Our 1995 review of
The Celestine Prophecy
by James Redfield (Warner Books,
1993)
When a
self-published, self-distributed book is picked up by the powerful
publishing arm of the Time-Warner company and soars to the top of the
New York Times bestseller list, you know it has an enticing message the world
wants to hear — no matter how deceptive that message might be.
“For the time will come
when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears
tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to
their own desires; and will turn their ears away from the truth and will
turn aside to myths. But you be watchful in all things…” 2 Timothy
4:2-5
Has humanity entered a new stage in
its spiritual evolution? Is it time to revive ancient mysticism, grow in
consciousness through communion with nature, connect with universal
energies, and empower one another through love? Could the ancient Mayans
have risen to such vibrational heights that they were actually raptured
into an invisible spiritual state, leaving only a few mysterious clues to
their superior wisdom?
Yes, answers James
Redfield in his top-selling thriller, The Celestine Prophecy. Its huge
enthusiastic readership proves the appeal of its New Age message. After
all, why shouldn’t humans take charge of their own evolution? Why not seek
telepathic connections with plants and people? Why not believe that today’s
anger, self-centeredness and “profound sense of restlessness” are merely
symptoms of a universal awakening to higher spiritual realities. As
Redfield shrewdly argues, the church people who resist this spiritual
transformation simply don’t understand. Afraid of losing authority, they
refuse to accept today’s psychic discoveries as tools that would clarify
biblical truth and broaden spiritual experiences.
By disguising occult concepts in
Christian terminology, New Age books have lured masses of so-called
Christians into New Age and Neopagan circles. Just look at America’s
fascination with Betty Eadie’s deceptive visions in
Embraced by the
Light. Notice the soaring demand for counterfeit angels and feminist
distortions of God. Since most contemporary “truth-seekers” have neither
the facts nor the will to resist these seductive illusions, a
paradigm shift
— a massive change in America’s view of reality — is
transforming our culture. “Progressive” educators, writers, entertainers,
and media leaders are fast replacing America’s “narrow, obsolete” Biblical
world view with a utopian New Age/Neopagan paradigm. In his
introduction, Redfield summarizes his view of this process:
“For half a century now, a new consciousness has been
entering the human world, a new awareness that can only be called
transcendent, spiritual… We know that life is really about a spiritual
unfolding that is personal and enchanting – an unfolding that no science or
philosophy or religion has yet fully clarified… [O]nce we understand…
how to engage this allusive process and maximize its occurrence in our
lives, human society will take a quantum leap into a whole new way of
life…
“All that any of us have to do is suspend our doubts
and distractions just long enough… and miraculously, this reality can be
our own.”
It sounds so tempting. Simply suspend
your doubts and flow with the rushing tide. Trust Redfield, a child therapist raised
a Methodist, as he outlines the path to global perfection through a set of
ancient “Insights.” Identify with his fictional characters in their pursuit
of the sacred Mayan Manuscript. Follow their growth in consciousness as
they experience each new insight. After all, this teaching is validated by history (as interpreted by
Redfield) and supposedly researched by sincere scientists. But watch out for
the conservative leaders of the religious and scientific establishments
(including uncompromising Christians like us).
They have initiated a murderous witch-hunt for the keepers of the
Manuscript, the true saviors of the earth.
The Manuscript’s nine Insights are
worth noting, since they illustrate today’s steps to social transformation.
They beckon young and old through classroom encounter groups, multicultural
curricula, earth-centered movies, and New Age books. Blending psychology,
pseudo-science, occult spirituality and utopian visions of the future, they
teach fantasy instead of facts, and disguise their deceptions in subtle
imitations of biblical truth:
1. Be open and alert to the spiritual
forces guiding seekers from behind the scenes.
2. Re-imagine history. Realize that the
old values no longer fit.
3. See the interconnected
universe as a vast energy
system responsive to human thoughts and dreams.
4. Know the cause of human conflict:
misunderstading and misusing this cosmic energy.
5. Resolve conflicts by drawing
wisdom and energy
from a higher source.
6. Discover you true selves through
oneness with the universal energy.
7. Seek guidance from dreams, thoughts,
coincidences….
8. Stay centered. Project energy to
others for mutual empowerment.
9. Envision a spiritually evolved and
unified humanity living on a planet radiant with health and energy.
Live and
share the message.
The Ninth Insight predicts
global transformation. In the next millennium, humans “will voluntarily
decrease our population so that we all may live in the most powerful and
beautiful places on the Earth… we will intentionally let the forest go
uncut so that they can mature and build energy… Our needs will be
completely met without the exchange of any currency, yet also without any
overindulgence or laziness… Guided by their intuitions, everyone will
know precisely what to do…”[1]
“Once we reach the
critical mass,” continues Redfield, “the human race will…see trees and
rivers and mountains as temples of great power. We’ll demand an end to any
economic activity that threatens this treasure… someone will intuit
alternative [solutions] as they seek their own evolution.”[2]
Strange as they sound,
these illusions have taken root in mainstream America. They permeate
today’s global, multicultural and environmental curricula. They are
transforming churches. World-class
education – the aim of international leaders as well as President Clinton
and the NEA – call students to save the earth from wars and pollution by
embracing a global spirituality, a seductive blend of the world’s
earth-centered religions. Al Gore calls it a “panreligious perspective”
based on “the wisdom distilled by all faiths.”[3]
In his book, Earth
in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit, our vice-president points
his readers toward a global spirituality that would restore “our feeling of
connectedness to the rest of nature” and lead us into a better world.
Quoting excommunicated Catholic priest and scientist,
Teillard de Chardin,
whose message of humanity’s spiritual evolution echoes Redfield’s, Gore
writes, “‘The fate of mankind, as of religion, depends upon the emergence of
a new faith in the future.’ Armed with such a faith, we might find it
possible to resanctify the earth, identify it as God’s creation, and accept
our responsibility to protect and defend it…”[4]
That pace-setters like
Redfield and Gore promote pagan spirituality as the path to global harmony
should come as no surprise. As always, when God’s people neglect biblical
truth, they drift back to earth-centered religions. Americans may hide
their pagan beliefs behind Christian terminology and, like Redfield, voice
sincere sentiments about love and unity, but they cannot fool our sovereign
God. He has warned us that “other gods” and “deceiving spirits” lead to
death and destruction, not peace and perfection.
As the masses trade
truth for myths in a feverish search for power without accountability, God’s
people need the unchanging, uncorrupted word of God. As our nation
rationalizes sin and idealizes paganism, Christians had better heed the
warnings of scriptures and the promptings of the Holy Spirit. As schools
and churches become mission stations for global spirituality, our children had better
know the strategic truths of
God’s armor (Ephesians 6:10-18), which can
equip them to discern and counter every deception of the
enemy.
Remember,
our Lord has promised to “supply all your needs according to His riches in
glory in Christ Jesus.” Those who accept his provisions for victory in
today’s intensifying battle for truth, can count on His promise in Romans
8:37: “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who
loved us!”
[3]Al
Gore, Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit
(Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1992), 259.
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