To best understand what is New Age religion, we will contrast it to some parts of Christianity. The need for a religious alternative will be obvious when we look closer at Christianity’s posture psychologically on its believers.
Beginning in the Roman Empire and through the Middle Ages in northern Europe Christianity was originally an arm of the government and many of its teachings were reworded and based on creating fear in the hearts of the citizens to control them. Church authority was expanded to authorize punishment capital in scope, even burning witches at the stake in the name of God. In Christ’s time, it was the church that killed Christ, not the government, for Pilate said, “I find no fault in this man”, but the authority of the church was so strong his punishment was authorized.
At first Roman government killed Christians, then 300 years later, to remain in power, Roman government then turned to killing everyone that was not Christian. Religion was about control, so they were readily killing people based on religious reasons. No weight was given to the searcher, the believer, the common man in finding who he was or how he saw things in his personal world. Citizens as well as church clergy were put in highly structured caste ranks. Regardless of what propaganda they proclaim, generally Christian teaching was always and still is about the church and never about the person in the church. Today all weight in religion, especially Christianity has to do with how God, the Bible, the church sees everything, even us, the person. All emphasis on serving God has to do with our fallen state, which is permanent, and we never get over it to full restoration. Certain offenses such as registered sex offenders and female divorced women here in Colorado, are never forgiven, even after thirty years of a restored life, as Jesus taught. For those, the farther away you get from the offense, the more important it becomes!
Many times, an emotional need is not remedied by moral instruction, as Christianity claims. A deeper look at each searcher’s emotional and nurturing needs is necessary than is recognized in mainstream Christianity. Spiritual remedy of confessing your sin and trusting in God as your savior does not work when oftentimes your pain comes from someone else harming you. You cannot confess someone else’s sins. Moreover, as was in my case, what do you do when it was the church itself that harmed you! Christianity’s posture that it is your fault if their answers do not fit your questions, is a joke.
The posture among most of mainstream Christianity churches is ‘We want to make you believe like us, act like us and think like us so you meet the conditions for God’s unconditional love.’ Very prominent is the clearly felt tendency to tell you how to see, think, feel, choose, as well as imagine, build, and lastly celebrate your life. Mainstream Christianity as is mostly practiced does not want to recognize the vast diversity of healthy human perspective God-given into each individual, that is you and me.
Our uniqueness in each person is our sacred God-given birthright to be lived in and honored! Christianity claims their answers are complete. That is like saying that in a shoe store, they have only the right size shoe to wear, and one size should fit everyone. If our shoes do not fit your feet, it is your fault. We question the posture presented in mainstream Christianity of God as an external almighty authoritarian supreme God, only approachable thru a church membership by theological agreement to their instruction. That posture is great for growing the church organization but can be poisoning for the searcher, the common person.
One important unhealthy characteristic of all other Christian denominations is they all claim that their religion is not only right and absolute, but also, they are the only right religion! New Age Christianity has an argument against that. The uniqueness of each person has to be taken into consideration when presenting truth to anyone. It is not what you say to each emotionally needful, perhaps even painfully broken in spirit person, it is also what they need to hear for comfort that is most important. We strive to share the truth here; in the form the searcher needs to hear for their comfort and nurturing.
Any honorable religion should exist to meet the spiritual needs of the searcher, in their diversity, not exist to grow their church by robot mindless conformity. New Age Christianity recognizes we were made alike as common human beings but far beyond that we were made for and encouraged to embrace our gift to Humankind. Our difference is more important than our likeness. We all have a gift, a talent for something. This ingredient is found in and released through our seven spiritual activities: seeing things through our own eyes, feeling our own feelings, thinking our own thoughts, making our own choices, after that dreaming our own dreams, building on those dreams, lastly celebrating those dreams by sharing them with all Humankind. That is the highest form of glorifying God, and that is rarely done in a church, it is done all the time in everyday life! Godly worship is us being us in our daily lives. I do it through caring for and nurturing others in my writing and sharing, none of it for pay, ever.
Differences in people and their deeply differing cultures obligates the religion to fit the person exactly like the person must fit the religion. By default, this also means recognizing that all religions can be true, not just Christianity to the Christian. More precisely, any religion that promotes life enhancing choices over life diminishing choices is glorifying to God. Nomadic and simpler societies would naturally serve a God figure that would be based in stars, growing seasons, nature, animal migrations, that is common sense.
Christianity religion is based on authoritarian government in a stationary highly developed culture, not relevant to a nomadic or a simpler agrarian society, which covers most of the planet! Embracing a moral principle and attaching a personality to it to represent it makes it a valid religion serving Humankind. An individual that sees it and it gives them comfort and a morality to live by has every right to serve God in that context. That is ‘seeing things through their own eyes,’ which is glorifying to God.
Regarding salvation from sin as defined by mainstream Christianity, we agree with the concept, but strongly disagree in their proposed strict required methodology. Jesus died for all of Humankind’s sin, not just for those born after his birth, and after Christianity developed and spread to an area of society that could preach his story for them to hear. That would mean that all born before Jesus and away from Jesus are cast out on a technicality. That would include most of Humankind!
Knowing the lack of ethics of those who configured the Bible it is more likely that they put that in to make the church necessary for salvation, which it definitely is not. To accept Jesus into your heart means to change your life damaging ways and turn your life to finding your God given gift within and serving Humankind by sharing it the rest of your life. That is when the Holy Spirit enters your soul and it does that for any person who changes their life’s values anywhere, any time in history. So, if you have found many of the church goers in Christianity to have little character and two-faced backstabbers to you, that is why. Also, if you have found that those in your life that have inspired you the most who have helped you the most have never been in a church in their life, again, that is why. New Age Christianity recognizes the virtue of character, not righteousness as defined by Christianity. There are good traditional Christian churches out there that are valid and sincere, that serve and nurture their congregation, those are New Age in spirit, if not in theological definition. We approve those churches in their efforts.
Just for the record, this is an emotional and spiritual encouragement ministry. We are selling nothing here and are not at the present time even set up to take donations, and probably never will. Your healed life is our reward enough, and we are very pleased with that. If you want to, please share your strength with others in your future so our nurturing can live on.