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New Age Implications in The
Message
The following is an excerpt from Warren Smiths latest book,
Deceived on Purpose: The New Age Implications of the
Purpose-Driven Church.
Warren Smith is a
former New Ager who became converted to Christianity 20 years ago. Since
then he has been warning Christians, through writing and speaking, that
dangerous New Age doctrines are subtly creeping into the churches. In his
most recent book, which is being offered by Discernment Ministries, Smith
recounts the considerable influence that the Rev. Robert H. Schuller has had on the ministry style and teachings of Rick Warren. The
mystical leaven of New Age teachings, which Robert Schuller
controversially introduced the church several decades ago, is now being
reintroduced and assimilated into mainstream evangelicalism through the
writings and activities of Rick Warren. Deceived on Purpose is a book with
an easy reading style that should be given to pastors and parishioners
everywhere. The following is an important excerpt from the book, Chapter
3. It chronicles a noteworthy example of how Rick Warrens "seeker
sensitive" emphasis can lead straight into dangerous metaphysical New Age
doctrines. (From Chapter Three) From Discernment Ministries
Inc.
What Message?
"As above, so below; as below, so above."
This maxim
implies that the transcendent God
beyond the physical universe and
the
immanent God within ourselves are one. 1
As Above, So Below
Ronald S. Miller and the editors of
New Age Journal
Eugene Petersons The Message seems to be very important to
Rick Warren. It is the first Bible version that he quotes in The Purpose-Driven Life. He cites it at the bottom of his dedication page. He cites it
again on the page that precedes his first chapter. He uses quotes from
The Message to open and close his first chapter. Five of the six
Scriptures that Rick Warren cites in his first chapter all come from
The Message. Even the title of the first chapter, "It All Starts
with God," is taken from The Message paraphrase of Colossians 1:16,
which appears right under the chapter heading.
For everything, absolutely everything, above and below,
visible and invisible,
everything got started in him and finds its
purpose in him.
2
The King James translates Colossians 1:16 as follows:
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that
are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or
dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him,
and for him:
It wasnt Petersons use of the phrase "got started" instead of
"created," or even the word "purpose," that jumped out at me, as much as
his use of the phrase "above and below" instead of "heaven and earth."
When I was in the New Age, it was well understood that the words "above
and below" had metaphysical/New Age connotations and were routinely
substituted for "heaven and earth." In fact, the term "as above, so below"
was a commonly accepted New Age phrase.
In reading through The Message, I discovered that Peterson
had actually inserted the entire phrase "as above, so below" into his
paraphrase of the Lords Prayer. I compared Petersons version of the
Lords Prayer with the King James Version of that same prayer.
THE LORDS PRAYER
The Message
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do whats best
as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves
and the Devil.
Youre in charge!
You can do anything you want! Youre ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.3 [Emphasis added]
King James Bible
Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in
heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from
evil:
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, for
ever.
Amen. [Emphasis added]
Peterson had deliberately substituted "as above, so below" in
place of "in earth, as it is in heaven." In Colossians 1:16, Peterson
again chose to use the terms "above" and "below" instead of the commonly
accepted "heaven" and "earth" found in most Bible translations. The
"above" and "below" in Colossians 1:16 is an obvious derivative form of
the "as above, so below" he had used previously in his paraphrase of the
Lords Prayer. This derivative form of the more complete phrase "as above,
so below" is also common to the New Age. The fact that this whole "above"
and "below" issue was presenting itself on the first page of the first
chapter of Rick Warrens book was unsettling. Was I reading too much into
this? Was there some other reasonable explanation for Eugene Petersons
use of the term "as above, so below" in the Lords Prayer and its
derivative form in Colossians 1:16?
Ancient Egypt and Oneness
Right about the time I was looking into Eugene Petersons use of
the term "as above, so below," I was at a book sale at our local library.
Almost lost amongst some cookbooks and business manuals was a book written
and published by the editors of the New Age Journal. It was
entitled As Above, So Below. I picked it up and began reading it.
In the introduction the chief editor of the book, Ronald S. Miller, had
written:
Thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt, the great master
alchemist Hermes Trismegistus, believed to be a contemporary of the
Hebrew prophet Abraham, proclaimed this fundamental truth about the
universe: "As above, so below; as below, so above." This maxim implies
that the transcendent God beyond the physical universe and the immanent
God within ourselves are one. Heaven and Earth, spirit and matter, the
invisible and the visible worlds form a unity to which we are intimately
linked.4
He continued his explanation by quoting Sufi scholar Reshad Field.
"As above, so below means that the two worlds are
instantaneously seen to be one when we realize our essential unity with
God
. The One and the many, time and eternity, are all
One."5
The New Age Journal editor went on to state that old forms
of religion no longer serve people, and that the term "as above, so below"
describes the "emerging spirituality" that is quickly moving onto the
worlds scene. He concluded his introduction to As Above, So Below
by writing:
The breadth of this exploration suggests that we are living in
an age of spiritual reinvention, a transitional age that leaves the
safety and security of the known to seek out the new, the untested, the
possible. 6
Moving from the library book sale to the Internet, I put "as
above, so below" into the Google search engine to see what would come up.
There were countless references. The very first reference listed by Google
for "as above, so below" read:
This phrase comes from the beginning of The Emerald
Tablet and embraces the entire system of traditional and modern
magic which was inscribed upon the tablet in cryptic wording by
Hermes Trismegistus. The significance of this phrase is that it
is believed to hold the key to all mysteries. All systems of magic are
claimed to function by this formula. "That which is above is the same
as that which is below
. The universe is the same as God, God is the
same as man
."7
As I checked out the most popular websites for "as above, so
below" each one described the term as having the same mystical, eastern,
New Age, esoteric and magical sources. One site stated:
This ancient phrase, "As above, so below" describes the Oneness
of All That Is.8
The phrase "as above, so below" headlined a page from the
Theosophical Societys website containing the "esoteric" teachings of New
Age matriarch Alice A. Bailey. A derivative form of the termsimilar to
Petersons abbreviated use of "above and below" in Colossians
1:16appeared on the website in a quote from Theosophy founder Helena
Blavatskys pioneering New Age work, The Secret Doctrine:
Above, the Son is the whole KOSMOS; below, he is
MANKIND.9
To see if there was any other explanation for Petersons use of
this mystical New Age phrase, I put the term "as above, so below," along
with the term "Christianity," into the search engine of the computer I was
using. There were only seven references. None of them had anything to do
with biblical Christianity. The first reference was entitled "Mystical
Christianity" and said:
to help the seeker of an inner spiritual path find resources to
aid their spiritual journey towards a mystical and magickal
Christianity.10
In all of my searching I could find no good reason for Petersons
using "as above, so below" in his paraphrase of the Lords Prayer. Nor
could I find any good reason for his use of the obvious "above and below"
derivative, that appears in his Colossians 1:16 paraphrase that Rick
Warren used at the very beginning of his book to initiate his readers into
The Purpose-Driven Life
So what?
I guess if Rick Warren or anyone else says, "So what?" I would
say, "So how come?" How come Eugene Peterson inserted a universally
accepted, mystical New Age term right into the middle of the Lords
Prayer? And why does a derivative of the saying show up in his paraphrase
of Colossians 1:16? Even if you thought there was some "good" reason for
using the term "as above, so below," why would you? Why would you choose a
term that so clearly has its origins in the magic of ancient Egypt, and is
so heavily identified today with the New Age and the New Spirituality?
"As above, so below" agrees with the "immanent" New Age view that God is not only outside of creation, but also
within creation. It means that God is "in" everyone and everything.
It perfectly denotes the New Age concept of "Oneness" and provides
apparent support for the New Age contention that "We are all One."
Seeker friendly?
I tried to imagine what it would be like for a confused New Ager
today coming into a Purpose-Driven Church that uses The Message,
and finding this popular New Age phrase right in the middle of the Lords
Prayer. Or what it would be like for that person to be handed a copy of
Rick Warrens book, only to find an abbreviated form of this same New Age
phrase as part of the lead-off Scripture introducing them to The
Purpose-Driven Life. This hardly seemed to be the way to introduce the
Gospel of Jesus Christ to an unbelieving New Ager.
Rick Warrens reintroduction of The Message into my life
only reinforced the concerns I had originally voiced
when Petersons book
first came out. Why was Rick Warren so drawn to The Message? The
Message not only obscured prophetic Scriptures like Matthew 24:35, it
also introduced paraphrased material like "as above, so below," that made
it appear that some of the teachings of the Bible were "at One" with the
teachings of the New Age.
In Reinventing Jesus Christ: The New Gospel, I had
observed:
And it is, indeed, very disturbing to see many Christian leaders
today using many of the same words and expressions commonly used by
their [New Age, ed.] "new gospel" counterparts.11
Unfortunately, undiscerning Christian leaders have not
adequately exposed these [New Age, ed.] "new gospel" teachings and, as a
result, the spirit behind the "new gospel" has entered the
Church.12
Chapter 3 Endnotes:
1. Ronald S. Miller and the Editors of New Age Journal, As
Above, So Below: Paths to Spiritual Renewal in Daily Life (Los
Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., 1992), p. xi.
2. Rick Warren, The
Purpose-Driven Life, p. 17, citing Eugene H. Peterson, The
Message, p. 415.
3. Eugene H, Peterson, The Message, p.
2122.
4. Ronald S. Miller and the Editors of New Age Journal, As
Above, So Below, p. xi.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid., p.
xiv.
7.(http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/a/below_above.html).
8.(http://www.mothermaryspeaks.com/as_above_so_below.htm),
p. 1.
9. Helena Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine. p. i 60, quoted
on Http://theosophy.org/tlodocs/AsAboveSoBelow.htm.
10. (http://www.esotericchristian.com/home.html).
11. Warren Smith, Reinventing Jesus Christ: The New
Gospel, p. 68.
12. Ibid., p. 6.
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