Media Warning: A New Earth, An Old Deception

On March 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."

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."

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.

Doctrinally speaking, Tolle's writings categorize him as a typical New Ager who advances the same list of beliefs that have long been popular with persons in the Western world who are enamored with the spiritual philosophies of the Eastern world. But Tolle discusses these beliefs in a way that is far removed from how they are usually discussed in New Age circles. Instead of plainly stating his case, he runs his teachings along a circuitous route of emotional appeals, invented words/terms (e.g., the "pain-body"), and even self-contradictory statements.

But the truth is that A New Earth, along with Oprah's online class, promotes beliefs that contradict the Bible. Tolle's teachings dismiss the most important foundational doctrines of the church! And in reference to one of the Christianity's most sacred beliefs, Oprah herself made the following admission during a special April 9, 2008, edition of The Oprah Show, which featured Tolle's fans praising his teachings:

I thought Jesus came, died on the cross. That Jesus' being here was about his death and dying on the cross, when it really was about him coming to show us how to do it. How to be. To show us the Christ Consciousness that he had, and that that consciousness abides with all of us.

Such ideas cannot go unchallenged. Christians must "contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 3). This command is more than applicable to Tolle, who often quotes scripture to support his views, boldly claiming that he can provide the true teachings of the Bible based on his own understanding of what the text really means. In reality, however, he manipulates the verses in order to conform them to his views.

It is time for every Christian, in my opinion, to spiritually and mentally prepare themselves to respond to an unbiblical theology that represents a direct assault on the faith, especially in light of how it is being presented as a worldview consistent with Christian doctrine and values ( (Eph. 4:14-15; 2 Tim. 2:24-25). Believers must be both willing and able to share with clarity of thought why Tolle is in error (1 Peter 3:15). We are to "preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction" (2 Tim. 4:2). We also are told: "Present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15).

Romans 16:17-18 further commands us to take note of those who spread any doctrines "contrary" to the Bible and "keep away from them" because they do not serve the Lord, but instead are serving another gospel, another spirit, and in Tolle's case, most definitely another Jesus (i.e., a Jesus who is redefined in a way that is inconsistent with how he is defined by scripture; see 2 Cor. 11:3-4). Jesus himself said to beware of false teachers (Matt. 7:15), as did Peter, who warned: "There were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you" (2 Peter 2:1).

Excerpted from: A New Earth, An Old Deception by Richard Abanes, 2008;
Bethany House Publishers. Used by permission. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.

 

 

Other resources:

Peter Jones:          www.csmonitor.com/2008/0505/p09s01-coop.html  
                                       (*** Excellent article)

Donald Whitney:  www.biblicalspirituality.org/newearth.html

Erwin Lutzer:        www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uje-T69qj2g

Probe Ministries: www.probe.org/cults-and-world-religions/oprahs-spirituality-exploring-a-new-earth.html

Baptist Press:    www.baptistpress.com/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=28150
                      www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW4LLwkgmqA