What Is the Term New Age - Coursework Example

The New Age Religion can be defined as a belief in a supreme power that controls human beings. The power is en d to obedience and worship (Heelas 358). Heelas further states that New Age can be seen as symbol of solution a cross different cultures, where he explains that New Age refers to an umbrella a description used to explain an organization of different groups that have an enthusiasm for the development of a new period presented by harmony and clarification (Heelas 358). Religion also refers to a development that spread via the occult and philosophic religious societies in the 1970 and 80 (Heelas 359). New Age is a big number of independent individuals and groups. There are groups and spiritual heads in North America that can be portrayed as New Age. The New Age Crusade advocated for a change in high society collective opinions. The word "new" does not mean to time but it refers to the differences from customary beliefs. The beliefs of the New Age Crusade have been understood by Eastern religions for several years. The New Age Crusade does not tackle religiousness from a Christian viewpoint. Most of the New Age group acknowledges that its philosophies and practices are spiritual. Several of them represent their tenets as non-spiritual, self-help or scientific (Michael 45). The New Thought Crusade, Theosophical society, and Spiritualism first presented New Age philosophies and practices in 1800s in America (Michael 45). These philosophies gained approval during the counterculture of the early seventies and mid-sixties (Michael 45). The New Age does not have a main command center or guidance. It is an informal association of entities, groups, and corporations (Michael 50). It is not easy to verify the number of people participating in the New Age Crusade. There are several people within the New Age Crusade. However, these groups do not have official memberships. Most people who adopt New Age philosophies do not recognize themselves with a particular group. Spiritual surveys specify that 20% of Americans admit at some New Age philosophies but they do not judge themselves as New Age Movement (Pike 89). The NAM (New Age Movement) has several minor divisions, although it is usually an assortment of Eastern manipulated metaphysical believed systems, a collection of theologies, expectations, and hopes put together with an assorted philosophy of salvation, and right knowledge. It is a doctrine of universal tolerance, and moral relativism (Pike 90). In this movement, man is dominant. He is observed as a creator, as divine, as the expectation for future harmony and agreement (Pike 94). The New Age is founded on hypotheses that sound approximately irresistible. For instance, a few speeches of modern leaders like Willamson and Tolle thought of their ancestors’ devotions as difficult, too narrow and that God would not inflict an unreasonable boundary between people and extensive knowledge of the mystical realm (Michael 60). Individuals who are part of the New Age have several different beliefs. A person who identifies himself with this movement may also pledge to some of these subjects, depending on his own awareness of what is moral or immoral, correct and wrong (Michael 63). The main objective of the New Age movement is the change of Gods creatures. New Agers believed that, there was a new age coming (Michael 62).This movement spread out in unrestrained hopefulness. There is a general feeling that they are on the edge of a drastic invention in the evolutionary development, just as the greater step of the Renaissance and middle Ages. The incorporation of metaphysics, knowledge, and archaic wisdom will prosper where Christianity has collapsed (Michael 62). New Agers think that the society should be changed for this new age to arise. They are dedicated to changing the world to what they believe is an improved world. Civilized culture noted that the education system needs to be changed. Knowledge and morals in a civilized society needs transformations (Michael 63). The current order of occurrences must be changed for the New Age to develop. Therefore, people must be deterred from their affection to the archaic. Traditional morals and belief have to be forgotten, and the old instruction must be demolished (Michael 63). Though New-Agers have a system of belief, their god is development, and not the real God of nature, several religious groups are involved in this crusade. It incorporates pseudo-Christian sects as Unity, Divine Science, Religious Science, New Thought, and also several Eastern and spiritualism, theosophy, Rosicrucian’s, Hare Krishna, and various spiritual leader cults (Michael 65). The New Age movement is not a religious conviction but a different way to reflect and understand realism. It is very appealing to the normal man who has turned out to be disillusioned with systematized religious conviction and modern rationalism. He needs spiritual truth but does not desire to surrender materialism, take care of his moral difficulties, or work under influence (Pike 22). New Age depends on the use of images to describe understandings believed to be the observed. Intentionally or unintentionally, New Agers usually redefine language borrowed from several belief organizations, which can lead to misunderstanding, as well as spread of opposition from cynics and the customary religions (Pike 34). The implementation of terms from the science vocabulary like energy, and several words borrowed from Physics but not applied to some of their focus, have helped to complicate the conversation between religion and science, directing to harmful labels like psychobabble and pseudoscience (Pike 34). Most important evaluations of the New Age have developed from reasonable philosophical and systematic views that pursue to recognize the description of New Age philosophies (Pike 35).These frequently focus on the differences between occultism and New Age’s recognition of Physics laws. More radical views have appeared from Christians who cast off all systems of occultism starting from skeptics’ suspect of supernatural claims and confused beliefs from New Agers (Pike 35). A number of them including Re-constructionist groups and neo-pagans, which are often identified as New Age, usually find the word inappropriate because it links them with philosophies and practices they fail adopt (Pike 35). Some critics think that the arrangement of beliefs and actions in New Age movement has insignificant value because of its vagueness. The movement prefers to refer openly to the distinct philosophies and activities. The uses of religious conformists and scientists have caused the expression New Age to have a critical connotation (Sutcliffe 45). Several occult exercises and beliefs recovered by the current New Age were part of first pagan philosophies. Several practices common to the New Age like witchcraft or sorcery, spirits, prophecy like clairvoyance, necromancy, foretelling the future, making consultations with the dead, and fortune-telling are strongly condemned in the modern scriptures (Pike 50). The occultism exercises were extended through the outdated magic and mystery beliefs of the Egyptians, and the Babylonian philosophy (Pike 50). Heelas states that by 1960 the New Age spiritual life was no longer confined to the New Age which refers to the limited number of people who were willing to get into the movement (364). The New Age spiritual movements are growing across cultures and more people are following regulations provided by the spiritual outlets and not the traditional religion. Churches are not equipped to respond to Occult penetration as they responded in 1980 to 1990 (Heelas 364). Today the church is not in a position to cope with those who enter into the New Age. It is intricate to think of reasons why people change in the church, and why they act differently making it difficult to understand the church standpoint on New Age (Heelas 364). Works cited Heelas, Paul. ‘The spiritual revolution: from ‘religion’ to ‘spirituality’’. In Woodhead, Fletcher, et al. Religion in the Modern World. London: Routledge. 2002. Print. Michael, June. Path to Truth A Spiritual Guide to Higher Consciousness. Writers Club Press: New York, 2000. Print. Pike, Sarah. New Age and Neopagan Religions in America. New York, Chichester: Columbia University Press, 2004. Print. Sutcliffe, Steven. Children of the New Age, A History of Spiritual Practices. London and New York: Routledge. 2003. Print. Read More