Is Rick Warren A New Ager?
Does Rick Warren Promote the New Age?
Are New Age Doctrines Being Taught By Rick Warren?
Does Rick Warren Support the New Age Movement?

One of the most bizarre, yet popular, accusations being made against Rick Warren is that he is a New Ager who is spreading New Age doctrines/ideas/views via his influential platform. This, according to his most vehement critics, is a sign of the end-times and the coming apostasy—i.e., the great falling away where many will be deceived by the forces of darkness! The widespread popularity of this delusion with regard to Warren seems to be the result of a book titled Deceived on Purpose by Warren Smith, an ex-New Ager who sees the New Age Movement under virtually every rock and around every bush (see my article Warren Smith: Self-Deceived On Purpose).

The only problem, of course, is that Rick Warren has consistently and boldly denounced the New Age movement and everything connected to it, including its skewed view of "God" (i.e., pantheism and/or panentheism). But to clear up any remaining questions about whether or not Warren is in any way seeking to spread pantheism, we need only look at what he himself has stated on the subject. Warren, in fact, has spoken out very harshly against the New Age on many occasions.

Consider these remarks from 1989: "One of the most amazing things to me is the popularity of the New Age Movement. It takes more faith to believe in that than it does to believe in Christianity. It is the most illogical, irrational thing" (Rick Warren, October 8, 1989, "God’s Purpose for Your Life"). And in a sermon the previous year, Warren declared: "[God] can be in many, many places all at the same time. He’s everywhere. That does not mean that God is everything. That’s pantheism. Don’t confuse the creator with His creation. He’s not everything but He is everywhere" (Warren, "Where Is God When You Need Him?," 1988).

Then, during a 1997 sermon, Warren made the following condemnation of the New Age, paying particular attention to the false notion that God is everything, everything is God, and we are God (i.e., pantheism):

"[A]nother really popular image or idol of God today is “God is the Force.”  “May the Force be with you.” . . . A lot of people buy into that. It’s real popular today. God is an energy force. This energy force flows around us and in us. . . . God flows through everybody and everything. Everything is in God and God is in everything. In fact, God’s in me, so I’m god! That’s exactly what Shirley MacLaine and a bunch of other people teach. You’re god!  . . . You’re not God and you know it. You’re just kidding yourself. God is not in everything. You hear this all the time. Everything is in God and God’s in everything. That’s a bunch of baloney! God is not in everything. God created everything. No doubt about that. But God is not in everything and everything is not God. That is called pantheism" (Warren, "Developing Trust," part 3, April 20, 1997).

Warren echoed these sentiments in his book, The Purpose Driven Life, by denounces today’s "[m]any religions and New Age philosophies" that teach what Warren calls Satan’s oldest lie: "that we are divine or can become gods." He also notes, "Let me be absolutely clear: You will never become God, or even a god," then adds, "God doesn’t want you to become a god; he wants you to become godly" (Warren, p. 172). And in a 2002 joint article with his wife, Kay, Rick Warren made yet another proclamation against the new Age movement

"[F]or other people peace means trying new age gimmicks, like gazing at crystals, or using aromatherapy, or sitting in a lotus position and contemplating lint in their navel and going, 'Ommmmm.' But that's not peace of mind either. Let me tell you what real peace of mind is. Real peace of mind is having a relationship with Jesus Christ, God's Son, and becoming friends with God" (Ministry ToolBox, issue #80, 12/11/2002)

Clearly, Warren is not a New Ager. Far from it. In fact, there are a number of articles by various authors at pastors.com and representatives of Warren at purposedriven.com that have repeatedly criticized the New Age movement, its beliefs, its agenda, and its proponents. Consider the following examples:

"About one mile from our church is a 'New Age' farm that regularly holds meetings and training sessions. Their content includes topics as diverse as fire walking, root charms, and a host of inner conscience earth/spirit activities. . . . As post-modern thinking emerges, there is a new openness to spirituality, but it is not a spirituality that seeks absolute truth. It is a spirituality that looks for solutions that work in real life. Whatever works, whatever is best, that will be the spirituality that is considered truth, and people are looking for it everywhere. The spiritual showdown that takes place within hearts today is like the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal (Dennis Baril, Ministry Toolbox, Issue #42, 3/6/2002).

"Craig explained how the scientific principle of Ockham's razor shaves away the multiple gods of polytheism, leaving us with a single Creator. In addition, the personal nature of the Creator argues against the impersonal divine force that's at the center of some New Age religions" (Lee Strobel, Ministry Toolbox, Issue #153, 5/5/2004). This particular article also condemns pantheism by name, declaring: "Pantheism, the idea that the Creator and universe are co-existent, also falls short of accounting for the evidence, because it cannot explain how the universe came into existence. After all, if the pantheistic god didn't exist prior to the physical universe, then it would not be capable of bringing the universe into being."

"Has Purpose Driven been influenced by New Age 'theology'? Not at all. Purpose Driven is founded on the same beliefs that disciples of Jesus Christ have held for the last 2,000 years. . . . In contrast, "New Age" is a catch-all label for a hodgepodge of primitive religious beliefs accepted by some people who are looking for salvation in something other than Christ. Many New Agers believe in pantheism—the idea that everything is God and God is everything. Notions of karma and reincarnation are fashionable in those circles. Some New Age groups teach that each person is a potential god, others that all religions are equally valid paths to one universal Ultimate Reality. 'But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we exist for him. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life'" ("Who We Are; FAQ").

On a very personal level, I can say (and prove) that Rick Warren stands diametrically opposed to the New Age based on his endorsements of two of my own books, both of which include lengthy and detailed refutations of: 1) the New Age movement as a whole; and 2) various doctrines promoted by the New Age. These two books are: Defending the Faith: A Beginner's Guide to Cults and New Religions; and its companion volume Cults, New Religious Movements and Your Family (see these reviews from Answers In Action).

The first book (Defending the Faith) refutes several New Age concepts/teachings: pantheism, Jesus as just an "Ascended Master," impersonal nature of the Holy Spirit, the "illusion" of sin (there is neither true right, nor true wrong; no actual good, and no actual evil), and the non-literal resurrection of Jesus. Regarding this volume, Warren stated: "Richard Abanes has done a brilliant job of describing complex theological truths in an easy-to-understand style. I enthusiastically recommend this book."

The second book (Cults, New Religious Movements and Your Family) features an entire chapter—the very first chapter, in fact—that is dedicated to refuting the New Age movement and its many disparate teachings. It is titled "Behind the New Age Craze" and includes: 1) a testimony from a former New Ager who became a Christian; 2) a history of the New Age movement's origins/spread; 3) a comparison of N Age teachings to the Bible; 4) an explanation of why/how so many people are drawn into the New Age movement; and 5) a lengthy list of recommended reading sources for people to learn more about the dangers of the New Age movement. Concerning this volume, Warren said: "If you are interested in cult-proofing your family, this is the book to read."

It doesn't sound like Warren is very much of a New Ager! In fact, Warren preaches/teachers standard, Southern Baptist, Bible based doctrines on every essential of the Christian faith, including those related to God, the Bible, the cross, sin, hell, and repentance (see my two articles The Doctrinal Essentials of Christianity—and Rick Warren and Saddleback Church: The Cross, Sin, and Hell).
QUOTING NON-CHRISTIANS!

Despite the clarity of Warren's position, many critics have continued to assert that he is most definitely a New Ager simply because he has occasionally quoted, cited, or referred to various individuals who could indeed be connected to the New Age. But this doe snot make him a New Ager and more than his quoting of the atheist Bertrand Russell (1872–1970)—"Unless you assume God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless"—ties him to atheism.

Warren feels, and I do too, that a person does not have to be a Christian in order to make an astute observation, or say something that is true. All "truth"—wherever it may be found—is God’s truth. A true observation about the way people think or feel is a true observation, no matter who says it. So if I quote something that is true in order to make a point, then it really does not matter who said it, whether it was a Buddhist, an atheist, or a space alien!

On my own website, for instance, I have quoted Oscar Wilde, who said: "Music is the art which is most nigh to tears and memory." Does this link me in any way to homosexuality? Hardly.

Christians as far back as the first century were quoting pagans in hopes of communicating the truths of the Gospel. They saw that unbelievers, including the Greek philosophers, had made astute observations about God and possessed some truths consistent with Christianity. In the Gospel of John, for instance, we find the Greek word logos (“Word”) being used to describe Jesus. Logos was a Greek philosophical term that represented "reason" as a sort of bridge between the unreachable God and earthly matter. Hence, Jesus, as the eternal logos, is the bridge between God and man.

Like John, Paul the apostle also quoted various pagans in his attempts to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the unbelieving world. The following is excerpted from my book Rick Warren and the Purpose that Drives Him.



Are we now going to say that John and Paul can (or should be) tied to Greek paganism? I don't think so.