The New World Religion – Part 1
| By: Gary Kah; ©1999 |
| Gary Kah, author of a new book by the above title, explains how the modern ecumenical movement relates to the New Age Movement, and the historical events have contributed to its current status. |
Contents
The New World Religion – Part 1
In my first book, En Route to Global Occupation, I summarized the economic, political and spiritual aspects of the one-world/New Age movement, showing their interaction in the pursuit of a global civilization. My latest book, The New World Religion, picks up where En Route left off, bringing people up-to-date on the most recent developments while examining the one-world movement’s spiritual roots and religious goals.
In order to achieve their occult objective, New Agers had to deal with the “problem” of Christianity which had been the main obstacle to their success. Christians had to somehow be neutralized or, if possible, seduced to unwittingly support their agenda. The modern ecumenical movement, as I documented in my book, has played a key role in accomplishing this mission.
Most people do not realize that today’s ecumenical movement is an integral part of the broader one-world movement. The seeds for twentieth-century ecumenism were sown in the late 1800s. During that time there was a growing interest in achieving unity for the alleged purpose of building an earthly utopia. Masonically-inspired organizations, ranging from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn to the Theosophical Society, were busy laying the groundwork for the next century, which they hoped might finally usher in their long-awaited new world order.
Against this backdrop, religious leaders from around the world gathered in Chicago for an unprecedented ecumenical event—the 1893 Parliament of the World’s Religions (also known as the Parliament of World Religions). The people who attended this international conference came from a variety of faiths. Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Roman Catholics, Protestants, and a host of others prayed and dialogued together for seventeen days. This was the largest interfaith leadership conference of its kind up to that time.
In the following decades, two catastrophic world wars were fought, each adding to the one-world movement’s momentum. World War I resulted in the League of Nations and World War II led to the United Nations. Both were created in the name of world peace. These institutions would give the secret societies a focal point around which they could rally religious leaders. The public, worn down from years of war, was ready to accept a new approach to maintaining peace. The United Nations was presented as the only hope for peace between nations and unity among the world’s religions.
Riding this crest of postwar sentiment, global planners seized the moment, attempting to unite the Protestant denominations through one organization. Although the spirit of ecumenism had been alive for decades, the founding of the pro-U.N. World Council of Churches in 1948 marked the beginning of the modern ecumenical era.
Strongly influenced by the Masonic Lodge and with funding from major “old money” sources such as the Rockefeller Foundation, the World Council of Churches (WCC) embarked on its mission. From the time of its first meeting in Amsterdam its purpose was clear: to help create the religious atmosphere for achieving a new world order. In a report issued in 1994 at one of its meetings in Jerusalem, the WCC confirmed this intention, stating: “After the second world war, the establishment of the World Council of Churches in 1948 signaled the resolve of the ecumenical community both to work for the fuller unity of the church and to participate in the struggle for a new just world order.”
While the efforts of the World Council of Churches have been paramount in bringing some of the Protestant denominations together, no event would give greater momentum to the ecumenical movement than Vatican II. The Catholic Encyclopedia proudly boasts, “The greatest religious event of the twentieth century, whose teachings and clarifications have yet to reach their full impact, was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council, called Vatican II or the Second Vatican Council.”
Vatican II, which opened on October 11, 1962 at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, added fuel to the growing ecumenical movement and helped pave the way for the acceptance of interfaithism. Pope John XXIII presided over the Council’s proceedings. According to M. Basil Pennington, a prominent Catholic priest, the Council urged “all Christians … to act positively to preserve and even promote all that is good in other religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, and other world religions.” To carry out this interfaith directive, the Vatican Council established the Secretariat for Non-Christians, which would eventually be renamed the Secretariat for World Religions.
Years later, Pope John Paul II would take the Council’s initiatives a step further by holding an actual interfaith summit in Assisi, Italy (discussed in my book). This 1986 gathering, consisting of leaders from the world’s major religions, and initiated by the Pope himself, would represent a visible transition from “ecumenical” to “interfaithism.”
Although these terms are often used interchangeably today, historically the public has viewed ecumenism as an effort aimed at unifying Christian churches. Interfaithism, on the other hand, has been perceived as a broader attempt to unify the world’s religions. In spite of the public’s perception, beneath the surface, ecumenism and interfaithism have been intertwined. The fact is, ecumenism has been used by New Age religious planners as a springboard to interfaithism. Once most of Christendom had been brought together under a false unity, it was thought that Christianity might be prepared to go the next step by merging with the other religions.
Regarding the spiritual condition of the world in the latter days Jesus warned that “even the elect” would be deceived if that were possible (Matt. 24:24). What better way to deceive believers than through a false unity, which has the appearance of Christianity, but is actually rooted in pantheism and the occult?
During the next few months, as religious and political events unfold and the new millennium approaches, we will keep you abreast of the ways in which the New Age/one-world movement is advancing its agenda—especially as it relates to Christians. It is my sincere hope and prayer that our articles will not only inform you but will encourage biblical discernment and obedience to God’s Word!
For complete documentation and more information on this vital subject, you are encouraged to obtain Gary Kah’s newly released book The New World Religion (330 pages, including over 50 exhibits and 350 footnotes).
