Posted by Ben Curran on February 16, 2014 at 08:49:53:
Good morning Dr Janson,
Do you think that there is a connection between the resurgence of 'ancient wisdom' teachings and the prophecy that "false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect, if that were possible' (Mark 13:22)?
By ancient wisdom teachings I mean things like Blavatsky's Egyptian stuff, Wicca, Druidism, native American teachings, Steiner's Anthroposophy, astrology, tarot, I-ching and so on. These all tend to be lumped under the misleading title of 'New Age' activities and are very popular in first-world countries, specially those that can be described as post-Christian.
And if you do think there is a connection, what do you think of the argument/scenario presented below?
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I would argue that as we approach the final showdown of the age, the prince of lies is throwing everything into the battle, including the kitchen sink. All this old stuff is very effective at muddying the spiritual waters because some of it works. Steiner's agricultural potions work, as wine farmers in the Western Cape are finding out.
Ancient wisdom works to keep our eyes on the world by promising us special advantages in this world. Jesus teaches us to take our eyes off this world and place them on the Kingdom of God (Matt 4vs17;6vs19;13vs44;Luke 9vs 59 to 62). This must surely be because He knows that in the outworking of the Father's will, this world is going to disappear,and the Kingdom will then be the only world that exists, unless one counts the Lake of Fire as an alternative world.
I would also argue that the return of the ancient teachings is very dangerous to our spiritual health, because some of the laws taught by the old wisdom do work in this world. Many don't work reliably, but sometimes they work and they are fascinating because they give us an advantage here and now. And so we flock in our millions to the gurus who teach this stuff. As a result we are blinded to the fact that God has a totally new and far superior Life for those who choose to follow Christ, a Life which will be the only life that exists once this world has been destroyed in the Armageddon event.
This move by the prince of darkness, this ploy by the father of lies, is so effective and so dangerous for our spiritual health that it would seem unlikely that God will allow it to proceed much further. He will likely bring this age to an end quite soon, "lest even the elite be deceived".