blessed be your name

Saturday, April 26, 2008

The Church of Oprah.

Question: "What is the "church of Oprah"? Is Eckhart Tolle's "New Earth" compatible with Christianity?"

Answer: Oprah Winfrey is arguably one of the most influential women in the world. With a daily viewership that has peaked at around 10 million, the Oprah Winfrey Show definitely has the potential to impact the lives of many people. The Oprah Winfrey Show definitely promotes much that is good. However, there is another side of Oprah that has only recently become an integral part of her show—and that is her rejection of biblical Christianity. Oprah has made statements on her show in the past that have given a small glimpse into her personal spiritual beliefs, speaking mostly about her belief that there are many ways, millions even, for a person to "get to what some call God."

This more recent exposure of her beliefs revolves around the book "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle, which she helped to make a best-seller by promoting it on Oprah's Book Club and on her website. Beyond simply promoting the book, Oprah has partnered with Tolle in presenting weekly online webcast classes in order to explore the ideas and principles expressed in "A New Earth."

Some have gone as far as labeling Oprah a cult leader—and with good reason. She is a figurehead for the promotion and propagation of anti-biblical beliefs which deny every foundational truth of historical Christianity. Her webcasts have attracted hundreds of thousands of participants with the promise of gaining new perspectives on how to live a life of enrichment, peace, newfound self-worth, and spiritual freedom.

Eckhart Tolle, a well-known New Age author and speaker, promotes nothing short of personal divinity in his teachings. In an attempt to deceive people into thinking that his religion is compatible with Christianity, Tolle occasionally quotes from the Bible and refers to biblical principles. The problem is that Eckhart Tolle's book, "A New Earth," is in complete opposition to biblical Christianity from cover to cover. Nearly every reference to, or quote of, Scripture, is twisted by Tolle's consistent misinterpretation and misunderstanding.

Consider what can be found in just the pages of the first chapter: evolution of life over millions of years is accepted, assumed, and understood to be fact; Jesus is misquoted; flowers, crystals, precious stones, and birds are believed to be temporary manifestations of the Universal Consciousness and are themselves considered enlightened life-forms; the definition of sin is misinterpreted; Jesus Christ is thought of as just one of those rare people who, like the Buddha, achieved divine consciousness; other religions, such as Buddhism, are considered just as valid and true as Christianity; an early Christian cult, Gnosticism, is portrayed as one of the few groups who actually understood the teachings of Jesus; original sin was simply a forgetting of the connectedness and oneness with the Source, along with everything else connected with the Source—a delusion of separateness; heaven is portrayed as merely an "inner realm of consciousness."

These beliefs, these teachings, are found in just the first chapter. Obviously, and without a doubt, Eckhart Tolle is promoting a new religion, one which combines the most mystical aspects of every major religion. The first chapter, of course, sets up the tone and direction for the rest of the book. This direction happens to be as far from biblical truth as is possible. If you are concerned at all with whether or not this book is compatible with the Christian faith, you need not read any further than the first chapter to understand what Tolle believes and what Oprah is encouraging others to believe.

Tolle ends the book writing about the new Heaven and new Earth spoken of in Revelation 21. He states near the end of chapter ten:

"The only existence the future actually has is as a thought form in your mind, so when you look to the future for salvation, you are unconsciously looking to your own mind for salvation. You are trapped in form, and that is ego. 'And I saw a new heaven and a new earth,' writes the biblical prophet. [T]he foundation for a new earth is a new heaven - the awakened consciousness. The earth - external reality - is only its outer reflection. The arising of a new heaven and by implication a new earth are not future events that are going to make us free. Nothing is going to make us free because only the present moment can make us free. That realization is the awakening. Awakening as a future event has no meaning because awakening is the realization of Presence. So the new heaven, the awakened consciousness, is not a future state to be achieved. A new heaven and a new earth are arising within you at this moment, and if they are not arising at this moment, they are no more than a thought in your head and therefore not arising at all. What did Jesus tell his disciples? 'Heaven is right here in the midst of you.'"

In line and in continued progression with chapter one, chapter ten places the final stamp of approval on a belief system completely void of biblical truth. Salvation is presented as a state of being achieved through one's own power; heaven is referred to as simply a state of consciousness; and Jesus Christ is relegated to a spiritual master who taught that one only need look within oneself to find spiritual release. Scripture is used only out of context and presented as obscurely as possible.

There is no room for Jesus Christ the Messiah, the God-Man, nor His teachings in Oprah's and Tolle's belief system. In fact, they propose that all people free their minds from such beliefs. Truly, deception is the only true thing that Eckhart Tolle and Oprah Winfrey offer. They, and those that follow their teachings, have fallen for Satan’s original lie, “you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5).


Source ; GotQuestions.org

Recommended Resource: Jesus Among Other gods by Ravi Zacharias.

3 Comments:

  • At 3:46 PM, Blogger Unknown said…

    hiya gail, long time me no comment!

    i am really surprized by the whole oprah outcry - surely everyone realized that she wasnt a mature christian or following the bible with her whole heart aka not maybe even a christian (reserving that judgement for only God)... she has had HEAPS of things on her show that show that she isnt following the way, truth or life... and yip millions of women follow her... we should pray that she DOES get a revelation of Jesus Christ, the One Way, the Saviour, the Almighty God and that she lives that and is transformed and born again!

     
  • At 7:55 PM, Blogger gail said…

    Good to be chatting again Claire. Amen , We should pray that Oprah reads the Bible and gets a revelation from the One True God that there is no other Name under heaven whereby men can be saved and that is Jesus !


    To CSP. As you wanted to post on my blog but don't have a blog of you own open for any comment I will answer you once here .Please openmindedly read the first chapter of Ephesians .It explains there is one way to God, through Jesus and I pray for you as Paul did for the Ephesians that the eyes of your heart are enlightened. Read below from Ephesians ch1

    1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
    To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

    2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
    Spiritual Blessings in Christ

    3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he[c] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he, made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
    11In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.

    Thanksgiving and Prayer
    15For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

     
  • At 5:46 AM, Blogger Unknown said…

    she would be an awesome evangelist for the TRUTH TRUTH eh! Acts 4:4 is another good verse about there been only one way to God...

     

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