New Age Takes Aim At The TRUTH!

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A r t i c l e t i t l e

New Age Takes Aim At The TRUTH!
by Samuel M. Buick

This past season of re-runs on the television was all the evidence I needed to be glad of the decision to be rid of cable. As a cable subscriber I could not justify being saturated with what has become the norm on the airwaves. The few channels now available to our family means our viewing is almost non-existent. But recently while preparing to view a video, the program on the screen was one we had viewed previously.

A year ago, my children and I were surfing the channels and we stopped at a program which looked interesting. Our regular routine entails taking notes, sometimes literally, of the content, story line, and the like of any particular programs currently on TV. Its context is from the time period of Greek mythology and it is about an evil warrior princess turned good who fights evil in all its forms for the sake of the little guy.

This particular episode reinforced the need to understand the age in which we live. We are indeed in a culture being transformed by a worldview which is antithetical to biblical Christianity. The New Age is no longer to be laughed at. It is infiltrating everything from your supermarket, work place, entertainment, and yes, even the church.

I was dumbfounded to see Xena (the warrior princess) in Palestine. She was walking amidst the Israelites who were plundering the Philistines so that they could feed their starving peoples. In the very beginning we were introduced to David and Jonathan. My kids looked at me in a look only children can give parents when the information is refusing to be processed in their brains. "Dad! What is going on here!" exclaimed my then eight year old Caitlin. "There's no Xena in the Bible!" bellowed her younger sister Erinn. I was somewhat relieved that my children at least knew this was just not jiving! Something did not add up. After all, Xena is a fictitious character and all of a sudden she is transported from Greece to Palestine, over 500 years before her time period in Greek mythology.

The episode moved quickly to the Philistines whose commander was Dagon (wasn't Dagon the Philistine god in Scripture?) Dagon introduced the audience to his mercenary, his "hired gun" Goliath. My kids and I were impressed with the computer enhanced animation which created a very believable giant.

In the Scriptures we are told that David became a warrior after he defeated Goliath, but in this TV rendition, David is already a warrior poet who has this thing for a girl called Sarah. David is portrayed as a self-confessed bad musician who writes about the exploits of Jonathan. And I thought David was in Saul's court because he was such a gifted musician, and that his music soothed the troubled soul of Saul. Didn't David write about the exploits and glory of God in the psalms, and not about Jonathan?

Do you follow the drift so far? The characters bear similar names, and there are connections to the original story, but it does not follow the story at all. In New Age mysticism there is no such thing as authority. During the Enlightenment and what we call modernity (1789-1989) science was the only authority. If something could not be proven scientifically, it was spurned as opinion or myth. Faith became categorized as "myth." Scepticism soon ensued, and eventually set the stage for existentialism and atheism. In the New Age, myth plays a big role, as all "myths" contribute to the whole. Thus, opposing religious worldviews cane become one (monism) since what is important is not the object of faith, but the very act of believing.

Back to Xena. Jonathan challenges the Philistines to combat and is murdered. David is made the new leader (there is no mention of King Saul). The call for David does not come from God, but from David's dialogue with Xena. It is decided by the two of them that it would be better for the Israelites' self-esteem if David were to fight Goliath and not Xena. In his dialogue David speaks of God as a "cosmic power... the highest being...Who is caretaker of the world like a shepherd." At this point David recites the 23'rd Psalm. He finishes by crediting Xena for the inspiration.

What's more, Goliath is portrayed as a really nice guy who has had a bum deal in life. He was actually a loving husband, a great warrior, and a true friend, whose family was murdered. He then became a mercenary to avenge his family's murder. He is also a long lost friend of Xena.

As the battle looms the clouds part and the sun reflects off the shield of Goliath, blinding him. He removes his helmet and David begins hurtling stones. After the third shot, Goliath falls, but is not dead. His dying words are that he will see his family on the "other side." David is the hero, and Xena walks into the sunset lamenting the death of her friend Goliath.

The New Age is alive and active all around us. In this program (as in many others) our God and His Word are undermined and attacked. Yet, the church is largely silent. We need to be vigilant in defending the Word and proclaiming the truth. The church needs to be awakened by God and transformed by the proclamation of the Word. We need to confront our culture with the truth and challenge the New Age at its very core, which is at heart a neo-pagan belief system. Until the church rises up to challenge Xena and her ilk, Xena will continue to usurp and replace the Truth with the Lie, attempting to deceive our present and future generations.

© 3 Sisters Communications 1999

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