This article and points listed below are all taken from Oprah and Eckhart’s new videos titled “A New Earth” week 1. There is a possibility for more of these if I feel there’s anything in the other weeks that’s worth being mentioned.
OPRAH
JEALOUS GOD
If you visit sites such as Youtube, it is almost impossible to avoid this clip if you are searching anything about Oprah or the Jealousy of God. Oprah reveals her misunderstanding of the Jealousy of God in Web Video 3 where she says:
…and God’s also a jealous God, is jealous of me? and something about that didn’t feel right in my spirit because I believed God is love and God is in all things and so that is when the search for something more then doctrine started to stir within me, …
Oprah was in her late 20s sitting in her church when this quote came to her, and as stated just after the two minute mark in Video 3, she started to search for something.
It is disappointing in some ways that the leader of her church at the time had not made it clear what this actually meant, and it is also a pity but not a surprise how many in the world actually feel the same way as she does.
Here’s a scriptural reference on the topic.
Exo 34:14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),
What is the biblical definition of Jealousy in relation to God? The only one allowed to be jealous is God. For Jealousy does not, in the proper sense of the term, mean to want something that you don’t have or deserve, but instead means to be jealous of something that is rightfully yours and you are not receiving. God is jealous when we are worshiping more than Him, for He is the one deserving of our worship. I’m sorry but God is not jealous of Oprah, but is jealous for Oprah’s worship.
Psa 96:9 Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!
ECKHART TOLLE
OWN AUTHORITY
The quote below was in Video 3, taken around the 7 minute mark. Oprah is quoting from a book titled “Seeker’s Guide,” written by Elizabeth Lesser. She briefly mentions how this mirrors Tolle’s belief as well…
“Seekers Guide” “new spirituality vs. old, pg. 51,52 “old way was the hierarchy has the authority, church authorities tell you how to worship in church and how to behave outside of church, the new spirituality is that you are your own best authority as you work to know and to love yourself, you discover how to live a more spiritual life. The old is God and the path to worship him has already been defined and you just have to follow the directions; the new is to be able to listen within for your own definition of spirituality, your deeper longings are your compass on the search…
There are a couple of phrases I’d like you to take special interest in. They are:
1. Church Authorities tell you…
It is a common misconception in the world that all our instructions come from church figures — some man or group tells us what to believe, and we have to obey that. This is of course true among some of the false religions and cults of the world who brand themselves as “Christian”. Yet according to the ultimate authority in all things, the word of God, we are told that the only authority that should tell us how to act in a gathering of Christians or in the world around us is the Bible.
Psa 119:43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your rules.
2. You are your own best authority
If one stops and thinks of this line for a moment, it is perhaps one of the most confusing and illogical thoughts and is void of any structure or ultimate authority. How are we our own best authority, when on our best days we are full of evil thoughts? And who am I to force someone to uphold a law? Who am I to say that another country is committing an awful crime? As Oprah and Tolle would say, we are conditioned by our surroundings yet reach our peace all the same way, yet with different words or ideas (will touch on this thought later). Who are we to condemn the use of drugs, something that Tolle isn’t completely against experimenting with? With no absolute authority, anything goes, yet what does Holy Scripture think of this thought?
Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Psa 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
When man is left to his own way of thinking, the worst happens.
Psa 119:9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
3. The Old is God
Oprah and Tolle will occasionally quote scripture in their classes on this new age teaching. Tolle will refer to passages in an attempt to support his view. Yet in holding Lesser’s book with them and freely quoting from it, they are associating with her teachings as well which is very similar. They do not hold to any similarities to Christianity even though they try very hard to say they do. Around 6 minutes into Web Class video 3 Tolle says, “there’s no conflict with this teaching which is purely spiritual, and any religion ’cause if you go deep enough into your religion you all get to the same place… there is no conflict here…”
This couldn’t be farther from the truth, and I can’t help but think of 2 Peter 2:1 when this is said:
2Pe 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
When one studies the Bible and trusts Christ as their own personal Saviour, the more they dig, the more they do not find themselves, the more they do not find inner peace brought on by some personal form of meditation on how they can experience the presence. As we dig deeper into the Bible, we find more of Christ.
Joh 4:29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”
4. Your deeper longings are your compass…
This has kind of been touched on already, with the quoting of Scripture to show what we are truly like. Yet if one wishes to be reminded of our “deeper longings”, please take the time to read Romans chapter 3.
ANOTHER WAY
…the old says there is only one path it’s the right way and all other ways is wrong, and the new spirituality says that many paths lead to spiritual freedom and peace, you have a rich array of gems to draw illuminations, the worlds religious traditions, psychology…. and that you can begin to string a necklaces all your own….
This thought has been one that is catching on very strongly within the world, even among people who claim to be Christian such as Joel Osteen. Tolle adds to this thought though in Video 3 as well when he says:
the important thing is that religion doesn’t become an ideology, I believe this.. the moment you say “only my belief, or our belief is true, you deny other people’s beliefs then you’ve adopted ideology, then religion becomes a closed door…
This is completely unacceptable to biblical truth. I have no interest in saying, “I believe MY belief is the only way”, for this is not the completion of the truth. I believe whom I have trusted in is the ONLY WAY. The central point of this debate is not whether or not I believe what I believe is most important. Whether I’m a Calvinist Christian, or an Arminian Christian… Whether I am a Baptist, Pentecostal or a Brethren… This is about Christ.
The whole underlying reason for the thought, “My religion is as good as yours”, is to belittle both the importance of Christ and the cross as the central point of all history. To give in to this ideology is to completely discredit the Bible. Of course we are to respect other humans and show them kindness, but when it comes to the way to heaven, forgiveness of sins, and rescue from Hell, there is only one way. There is only one way to have peace with God.
Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Any other belief is unacceptable, not because I say it, but because Christ, the creator of all things, says it.
GOD MADE IN MAN’S IMAGE
man made God in his image, the eternal, the infinite and unnameable force, that is God, that is all consciousness that is universal energy
This is another quote by Tolle, and is found in Video 5, near the end. They are discussing the method of worship of Christians today and go on to say that man has made God the way we want Him to be. Perhaps in some ways “Christendom” has, yet it is very clear in scripture, in places like Acts chapter 2, that God is much more than just a force, much more than just a consciousness. He is a being — he all powerful, all knowing God of eternity, the one who has the right and ability to either save some or condemn us all.
EGO and I
Dreadful suffering at night, I would often wake up in extreme feelings of dread and fear…the whole world seemed alien… I woke up one night and the thought came to me, I can’t live with myself any longer, it’s so painful ..and that thought repeated itself a few times and then suddenly something happened in side of me and I looked at the thought, that was of course the awareness I didn’t know it at the time what it was….I cannot live with myself, that’s strange, there must be I and must be myself, Am I one or two? I must be two, because if I can’t live with myself, there must be two of me……there a separation inside human beings which is the essence of ego. Here’s an image of who i think I am, and then there’s a me. ….. Who is the self I can’t live with and who am I? and at that moment a separation happened completely between the essential I which is the essential consciousness that I am, beyond past and future, the eternal stillness, but awake stillness, and all my thought processes which are EGO. … all my thought processes created the dreadful sufferings. The mind created …the unhappy me…I was consistently. fed by my thinking, it consisted of thinking… it was a kind of spiritual suicide, the ego died, dissolved, the I behind it suddenly woke up and said “who is that self I can’t live with? And if you fully look at that self it will actually dissovle, because it can not survive in the light of intense consciousness
I want to notice some key points from this quote that was given by Tolle in Web Class Video 7
1. I must be two
This term is a bit deceptive if looked at quickly. Many people including Christians may say, “Well yes we are two, there’s my body and my soul as well”. We are, as some would say, ghosts in capsules called bodies.
We could go into a great deal of information concerning this topic but will just sum it up with the term “psycho-somatic”. Our souls are connected with our bodies in the sense that how we live for God not only affects our spiritual condition with Him but also can affect our bodies. A person has a hard time being depressed and allowing themselves to become mentally worn if they are living for Christ and trusting in His ever providing hand. Additionally, the substances we allow in our bodies can be against the will of God and affect us physically.
The thought that Tolle is using, though, is the sense that there are two seperate beings within us and that we can completely die to one on our own free will ability.
This also sounds like it’s on the verge of split personality disorder.
2. Eternal Stillness
The eternal stillness is opposite of the Ego. The Ego is the thought process. With the eternal stillness, what is being promoted is basic “thoughtlessness”, but that will be touched on more in point 4.
3. Thought Processes which are EGO….Spiritiual Suicide, the ego died
If you take the time to watch the videos by Oprah, something I do not recommend, you will quickly learn that the ability to think and reason things out is not promoted. You have to find your “still spot” to stop thinking and enjoy your surroundings and that will lead to the ability to accept all things and all beliefs, for in doing so you can meditate and find inner peace in all beliefs.
This is completely irrational thinking and is completely contrary to Scripture, where we are told to prove everything and to have an answer for our faith.
The goal of this belief held by Tolle, Oprah, and many others is to attempt to get people from focusing on the fact that there is only one absolute truth which is Christ. No inner peace can be found from within ourselves, for we are sinners. We are lost, we are rejecters of God, and we have no ability to become genuinely good people. In fact, it is quoted clearly in Web Class 11 when it is said, “what I believe in is not the important question, it is ‘are you present?’”
How dangerous a teaching this is, for through Christ alone can peace come. This has nothing to do with culture or surroundings but from Christ alone, the Creator of all things and Saviour of all who trust Him.
DRUG USE
Around the 5:15 minute mark of the Web Class video 7, Tolle when describing his “new age” experience to friends wanted to know if he was experimenting with acid at the time because of the “happy, everything is nice” feeling he got.
So Tolle thought he probably should try some to find out. He said the enjoyment was not as great as his “new age” experience. The issue I have with this is the promotion of drug use that is subtly given here.
Is it possible that other young followers of Tolle listening to his experience of trying acid would want to try it too to measure the experience with what they had? There is no obvious absolute guideline to follow, so a person can do as he or she pleases essentially. There’s no divine structure for a person, hence the reason it’s so popular among people. As Romans 3 states, humans do not seek God, and anything they can find to make themselves feel more important and feel that they don’t have to answer the All just All Holy God, they will do it.
CHRIST CONSCIENCE
Jesus came to show us Christ conscience, the way of the heart, the higher conscience. showing us how to live in the human body. Here’s some principals and laws to live by to know that way. Jesus didn’t come in my belief, even as a Christian, to start Christianity.
This is a quote by Oprah on Web Video 3 around the 3-4 minute mark.
This shows a complete lack of understanding of the way of God. Oprah and even the lady who is speaking to her through video conferencing seem to believe that this is acceptable, yet it is contrary to the actual teachings of Christ.
In fact, scripture states clearly why He came.
Luk 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
Joh 3:15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
There is also this next verse, which is often misunderstood or simply ignored:
Mat 10:34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
Christ, as we can see from the book of Matthew and the entire Bible, did not come to be peaceful to all people and to agree with everyone and to say that no belief actually mattered more than any other; if He did this, then this statement would not have appeared in Matthew 10, and there would have been no reason for people to hate Him and want Him dead.He would have accepted the ways of the Jewish Pharisees as being all right, for it can lead them to their inner peace. He would have accepted the falsehoods of the Sadducees and would not have bothered in John 4 to speak to the woman at the well, for her faith system would have been all right, and she would have found her inner peace on her own.
No, Christ came to preach the truth, to teach that good living wasn’t enough to get to Heaven, to tell the people that looking within yourself simply wasn’t enough, and that it was through Him alone that salvation and peace could be given. There’s no looking to any religion to find peace; it is found only by looking to Christ, as Paul could state:
Heb 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
As far as the quote goes that Christ didn’t come to start Christianity, it shows a lack of the understanding of the word “CHRISTIAN”. Christ came to save the lost, and people who follow Him are called “Christian”.
Act 11:26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
The term essentially means “followers” or “imitators” of Christ.
PAIN BODY
Eckhart Tolle has a video that can be watched that is exclusively explanation of the “pain body”. The pain body, he would explain, is your inner self that is attracted to “bad things” such as violence in the media, death, etc. His teaching is that you can suppress this pain body. At times it will fight and try to come out, but you have to fight it and hide it within, avoiding the bad things it desires.
This is a feeble attempt to take one’s attention away from the seriousness of their sinful nature.
We are all attracted to things we shouldn’t be, and even Paul in Romans 6, 7 said that after he trusted Christ, He still had to battle the old nature within him. The serious issue with Tolle is his changing the terms and making it a focus on yourself, taking God out of the picture and teaching that people are capable of cleansing themselves. Tolle, Oprah, and perhaps you as well, as you read this need to realize something very important about Christ which is this:
Act 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
INNER PEACE
I do not feel the need to continue in explaining the error in Tolle and Oprah’s view of how meditation leads to being in tone with yourself and nature, for it is stated clearly how to have peace in the inspired scriptures:
Rom 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
People do not like to think of the Holiness of God. The find it better to think that if they can figure out a way by themselves and think it is peaceful to them, then the Holy God, Creator of all things will look past what they have done wrong if they seek hard to find peace on their own, and live a good life, yet God says:
Pro 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
Are you willing to realize your sinfulness? You can not go, “yes I know I have done wrong, yet will work as hard as I can to live a good life. Even though I have a sin in my life or sins, God will see how hard I have tried to live good and He will look at that.
There’s a problem with this though for God says:
Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Indeed a person may have lived a wonderful life, but the problem is sin. It is our sin keeping us out of heaven. If you are not saved, regardless of how good you are, you have to do something about your sin. God is a Holy God, and your sin has to be dealt with. God is Holy and Just, Justice nor Holiness can be shown if He allows sin. Trust the one who can forgive your sin, then living good will be a joy and not a duty.
Living good is commendable, but the God of eternity is telling you, you are a sinner. Is telling you that you are heading to hell. He is also telling you that He is the only way for redemption.
Will you trust Christ today?
