How Truth Seeking Can Lead To Not Seeing The Truth of Jesus Christ
In this article, I will be covering the following:
Why Many People Raised Christian Leave The Faith
Alternative Spirituality vs. “New Age”
The Appeal Of Decentralized Spirituality Compared to Organized Religion
What Alternative Spiritual Systems Get Wrong About Jesus’s Divinity
Separating The Wheat From The Chaff: Spiritual Truths vs. Spiritual Falsities That Undermine One’s Christian Faith
Why Those Raised Christian Leave The Faith
Many people raised in the Christian faith leave when they don’t find satisfying answers to the hard questions and notice the corruption and inconsistencies within organized religion.
Some of these include:
Unquestioning obedience to authority, whether this be due to religious leaders and/or traditional doctrines
Shut down of freethinking, including any belief systems outside of traditional Christianity
Religious guilt programming (different from conscious inner work)
Tribalism and exclusivism, leading to shunning of anyone deemed as outsiders (i.e. dissenters or non-Christians)
Spiritual abuse among religious leaders
Dysfunctional patterns perpetuated under the guise of Scriptural adherence
How the majority of believers are only “Christians” in name and not in deed (i.e. being cruel to the neighbor, living in willful sin)
Performative Christianity
The belief that one can only be a true Christian if they regularly attend church
The restrictive energy of traditional Christianity
I understand what I have outlined is not a flattering picture of Christianity. Indeed, there are traditional Christians who are good-hearted, conscientious people that have a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ. However, the vast majority of Christians are under heavy religious indoctrination, which is a form of mind control.
Those with discernment can see the kind of discrepancies I mentioned within organized religion and, though some become permanent atheists, others realize that there is more to this reality than this material dimension.
As one embarks on a journey of spiritual seeking, another world opens up to them. A world that is more free-spirited and expansive in terms of depth and breadth of the knowledge and resources available. This world is alternative spirituality.
Alternative Spirituality vs. The “New Age”
To clarify, alternative spirituality is not the same as the New Age. Alternative spirituality is a large umbrella and the New Age is just one subset underneath it.
The term “New Age” has a different connotation with different groups of people.
For Christians, the New Age is associated with false religion and witchcraft
For truthseekers, the New Age is thought of as the false light
For rational skeptics, the New Age is thought of as "quackery” due to not fitting the standards of scientific inquiry
For others, the New Age represents innovative concepts outside of mainstream society and/or a positive movement that will usher in a “new age” for humanity
Lastly, the New Age can be an entirely neutral term, such as the genre “New Age Spirituality” at a bookstore
As you may be able to tell, the New Age is difficult to define with so many interpretations of what it is.
For the purpose of this article, though, I am referring to the New Age as the conglomerate of popular principles and practices that pervade the spiritual community or those who identify as “spiritual but not religious” (SBNR). Not all ideas popular within the New Age are false, but they tend to be interpreted and applied in an overly simplistic manner.
The Appeal Of Decentralized Spirituality Compared to Organized Religion
Outside of the New Age sphere, there is another type of spiritual seeker who is in pursuit of the truth. Though they may see there is some truth in certain New Age concepts and practices, they largely view them with a critical eye, understanding that there is rampant falsity not only in the institutionalized church but in the spiritual community as well. One could call them a truthseeker.
Truthseekers are often drawn to researching conspiracy related to the New World Order (NWO) and suppressed knowledge about human civilization. They tend to be dedicated to their inner work and the development of consciousness. They also are highly suspicious of systems that promote groupthink.
This skepticism toward institutionalized religion can extend to areas of spiritual knowledge that traditional Christianity has often rejected. Unfortunately, traditional Christianity does, in fact, suppress a lot of useful information related to the spiritual dimension of reality even if they are not harmful to one’s Christian faith, such as:
How our thoughts affect reality
The impact of the subconscious mind
The mind-body connection
Energy and vibration — People, animals, objects, buildings, and areas all carry a particular energy signature, which has a frequency (vibration)
There are other valuable ideas, such as fringe knowledge (conspiracy) and spiritual psychology, but because their value and truth is more subjective in nature, I did not include them here.
At the very least, I believe Christians should acknowledge ideas that pertain to the spiritual mechanics of the Universe, which are neutral in nature.
Due to its closed system model, traditional Christianity does not tend to resonate with truthseekers who prefer a more transparent, decentralized framework. However, many truthseekers still believe that Jesus existed and that there is some revelation within Christianity.
As a result, many are drawn to works like the Nag Hammadhi, Pistis Sophia, and other alternative spiritual texts. This is usually due to the mistrust towards the Bible due to the idea that it has been mistranslated, manipulated, and distorted. (I believe this is true, but oftentimes this view can lead to a devalued view of the Bible altogether.)
In these circles, God is typically understood as a wise universal intelligence and Jesus as a human being who awakened to his divinity. It is thought that we should strive to awaken to our divinity by undergoing a process of inner illumination and transformation.
New Thought and non-dualist circles similarly believe that Jesus was an enlightened being whose life we can emulate, although the emphasis is less about esoteric understanding and spiritual development and more about believing one is like God. “I AM” and “The kingdom of God is within you” are commonly cited phrases.
To be fair, there are nuggets of truth in these alternative frameworks, not just about our spiritual potential as human beings but also about the nature of reality.
However, there is a lack of understanding about the true nature of Jesus, who was not man but the Lord Himself.
Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
-John 20:24-31, NKJV
What Alternative Spiritual Systems Get Wrong About Jesus’s Divinity
For a number of years, I also subscribed to the idea that Jesus was not God but a highly advanced person. It was not until I came across Emanuel Swedenborg’s work that I started to seriously reconsider my worldview. I was completely fascinated by his interpretation of Jesus, the Bible, and Christianity as many of the contradictions in traditional Christianity I initially felt disillusioned with seemed resolved by his theology.
And yet, still I was confused about the nature of God.
Although I believed in a God, up until that point I had seen God like an energy, the Universe, a universal intelligence, Source, etc.
Could it be that God was a spiritual being and, more so, one with a human character?
I know many think that believing in the Universe/Source Energy is the same thing as believing in a God, but they are worlds apart.
When I believed God was a universal intelligence, God seemed like an impersonal force that one acknowledged but couldn’t entirely be sure was there.
When I read this passage from True Christianity, section 339, I came to see why this was my experience. Some excerpts:
“In brief, faith in an invisible God is in fact blind faith, since the human mind cannot see its God; and the light of this faith, not being spiritual-natural, is a false light. This light resembles that of a glowworm, or the light seen at night on marshes or sulphurous ground, or that from rotting wood. Nothing can come of such light but pure imagination, which make appearances seem real when they are not.
Faith in an invisible God sheds only this kind of light; especially so, when one reflects that God is a spirit, and thinks of spirit as the ether. What result can this have except to make a person look on God as he does the ether? So he looks for God in the universe, and not finding Him there, believes that Nature is God. This is the source of the nature-worship which is prevalent at the present time….”
“It is, however, different with faith in the Lord God the Saviour. Since He is God and man, and can be approached and seen in the mind's eye, this faith is not without a goal, but has a goal from which it proceeds and to which it is directed; and once accepted, it remains.
It is as when one has seen an emperor or king; whenever one recalls them, their likeness recurs to the mind. The vision that faith gives is like looking at a shining cloud, with an angel in its midst, calling the person to himself so that he can be raised to heaven. That is how the Lord appears to those who have faith in Him, and He comes near to each individual, to the extent that he knows and acknowledges Him.”
Additionally, in True Christianity, section 11:
Therefore people whose mental sight was dependent on their physical senses and who nevertheless wished to see God made idols for themselves out of gold, silver, stone, and wood. They intended to adore God in those forms as objects of sight. Others with the same desires but with religious principles that forbade idols pictured the sun and moon, the stars, and various things on earth as images of God.
Those who believed themselves to be wiser than most but who remained earthly were led by the immensity and omnipresence God displayed in creating the world to acknowledge nature as God, in some cases in its innermost, in others in its outermost aspects.
And some who wished to see God as separate from nature thought up some thing that was as all-encompassing as possible and that they called the Entity of All; but because they know nothing more of God than this, this "Entity of All" turns out to be an entity of their minds alone, utterly without any real meaning.”
Here, Swedenborg expresses that if we see God like energy/the Universe or “the Entity of All” (which may be called Source in contemporary terms), we are relating to God like nature or a figment of our imagination.
On the contrary, if we believe God is a divine human, then we can “see” God and have true faith in Him. This is partly why Jesus Christ came to this Earth, so we can conceptualize God as a spirit-man and worship Him in true faith.
“When God became human and then a human became God, he became able to draw near us in this adapted form and, as a human God and a divine Human, forge a partnership with us.”
- True Christianity, section 370
I will say that it was not an overnight shift where I went from believing God was an impersonal intelligence to a human spirit nor from believing Jesus was a man to the Lord in the flesh. I did not have a dramatic conversion experience or vision that confirmed these truths to me.
However, certain illusions I had about God and Jesus started to be removed from my spiritual eyes and other truths began to manifest.
For example, though it may make sense to believe God is a universal intelligence, if we dig deeper, we will see that God as an impersonal force cannot have a grander plan for humanity, cannot work intimately in our lives to bring about out regeneration, and cannot have morality.
Attributes like holiness are human characteristics, which signifies that God is a divine human. People often take virtues for granted thinking that man can come up with these virtues by his reason. The common atheist maxim goes: “We’re good because it’s the right thing to do.” But we can only gain a sense of morality because it is from God. Our brains alone cannot give us a sense of morality. Neither can we in our animal instincts.
It is simple truths like these that become obscured by false rationality and the conditioning of this world.
In my personal life, I noticed a marked difference relating to God as a spiritual being with a human character instead of a universal intelligence. This is because I started praying as though I was praying to a person as opposed to an impersonal energy I could not know.
Another thing I experienced was breaking out into tears when I would hear things like “God is living,” “God is alive.” To me, these experiences were evidence of something my spirit knew that my earthly self did not understand.
Many skeptical people fear that if they believe Jesus is Lord, they will be under deception and outsource their authority. This is an understandable fear, but I believe what people fear is false religious indoctrination over a partnership with Jesus.
If you study Jesus apart from the negative aspects of religion, you will find He is pure and just. When Jesus appeared harsh in the Bible, this was in accordance to the level of spiritual understanding individuals were responsible for. Jesus also treated women with fairness and dignity as opposed to religious people in his times and even today. This may be surprising considering how patriarchal the Christian religion can be, but if we consider the fact that Jesus was Lord, this changes the context of everything.
Separating The Wheat From The Chaff: Spiritual Truths vs. Spiritual Falsities That Undermine One’s Christian Faith
The belief that Jesus was only a man, or perhaps only an archetypal figure, and not God in the flesh is rampant in the alternative spiritual sector.
If one is a Christian, it is important to recognize that this view is contrary to faith in Jesus Christ, even if the material comes from a well-meaning place. Why I say this is because, otherwise, conflicting information about Jesus can introduce double-mindedness, confusion, or even acceptance of these views. One doesn’t have to completely avoid non-Christian spiritual material, but they have to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff.
If one is unable to practice adequate discernment, then it is okay not to investigate those ideas or not at this time, too. In the past, I believed I needed to understand everything, but now I see that if I have the essentials down about God, Jesus, and spiritual life, this is more important than understanding all the obscure spiritual information that one person cannot grasp in one lifetime anyway.
There are certain spiritual practices Christians should avoid as well. Among these is worship of any being besides the Lord, including Mother Mary, angels, saints, ancestors, and spirit guides. It is okay to ask the Lord to send angels to help you or others, but take care not to pray to angels as though they are your God.
Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.
Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
Revelation 22:8-9, NKJV
Many traditionalists would argue that there is no need to sort out alternative spiritual truths and falsities from each other. Their argument is, “You shouldn’t accept any of it because it’s all ‘New Age.’”
I understand where this sentiment comes from as there are some things that can be very dangerous and it is important to exercise caution. Even Swedenborg, who recognized the validity in other spiritual paths (as a measure of divine providence) and mistakenly labeled as “New Age” due to his unorthodox views, was vehemently against magic and sorcery. Nor am I saying Christians should adopt pagan or heretical ideologies and practices.
However, oversimplification about any spiritual ideas that fall outside of traditional Christianity is a problem because it is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I believe part of the reason Christians are discouraged to seek truth outside of traditional dogma is because they are more easily controlled this way. On the contrary, if they are freethinking and critically minded, and empower themselves with spiritual ideas that are true, they are less controllable.
In everything, whether it is Christianity or alternative spirituality, it is important to be able to have impartiality in order to discern what is true. Impartiality is not what one wants to be true but is true by God’s standards. This is not always easy to know if Scripture does not explicitly outline it, but the more sincere and humble we are, the Lord can reveal these mysteries to us.
