Author:
Publication: Zenit.org
Date: February 3, 2003
The New Age movement might be seeking
the "divine," but it is certainly no religion, says a new Vatican document.
The document, published today, is
entitled "Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection
on the 'New Age.'"
Signed by the Pontifical Council
for Culture and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, it
lists the fundamental differences between New Age and Christianity.
It states, for example, that New
Age "is not, properly speaking, a religion, but it is interested in what
is called 'divine.'"
"The essence of New Age is the loose
association of the various activities, ideas and people who might validly
attract the term," it adds.
"So there is no single articulation
of anything like the doctrines of mainstream religions," the document continues.
"Despite this, and despite the immense variety within New Age, there are
some common points:
-- "The cosmos is seen as an organic
whole.
-- "It is animated by an Energy,
which is also identified as the divine Soul or Spirit.
-- "Much credence is given to the
meditation of various spiritual entities -- humans are capable of ascending
to invisible higher spheres, and of controlling their own lives beyond
death.
--"There is held to be a 'perennial
knowledge' which predates and is superior to all religions and cultures.
-- "People follow enlightened masters."
The document emphasizes some fundamental
differences between Christianity and New Age.
For the Christian, God is a person
with whom man is in relation, and not "something to be used or a force
to be harnessed," as is the case with New Age, the document states.
Christianity affirms that Jesus
is the only Savior of mankind. New Age often presents Christ as "one among
many wise men, or initiates, or avatars," or as an "impersonal universal
Christ."
In general, for the New Age "the
death of Jesus on the cross is either denied or reinterpreted to exclude
the idea that he, as Christ, could have suffered," the document continues.
For the New Age, salvation is a
personal achievement -- "self-fulfillment, self-realization, self-redemption,"
are typical terms. "For Christians, salvation depends on a participation
in the passion, death and resurrection of Christ, and on a direct, personal
relationship with God rather than on any technique," the document stresses.
For New Age, truth depends on personal
well-being. The evaluation of religion or ethical questions "is obviously
relative to one's own feelings and experiences." The document emphasizes
that "Jesus Christ is presented in Christian teaching as 'the way, the
truth and the life.'"
According to the text, in New Age
there is a "tendency to confuse psychology and spirituality," which "makes
it hard not to insist that many of the meditation techniques now used are
not prayer."
"Far from being a merely human effort,
Christian mysticism is essentially a dialogue that 'implies an attitude
of conversion, a flight from 'self' to the 'you' of God," the document
explains.
Other New Age characteristics that
are opposed to Christianity are its denial of sin, of social commitment,
its rejection of suffering and death, the desire to discover the future
in the stars or other techniques, instead of helping to construct it.
In conclusion, the document appeals
to pastors in particular to improve Christian formation as a way to counter
the attraction of New Age.
