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The Great Heretical Idea: Part 4 Oprah, Butterworth, Tolle and the Divinity of Man The Queen's "New" Suit of Clothes By Warren Smith April 9, 2008 |
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The Great Heretical Idea: Part 4 Oprah, Butterworth, Tolle and the Divinity of Man The Queen's "New" Suit of Clothes By Warren Smith April 9, 2008 |
"The good old minister went into the room where the swindlers sat before the empty looms. ‘Heaven preserve us!’ he thought, and opened his eyes wide, 'I cannot see anything at all,' but he did not say so. Both swindlers requested him to come near, and asked him if he did not admire the exquisite pattern and the beautiful colours, pointing to the empty looms. The poor old minister tried his very best, but he could see nothing, for there was nothing to be seen. ‘Oh dear,’ he thought, ‘can I be so stupid? I should never have thought so, and nobody must know it! Is it possible that I am not fit for my office? No, no, I cannot say that I was unable to see the cloth.'"43
– Hans Christian Andersen, The Emperor’s New Suit
Tolle and the Queen’s ‘New’ Suit of Clothes
In the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” some swindlers convince the Emperor and his ministers to see a suit of clothes that is actually non-existent. These swindlers convince the Emperor and his ministers by telling them that only “intelligent,” well-informed citizens can see the suit. Publicity about the Emperor’s “new” suit went out unto all the kingdom as people were told what they were supposed to see. The people realized that if they were to be perceived as “smart” and not seem “stupid” they would see this suit of clothes. And, of course, no one wanted to be perceived as stupid.
Soon it was publicized throughout the kingdom that the Emperor would be showing off his “new” suit of clothes in a public procession several days hence. When the day came, the naked Emperor walked among his people and received unanimous acclaim for his new suit of clothes. The people saw what they had been told to see. “Isn’t it absolutely wonderful,” all the people proclaimed. “The emperor is all dressed up in his new suit of clothes.”
Everyone was so taken by the Emperor’s “new” suit of clothes, that they barely heard the little boy who hadn’t been told what he was supposed to see. “But the emperor isn’t wearing any clothes,” said the lad. “The emperor is naked.”
Several people heard the boy and realized that what he was saying was true. Suddenly everyone’s eyes were opened and they realized they had been tricked into seeing something that wasn’t even there. The Emperor wasn’t wearing a new suit of clothes. He was as naked as the day that he was born. Swindlers had deceived the Emperor, his ministers, and almost the whole kingdom with their clever scheme.
And so it is with the “New” Age/”New” Spirituality and Oprah Winfrey. Widely regarded as the “Queen” of the airwaves, Oprah has been deceived into seeing a “New” Age/”New” Spirituality “suit of clothes” that simply isn’t there. The Queen’s advisors – Eric Butterworth, Maya Angelou, Marianne Williamson, Gary Zukav, Neale Donald Walsch, Esther Hicks, Eckhart Tolle, and countless others -- have all been similarly deceived into seeing this “new” way of looking at themselves and the world. Deceived and deceiving, they in turn convinced the Queen that she and everyone in her kingdom just needed to “shift” past their “egos” and “awaken” to the fact that they were already clothed in “Christ” – that they were already wearing this “new” suit from the New Age/New Spirituality wardrobe. All they had to do was accept and affirm the “God” and “Christ” within.
The Queen was very excited. She said she would help everyone “awaken” and “shift” to this new “Christ consciousness” – this “new” way of “seeing” themselves and their world. Being a sympathetic and caring person, she wanted the whole world to see what she and her advisors were seeing – that everyone was divine and clothed in this “Christ consciousness.” She knew that if this “New” Age/”New” Spirituality suit of clothes was presented properly, all the wise and well-informed people would “see” her point of view and “get it.” They would “awaken” as she and Marianne Williamson and Eckhart Tolle had. If everyone would just “awaken” and “shift” to this new way of seeing themselves, then everything in the kingdom could be made right again. With this “Great Awakening,” all of humanity could spiritually evolve and world peace could finally be achieved.
So with great fanfare and publicity, the Queen went on the worldwide web and told everyone in the world that what she and Eckhart Tolle were teaching was the most exciting thing she had ever done. On her first Internet class, the Queen told her enthusiastic followers that there was nothing more important than “awakening” to the “New” Spirituality – that we are all clothed in “Christ” and that we are all dressed in this same suit of clothes because we are all “God” and we are all “Christ.” She was hopeful everyone would see the world as “A New Earth” the way she and Eckhart, and all of her New Age colleagues, saw it. But she was worried about the people who were not smart enough to see that they were “God” and “Christ.” She told everyone in her first Internet class if there isn’t a shift, God only knows what will happen to us.
The Queen’s urgency let everyone know that it was really important that they have the “awakening” and make the “shift” to the “Christ” within. She was very charismatic and very convincing as she made it clear that the well-being of the planet depended on everyone seeing themselves as “God” and “Christ.” She and Eckhart warned that people would either be smart and evolve, or they would die.
But it wasn’t a little boy who warned the Queen that she was being greatly deceived – the warnings were from the one true God that had created her. His Holy Bible warned her not to be deceived by false prophets and false Christs that claimed that “Christ” was within every person. His Scriptures made it clear that Jesus Christ was the one and only true Christ. But the Queen wasn’t listening to the words of the Bible. She was listening to Eckhart Tolle, Marianne Williamson and her New Age colleagues.
Oprah’s Rude Awakening
Oprah has done her job well. For over twenty years she has enthusiastically and consistently communicated her New Age beliefs through countless New Age authors. Marilyn Ferguson and all those in the “Aquarian Conspiracy” must be very proud of her. Thanks to Oprah’s high visibility and continued popularity, “the great heretical idea” that “God” and “Christ” are within everyone has been “widely communicated” and is fast becoming our “new consensus” and “what everyone knows.”44 This ten-week class that she is teaching with Eckhart Tolle is the culmination of all that Oprah has sought to teach her viewers over the years about the New Age and how to see the world anew. But like the Emperor and his “new” suit of clothes, Oprah has been greatly deceived by her New Spirituality.
Sadly, if Oprah and her colleagues continue down the path of the New Age/New Spirituality, they will experience an “awakening” some day, but it will not be the “Great Awakening” they anticipated. Instead it will be a rude awakening come Judgment Day. On that day they will suddenly realize that God is God and they are not, and they never were. They will realize that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He is the one and only Christ, and there is no “Christ” within. They will see that they were deceived and that the Lord Jesus Christ really meant it when he said, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:4-5).
Just as the Apostle Paul prayed for Israel, may we all pray for Oprah and her millions of followers.“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.” (Romans 10:1-4)
The Truth:
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
Warren Smith is the author of Deceived on Purpose: The New Age Implications of the Purpose-Driven Church, The Light that was Dark: From the New Age to Amazing Grace and Reinventing Jesus Christ: The New Gospel.
Footnotes:
43. The Complete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales, edited by Lily Owens (Portland House, 1984), p. 439.
44. Marilyn Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in the 1980s (Los Angeles: J.P. Tarcher, 1980, p. 27-28.
© 2008 by Discernment Group
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