RamistThomist
Puritanboard Clerk
Bancarz and Peck. The Second Coming of the New Age: The Hidden Dangers of Alternative Spirituality in Contemporary America and its Churches. Crane, MO: Defenders Publishing, 2018.
Those engaged in counter-cult ministries will welcome this new addition. The book’s base isn’t new, since the New Age isn’t a new phenomenon. On the other hand, there are new practices and “mindsets” that require an updated response.
On Truth
While the section on “truth” was quite basic, the authors point out a problem with pragmatic theories of truth: “we often don’t know what the utility of a belief is ahead of time. We don’t have perfect access to the full consequences of a belief in the moment” (101).
God and the Force
While New Age teachers often point to personal “spirit guides,” God, such as they understand, is an impersonal force. For Christians prayer is talking to a personal God. For the New Age, it is tapping into a force. All of this is old stuff in counter-cult ministries. Peck and Bancarz, however, take the analysis to the next level.
The Bible does talk about a force. It is the personification of Chaos, Leviathan. In the ANE it was also known as “Litanu, Lotan, Behemoth, Tiamat, Mot, Seth-Horus, and Cerberus” (132). I agree with them, but I don’t think Behemoth is in the same category. The authors then note the similarities in vocabulary between the Ugaritic Baal Cycle and the book of Job. This is not to say, of course, that one borrows from the other. Rather, it shows that the people in both used similar vocabulary and concepts.
Let’s assume that Leviathan = Chaos Monster, as both Job and the Ugaritic literature suggest. Could New Agers actually be tapping into this rather infernal entity? Perhaps. We don’t mean to suggest that every time a New Ager meditates she is channeling Leviathan; rather, the possibility is there.
Pantheism
The biggest takeaway is that the Big Bang theory refutes pantheism, since it logically precludes an infinite universe.
Ye are gods
Jesus’s use of Psalm 82 doesn’t lend credence to the New Age claim that “ye are gods.” If the verse refers to Old Testament judges (which I don’t think it does), then Jesus isn’t talking about you. You aren’t an Old Testament judge. If the verse refers to the divine council, and Jesus’s use hints at the sons of God in the New Testament replacing the fallen bene elohim, then it also doesn’t refer to you. Bancarz and Peck seem to clinch the argument with a lexical analysis of Psalm 89. Whoever these bene elohim are, they are in the clouds.
The authors don’t mention it, but the literal translation of Psalm 82 is Elohim takes his stand in the Council of El,” which has a very specific meaning in the ancient world. They didn’t need to mention it, to be sure, since they had already refuted the New Age reading of the verse.
Zeitgeist and Pagan Mythology
Mithra: Emerged from a rock; no virgin birth (John Hinnels; James Hastings).
Dionysius: Zeus impregnated Semele; no virgin birth.
Aliens
More Americans believe in aliens than in the classical doctrine of God. The authors do a good job explaining the general parameters of the discussion. Basically, you have your:
Greys (Reticuluns)
Origin: Zeta Reticuli
Appearance: 3-4 feet tall
UFO: Saucer; sphere
Myth association: Fairies
Claims: cloning; genetic manipulation
Abilities: mind-based
Nordics
Origin: Pleiades
Appearance: 5-7 feet tall
Repitilians
Origin: Draco Star system
Appearance: 6-7 feet tall
Myth association: Dragons; djinn; maybe the Nachash
Mantis Aliens
Origin: Draco Star System
Appearance: 6-7 feet tall; triangular heads
Whatever else we may believe about UFO encounters, they never tell us how they got here (270). They always tell us that we need to promote world government and be inclusive and stuff. The section on why interstellar space travel is impossible is probably the death-knell to all views of aliens. Moreover, if alien technology is so advanced, then why are the so medically inept in their procedures? Our medicine today can do invasive procedures without leaving too much noticeable after effect. When aliens do anal probes (and apologists for our alien brethren, so-called, need to explain why brutal anal probes are even necessary), why are they several decades behind in anestheisa? If they are dark entities, then it makes sense.
The book ends with a critique of New Age practices that one might find in American churches: contemplative prayer, yoga, labyrinthine prayer, Angel boards, etc.
Criticism
I hate to do this next part because it seems like I might imply the book isn’t worth getting. One of the problems of Defenders Press is the lack of good editing. The physical quality of Defenders books is quite good. The binding is good and the cover has a nice feel to it. The artwork is also fun. The typos and omission of proper formatting threatens to undo the whole project. For example:
* Titles of books are never italicized. I don’t know why they routinely fail to do this.
* Concerning our heavenly bodies, they write, “This begs the question” (254). It raises the question. Begging the question is a logical fallacy. What they meant to write was “raise the question.”
Those engaged in counter-cult ministries will welcome this new addition. The book’s base isn’t new, since the New Age isn’t a new phenomenon. On the other hand, there are new practices and “mindsets” that require an updated response.
On Truth
While the section on “truth” was quite basic, the authors point out a problem with pragmatic theories of truth: “we often don’t know what the utility of a belief is ahead of time. We don’t have perfect access to the full consequences of a belief in the moment” (101).
God and the Force
While New Age teachers often point to personal “spirit guides,” God, such as they understand, is an impersonal force. For Christians prayer is talking to a personal God. For the New Age, it is tapping into a force. All of this is old stuff in counter-cult ministries. Peck and Bancarz, however, take the analysis to the next level.
The Bible does talk about a force. It is the personification of Chaos, Leviathan. In the ANE it was also known as “Litanu, Lotan, Behemoth, Tiamat, Mot, Seth-Horus, and Cerberus” (132). I agree with them, but I don’t think Behemoth is in the same category. The authors then note the similarities in vocabulary between the Ugaritic Baal Cycle and the book of Job. This is not to say, of course, that one borrows from the other. Rather, it shows that the people in both used similar vocabulary and concepts.
Let’s assume that Leviathan = Chaos Monster, as both Job and the Ugaritic literature suggest. Could New Agers actually be tapping into this rather infernal entity? Perhaps. We don’t mean to suggest that every time a New Ager meditates she is channeling Leviathan; rather, the possibility is there.
Pantheism
The biggest takeaway is that the Big Bang theory refutes pantheism, since it logically precludes an infinite universe.
Ye are gods
Jesus’s use of Psalm 82 doesn’t lend credence to the New Age claim that “ye are gods.” If the verse refers to Old Testament judges (which I don’t think it does), then Jesus isn’t talking about you. You aren’t an Old Testament judge. If the verse refers to the divine council, and Jesus’s use hints at the sons of God in the New Testament replacing the fallen bene elohim, then it also doesn’t refer to you. Bancarz and Peck seem to clinch the argument with a lexical analysis of Psalm 89. Whoever these bene elohim are, they are in the clouds.
The authors don’t mention it, but the literal translation of Psalm 82 is Elohim takes his stand in the Council of El,” which has a very specific meaning in the ancient world. They didn’t need to mention it, to be sure, since they had already refuted the New Age reading of the verse.
Zeitgeist and Pagan Mythology
Mithra: Emerged from a rock; no virgin birth (John Hinnels; James Hastings).
Dionysius: Zeus impregnated Semele; no virgin birth.
Aliens
More Americans believe in aliens than in the classical doctrine of God. The authors do a good job explaining the general parameters of the discussion. Basically, you have your:
Greys (Reticuluns)
Origin: Zeta Reticuli
Appearance: 3-4 feet tall
UFO: Saucer; sphere
Myth association: Fairies
Claims: cloning; genetic manipulation
Abilities: mind-based
Nordics
Origin: Pleiades
Appearance: 5-7 feet tall
Repitilians
Origin: Draco Star system
Appearance: 6-7 feet tall
Myth association: Dragons; djinn; maybe the Nachash
Mantis Aliens
Origin: Draco Star System
Appearance: 6-7 feet tall; triangular heads
Whatever else we may believe about UFO encounters, they never tell us how they got here (270). They always tell us that we need to promote world government and be inclusive and stuff. The section on why interstellar space travel is impossible is probably the death-knell to all views of aliens. Moreover, if alien technology is so advanced, then why are the so medically inept in their procedures? Our medicine today can do invasive procedures without leaving too much noticeable after effect. When aliens do anal probes (and apologists for our alien brethren, so-called, need to explain why brutal anal probes are even necessary), why are they several decades behind in anestheisa? If they are dark entities, then it makes sense.
The book ends with a critique of New Age practices that one might find in American churches: contemplative prayer, yoga, labyrinthine prayer, Angel boards, etc.
Criticism
I hate to do this next part because it seems like I might imply the book isn’t worth getting. One of the problems of Defenders Press is the lack of good editing. The physical quality of Defenders books is quite good. The binding is good and the cover has a nice feel to it. The artwork is also fun. The typos and omission of proper formatting threatens to undo the whole project. For example:
* Titles of books are never italicized. I don’t know why they routinely fail to do this.
* Concerning our heavenly bodies, they write, “This begs the question” (254). It raises the question. Begging the question is a logical fallacy. What they meant to write was “raise the question.”