Whatever Happened to the New Age Movement? Part 2
As discussed in Part 1 of this series, the New (Age) Spirituality which is “paganism (the occult) in modern dress” continued to grow through the 1990s and has become even more prominent during the first decade of the 21st century. It currently can be found in the work place, hospitals, public schools, prisons, on television, in bookstores, and as we will be discussing, it has been welcomed by the Church with open arms! In 2 Corinthians 2:11, Paul took it for granted that the people of Corinth were not ignorant of Satan’s devices. Sadly, that can’t be said of many believers today. The discernment skills of many believers are either very weak or nonexistent. The combination of a profound Biblical illiteracy and lack of a literal hermeneutic; i.e., “God says what He means and means what He says,” has left the church wide open for New (Age) Spirituality deception.
Spiritual Discernment and the Mature Believer
Both Hebrews 5:14 and Ephesians 4:14 describe the discernment skills characteristic of a mature believer. Specifically, Hebrews 5:14 describes a mature believer as one who through practice has exercised vigorously their faculty of the mind for perceiving, understanding, and judging to discern both good and evil—truth and lie.Although there is a specific gift of the Spirit given to some, called “discerning of spirits,” as spoken of in 1 Corinthians 12:10, the discernment skills referenced by both Hebrews 5:14 and Ephesians 4:13, 14, are characteristic of ALL mature believers.
