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Oprah's New Religion?

I sent the following e-mail to some of my friends and one of them encouraged me to send it to a Christian Magazine. But, after receiving responses from several of my other friends, I decided I really like the give and take of discussion. That's how I found ChristianBlog.com (This is my very first post, so I hope I haven't broken a hand full of rules in one fell swoop. Please let me know if I'm being out of line!) God bless!

A

Ok, so I've gotten some pretty extreme e-mails about Oprah starting a cult or "Oprah's New Religion." Instead of forwarding willy-nilly, I decided to check it out and see what she's actually saying. Turns out the book Oprah picked for her latest book club selection is called "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle. Basically, it is just the latest reworking of some "new age" concepts that have been around for a very long time. While I don't think she's out to take over the world, I do think that she has fallen under some false teaching and because of her massive influence, she has the potential to lead millions of people down the wrong path. (Oprah's show has approximately 23 million viewers per week, O Magazine sells 2.3 million copies a month, Oprah's Book Club has a million members, Oprah.com averages 6 million visitors and has 1.3 million newsletter subscribers a month and her first live webcast about this book drew 500,000 participants and overloaded the servers. The webcast is also available in archives continually.)

I think the scariest part of her "teaching" is the way she makes anyone who disagrees seem ignorant or intollerant. If people are open to Tolle's ideas, she is likely to intertwine it with Christian terminology in a way that makes it seem compatible. When people are obviously opposed, she attacks Christians as small minded. When asked how she reconciles these new teachings with her Christian upbringing, she says that she was able to reconcile it by "opening her mind" to the realization that God is just our limited attempt to explain the bigger truth that this book explains. In other clips she states that she believes all religions lead to God, they just have different terminology. While that sounds great, the Bible says that there is "one true God" and the only way to relationship with Him is through Jesus. Oprah has specifically asserted that Jesus could not possibly be the only way to God.

While the original classes are available on Oprah.com, I found there are shorter clips on YouTube.com and there have been articles from several news outlets. I've included several of those below. The article I found most helpful, though, was from Probe Ministries (www.probe.org). It explains, point by point, why what Oprah is teaching is NOT compatible with the Bible without falling into hysterics.

While I don't think there is any danger of Oprah-zombies suddenly taking over the earth, I do think it is our responsibility as Christians to be informed and to "be prepared to give an answer" (1 Peter 3:15) to those who may ask us why we disagree. See what you think...

A

Probe.org--Oprah's Spirituality: Exploring "A New Earth"
http://www.probe.org/cults-and-world-religions/oprahs-spirituality-exp loring-a-new-earth.html

msn.com--Is Oprah Winfrey America's advisor? Joe Scarborough investigates.
(33% of those polled say they get more spiritual advice from Oprah than from Clergy)
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/church-of-oprah/3879867142

USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2008-03-02-oprah-tolle_n.htm

FoxNews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351545,00.html

YouTube.com: Oprah & Eckhart God is not about belief, but about feeling
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=sjWrBbDvI3M&feature=related
(also see an article about why for Christians it SHOULD be about belief and not feelings: http://christiantheology.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/faith-and-feelings/)

YouTube.com: Oprah & Eckhart Conduct Mass Trance
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=t4G1U6DK8aU&feature=related

YouTube.com: What Happens When We Die
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7FCNGxto-8c&feature=related

YouTube.com: Don't Drink the Kool-Aid
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zf3Gh8dVoBo&feature=related
(from csteeleonline.com which is actually promoting a book by the same name)

posted: 05/08/2008 10:31pm by savdbyluv View: Backlinks, Permalink Total Views: 865 ShortURL: http://christianblog.com/f2c8 Category: TV & Movies	Print This Blog Entry
Blog Tags: book, http, million, oprah, probe, youtube,
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Author: savdbyluv
Location: Ankeny Iowa USA
Gender: Female
Age: 42
Blog Entries: 1 (archive)
Blog Comments: 2

My Biography:

Just ask, I'll probably tell ya more than you wanted to know....

My Testimony:

my personal testimony is that i felt god's call on my life in junior high, but due to lack of spiritual guidance and a serious rebellious streak, i came to christ the really hard way. it is my prayer that this makes me better at extending grace since i need... view full testimony

I would really love to see Oprah saved one of these days. All we can do is put it in God's hands and PRAY.

Posted 05/09/2008 07:29am
Author: paprika89

I saw a clip on the news about the church of Oprah. I was going to check it out but have not yet. Thank you for doing this research.
KraftyKatz
:coffee:

drinking tea

Posted 05/09/2008 08:15am
Author: kraftykatz

I think what Oprah is trying to get across in her own dull-witted and Oprah-esque way, is that she believes that what Jesus meant when He said that "The only way to The Father is through me," is that the only way to heaven was through emulating Him and His life on earth by doing good deeds and living as Christ would want you to live. This question of whether or not salvation can be attained just through blind faith and believing in Jesus's death and resurrection for our sins is indeed a valid one and should be critically pondered by all Christians. Would a God-fearing hindu be forever cast into eternal hellfire even if they emulated Christ through their actions, but did not culturally identify with Christianity? Because it should be recognized that Christianity is more in a person's life than a religion, it is a cultural foundation that some may find less appealing than the next. If Oprah did indeed say that the most righteous God of all creation is some sort of simplification of reality, then she will be soorly mistaken after expelling her last breath when she is forced to confront her all powerfull God. She will reap what she has sown just as we all will.

Posted 05/26/2008 03:40am
Author: christconsciousness

Acts 4:10 - 12 (KJV) 10Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Posted 05/26/2008 06:02am
Author: tchable

I agree with you all on the whole Oprah thing, she is trying to find salvation through herself! It's really sad

Posted 05/26/2008 10:30am
Author: paprika89

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