A Christian Reflection on the New Age

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A Christian Reflection on the New Age refers to a six-year study by the Roman Catholic Church on the New Age movement.^[1][2][3][4] The study, published in 2003, is highly critical of the New Age movement and follows the 1989 document Aspects of Christian meditation, in which the Vatican warned Catholics against mixing Christian meditation with Eastern approaches to spirituality.

The document's title is Jesus Christ, the bearer of the Water of Life.^[2][5][6] The document discusses the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well, which it characterizes as "a paradigm for our engagement with truth".^[2][7]

The document considers the New Age based on "weak thought" and emphasizes the differences between Catholic thought and the New Age.^[2][5][8][9] According to the review of the document in The Tablet, "there is never any doubt in the document that New Age is incompatible with and hostile to the core beliefs of Christianity."^[6]

Expressing general agreement with the views expressed by the document, Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, said that there would be widespread agreement among Baptists that New Age ideas are contrary to Christian tradition and doctrine.^[8]