Understanding the New Age

© 1993  Russell Chandler

Zondervan Publishing House
Grand Rapids, MI

Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. No portion of this online edition of Understanding the New Age may be reproduced in any form or by any means, except for brief and properly attributed citations in the course of review, comment, or scholarship, without written permission from Russell Chandler.

1. New Age movement. 2. United States — Religion — 1960.

BP605.N48C52 || LC: 93-19903 || ISBN: 0-310-38561-X || OCLC: 18070207 || 367 p.

Understanding the New Age is held by over five hundred libraries including Boston Public Library and the Harvard Divinity School Library.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *

To my mother, Mary Beth Chandler, ..... with affection and gratitude

Table of Contents

From the Back Cover of the Book

Preface and Acknowledgments       9

PART I:
THE NEW AGE AND YOU

1. Preview of the New Age       15

2. Prevalence of the New Age       19

3. Premises of the New Age       26

4. The Mind of the New Age       34

PART II:
WHO AND WHAT IS THE NEW AGE?

5. Historical Roots       43

6. Headliners and Honchos       50

7. Gifted Gurus       57

8. Communes and Groups       66

9. Choosing a Channel       77

10. UFOs and ETIs       85

11. Harmonic Convergence       92

12. Crystal Consciousness and Pyramid Power       98

13. Native Americans and Shamans       105

14. Goddesses and Neopagans       112

PART III:
THE LONG REACH OF THE NEW AGE

15. Commercial Appeal       121

16. Corporate Entities       135

17. Education, Music, and Art       143

18. Holistic Health and Healing       151

19. Psychology: Outside In       159

20. Science: Universal Mind Over Matter       167

21. The Politics of Mysticism       179

22. Religion and Churches       189

PART IV:
DISCERNING THE NEW AGE

23. Positive Images       203

24. Conspiracy Theories       210

25. Fakes, Frauds, and Placebos       217

26. Unproven Hypotheses and Non Sequiturs       227

27. Cautions and Dangers       234

28. Reincarnation or Resurrection?       242

29. Satan and the Problem of Evil       250

30. Absolute Relativity       257

PART V:
THE SEARCH FOR TRANSCENDENCE IN THE NEW AGE

31. Beyond the Self       273

32. The Broad Way and the Narrow Way       283

33. The Man for All Ages       292

Notes (see each chapter)       301

Glossary       337

Discussion Guide       345

From the Back Cover of the Book

   We've all been touched by the New Age! Roughly 30 million Americans — about one in four now believe in reincarnation, a key belief of the New Age. Two-thirds report having psychic experiences such as extra-sensory perception (ESP). The New Age profoundly influences music, television, movies, books, and products in every market.

   But the New Age has become invisible. It has mainstreamed its way into culture. Now Russell Chandler takes his reader on a tour of the New Age influences at home, at school, and at work.

   In Understanding the New Age, Russ Chandler writes about:

• Influential people who promote New Age ideas

• The New Age and holistic healing, channeling, art, and music

• The New Age and the business world: books, magazines, and management programs

• Scientific, psychological, and paranormal aspects of the New Age

• The political agenda of the New Age movement

   Chandler shows the creeping influences of the New Age today and the Christian response to them.

Russell Chandler was religion writer and award-winning journalist for the Los Angeles Times for 18 years. He is listed in "Who's Who in Religion," "Who's Who in American Journalism," and "Who's Who in America," and is regarded as "one of the finest voices in American journalism." He is the author of Racing Toward 2001 and Doomsday: The End of the World — A View Through Time. Eight of his books are available for purchase at Bookfinder.com.

Understanding the New Age is hosted online by ccel.us

christian books online books