Beware of esoteric New Age mumbo jumbo
By Bishop Dave Chikosi
The New Age Gnostic theories proffered by Awakened Brother (AB) are neither new nor original. They come straight out of the religious philosophy of Russian born Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1836-1891).
(See: What if Jesus Christ never existed: What would you do?)
Blavatsky cofounded the Theosophical Society in 1875, primarily to advance her theosophy – which is nothing but an eclectic mix of Eastern religions, Spiritualism and Gnosticism, sprinkled with generous amounts of Masonic rituals.
Carl Jung described her theosophy as pure Gnosticism in Hindu dress.
Blavatsky’s most popular work is a book called The Secret Doctrine. Aside from it being filled with egregious plagiarisms, mostly from Wilson’s Vishnu Purana and Winchell’s World Life, the book is probably the world’s greatest written tribute to satan you will find anywhere.
Not only does the book glorify every occult practice the Bible condemns, but it is also full of admiration and praise for the devil. It exalts Lucifer to the lofty status of Savior, while belittling the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
According to Blavatsky, Lucifer represents life, thought, progress, civilization and independence. She writes: “Lucifer is the Logos . . . the Serpent, the Savior. It is Satan who is the God of our planet and the only God.”
“Lucifer is divine and terrestrial light, the Holy Ghost and Satan at one and the same time . . . And now it stands proven that Satan, or the Red Fiery Dragon . . . and Lucifer, or ‘Light-Bearer,’ is in us: it is our Mind — our tempter and Redeemer, our intelligent liberator and Savior.”
Blavatsky claimed to possess psychic powers. She was accused of fraudulently producing paranormal phenomena (She once faked the materialization of a tea cup and saucer).
She also claimed to receive revelations from “Ascended Masters” from whom she claimed to receive written messages. She called these Masters (or Mahatnas) the “Great White Fraternity.” Fraternity members included Buddha, Krishna, and Jesus.
In 1884 the Society for Psychical Research, London (UK) investigated Blavatsky’s various psychic claims. In its final report of Dec 1885 the investigating committee branded her “one of the most accomplished, ingenious and interesting impostors in history.”
Now, if folk want to follow a discredited Satan admirer, that is entirely up to them. “But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15).
Non-Christian collateral evidence of the existence of a historical Jesus
“There was never a man by the name of Jesus Christ to ever walk on this planet called earth”, writes AB.
But try telling that to secular Roman historian Tacitus. Reporting on Emperor Nero’s decision to blame Christians for the fire that destroyed Rome in AD 64, Tacitus wrote:
Nero fastened the guilt . . . on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of … Pontius Pilatus
So what do we learn from this rather unsympathetic report?
Two things: that Christians derived their name from a historical figure called Christus. That this Christus (Latin for Christ) suffered extreme penalty – a clear allusion to crucifixion.
And then there is Pliny the Younger, a Roman governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor. In one of his letters, dated around A.D. 112, he asks Emperor Trajan’s advice on how to properly prosecute those accused of being Christian. Pliny writes:
They (Christians) were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up.
Now if these Christians sang “a hymn to Christ as a god” what could it mean but that they believed that this historical person was a deity? That would be the only reason to worship this historical Christ.
There is also Josephus, a 1st century Jewish historian. In his Jewish Antiquities he describes the condemnation of a certain ‘James’ by the Jewish Sanhedrin. Josephus says this James was “the brother of Jesus the so-called Christ.”
This harmonizes with St Paul’s description of James as “the Lord’s brother” (Gal 1:4).
I do not have the time to call to the witness stand writings from the Babylonian Talmud and from Lucius of Samosata, a 2nd century Greek satirist. Both testify to the existence of a historical Jesus of Nazareth who claimed to be the Son of God.
However, what I do have time to do is ask AB the simple question:
Now that you know Jesus existed, will you accept Him as Savior and Lord and escape eternal damnation?
Bishop Dave Chikosi can be reached by email at [email protected]. You can watch his YouTube videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/faithcoach4u. He also blogs at http://davechikosi.blogspot.com
