The New Age Jesus Christ

1. Jesus Goes East(44)

Shirley MacLaine in Out on a Limbo recounts a conversation with a friend,

You know that nothing is recorded in the Bible about Christ from the time he was about twelve until he began to really teach at about thirty years old. Those eighteen missing years were spent travelling in and around India and Tibet and Persia and the Near East.(45)

That Jesus travelled East has become one of the 'major secrets' revealed by the New Age adherents. All started with The Unknown Life of Christ, a book published in 1894 by Nicolas Notovitch, a Russian war correspondent, who claimed that in 1887 he had visited the Lama Monastery of Himis (Northern India). There he learned about a Grand Lama named Issa (the Tibetan form of Jesus). A chronicle of the life of Issa, written down in scrolls located at the monastery, were read to and translated for the Russian traveller. Notovitch learned that Jesus had wandered to India and to Tibet as a young man studying the laws of the Buddha. Eventually the priests of Brahma taught him to read and understand the Vedas, to cure, to teach, to preach and to drive out evil spirits. Issa-Jesus had become a perfect expositor of the sacred writings. After long travels in various countries, Issa-Jesus returned to Israel and preached what he had learned to all.

As early as 1894, although partial to oriental doctrines rather than to Christianity, Orientalist Max Muller of Oxford University rebuked Notovitch for his fantastic tale in the scholarly review The Nineteenth Century.(46)

J. Archibald Douglas, Professor at Government College in Agra, India, who visited the monastery of Himis in 1895, also denied the whole story.(47)

Nevertheless Notovitch's book, under the title of The Life of Saint Issa, was republished in New York in 1926. Since then other authors, such as Edgar J. Goodspeed(48) and Per Beskow,(49) Joseph Gaer,(50) Philip J. Swihart,(51) Anne Read,(52) Tal Brooke,(53) and the above-mentioned Douglas Groothuis and Ron Rhodes, have rejected Notovitch's account. But some members of occultist societies, such as Elizabeth Clare Prophet,(54) Nicholas Roerich,(55) Holger Kersten,(56) David Spangler,(57) Janet Block(58) and others have published several books perpetuating the tale. Elizabeth Clare Prophet's book, The Lost Years of Jesus, was made into a movie in 2001.

2. The Akashic Records

A major source for the 'Jesus goes East' stories is The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ,59 written by occultist Levi Dowling (1844-1911). This 'gospel' is a transcription from the Book of God's Remembrances, known as the Akashic Records. 'Akasha' is, according to the occultists, a spiritual field that surrounds earth, in which every person's word, thought or act is inscribed in imperishable records, known as Akashic Records. Levi's gospel developed the tale of the travels of Jesus: after having travelled throughout India and Tibet, Jesus arrived in Egypt, where he passed through seven degrees of initiation until he attained Christhood. Other occultists, such as Edgar Cayce (1877-1945), followed in the same line of the Akashic Records, which they claim to have read while in a trance.

It is obvious that 'Jesus goes East' stories and the Akashic Records lack any rational, scientific and historical evidence. These writings cannot be compared to the witness of Jesus rendered by New Testament. Any critical study would exclude the possibility of such travels.

3. The New Age Christ (60)

New Age's own reinterpretations of the person and work of Christ are rooted in esoteric thought from the end of the 19th century. American metaphysicist Phineas Parkhurst Quimby (1802-1866)(61) has played a significant role in New Age Christology. He advocated that the source of physical healing lies in the mind. Physical diseases are caused by wrong thinking or false beliefs, which can be corrected by 'the Christ.' Clearly distinguishing Jesus from the Christ, Quimby credited Jesus with discovering the 'Truth,' elevating him above any man who has ever lived. Quimby's thought greatly influenced Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science.

Quimby also inspired a number of inclusive metaphysical groups that emerged in the 1890s. These were generally described as 'New Thought.' These groups see the Christ is an impersonal Divine Nature or Principle. They believed that Jesus had embodied the Christ-principle, more than any other human had before, fully realizing his Christ-nature. Jesus was not a saviour; he was merely a 'way-shower.'

The success and dissemination of New Thought's Christology has given rise to various offshoots such as the Unity School of Christianity, founded by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore (1845-1931 and 1854-1948) in 1891; and The United Church of Religious Science, founded by Ernest Holmes (1887-1960) in 1926.

Swinburne Clymer (1878-1966), a Rosicrucian,(62) anticipated the New Age pantheistic view of enlightenment. According to Clymer, author of numerous books on Christ, each life is a spark, a germ of the Divine Nature. This spark is the potential Christ within.

Helena Blavatsky thought that the Supreme World Teacher, also known as 'the Christ,' enters the body of a disciple to guide the spiritual evolution of humanity.(63) Each 'incarnation' of 'Christ' reveals something more about God. The five incarnations of Christ were Buddha (in India), Hermes (in Egypt), Zoroaster (in Persia), Orpheus (in Greece), and Jesus. Along the same lines, Annie Besant said that the Christ needed a human form, and did not die on the cross. Salvation in fact is obtained by spiritual evolution, which comes through successive incarnations, which allow every person potentially to become 'Christ.'(64)

Rudolf Steiner, in polemics with Besant, maintained that the death of Jesus has something to do with human salvation. Steiner's Christology is based on Akashic Records, which according to Steiner, says that the incarnation of the Christ in Jesus was the central event of human evolution, and restored humanity to the spiritual realm. The blood that flowed from the wounds of Jesus Christ at the crucifixion flowed into the earth and passed through a process of 'etherisation'. At the moment of his death, the Christ left Jesus' body and 'incarnated' into the etheric earth, and now seeks to 'mass incarnate' into all humanity, for the sake of its redemption. Christ belongs now to the whole earth and can enter all human souls, regardless of nation and religion: this is his true 'second coming.'(65)

For David Spangler, Christ is "a cosmic Christ, a universal Christ, a New Age Christ."(66) He is a cosmic principle, which utilized Jesus' body, "a spiritual presence whose quality infuses and appears in various ways in all the religions and philosophies that uplift humanity."(67) Through the resurrection, the out-flowing of Christ-energies from the etheric earth, and ascension of Christ-consciousness in humanity, the cosmic Christ became saviour since he entered into the process of evolution.

Alice Bailey, differently from Steiner, argued that the 'second coming' referred to the Christ coming in a single Avatar, not in all humanity. Christ will come again in a way that will create no religious, social or ideological divisions. He is 'the World Teacher and not a Christian teacher.'(68)

Guy and Edna Ballard were Theosophists who opted to believe in the 'Ascended Masters,' a reference to those masters who have supposedly reached the highest level of spiritual consciousness, and have become guides of the spiritual evolution of humankind. Jesus is one of these 'Ascended Masters.'(69)

In 1958 Mark Prophet (1918-1973) founded the Church Universal and Triumphant, now headed by his widow, Elizabeth Clare Prophet. Their beliefs include revelations from the 'Ascended Masters,' who guide the spiritual evolution of humanity. They reject the doctrine of Redemption through the death of Jesus. Rather Jesus attained Christhood as did other 'Ascended Masters.(70)

Esoteric and New Age writer Lola Davis affirms that the New Age Christ resides on a different plane of consciousness. 'Christ' is the name given to the leader of the Spiritual Hierarchy of Masters.(71)

New Age's authors M.S. Princess and Helen Schucman (1909-1981) supported the theory of the inherence of Christ in humans and the importance of the rediscovery of one's Christhood.(72)

The interpretation of Christ proposed by New Age adherents Peter Liefhebber and Hilton Hotema goes much further. In the discourse on Christ, they introduced the mystic-legendary figures of Appolonius and Maitreya, which have embodied the Christ principle, and will personify Christ in his second coming.(73)

Famous New Age writer Benjamin Cr╴e expands the theories about Maitreya in a most unique fashion. Maitreya, originally a Buddha figure, is believed to be the one expected by all religions. Christians expect him as Christ in his imminent return; Jews await him as the Messiah; Hindus look for the coming of Krishna; Buddhists expect him as Maitreya Buddha; and Muslims anticipate the Imam Mahdi or Messiah. He is everything to everyone.(74)

In conclusion, in New Age Christology the distinction between Jesus (a mere human vessel) and the Christ (a divine, cosmic and impersonal entity) is fundamental. Jesus embodied the Christ-principle, fully realizing his Christ-nature.

45. Shirley MacLaine, Out on a Limb. Bantam Books, New York, 1984, pp. 233-234.

46. Max Muller, The Alleged Sojourn of Christ in India, The Nineteenth Century, No. 36, October, 1894, pp. 515 ff. Among other arguments, Muller asserted that an old document, like the one allegedly found, would have been included in the Kandjur and Tandjur catalogues in which all Tibetan literature is listed. Muller also cites a visitor to the monastery of Himis in 1894, who inquired about Notovitch, and said that no Russian had ever visited there, and the whole story was nothing but a fabrication.

47. J. Archibald Douglas, The Chief Lama of Himis on the Alleged Unknown Life of Christ, The Nineteenth Century, No. 39, April 1896, pp. 667-678.

48. Edgar J. Goodspeed, Strange New Gospels. The University Of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1931; Modern Apocrypha. Beacon Press, Boston, 1956.

49. Per Beskow, Strange Tales About Jesus: A Survey of Unfamiliar Gospels. Fortress, Philadelphia, 1983.

50. Joseph Gaer, The Lore of the New Testament. Little Brown and Co., Boston, 1952.

51. Philip J. Swihart, Reincarnation, Edgar Cayce, and the Bible. InterVarsity Press, Downers Groves, IL, 1978.

52. Anne Read, Edgar Cayce: On Jesus and His Church. Warner Books, New York, 1970.

53. Tal Brooke, When the World Will Be as One. Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR, 1989.

54. Elizabeth Clare Prophet, The Lost Years of Jesus. Summit University Press, Livingston, MT, 1984; Mark L. Prophet and Elizabeth Clare Prophet, The Lost Teachings of Jesus. Summit University Press, Livingston, MT, 1988.

55. Nicholas Roerich, Himalaya. Brentano's, New York, 1926.

56. Holger Kersten, Jesus Lived in India. Element Book, Longmead, England, 1986.

57. David Spangler, The Laws of Manifestation. Findhorn Publications, Forres, Scotland, 1983; Reflections on the Christ. Findhorn Publications, Forres, Scotland, 1981.

58. Janet Block, The Jesus Mystery: Of Lost Years and Unknown Travels. Aura Books, Los Angeles, 1980.

59. Levi Dowling, The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ. L. N. Fowler & Co., London 1947, (first edition in 1911).

60. For the summary of the various authors of New Age Christology, I am indebted to Ron Rhodes The Christ of the New Age Movement. See also Alessandro Olivieri Pennesi, Il Cristo del New Age. Indagine Critica. Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City, 1999. On the New Age Christ, besides the texts mentioned above, see Elizabeth Sand Turner, What Unity Teaches. Unity School of Christianity, Lee's Summit, MO, n.d.; Ernest Holmes, What Religious Science Teaches. Science of Mind Publications, Los Angeles, 1975.

61. Phineas P. Quimby, The Quimby Manuscripts, (ed. by Horatio W. Dresser), University Books, New Hyde Park, NY, 1961.

62. Rosicrucianism is a mystical cult that supposedly originated in the 'Mystery Schools' of Egypt.

63. Helena P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine. Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton, IL, 1966.

64. Annie Besant, Esoteric Christianity. Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton, IL, 1953.

65. Rudolf Steiner, The Reappearance of the Christ in the Etheric. Anthroposophic Press, Spring Valley, NY, 1983; Jesus and Christ. Anthroposophic Press, Spring Valley, NY, 1976; The Four Sacrifices of Christ. Anthroposophic Press, Spring Valley, NY, 1944.

66. Spangler, Reflections on the Christ, p. 107.

67. David Spangler, Conversations with John. Lorian Press, Middleton, WI, 1983, p. 5. See also David Spangler, Revelation: The Birth of a New Age. Lorian Press, Middleton, WI, 1976.

68. Alice Bailey, The Reappearance of the Christ. Lucis Publishing Co., New York, 1979; The Externalization of the Hierarchy. Lucis Publishing Co., New York, 1957.

69. G. W. and Donald Ballard, Purpose of the Ascended Masters' "I AM" Activity. Saint Germain Press, Chicago, 1942.

70. Mark and Elizabeth Prophet, Climb the Highest Mountain. Summit University Press, Los Angeles, 1974.

71. Lola Davis's book entitled Toward a World Religion for a New Age is often mentioned in New Age Web pages, but I have not found any reference about the place or year of publication.

72. M.S. Princess, Step By Step We Climb. Quoted in The Christ of The New Age, in Let Us Reason, a Christian apologetic web page, www.letusreason.org/NAM17.htm; Helen Schucman, A Course in Miracles. Foundation for Inner Peace, Temecula, CA, 1976.

73. Peter Liefhebber, Jesus of Nazareth and Maitreya the Christ. Lucis Publishing Co, n.d.; Hilton Hotema, Mystery Man, Snowbowl, Missoula, MT, n.d.

74. Benjamin Creme, The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom. Tara Center, North Hollywood, CA, 1980.