New Earth, An Old Deception

Richard Abanes

Description

When Christians are confronted by media with a "new" theology, they aren't always sure what to do. It may sound spiritual, almost Christian. But something isn't quite right. Richard Abanes helps believers as well as the curious understand that Eckhart Tolle's message in A New Earth is dangerous. He then provides a clear biblical response to this New Age message. Topics include Tolle's misuse of Scripture, false teachings on God, the Bible's teaching on evil, A New Earth's version of salvation compared to God's plan, and much more.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christian theology

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 juillet 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441203137
• Langue: English

Extrait

P RAISE FOR A New Earth, An Old Deception
Using compassionate arguments, inescapable logic, and a skillful presentation of biblical truth, Abanes has put together an insightful, fair-minded, and cogent refutation of Eckhart Tolle s teachings.
- Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast
Richard does an excellent job researching, reviewing, and writing for us an important expos of this dangerous deception. Fueled by the high-powered marketing machine of Oprah Winfrey, Tolle s claims are bound to travel far and wide. In the spirit of Paul the Apostle s warning to take heed lest you fall, A New Earth, An Old Deception equips the believer with solid answers for those who may be confused by Tolle s claims.
- Tom Stipe , Senior Pastor, Crossroads Church of Denver
Richard Abanes offers an irenic, yet piercing, analysis of Eckhart Tolle, and in doing so exposes another New Age guru. Abanes carefully explains the origins and elements of Tolle s ideas and helps us understand how to minister to those drawn into yet another eastern mystical attempt to escape from the self and the world.
- H. Wayne House , Distinguished Research Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, Faith Evangelical Seminary
Richard Abanes clearly shows the differences between the gospel of self and the Gospel of Jesus Christ by dismantling popular New Age teachings point by point. A New Earth, An Old Deception is a much-needed Christian response to deception.
- J. Mark Martin , Senior Pastor, Calvary Community Church, Phoenix, Arizona
A NEW EARTH

A New Earth, An Old Deception Copyright 2008 Richard Abanes
Cover design by Paul Higdon
Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations identified KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible .
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Published by Bethany House Publishers 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
Bethany House Publishers is a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this book
ISBN 978-0-7642-0664-1
TO
M Y O NLINE B ROTHERS AND S ISTERS at Phoenix Preacher Blog, phoenixpreacher.com , a place where I frequently hang out for healing, fellowship, and spiritual growth- thank you, my friends, for all of your love, prayers, and encouragement. Michael, you re the best.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
R ICHARD A BANES is a bestselling and award-winning author of twenty books, specializing in the area of cults, the occult, world religions, and pop culture. His most popular titles include The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code ; One Nation Under Gods ; and Harry Potter, Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings . He s written for most major Christian magazines and in 1997 received The Myers Center Award for the Study of Human Rights in North America for his outstanding work on intolerance. That same year he also received the Evangelical Press Association s Higher Goals in Christian Journalism award for his articles on non-Christian faiths that appeared in Moody magazine. He has been interviewed on hundreds of radio and TV programs including The 700 Club, Hard Copy , MSNBC, FOX News, and CNN.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A HEARTFELT THANKS goes to Greg Johnson for believing in me and encouraging me to do this project. Deep gratitude also belongs to Bethany House, especially Kyle Duncan, for recognizing the need for a such a book. Finally, I must mention my friend Doug Fields, a great guy, loving pastor, and gifted teacher of God s Word, whose faith in my work and ministry has been a source of great comfort and renewed strength.
CONTENTS
I NTRODUCTION
Welcome to A New Earth
Meet the Teacher
Are You Ready?
Here Comes the New Age-Again
Finding the Truth
C HAPTER O NE
My Truth Is Your Truth
Tolle Against Tolle
Making Sense of Nonsense
Losing My Religion
Anti-Christian Angst
C HAPTER T WO
God Is, You Are, I Am
The Real Me
I Am God, I Am God, I Am God
Tolle s Divine Crusade
Awakening to My Purpose
C HAPTER T HREE
Bible Abuse: When Words Fail
The Old Testament
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
Romans to Revelation
C HAPTER F OUR
A New Earth Jesus
Christ s Life
The Cross of Self?
Still Dead, Never to Return
C HAPTER F IVE
No Suffering, No Sin, No Salvation
Suffer No More
Sin Is As Sin Does
The Illusion of Evil
Tolle and Eternal Life
Appendix A: What Really Happened to Tolle?
Appendix B: Guide to Questions Answered
Notes
I NTRODUCTION
Welcome to A New Earth
[A]ll of you have joined us in this global community to talk about what I believe is one of the most important subjects-and presented by one of the most important books of our time- A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life s Purpose .
O PRAH W INFREY 1
O N M ARCH 3, 2008, Oprah Winfrey hosted a unique online class in cyberspace that reached 500,000 people in more than 139 countries. The interactive webcast, which featured spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle and his mega-bestseller A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life s Purpose , ended up making headlines as one of the largest single online events in the history of the Internet. 2
But this was only the beginning. The momentous event kicked off a ten-week, Oprah-hosted study of A New Earth and its importance to everyone s spirituality-a quest for enlightenment in a virtual classroom where seekers worldwide could ask questions via email, telephone, and Skype connections. As Oprah commented with unbridled enthusiasm during her first evening s class: I don t think there s anything more important than awakening and also knowing what your purpose is. 3
The seminar was a resounding success. By week five, the number of online students watching it had risen to one million, and more than ten million copies of the previous webcasts had been downloaded by fans of both Oprah and Eckhart. It was a remarkable achievement that once more demonstrated the talk show host s giftedness in the areas of entertainment, public relations, and media resourcefulness.
Even prior to the event, A New Earth had already skyrocketed in sales. Oprah s recommendation of the volume, coupled with her listing of it as a selection for Oprah s Book Club, sent Tolle s self-help guide to the #1 spot at amazon.com and made it the fastestselling pick in the history of Barnes Noble. Retail sales of 3.5 million copies came through in just one month. 4 And at Penguin-the publisher of A New Earth -Tolle s spiritual tome set a record shipment in a four-week span for any previously released title. 5
Meet the Teacher
Who is Eckhart Tolle? What is his background? When did he become a spiritual teacher? And why does he feel his message is so important for the world? These are the questions that must be answered if one is going to understand the hype now surrounding the soft-spoken, likeable, and seemingly enlightened man who is reaching untold millions of truth-seekers through his books, lectures, and appearances with Oprah.
Tolle-a Cambridge-educated scholar-was born in 1948 as Ulrich Tolle, and raised by his father in Spain from about age 13 until he moved to England in his early 20s. 6 Beyond these sparse facts, his early life remains a mystery since his youth is something he has never discussed in detail, explaining that he now has little use for the past. 7 The most extensive account of his younger days can be found in The Power of Now , which only reveals that throughout his young adult life, he lived in a state of almost continuous anxiety interspersed with periods of suicidal depression. 8
Then, not long after turning twenty-nine, Tolle woke up in the early hours one morning with a feeling of absolute dread. 9 Life had become so utterly meaningless that he felt nothing but a deep loathing for both the world and his own life: I could feel that a deep longing for annihilation, for nonexistence, was now becoming much stronger than the instinctive desire to continue to live. 10 Tolle was ready to die:
I just can t live with myself any longer, it s so painful. And that thought repeated itself a few times. And then suddenly, something happened inside me and I looked at the thought . I became aware of the thought and I said, I cannot live with myself. That s strange, so there must be I and there must be myself [who I cannot live with]. Am I one or two? I seem to be two. Because if I can t live with myself, there must be two of me here. And [I] said, If that s the case, then who is the self that I cannot live with? And who am I ? 11
Then, instead of killing himself, Tolle experienced the unexpected. His mind stopped and he was drawn into a vortex of energy. Intense fear gripped him, and his whole body started shaking as he heard the words resist nothing. He felt himself sucked into a void and passed out-to date, unable to recall what happened during the hours that followed. 12 He awakened the next morning filled with an odd peace.
Tolle spent almost two years sitting on park benches in a state of the most intense joy. 13 It was during this period that he became a spiritual teacher: People walk by, lost in their thoughts. One day someone asks him a question. In the weeks that follow there are more people and more questions. Word spreads that the man is a mystic, and has discovered something that brings peace and meaning into our lives. 14
Eckhart now understands his traumatic night as a shift in consciousness; a kind of evolutio