Vol. 7, No. 10, 1990

Articles on the New Age

Rick Branch

This month the Watchman Expositor is endeavoring to bring forth evidence that numerous cults are guilty of fraud, scams and deception perpetrated against their own people.

However, not only are the well-established cults such as Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons guilty of such deception, but also those groups or individuals which are less organized and deceive in a more subtle fashion.

The New Age has crept into nearly every facet of society. In past issues the Watchman Expositor has reported on New Age influence in politics, the education systems, medicine and even children's cartoons.

While these areas affect every Christian at one time of their lives, no aspect of a Christian's existence is more important or vital than their relationship with Jesus.

Thus, no earthly organization is more important than the Church.

Now, the New Age has wormed its way into the Christian church pews through the subtle teaching of New Age teachers such as Dr. M. Scott Peck.

Unbeknownst to Christian pastors or educational directors who are endeavoring to help their fellow Christians gain a better walk with the Lord, many have inadvertently chosen New Age books.

Where are the New Age books purchased? The most common place is the local Christian bookstore!

Again, Christian bookstore managers who lack the necessary time to read or review every book stocked on the shelf mistakenly place thousands of copies of New Age books into Christians hands each year.

Just such a mistake is made when a Christian bookstore, through no malice of the bookstore manager, places a book by M. Scott Peck on the shelf.

In an interview with The Door magazine, Peck made several revealing statements about his theological presuppositions.

What follows is a condensation of an eleven-page interview. Unfortunately, due to space limitations much of Peck's theological rhetoric was necessarily passed over.

"Door: It is interesting that you describe your writing as a calling. Is this a calling from God?

"Peck: I hesitate using the word `God' in that simplistic kind of way. My books are not `channeled' materials....

"Door: There are a number of writers and others who are convinced that you are part of the New Age Movement.

"Peck: Really? Well, we can come back to that subject if you'd like.... My spiritual director, who is a nun, says that God never calls you to do something that doesn't feel right in your heart. Jesus went to the cross, which wasn't something He felt like doing, but the cross felt much better than the only alternative which was to retire on His pension plan....

"Door: When we interviewed you last, you had become a Christian three years previously. Now that it has been 10 years, could you comment on how your own personal faith has changed over the decade?

"Peck: I don't like the term `became a Christian.' ...I hope to God that I'm going to continue to be converted until I die and perhaps well after that, which is what I think purgatory is all about....

"Door: Why do we have this feeling of impending doom?

"Peck: God knows when I'll ever write about this, so you might as well write about it.

"Door: Uh - thanks.

"Peck: I have had some dealings with evil spirits, but I have never given any thought to possibility of good spirits. One night while I was in the midst of my depression, my Dark Night of the Senses, I went to bed. I had not fallen asleep and this was not a dream. I was accosted by a spirit.

"Door: A spirit?

"Peck: ...Almost as instantly, I asked what kind of spirit this was and I immediately knew it was a good spirit rather than a bad spirit. But I also knew I could either confront this spirit or shake it off. I wondered what kind of good spirit it was. The answer came to me immediately. It was a spirit of mirth.

"Door: A spirit of mirth?

"Peck: That was when the battle began. Just because this seemed to be a spirit of mirth, how did I know for sure? If I let it in -

"Door: - You mean like a possession or something?

"Peck: Yes.... So I gave in to this spirit and I giggled myself to sleep.

"Door: Since we are talking about the bizarre, we hear a lot of people - who act like they know what they're talking about - claiming that you are `New Age.' What are your feelings about the New Age Movement?

"Peck: I am and I am not New Age. ...there are some things about the New Age Movement that are very godly, and some things that are potentially evil.

"Door: What is it that you like about the New Age Movement?

"Peck: I wouldn't use the word `like.' The New Age Movement is a reaction to the sins of the Christian Church, the sins of technology, and the excesses of science.

"Door: What sins?

"Peck: ...Computers.

"Door: Computers?

"Peck: ...These sins are very real. I think there is something potentially holy about the New Age movement because of their openness to new ideas.... The New Age Movement, in reaction to the sins of the Christian Church, moved to the East - to Oriental philosophy and theology - and attempted to throw all of Christian theology out," (Interview, May/June 1990, pp. 5-15).

Obviously, Dr. Peck, while he claims to be a Christian (or perhaps to becoming a Christian), has absorbed several ideas that are diametrically opposed to orthodox Christianity.

To claim the New Age possesses "some things... that are very godly" and as a movement that is "potentially holy" is a travesty.

However, the most horrific results of this situation is that M. Scott Peck's jaundiced theology has infected numerous Christians throughout America - and perhaps the world.