The Heart of the New Age Movement: Part 3: "The Third Lie!"

The Heart of the New Age Movement

Part 3: “The Third Lie!”

By Gary L. Clendenon, (c) 2026

“I am concerned that just as Eve was deceived by the lies of Satan, so your minds may be tricked into turning away from the pure love and devotion to Christ.”

~ The Apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians 11:3 (1)

First, a quick review: My thesis of this 3-part series is: “The ‘New’ Age Movement is not new!” In fact, it’s quite old! All these supposed “new” ideas that form the heart of New Age Movement go all the way back to Satan’s lies in the Garden of Eden. As these lies form the foundational teachings of the New Age Movement today, to understand these lies is to understand the New Age Movement.

In “Part 1” of “The Heart of the New Age Movement” (click for link), I introduced how this so-called “New” movement is actually based on the Universe’s three oldest lies introduced to this world by Satan speaking through the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Also, in “Part 1”, I covered the first lie: “There is something better that GOD is keeping you from having or enjoying.” In “Part 2” (Click for link), I covered the second lie: “You will not die.” And now, here in “Part 3”, I will cover the third lie.

Let’s go back one more time to the Garden of Eden, where we find Satan continuing to speak to Eve. In Genesis 3 verse 5, Satan says through the serpent, building on his previous lie that GOD was holding something back from Adam and Eve, “Your eyes will be opened, and you will be as gods”. This is the third lie. This is the thing that GOD is supposedly, maliciously, holding back from giving Adam and Eve: God-like awareness and freedom and power to fully control one’s own life!

To help us understand the meaning and very subtle nuance of this lie, I would like to share with you five different versions of this text—each one showing a subtle clue as to what the temptation was to Eve and how that relates to the New Age Movement’s versions of these very same temptations to us today:

“God knows that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (King James 2000 Bible, emphasis mine)

“For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened [that is, you will have greater awareness], and you will be like God….” (Amplified Bible, emphasis mine)

“God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you’ll see what’s really going on. You’ll be just like God.” (The Message Bible, emphasis mine)

“The truth is that God knows the day you eat the fruit from that tree you will awaken something powerful in you and become like Him:” (The Voice (VOICE), emphasis mine) (2)

“For God knows that in the day you eat of it, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be like God, deciding good and evil.” (A Faithful Version, emphasis mine) (3)

Clearly, Satan, through the serpent, is arguing that Adam and Eve’s eyes are closed by GOD and that the god-like power to see and understand what’s really going on—and act on that understanding—is being withheld from them. The last translation of the five surprisingly opened my eyes to something I had not ever seen before: “deciding good and evil” is more than just about knowledge. It’s also the ability to make decisions with the power to act upon knowledge.

The “characteristics of a god” Satan’s temptation touches on are being “all-knowing” (omniscient) and “all-powerful” (omnipotent). A god can do whatever it wants and has the power to make whatever it wants happen!

Satan’s temptation to “be as gods” was not a “new” idea, but was just a complete and full re-used echo of the very same goal that he, as Lucifer, had in Heaven—that resulted in him being asked to leave Heaven! This rehashed idea is spoken of in Isaiah 14:13-14: “You said in your heart: …‘I will make myself like the Most High’.” (emphasis mine) Here’s how Christian Commentator Ellen G. White puts it:

Satan fell because of his ambition to be equal with God. He desired to enter into the divine counsels and purposes, from which he was excluded by his own inability, as a created being, to comprehend the wisdom of the Infinite One. It was this ambitious pride that led to his rebellion, and by the same means he seeks to cause the ruin of man. (4)

Eve’s “temptation” was, in truth, just a psychological projection of Satan’s desires to be equal with GOD, not, as Satan enticed “a pathway to further enlightenment”! Satan was drawing humans towards the dark side through a twisted and manipulated understanding of freedom, independence, and self-control. I love how Bible scholar Dennis F. Kinlaw puts this:

“Satan disguises submission to himself under the guise of personal autonomy. He never asks us to become his servants. Never once did the serpent say to Eve, ‘I want to be your master.’ The shift in commitment is never from Christ to evil; it is always from Christ to self. And instead of his [Christ’s] will, self-interest now rules and what I want reigns. And that is the essence of sin.” (5)

Ellen G. White echoes this perspective in this statement: “The most hopeless, the most incurable of all sins is pride, self-sufficiency.” (6)

Now, notice how, in contrast to the attitude Satan was promoting, Paul describes Jesus’ attitude in Philippians 2:6: “...did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.” This is 100% the complete opposite of the false gospel of Satan. It all boils down to this: sin’s “Selfishness” vs. “GODly humility” as modeled by Jesus Christ, our example. Notice also in Philippians 2, this idea is further expanded on as we are encouraged to “have the same mindset as Christ Jesus … [to] do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourself” (verses 5, 3, emphasis mine).

As we are born sinful (7), selfishness is our natural nature—what feels completely normal and comfortable to us. Living the GOD-ly life, then, is abnormal and uncomfortable and requires a willful rejection of normal and comfortable. In the book Steps to Christ, it is put this way: “The warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought. The yielding of self, surrendering all to the will of God, requires a struggle.” (8)

This “struggle” is further complicated by the culturally-created complete-normalcy of sinfulness all around us—everywhere we look! It’s amazing how the Apostle Peter spoke of this millennia ago! “First of all, understand and don't be surprised that in the last days, scoffers and doubters will arise: they will prefer the sickness of selfishness while ridiculing the cure, labeling the infection of selfishness as ‘normal’.” (9)

With that foundational look at the third lie “your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods”, I would now like to take a look at how this lie specifically shows up in the New Age Movement’s teachings.

This lie is built upon two separate parts that work together: “becoming self-aware” and “being like GOD”. We’ll look at them in that order.

“EYES OPENED” = “ENLIGHTENED/SELF-AWARE”:

The idea expressed by Satan speaking through the snake to Eve that “eyes will be opened” is a fundamental and foundational teaching of the New Age Movement. The word used to describe this essential New Age process is “enlightenment”. A.I. says that synonyms for spiritual enlightenment include “awakening”, “self-realization”, “illumination”, “higher consciousness”, “spiritual rebirth”, and “transcendence”; or in allusive, cultural terms, “seeing the light”, “going down the rabbit hole” or “taking the red pill”.

The Cambridge dictionary defines enlightened as “showing understanding, acting in a positive way, and not following old-fashioned or false beliefs.” (Emphasis mine)

Merriam-Webster defines it as: “freed from ignorance and misinformation”. (Emphasis mine)

The surprising allusions to Genesis 3:5 in these definitions is so clear that it’s almost as if Satan wrote them himself!

No surprise that New Age teachers almost all also echo Satan’s words in Genesis 3:5:

New Age Teacher, Deepak Chopra, says that to be enlightened means you possess the qualities of “Complete self-awareness” and “Experience of the divine”. (10)

New Age Christ (Maitreya) Spokesman Benjamin Creme defines “self-realization” as “The process of recognizing and expressing our divine nature.”  (11)

New Age Teacher, Eckhart Tolle, famous for the #1 best-selling book The Power of Now, on “awakening” states “The primary factor in awakening is the realization of presence, of the formless awareness that is prior to all forms.” (12)

Louise Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life describes enlightenment as “Going inward to discover your true divine nature and capacity for self-love.” (13)

Wayne Dyer, author of The Power of Intention and many other self-help “classics”, says “Enlightenment” is “The quiet acceptance of what is.” It involves recognizing your spiritual essence, surrendering judgment without resistance, and aligning with “Source”. (14)

Rhonda Byrne, author of The Secret and The Greatest Secret, describes “Enlightenment” as “Awakening to pure awareness.” You are not your body, mind, or story. Your true self is eternal and your thoughts and emotions are creators of reality. (15)

Grok A.I. summarizes the topic of Enlightenment in this way: “The common threads across [New Age] authors: Enlightenment is not a distant goal but an accessible shift in perception, available now…. Self-awareness is the gateway: noticing ego illusions to reveal your divine limitless nature.” (16)

As you can clearly see, all these terms, quotes, and ideas perfectly align with the different versions of Genesis 3:5 I shared a few paragraphs ago. This is no coincidence! Again, the New Age Movement is not new! It is just Lucifer’s “selfishness” wrapped in fancy, “new” words and terminology. To be completely straightforward, all these seemingly-wonderful words and ideas are just pure evil wrapped up in shiny deceptions. They are a straightforward invitation to the Dark Side. They are literally inviting evil angels (demons) into one’s life. And that is very serious business, but completely in alignment with the goals of Satan and his so-called “Kingdom”. “Surrendering...without resistance” “Aligning with Source” These terms are all secret code for giving one’s self completely over to Team Satan! (Isn’t it ironic that all these connected words start with “S”? Self, Surrender, Source, Sin, Secret, Satan!)

In contrast to New Age “Enlightenment”, Biblical “Enlightenment” consists of knowing our true sinful state as shared by the Apostle Paul in Romans 3:23: “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” (NLT, emphasis mine) C.S. Lewis puts it this way: “Fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms.” (Mere Christianity) And, therefore, because we all fall short, we then must be totally reliant on GOD for anything and everything in our lives—the exact opposite of looking to ourselves and relying on ourselves! Jesus, our Messiah, put it this way: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5, NIV) (17)

To understand our true condition and our need to rely on GOD, that is true “Enlightenment”!

“YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD”

In Satan’s original claim to Eve and now, repeated again in the New Age Movement, is the second part of the 3^rd lie that having your eyes opened leads to the so-called “fact” that you, yourself, are a god! This is the thing you’ve been missing out on—the thing that GOD has been keeping from you: You’re birthright to be divine—just like GOD!

In “Part 1” of this 3-part series, I introduced you to the book on this topic that started it all for me: The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow: The New Age Movement and Our Coming Age of Barbarism by Constance Cumby, (c) 1983. Cumby has a very strong focus on this part of the lie, and so, I’ll be going back to her words for this section of this essay:

Cumby starts by clearly stating the importance of this teaching to the movement: “The universal proclamation of the [New Age] Movement is that man is God.” (18)

In courses on New Age Thinking, Cumby states: “participants are basically taught that they create their own world by their own thought-forms…. Of course, believing you are your own god is the next logical step.” (19)

Cumby then teaches that this idea expands to not just “You are God,” but “Everyone and everything is God”: “One of the core teachings of the New Age Movement is God ‘immanent’ [indwelling] in all things.” As evidence Cumby quotes New Age Christ’s spokesperson, Benjamin Creme: “Slowly, there is dawning upon the awakening consciousness of humanity, the great paralleling truth of God Immanent—divinely pervading all forms...expressing innate divinity through human beings….”

Cumby continues:

“This doctrine of God Immanent is common to nearly every pagan and Eastern religion. It teaches that God created the universe and then equally diffused himself throughout its parts. … It is the original lie of the serpent—‘Thou shalt be as gods’—dressed up for the ‘New Age’.”

“The heart of the New Age Movement is old-fashioned Hindu occultism, which embodies the ancient lie of the serpent right out of the Garden of Eden. This promise of Godhood that so captivated Eve continues to have an amazingly strong appeal for humanity today.” (20)

In my research reading about Benjamin Creme, I found that he—New Age Christ’s “Spokesperson”—says it this way: “...there is only one life. Life manifests as solar systems and also as the human being. It is exactly the same life. That is why Sai Baba can say: ‘Yes, I am God. But you, too, are God. There is only God; that is all there is, so how could you be other than God?’”  (21)

Blogger Bryce Haymond eloquently put it this way:

“It’s not that we are heading towards becoming like God, or even becoming God, but rather we are coming to realize that which we already are, recognizing the Divinity which already exists within us, which is our true Nature, which we have forgotten.”

“It is what is true of us before any other truth. We are Divine. We come from the Divine, and continue to exist in the Divine, as the Divine. We just don’t know this. We’ve forgotten it.”  (22)

Now, if it is true that we are God, then, logically, we could also understand that we are Christ! Cumby states that this New Age lie, among other New Age teachings, has slowly and intentionally crept into Christian churches and beliefs and literature. One example she cites is a book by Baptist Pastor Rodney R. Romney titled Journey to Inner Space: Finding God in Us in which Dr. Romney says, “He [Jesus], more than any other, desires that you discover the fullness and splendor of your own Christhood.” (23)

This one example of deceived Christian leaders—out of many examples in Cumby’s book—should not surprise us, as Cumby reminds us that Paul warned us in 1 Timothy 4:1, “God’s Spirit clearly says that in the last days many people will turn away from their faith. They will be fooled by evil spirits and by teachings that come from demons.” (CEV)

Here are a couple more quotes from Dr. Romney’s book: “Jesus became what each of us is destined to be, a Christ….” (24) “Your assignment is not to follow any earthly teacher or guru on the earth path. Your assignment is to discover the Christ within you…. Teach yourself. Be your own master. … Find the Christ within.” (25)

At first, to the Christian mind, this idea of multiple “Christ”s seems ridiculous; however, remember from “Part One” of this series, that I introduced the New Age idea that there are multiple “Christ”s in the New Age belief system. The difference between these Christs is that they are just on different levels of enlightenment. As I stated, Jesus “Christ”, for example, is only a fourth-level Christ, while Buddha, on the other hand, is a sixth-level Christ! The coming New Age Christ, Maitreya, however, is a seventh-level Christ—the highest level of Christhood achievable! So, naturally, when Maitreya comes, whatever he has to say will be more true and right than those lower level Christs—like Jesus and Buddha. (26) It’s interesting that this was prophesied by Ellen G. White in the book she wrote describing in detail the last days of this Earth’s history: “The spirits deny the deity of Christ and place even the Creator on a level with themselves.” (27)

Let’s pivot now to the topic of how New Age Fundamentalism embodies this “You are god” teaching and how that is planned to play out: The “Lucis Trust”—founded in 1922 as “Lucifer Publishing Company”—publishes a newsletter. In a 1982 newsletter they said the following:

Therefore, there is no need for humanity to retreat into a scripturally induced helplessness and self-contempt. The “Kingdom of Heaven” is within each one of us, as we have been told…. We are, in fact, divine beings.

We can see the need for a different and truly spiritual form of fundamentalism based upon the real fundamentals of God immanent, universal love, brotherhood, human unity and global cooperation. Relying on these fundamentals we can found a new spiritual, social, political and moral order. Today, we can experience ourselves as we really are, and discover the true authority of our divine inner self.  Fundamentally, we must believe in the divinity of humanity. (28)

Note, the emphasis in the last sentence of that quote was from Lucis Trust, not me! “WE MUST BELIEVE IN THE DIVINITY OF HUMANITY”! A clear statement and call to arms for the New Age Movement! Their own words give them away. “We...see the need for a different...form of fundamentalism.”

In regards to this “different...form of fundamentalism”, I would like to remind you, as I explained in “Part One” of this series, that in spite of all the peace and love and spirituality of the New Age Movement, at its core roots (naturally, being Satanic), it is ultimately anti-Christian, and there’s a word used in the Bible to describe this aspect: “Antichrist”. It’s no coincidence that this word was chosen. (29)

There’s a lot here to unpack but for now, I just want to make one comment: In the beginning of reading this excerpt, I was thinking they were saying that fundamentalism was bad, but by the time I got to the end, I realized I was wrong. They were not saying that fundamentalism was bad. They were just lobbying for a “New, improved” fundamentalism! And, in their own words, that version—their version—of fundamentalism will also come with a price: “Unfortunately, an illusory absolute security can only be purchased at the price of submission to absolute authority.” Fascinating!

To put it as simply as I can, Revelation 13 speaks of the last-day, end-time events which will include an entity (it’s called a “beast”) that performs great signs—even calling down fire from Heaven (v. 13). It will deceive the inhabitants of the earth (v. 14). And, the beast will have the power to kill all who refuse to worship the image of the beast (v. 15). This beast also forces “all people” to receive a mark showing their forced allegiance to that beast (v. 16). This, in the end, is the fundamentalism of the New Age Movement. Death to all who will not bow to its Satanic gods—“the price of submission to absolute authority”.

To sum up this section on the new age teaching of “Being God”, I will share with you one of my Gary-isms. It’s “Gary-ism #5”:

“There is a god, and I am not it! I get to choose my “Higher Power”, but thousands of years of History have shown that choosing oneself as god doesn’t end well.” (30)

CONCLUSION:

My conclusion to this essay and my 3-essay series on the “New Age Movement” is this: We humans were originally created to be connected in relationship with GOD. Adam and Eve chose—with Satan’s completely evil and absolutely wicked assistance—to break that connection. GOD, through Jesus’ life and death restored we human’s ability to connect with The GODhead. Yet we must choose to have that connection made. Because of that ability to choose, it is Satan’s #1 goal until our dying day to keep us from choosing to connect to GOD.

Because of that goal, Satan will say or promise us absolutely anything—whether true or not—to keep us from making that choice to connect to GOD. He knows that by default—if we don’t choose Team GOD, we are automatically on his team. (31) So, if we just go through our lives ignoring (or saying “No”) to that opportunity to connect with GOD, that works for Satan just fine, but because we were created for connection, Satan has enabled multiple substitute connections to fill that “God-shaped hole”. (32)

Satan doesn’t care which substitute we choose, as long as it isn’t GOD. I would like to share the challenge Joshua, the Israelite leader, gave to his people—GOD’s chosen people upon entering the “Promised Land”: “If you decide that it’s a bad thing to worship GOD, then choose a god you’d rather serve—and do it today. … As for me and my family, we’ll worship GOD.” (33)

As I have shown in these three essays on the New Age Movement, for those who desire and want to pursue a “Spiritual” connection, Satan has created fake, false, and phony religions—all based in deception. One of those deceptive religions is the “New Age Movement”—which claims to be “New”, but is just old Satanism wrapped in shiny new terminology. And, as I’ve shown, it’s nothing but old—even the oldest—deceptive arguments ever made! Satan is so unoriginal that he can’t actually even come up with any actually “new” arguments!

Don’t get me wrong, though, his deceptions—whether new or old—are extremely powerful and effective until exposed through an understanding of the Truth as laid out in GOD’s Word: The Holy Bible. It has been my attempt in these essays to do this exposing for as I shared at the top of each essay:

“I am concerned that just as Eve was deceived by the lies of Satan, so your minds may be tricked into turning away from the pure love and devotion to Christ.”

~ The Apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians 11:3 (1)

FOOTNOTES:

1. The Remedy, New Testament Paraphrase, by Timothy R. Jennings, M.D.

2. Note on The Voice Bible: “Italics indicate words not directly tied to the dynamic translation of the original language. These words bring out the nuance of the original, assist in completing ideas, and often provide readers with information that would have been obvious to the original audience.” (Emphasis mine)

3. The Faithful Version “reflects the meaning of the original Hebrew...with fidelity and accuracy.”

4. Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 702, emphasis mine.

5. This Day with the Master, November 14, emphasis mine.

6. “Signs of the Times”, April 9, 1902, par. 1.

7. Psalms 51:5.

8. Steps to Christ, p. 43, emphasis mine.

9. I Peter 3:3, The Remedy, emphasis mine.

10. https://deepakchopra.medium.com/the-enlightened-self-what-it-means-for-you-e87432f8b17c

11. “Glossary of Esoteric Terms”, from The Awakening of Humanity by Benjamin Creme, emphasis mine.

12. Grok A.I. conversation regarding “New Age Enlightenment”.

13. Ibid, emphasis mine.

14. Ibid, emphasis mine.

15. Ibid, emphasis mine.

16. Ibid, emphasis mine.

17. Emphasis mine. See also: Jeremiah 17:5-9, NLT

18. The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow: The New Age Movement and Our Coming Age of Barbarism by Constance Cumby, (c) 1983, p. 41, emphasis mine.

19. Ibid, p. 131-32, emphasis mine.

20. Ibid, p. 164-5, 168, emphasis mine.

21. Benjamin Creme, The Awakening of Humanity, p. 91.

22. From the blog post: “We are Already God, We’ve Just Forgotten”: https://www.thymindoman.com/we-are-already-god-weve-just-forgotten/

Note: I said “eloquently” for a reason. The enemy of our souls is wise, and articulate. We must never forget this!

23. As quoted by Constance Cumby, The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow, p. 173, emphasis mine.

24. Ibid, p. 179, emphasis mine.

25. Ibid, p. 181, emphasis mine.

26. For comparison, Maitreya spokesperson, Benjamin Creme, states that only 800,000 people have achieved “Level One” Christhood!

27. The Great Controversy, p. 552.

28. Cumby, The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow, p. 237-38, emphasis mine, with the exception of the last line (emphasis by them!).

29. For more on the Biblical use of the word “Antichrist, see: 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:1-3; 2 John 7.

30. To see my full list of Gary-isms, go here: https://notesfromthegc.blogspot.com/2022/01/gary-isms.html

31. “We must inevitably be under the control of the one or the other of the two great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world. It is not necessary for us deliberately to choose the service of the kingdom of darkness in order to come under its dominion. We have only to neglect to ally ourselves with the kingdom of light. If we do not cooperate with the heavenly agencies, Satan will take possession of the heart, and will make it his abiding place.”  ~ Ellen G. White, Desire of Ages, p. 324.

32. The famous “God-shaped hole” quote is a paraphrase of mathematician Blaise Pascal’s words “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man, which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Google A.I.)

33. Joshua 24:15