though he preaches heresy. In early 1987, when he agreed to record a song, "Mind your own Business," with country music star Hank Williams, Jr., Ike snapped:

I really wanted to sing "Mind your own Business," because if you mind your own [curse word deleted] business, you'll have more time and energy to get rich, which is what it's all about. Get your own [curse word deleted] Rolls Royce instead of being jealous of mine.

Rev Ike may be the most crass and brazen "money preacher," but many others have joined the prosperity bandwagon in recent years. In addition to money, some ministers and TV evangelists are preaching to their listeners the horrible falsehood that giving to the Lord is a financial investment, that God will pay them back tenfold, even a thousandfold for their contributions. Thousands of Christians today are giving for entirely the wrong reason: only to get something back in return.

I have excluded the portions on discrediting the Bible, the infiltration of churches with new wave Cosmic Christians and the deception of empty commitment to Peace and Love for obvious reason of being too lengthy to reproduce here. You can also find the books of Elizabeth Clare Prophet at the Christianity section at MPH Stamford. You may be mistaken that these books are for Christians. Be careful! Be warned!
The author concluded that the Great Apostasy is already far advanced. This is no surprise, for Peter warned of false prophets who will bring in damnable heresies (2 Pet 2:1-3).
Suffice me to say that we are living close to the end of the church age when our Lord Jesus is coming in the clouds to meet His bride, without spot and wrinkle. We have to "be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Pet 5:8
Let's abide in Jesus,