Let's summarize his main points, then compare them with some occult systems
formerly hidden in secret societies:
1. Biblical beliefs are
out. They are irrelevant -- to be discarded as mere "clutter in the
brain."
2. Being "fully alive" is
in -- no matter what spirit or religion inspires the obligatory
passion.
3. There's no room for
objective reality or absolute truth.
4. This "higher form of
knowing" would be based on mystical experience, intuition and self-knowledge.
The latter supposedly leads to knowing (gnosis) a universal god -- or
the spirit of love in everyone.
This worldview lies at the heart of Western occultism! Alan Jones' quest
for a "higher form of knowing" is simply a new version of ancient Gnosticism
and the mystical "Jewish" Kabbalah.
Starting in the first century, the two occult threads intermingled and formed
new pathways to secret knowledge (gnosis). Those dark, mystical paths
hid for centuries underground. Then, starting in the 12th century, Kabbalah
began to sprout mystical "brotherhoods" and secret societies that laid
foundations for Alchemy, Theosophy (which would embrace Hinduism), Freemasonry
and Rosicrucianism
(these two incorporated Egyptian myths and symbols), the teachings of Swedenborg,
Anthroposophy
(Rudolf Steiner and Owen
Barfield), and Hermetic
magic. 4
During the 20th century, this hidden "knowledge" began to spread into
mainstream culture and churches through revered poets and authors such as
Lord Alfred Tennyson,
William
Blake, George
McDonald, Tolkien, Charles
Williams, and C.
S. Lewis. Suddenly, the hidden mysteries of occult masters were
laid bare to a thrill-seeking world hungry for a "fresh" and exciting
spirituality -- purged of the old offensive truths. But even before these dark secrets were exposed, Georg
Hegel, who was deeply involved in the several branches of Western
occultism, provided educators and globalist visionaries with the dialectic
process needed to transform both church and world.5
Not only did these enticing glimpses of forbidden mysteries affect beliefs
and worldviews, they helped change the way we think
and communicate. Even people who still treasure God's Word are learning to
approach information in radically new ways. Nothing seems absolute
anymore! Even God's Word is being adapted to the global values spawned by this
cultural transformation.
Francis Schaeffer, founder of L'Abri, saw the beginning of change back in
the sixties. Ponder this warning from his 1968 book, The God Who Is
There:
"The present chasm between the generations has
been brought about almost entirely by a change in the concept of
truth. Wherever you look today the new concept holds the field.
The consensus about us is almost monolithic, whether you review the arts,
literature or just simply read the newspapers and magazines.... On every
side you can feel the stranglehold of this new methodology—and by
‘methodology’ we mean the way we approach truth and knowing. ... And
just as fog cannot be kept out by walls or doors, so this consensus comes in
around us, till the room we live in is no longer distinct, and yet we
hardly realize what has happened....
"Young people from Christian homes are brought up
in the old framework of truth. Then they are subjected to the modern
framework. In time they become confused because they do not understand the
alternatives with which they are being presented. Confusion becomes
bewilderment, and before long they are overwhelmed. This is unhappily true
not only of young people, but of many pastors, Christian educators,
evangelists and missionaries as well. So this change in the concept of
the way we come to knowledge and truth is the most crucial problem...
facing Christianity today.... The shift has
been tremendous."6
