When I go out to evangelize, I meet a lot of people that say they know Jesus but they redefine who Jesus really is. Their Jesus is not the Biblical Jesus. The enemy is perfectly fine with people believing in a Jesus invented from man’s vain imagination as long as it isn’t the Jesus who is Almighty God (Rev. 1:8) as written in the Bible. Any other Jesus but the real Jesus (who is the Biblical Jesus) can’t save a person. For instance, in Islam, Jesus is merely one of the prophets of Allah. It is actually an unforgivable sin (called shirk) to believe Jesus is truly God. A key belief of Islam is that Jesus is not the Almighty God and cannot be the Son of God. Muslims also reject that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world and was resurrected. The Koran reads about Jesus, “They did not slay him, neither crucified him,” and, “The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary was only a Messenger of God,” and, “They are unbelievers who say, ‘God is the Messiah, Mary’s son (Surah 5:17)'”.

The Bible warns in 2 Cor. 11:4, “For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.”

The following is from the book The Kingdom of the Occult by the late Dr. Walter Martin:

The Ancient Magick Jesus

Johannes Trithemius (1462–1516)—an esoteric occult magician and a mentor to Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. He devoted himself to writing on angelic magic and integrated Jesus into his magical invocations. This invocation, taken from his book The Art of Drawing Spirits into Crystals, uses the Trinity and the name of Jesus for magical rites: “Taking your ring and pentacle, put the ring on the little finger of your right hand; hang the pentacle round thy neck . . . then take your black ebony wand, with the gilt characters on it, and trace the circle, saying, ‘In the name of the blessed Trinity, I consecrate this piece of ground . . . through Jesus Christ our Lord.’”11 Jesus, then, became part of a magick invocation, which is contrary to His holiness and righteousness.

Arbatel of Magick (1655)—a book, written anonymously, that was published in Latin in 1575 and translated into English in 1655. It contained, as the subtitle states, “the Spiritual Wisdom of the Ancients.” Jesus Christ is presented in the opening paragraphs as one who blesses magic and magical invocations. “In the Name of the Creator of all things . . . who revealeth his Mysteries out of his Treasures to them that call upon him; and . . . bestoweth his Secrets upon us without measure. May he grant unto us, through his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ our Lord, his ministering spirits, the revealers of his secrets, that we may write this Book of Arbatel, concerning the greatest Secrets which are lawful for man to know.”12

The Mystical Kabbalist Jesus

Heinrich (Henry) Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535)—an influential German philosopher, writer, and university lecturer on magic, the occult, and Cabala. His Catholic training enabled him to sound quite orthodox on the Trinity and Jesus Christ, but he departed from orthodoxy by claiming that there was particular magic in the name of Jesus, especially the Cabalistic four letters for Jehovah that he transforms into Jesus or Jesu.

Agrippa wrote:

“In the Church, over which the name of the Lamb hath influence, that is, the name of Jesus, in which is all the vertue (sic) of the four lettered name; seeing that Jehovah the Father hath given him all things. Therefore the Heavens receive from the Angels, that which they dart down; but the Angels from the great name of God and Jesu, the vertue whereof is first in God . . . being translated into the name of Jesus, in which only miracles are done. . . . Hence at this time no favour can be drawn from the heavens, unless the authority, favor and consent of the name Jesu intervene.13”

The Jupiter and Mars Jesus

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772)—the founder of the Church of the New Jerusalem, who claimed revelation through astral projection, spirit contact, and other occultic means. In Swedenborg’s revelations, he left his body and traveled the solar system, communicating with spirit-inhabitants of Venus through Jupiter, about which he wrote voluminous works. He taught that Jesus governs spirit communication with man: “Man is quite ignorant that he is governed by the Lord through angels and spirits, and that there are at least two spirits with a man and two angels. Through the spirits a communication of the man with the world of spirits is effected; and through the angels, with heaven.”14

In Swedenborg’s Earths in the Universe, we read that Jesus appeared on Jupiter, “The spirits and angels who are from the earth Jupiter . . . acknowledge our Lord. . . . They were asked, whether they know that the only Lord is a Man. They replied that they all know that He is a Man, because in their world He has been seen by many as a Man.”15 Jesus is adored on Mars: “The spirits of Mars are among those who are the best of all from the earths of this solar system, for they are mostly celestial men . . . they acknowledge and adore our Lord . . . that the Lord rules both heaven and the universe is a truth known also to Christians in this earth.

The Ascended Master Jesus

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831–1891)—the cofounder of Theosophy, which became the mother organization for many occultic, esoteric, and New Age groups. Blavatsky, the author of Isis Unveiled (1877), The Secret Doctrine (1888), and numerous Theosophical publications, taught the existence of a Hierarchy of Ascended Masters in heaven. Jesus is one of them. They teach the law of Karma and reincarnation that they claim Jesus taught and was also subject to. In true Gnostic fashion, Blavatsky stated that Jesus is not the Christ: “For Christ—the true esoteric Saviour—is no man but the DIVINE PRINCIPLE in every human being.”17

The Aquarian Part-Time Christ

Levi H. Dowling (1844–1911)—a preacher who became a physician. He had a recurring vision to “build a white city” that led him on esoteric and occult paths. The city he sought became the “translation” of a book from his occult visions of the Akashic Records from the Aquarian Masters, The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus, the Christ of the Piscean Age (1907). He imitated ancient Gnostics by separating Jesus from the Christ. Dowling taught that there are many christs and that one is sent to “every world and star and moon and sun.”18

The book reveals the lost eighteen years of Jesus’ life, where Dowling puts Him in India, Tibet, Persia, Assyria, Greece, and Egypt. The Aquarian Gospel states, “When we say ‘Jesus the Christ’ we refer to the man and to his office; just as we do when we say Edward, the King, or Lincoln, the President. Edward was not always king, Lincoln was not always president, and Jesus was not always Christ. Jesus won his Christship by a strenuous life.”19 Dowling apparently missed Luke 2:11, where Jesus “is” Christ at his birth. “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

The Full Moon Jesus

Alice Bailey (1880–1949)—a Theosophist who, through the occultic means of automatic writing and mediumship contacted a spirit named Djwhal Khul, also known as the Tibetan. She wrote twenty-six books with the Tibetan’s revelations and founded the Lucis Trust, the Arcane School, and World Goodwill. Her first revelation of the Christ came in June 1945, during “the Full Moon of the Christ, just as the Full Moon of May is that of the Buddha.”20 She received an invocation (prayer) that her followers recite daily, and she informed them that Jesus Christ and the Hierarchy of the Ascended Masters also recite it daily.21 In the Hierarchy, Buddha and Christ will be exalted together: “Buddha and the Christ will together pass before the Father . . . and eventually pass to higher service of a nature and a caliber unknown to us.”22 On reincarnation, she wrote that “Christ will teach the law of rebirth” at his reappearance.23

The Masonic Jesus

Freemasonry—lodges of several orders exist worldwide. As members of a secret lodge, Masons are oathbound not to reveal ceremonial rites on penalty of death, but numerous books written by former highly degreed Masons still remain the best source of information. Many of the Freemasonry rituals are considered occultic (secret or hidden), and they integrate Gnostic ideas, the Zodiac, and other beliefs with the Bible and Jesus Christ.

Masons teach that they can become Christs: “It is far more important that men should strive to become Christs than that they should believe that Jesus was Christ. . . . Jesus is no less Divine because all men may reach the same Divine perfection.”24 Albert Pike, Confederate officer and 33rd Degree Mason, revealed that Jesus was considered coequal with other religious leaders: “It reverences all the great reformers. It sees in Moses, the lawgiver of the Jews, in Confucius and Zoroaster, in Jesus of Nazareth, and in the Arabian Iconoclast, Great Teachers of Morality, and Eminent Reformers, if no more: and allows every brother of the order to assign to each such higher and even Divine Character as his Creed and Truth require.”25 He also questioned whether Jesus was the only redeemer: “He will redeem and regenerate the world, and the Principle, the Power, and the existence of Evil will then cease; that this will be brought about by such means and instruments as He chooses to employ; whether by the merits of a Redeemer that has already appeared, or a Messiah that is yet waited for, by an incarnation of Himself, or by an inspired prophet, it does not belong to us as Masons to decide.”26

The Great White Brotherhood Jesus

Guy Ballard (1878–1939) and Edna Ballard (1886–1971)—founded a popular Ascended Masters organization outside of the Theosophical Society, called the I AM movement and the Saint Germain Foundation.27 Guy believed he was Richard the Lionhearted, King Henry V, and George Washington reincarnated. Edna believed she was Benjamin Franklin and Joan of Arc. Steeped in occultism, the Ballards made Jesus Christ one of the members of the Great White Brotherhood of Ascended Masters, which is a hierarchy of heavenly beings (much like Theosophy). The Hierarchy, as it is called, is also known as the White Lodge, the Great White Lodge, and the Brotherhood. Writing under the pen name Godfré Ray King, Guy Ballard described how to receive the esoteric Christ: “The next step is the acknowledgment: ‘I now joyously accept the Fullness of the Mighty God Presence, the Pure Christ.’ Feel the Great Brilliancy of the ‘Light’ and intensify It in every cell of your body for at least ten minutes longer.”28

The Mystical Rosicrucian Jesus

Harvey Spencer Lewis (1883–1939) and Max Heindel (1865–1919)—Lewis was the founder of the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC) and Heindel founded the rival order, the Rosicrucian Fellowship. These American groups widely popularized Rosicrucianism, but others trace its history to small followings from the fourteenth century.29 Lewis claimed that Jesus was not Jewish— “Jesus was born of Gentile parents through whose veins flowed Aryan blood”30—and he did not die on the Cross—“Jesus was not dead. The blood flowing from the wounds proved that this body was not lifeless.”31 Instead, Jesus “retired to the monastery at Carmel [where] He lived for many years, and carried on secret missions with His Apostles.”32

Heindel claimed occult mysticism for Jesus: “The founder of the Christian Religion stated an occult maxim [in] (Mark 10:15). All occultists recognize the farreaching importance of this teaching of Christ.”33 In Gnostic terms, Heindel wrote, “The Christ spirit which entered the body of Jesus when Jesus Himself vacated it, was a ray from the cosmic Christ. We may follow Jesus back in His previous incarnations and trace His growth to the present day.”34

The Sleeping Prophet’s Jesus

Edgar Cayce (1877–1945)—was known as the “sleeping prophet” because he appeared to be sleeping while giving “readings” in a trance state. His following is worldwide, and he founded the organization Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE). From his fourteen thousand readings, he often spoke of God and Jesus Christ, since he was once a Protestant Sunday school teacher who read the Bible through some fifty times, but his teachings embraced a mixture of Theosophy and the occult.35

Cayce taught that Jesus and Christ are distinct entities: “Christ is not a man! Jesus was the man! Christ was the Messenger! . . . Christ in all ages!”36 Jesus was a man who had been reincarnated as “Amilius, as Adam, as Melchizedek, as Zend, as Ur, as Asaph, as Jeshuah—Joseph—(Joshua)—Jesus.”37 As Adam, then, the future Jesus is also the one who sinned in Eden, “Q: When did the knowledge come to Jesus that He was to be the Savior of the world? A: When He fell, in Eden.”38 In his early years, Jesus was taught the “tenets of the [Great White] Brotherhood,” he studied astrology, and was educated in Essene, India, Persia, and Egypt.

The Pure Energy Jesus

Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki (b. 1929)—director of the Servants of the Light School, a European New Age group. Ashcroft-Nowicki has seventeen books to her credit that include a redefinition of Jesus’ resurrection as a supercharged occult form of energy and not a resurrected human body. She interpreted Jesus’ statement in John 20:17, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father” (KJV), as meaning that he had a body of proto matter that consisted of pure energy. She further indicated that Mary may have been killed by an energy wave had she touched Him, since it would have destabilized His body’s thought form.40

The Christ Who Is Now Here

Benjamin Creme (b. 1922)—a New Age student of Theosophy, who surprised the world with the 1982 announcement placed in seventeen of the world’s largest newspapers that “the Christ Is Now Here.” When asked how he knew this, Creme revealed that he received telepathic psychic messages from a Tibetan (similar to Alice Bailey) whom he had never seen nor met. He founded the TARA Center, a New Age organization. Creme taught:

“God always works through agents. . . . The Christ is an agent. The Christ is not God. . . . The Christ is the Master of all the Masters, but He is not God, and never claimed to be God. He is a Son of God, but then so are we. . . . To me, God is the sum total of all that exists in the whole of the manifested and unmanifested universe. . . . That energy—because it is an energy (there isn’t anything else)—is not a man, but manifests through men. Maitreya, the Christ, is the embodiment of That Principle on this planet.”

The Astrologer’s Jesus, Christ, and Son

Linda Goodman, born Mary Alice Kemrey (1925–1995)—a sun-sign astrologer whose popular books maintain her strong influence long after her death. Astrologers today carry a variety of New Age ideas with varying degrees of flexibility, including karma, reincarnation, twin souls, soul mates, and God as an impersonal vibration permeating the universe (perhaps Brahma), although some astrologists, like Jeane Dixon, personalized God. Goodman claimed to be a Christian, but she wrote that Jesus was a married man and had a “Twin Soul.”42 Everybody can be “the Christ” as Jesus was, since “Christ is simply another term for the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit, which can enter into anyone.”43 On Jesus and the Trinity, she wrote, “Pluto’s vibratory Zero also contains the secret mystery of Christianity’s Holy Trinity. ‘Father-Son-Holy Ghost.’ The ‘son’ (humans of both sexes) is masculine energy. The ‘Holy Ghost’ (Christ’s spirit) is the feminine energy.”44 Goodman claimed to be a Christian, as many occult writers do, but the test of truth is whether their words align with God’s Word. She completely changed the nature of the Trinity into something unrecognizable in Scripture.

Jesus on the Wrong Course

Helen Schucman (1909–1981)—a Columbia University professor and medical psychologist who took the country by storm with her runaway best seller, A Course in Miracles (1975), channeled by an inner voice she claimed was Jesus Christ. Through these occult medium experiences, Schucman’s book aimed to correct errors in orthodox Christianity, which resulted in redefining many aspects of Christianity. The book has three parts. The first part represents Jesus speaking a new revelation where the apostles misunderstood the crucifixion: “The message of the crucifixion is perfectly clear. . . . Teach only love. . . . If you interpret the crucifixion in any other way, you are using it as a weapon for assault rather than as the call for peace for which it was intended. The Apostles often misunderstood it.”45 Schucman presented a Gnostic Christ, stating, “The name of Jesus is the name of one who was a man but saw the face of Christ . . . he became identified with Christ, a man no longer. . . . The man was an illusion. . . . Is he the Christ? O yes, along with you.”4

Spangler’s Awakened Jesus

David Spangler (b. 1945)—widely known among New Age adherents as an enthusiastic promoter of his paranormal and occult experiences. Encounters with out-ofbody experiences, spirit-beings, channeling, and UFOs led Spangler to embrace esoteric writings and education, which is reflected in his comments on separating Jesus from the Christ: “The true birth of the Christ was not the birth of Jesus. Jesus was an individual who himself had to recapitulate certain stages. He built upon the pattern the Buddha had established. . . . He himself had to become awakened. He had to, in his consciousness, touch this Christ pattern.”47 The Out-of-Body Psychic Christ Jane Roberts (1929–1984)—a trance medium channeler for a spirit named Seth. Roberts wrote a series of books called The Seth Material, based on her encounters with this entity. Her spirit communications came through out-of-body experiences, the Ouija board, trance channeling, and automatic writing. In Roberts’s view, the Christ is not Jesus alone, but is a group of people, chiefly Jesus, John, and Paul, the last of whom she stated, “The third personality of Christ will indeed be known as a great psychic.”48 She questioned whether Jesus was crucified, and referred to the crucifixion as a “psychic event.”

The Cosmic Jesus

Mantra Elizabeth Clare Prophet (b. 1939)—a Theosophist and New Age occultist who leads Summit Lighthouse and the Church Universal and Triumphant. A prolific author of more than seventy-five books, she has been the trance medium for several Ascended Masters who speak through her. Prophet has amassed a large following by merging the major tenets of world faiths into her system. “Students who come to Summit Lighthouse find on our altar a statue of the Buddha, a statue of Mother Mary, a magnificent painting of the Lord Jesus Christ and a painting of Saint Germain, the master of the Aquarian Age. Thus the blending of our spirits in East and West has produced a meditation upon the Mother, the Christ and the Buddha.”50 On mantras and meditation, Prophet wrote, “Jesus used mantras and he taught them to his disciples in the Upper Room, but much of this is not recorded in Scripture.”51 In their prayers, Prophet’s followers call for the Cosmic Christ: “I call for the great light of understanding of the Cosmic Christ, Lord Maitreya; of Jesus Christ and Kuthumi, the World Teachers; of Gautama Buddha and all who are serving with the evolutions of the earth for the advancement of consciousness.”52

The Soul-Traveling Jesus

Paul Twitchell (1918–1971)—an occultist who founded Eckankar, a religious organization that practices esoteric soul-travel, where the subject leaves his body to travel the spiritual planes taught by Eckankar. Twitchell’s theological perspective replaced the word God with the sacred name Sugmad, whom he described as the divinity in all life forms. ECK is the Divine Spirit. ECK Masters have emerged at times in history, of which the 971st is Twitchell. As an ECK Master, the reincarnated Jesus Christ soul-traveled and helped others do the same. Christ is actually an ECK Master from 3000 BC. “A Christian tends to clothe himself with feelings and thoughts of the Christ, and everything is seen in that context. Years later these particular individuals found that it wasn’t Jesus at all; it was the ECK Master Gopal Das.”53 Gopal Das, who is identified as Jesus Christ here, is also called the founder of the mystery cults of Osiris and Isis.

The UFO Jesus

Charles Boyd Gentzel “El-Morya” (1922–1981) and Pauline Sharpe “NadaYolanda” (1925–2005)—founders of Mark-Age, Inc., an occult group that mixes UFOs with Theosophical ideas. Gentzel and Sharpe received messages from UFO aliens and “etheric teachers” via automatic writing, and they taught that Jesus was the Christ or Sananda, orbiting the earth in a UFO as the commander of a fleet of UFOs that occasionally landed to demonstrate their reality to earthlings.5

Claude Vorilhon (b.1946)—also known as Rael, is the founder of the UFO cult the Raelian movement (1987). They surfaced in international news in 2002 by claiming to clone the first human baby. This gained international media attention and investigation, but Rael stonewalled media questions with silence. Rael, who openly calls himself the Messiah, God’s last prophet, and the fulfillment of the return of Christ, has medium communication with alien beings he believes are extraterrestrial human scientists, our creators, who reveal esoteric secrets.55 Their Internet “message” states that these extraterrestrial creators were misunderstood as “gods” and that they originated our main religions, namely that, “Jesus, whose father was Eloha, was given the task of spreading these messages [the Rael messages] throughout the world.”56 It was further stated that Jesus, Moses, Buddha, and Mohammed were alive on the extraterrestrials’ planet through an advanced cloning technique, which they claim is “the secret of eternal life.”57 Jesus as Michael William S. Sadler (1897–1969)—a medical doctor who was instrumental in the founding of the Urantia Foundation (1955) and the transcribing and publishing of The Urantia Book. The foundation has an estimated 250,000 followers who believe The Urantia Book is sacred scripture. The book claims to be a revelation from intergalactic superhuman beings that call the earth Urantia (one of the ten million inhabited planets in our local universe, and six other universes exist). These superbeings gave a history of the universe to two scribes as dictated from an anonymous person in a sleep state, similar to occult methods employed by channelers. The book corrects several supposed errors in the Bible and fills in missing data on Jesus Christ.

In The Urantia Book, the Paradise Trinity consists of “the Universal Father, the Eternal Son, and the Infinite Spirit.”58 They created “Creator Sons” called “Michaels.”59 The Creator Michaels created some 7 trillion inhabited planets (including earth),60 where “they are as Creators and Gods.”61 Michael of Nebadon is the creator of Urantia (earth). Jesus’ incarnation is described as follows: “The Eternal Son did come to mortal man on Urantia when the divine personality of his Son, Michael of Nebadon, incarnated into the human nature of Jesus of Nazareth.”62 Denying Jesus’ bodily resurrection, the book states, “His material or physical body was not a part of the resurrected personality. When Jesus came forth form the tomb, his body of flesh remained undisturbed in the sepulcher.”63

The Ouija Board and Jesus the Occult Master

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (b. 1942)—the author of four books about Ouija board contact with a spirit named Michael: Messages from Michael (1979), More Messages from Michael (1986), Michael’s People (1988), and Michael for the Millennium (1995). Yarbro popularized the Michael Teaching groups, and subsequent authors have published more than a dozen additional books containing “Michael Teachings” from various Michael groups in America. The premise of Michael’s spiritual teaching is New Age and claims that we are reincarnated beings. Michael, through the Ouija board, said, “Greek thought had much influence upon the man Jesus, particularly Epicurius. . . . Jesus was an occult master. . . . The man you call Jesus did not die on the Cross but died later.”64 Michael went on to reveal that Jesus was not virgin born and that he was a married man.

Jesus the Witch

Witchcraft, as a loosely knit belief system, still has its representative teachers and teachings. Patricia Crowther (b. 1927)—a Witch high priestess and spokesperson for Witchcraft, said this about Jesus: “I believe he was a Witch. He worked miracles or what we would call magic, cured people and did most things expected from a Witch. He had his coven of thirteen.”65

Jesus the Psychic

Jeane Dixon (1904–1997)—a world-famous psychic and astrologer who claimed to predict the assassination of the United States president John F. Kennedy through psychic powers.66 Dixon claimed that her psychic gifts came from the Lord, saying, “It is an awesome and inspiring feeling to be a worker for the Lord,” and, “I have been given certain psychic gifts which I have been working to develop and use in accordance with God’s will.”67

Mary T. Browne (n.d.)—a New York–based psychic and best-selling author who has more than five thousand clients from Wall Street and other upper-class professionals dependent upon her psychic abilities for their careers. Browne said of Christ, “Jesus was psychic. He told Thomas, ‘Before the cock crows, you will betray me three times.’ Tell me, is that not a psychic prediction?”68 Somehow, the psychic Browne missed the fact that it was Peter to whom Jesus said this, not Thomas.

Jesus the Powerless Mad Redeemer

Anton Szandor LaVey, born Howard Stanton Levey (1930–1997)—the author of The Satanic Bible (1969) and the founder of the Church of Satan (1966). Even though skeptics spoofed his mockery of Christianity, his longevity and steadfast followers demand serious attention. The Satanic Bible says little about Jesus Christ, since that is not the subject; however, the following lines call Jesus a powerless “mad redeemer” and mock his crucifixion. LaVey wrote, “I dip my forefinger in the watery blood of your impotent mad redeemer, and write over his thorn-torn brow; The TRUE prince of evil—the king of the slaves!”6

Ramtha’s Jesus Who Saved Himself

Judy Zebra Knight (J. Z. Knight), born Judith Darlene Hampton (b. 1946)— a deep trance channeler for a thirty-five-thousand-year-old spirit named Ramtha; she is the founder of Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment (1987). J. Z. Knight is a popular and sought-after New Age medium with a worldwide following. Knight wrote that Jesus was a God, just as other humans are, which places him in the status of a brother and not a savior. She also claimed that Jesus became a Christ, just as other humans have done, and that Jesus is not responsible for our salvation, because he was saving himself through the realization that he was God.70

Scriptural Response Jesus Christ, in the true essence of His being, cannot be changed by man’s whimsical or capricious desires. The doctrine of Christ’s immutability, which refutes all of man’s changes to his nature, is clearly laid out in Hebrews 1:8–12:

But to the Son He says:

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”

And:

“You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail.”

The Father addressed these statements to Jesus Christ. He quoted Psalm 102:25–27, directly applying these words to Jesus Christ. He was saying that Jesus created the heavens and earth, He remains, He is the same, and His years will not fail. These facts, coupled with Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever,” give ample support to the immutability of Christ’s nature.

When those within the cults, the occult, or world religions reinterpret Jesus, they directly contradict Scripture.

A Christian who understands Christology, as grounded in the New Testament texts, should have no difficulty exposing the errors of man’s twisted Jesus. There is only one true Jesus, so any “other Jesus” must be labeled false. In crafting their corrupted image of Him, these false teachers betray themselves and reveal that they know nothing of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The following Christian doctrines stand to refute all forces that rise up against our Savior:

• One God exists, and no others.

• Jesus Christ preexisted as God, second Person of the Trinity, coequal with the Father and Holy Spirit.

• He became God incarnate on earth through the miraculous conception of the Virgin Mary and was declared Lord and Christ at His birth.

• Jesus is Christ, and no others can be “a Christ.” He lived a sinless life. He vicariously atoned for our sins through His death upon the Cross. He rose from the dead in the same body as was crucified, yet it rose as a glorified immortal body. He ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the glory of God. He will personally return for His Church in the same manner in which He left.

Only One God The Bible explicitly teaches that no gods exist except the true and living God. Deuteronomy 6:4 states, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!” Isaiah added that no God existed before or after Him, “Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me” (43:10). The psalmist expressed the same doctrine: “You alone are God” (Ps. 86:10).71 Since occultists often portray Jesus as one among many gods, then we can rest assured in the biblical testimony that there is only one God.

God Is a Trinity of Persons

God is personal, which means that He has all of the characteristics of what makes a person, and He communicates that way throughout Scripture.72 The fact that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit communicate with one another as Persons goes further to demonstrate their personal distinction. All three Persons have eternally coexisted in perfect unity, harmony, and love in their nature as God.

It is important to note that the word one does not necessarily indicate a solitary existence. God referred to Adam and Eve as becoming “one flesh” in Genesis 2:24—the union of two people who became as one before Him. The unity of a composite character was recognized by God Himself as existing within the world He created.73

God is a person called the Father. This is easily proven from many biblical passages, such as Romans 1:7: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” There is no doubt the Father is a person, and He is God.

God is a person called the Son. Hebrews 1:8 makes this clear: “But unto the Son, He says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.’” God the Father spoke to another person, the Son, addressing Him as God. It is clear from Scripture that only one God exists, but we now see two persons as God.

God is a person called the Holy Spirit. In 2 Samuel 23:2–3, David wrote (as the introduction to his last prophecy), “The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me. . . . The God of Israel said . . .” (NKJV). David’s introduction shows the Holy Spirit is a speaker, a person, and that the same person is the God of Israel.

When the biblical evidence is examined, it reveals three divine persons as one triune God.74 Hundreds of verses provide a strong biblical foundation for the doctrine of the Trinity. Occult writers often deny that God is a personal Being, let alone a tripersonal Being, opting instead for a pantheistic, impersonal, all-permeating entity that is as much a rock as it is water or air. Some occult writers liken their god to an impersonal energy force akin to monism—all is one—sometimes called Mind, Force, consciousness, or universal energy. In any case, the personal nature of God, even the tripersonal nature of God as taught in the Scripture, corrects their error. Jesus’ nature as God is that of the true eternal person of God, the second person of the Trinity. When occult teachers alter Jesus’ deity and make Him less than true God, they have breeched a forbidden barrier and perverted the nature of the Son of God.

Jesus Is God Incarnate

Christians speak of the incarnation of Jesus Christ with the confidence of direct testimony in the Old and New Testaments. Becoming man did not change Jesus’ nature as God, and His nature as God incarnate did not alter His humanity. Neither His deity nor His humanity suffered change in the union of two natures as the unique person of Jesus Christ. One particular statement Paul made clearly illustrates this:

Who [Christ Jesus], being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Phil. 2:6–8)

In this remarkable passage, we find that Jesus preexisted in the “form of God.” The noted Greek scholar A. T. Robertson amplifies the Greek meaning: “In the form of God en morphei theou. Morphe means the essential attributes as shown in the form. In his preincarnate state Christ possessed the attributes of God and so appeared to those in heaven who saw him. Here is a clear statement by Paul of the deity of Christ.”75 The verb translasted “being” is a present active participle (huparchon), which demonstrates continuous action.76 Jesus was always and is continuously in the form (attributes) of God. He did not consider it “robbery” to be equal with God, since He existed as the eternal Word of God (John 1:1) prior to His incarnation (John 1:14) and as such fully shared all the Father’s prerogatives and attributes. Jesus had no desire and no need to strive for what was His by nature and inheritance.77

Paul tells us that Jesus, as God, became man by taking upon himself another “form” (same Greek word, morphe), the “form of a bondservant . . . in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:7). This Scripture gives Christians every solid reason to teach that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man united uniquely in one person. Other passages that directly demonstrate Christ’s deity are Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 1:23; John 1:1–14; 5:18; 8:58; 20:28; Acts 20:28; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:8–12; and 1 John 5:20.

Jesus Is the Christ

A common thread that runs through occult writing is the Gnostic heresy that separates Jesus from the Christ. To them, the Christ is a spiritual idea, mind, principle, essence, consciousness, spark, energy, force, or some other “christ spirit” entity that either indwelled or came upon Jesus and can likewise indwell or come upon any other person. Biblically, the word Christ is simply the Greek translation of the Hebrew term Messiah. The New Testament writers followed the Hebrew translators of the Septuagint and consistently replaced the Hebrew word “Messiah” for the Greek christos (Christ), which is from the word chrio, meaning to anoint. This is the equivalent of Messiah or anointed one in Hebrew. The apostle John understood this and stated that those who deny that Jesus is “the Christ” are liars. He wrote, “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?” (1 John 2:22). John pointedly said that believing in Jesus as “the Christ” is the reason he wrote his gospel: “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).

It is interesting to note that nowhere in the New Testament do we find Jesus as “a Christ,” as if there are many, but Jesus is always called “the Christ”78 or simply “Christ,” “Jesus Christ,” and “Christ Jesus.” No one else has that title. No christ spirit, consciousness, or any other entity came upon Jesus during his life—He was already Christ and Lord at his birth. “There is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

Jesus singled Himself out as the only Christ. In His teaching on the warning signs that will occur before His return, He said, “Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many” (Matt. 24:5). It cannot be emphasized enough that in the last days there will be many who will claim to be “the Christ,” but Jesus called them deceivers, and so they are. This stands as a strong indictment against Theosophists, New Agers, Kabbalists, mind-science groups, and all occultists who call themselves christs or who make christhood a goal to be achieved.

Occult believers claim the christ power for many—precisely what Jesus said we should not do. “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it” (Matt. 24:23). In the world of the occult, there is a christ here, there, and everywhere. A christ spirit or consciousness indwells them; they make becoming a christ one of their goals. Any group centered on the occult can point to one of their followers and say, “Here is the Christ” or “There is a christ.” Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Helena Blavatsky, Alice Bailey, Anne Besant, Charles Filmore, and L. Ron Hubbard are but a few of the many who have done so in print, fulfilling Jesus’ words—to their own destruction. Jesus clearly said, “Do not believe it!” Yet millions of their followers believe in vain. Jesus made it quite clear that He is the only Christ. The first sign of an imposter is when he or she claims to be a christ or teaches that every human being is christ. Do not believe it.

Finally, in Matthew 24:24, Jesus stated, “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” Do not be amazed or persuaded when occultists and New Agers claim signs and wonders. It is only to be expected that this will occur before Jesus returns, and Scripture warns the Church to be on the lookout for it. Jesus singled Himself out as the true Christ because His signs and wonders were genuine hallmarks testifying to His person, nature, and work. False christs and false prophets display their signs and wonders by deception and for deception, but Jesus—by His nature as God incarnate—did so to glorify God.

Jesus as the Sinless Miracle Worker

Several occult writers present Jesus as merely a man who discovered a higher consciousness, implying that the miracles Jesus performed were the result of universal powers available to anyone who discovers the same secrets Jesus discovered. However, the Christian doctrine of Jesus’ sinless life effectively refutes this. If Jesus did not do the specific miracles attributed to Him, then He lied to the people. If Jesus lied, He would not be a righteous person, only a deceiver and liar. In direct contrast, the New Testament shows that Jesus is sinless, and therefore, He cannot be a liar. The authority of Scripture enables Christians to trust that the miracles of Jesus happened exactly as He said they happened.

The sinlessness of Jesus is found in His own testimony and from those who knew Him. Jesus said that He had no unrighteousness (John 17:18). He also offered the opportunity to anyone listening to point out a sin in Him: “Which of you convicts Me of sin?” (John 8:46). No one answered Jesus’ challenge because they could not find any sin in Him. A mere man would have demonstrated sin just like the rest of humanity. But Paul stated that Jesus “knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21); Peter said He “committed no sin” (1 Peter 2:22); and John’s testimony is that “in Him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5). The writer of Hebrews confirmed this with: “We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). Jesus’ righteousness was not something that He worked hard to obtain; it was inherent in Him from His conception as the true Son of God.

The miracles of Jesus are not the result of discovering a christ consciousness and pulling off magick or the illusion of supernaturalism to mask natural laws. Jesus truly performed the supernatural because he was God incarnate, and He superseded the natural laws with miracles.79 Not one single occult leader or follower has ever come close to the caliber of Jesus’ life. He is truly the incomparable Christ.

Jesus, Resurrected, Ascended, and Returning, but Not Reincarnated Jesus became man only once (the Incarnation).

Philippians 2:5–8 confirms this and denies that He was anyone other than God: Christ Jesus . . . being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Jesus was not a reincarnated Adam, Moses, Buddha, or any other person; He was God, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Jesus made it clear that He alone came from above, and everyone else came from this world. “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world” (John 8:23). Notice that Jesus is not from this earth, and therefore was not reincarnated from formerly living human beings. He was God, who became incarnate in man, but not man who came back as a man.80

Jesus did not teach reincarnation. There is no evidence that He ever associated with the Essenes, much less was taught by them. Everything we read of His life in the New Testament denies reincarnation and supports His bodily resurrection. Luke recorded Jesus’ response to those who claim that He was raised from the dead as an ethereal body, a Light body, a spirit-body, or anything other than a truly glorified immortalized human body: “Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have” (Luke 24:39). Jesus offered the same body that they saw crucified as proof; a body with the print of the nails remaining—yet glorified as immortal and resurrected in flesh and bones.

Jesus refutes reincarnation and so-called Ascended Masters in John 3:13: “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” No one has ascended, therefore all Theosophy-related groups that claim a host of Ascended Masters are proved false by the words of Christ. Jesus, after His resurrection, is the only one who ascended. The singular “He” is used—not the plural “they”—as if there were others. Jesus made an exclusive claim in this category. There is no reincarnation, according to the words of Christ, and no ascended masters.

Jesus is returning to earth in His resurrected flesh-and-bones body—the same body He left the earth in: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Some occult writers claim that Jesus will be born on earth as a baby once again, only to be revealed later as a Maitreya, Buddha, or a world teacher. But Scripture promises it will be the incomparable Jesus who returns in the clouds; He will not be known by any other name.

The following quotes are from the Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions:

Anthroposophy (Rudolf Steiner). “[Jesus]… must be designated in the truest sense of the word as a ‘mere man.'”

Association for Research and Enlightenment (Edgar Cayce). “He [Jesus] is an example for man, and only as a man, for He lived only as a man, He died as man.”

Astara (Earlyne Chaney). Jesus is “the Master Mystic of all time” who realized the Christ, a state of higher consciousness. Jesus is not the Savior from sin and only incarnation of God.

The Baha’i Faith (The Bab; Baha’u’llah). “Jesus was not the only-begotten Son of God come down from Heaven, crucified and resurrected, nor the unique Saviour.”

The Christadelphians (John Thomas). “Jesus Christ did not exist as a person from eternity as one of the triune Godhead…. He did not actually come into being until He was begotten of the Holy Spirit and born in Bethlehem.”

Christian Science (Mary Baker Eddy). “Jesus Christ is not God, as Jesus Himself declared, but is the Son of God.”

The Christian Spiritual Alliance (Roy Eugene Davis). “… Jesus was not the only begotten.”

Church of the New Jerusalem (Emanuel Swedenborg). “This [belief in the Trinity] is the source and only source from which have sprung monstrous heresies concerning God… [and] introduced into the church… death as well.”

Church Universal and Triumphant (Elizabeth Claire Prophet). “God the Father did not require the sacrifice of His son Christ Jesus or of any other incarnation of the Christ, as atonement for the sins of the world.”

The Divine Life Society/Integral Yoga Institute (Sivananda, Satchidananda). “Remember that Christ is not a person. It’s an experience- Christhood. Like Nirvana or Buddha. It’s an experience.”

Divine Science (Nona Brooks). “Someone has said that the greatest discovery of the nineteenth century was Jesus Christ. He was rediscovered and rescued from the superstitious misconceptions regarding him, in which he was thought of as a superman of extraordinary powers which were and ever would be beyond the rank and file of the race.”

Eckankar (Paul Twitchell). “… do not put Him [Jesus] in a special category, for all saviours and prophets who came to earth to help mankind did their part and passed on to the glory of the heavenly kingdom.”

The Foundation of Human Understanding (Roy Masters). “You must not have any concepts of what Christ is like or God is like. It all must be  an inward revelation process.”

The Free Communion Church (Da Free John). “The conventional cultic and exoteric interpretation of the life and person of Jesus considers him to be an exclusive manifestation of God, representing a history, a way of life, and a destiny that no one else can enjoy or duplicate… Such was absolutely not the point of view of Jesus himself.”

The Gurdjieff Foundation (Gurdjieff). “[In a conversation] Gurdjieff said: ‘ I hate your Jesus, poor Jewish boy’ – the emphasis being on ‘your.'”

The Hanuman Foundation (Ram Dass). “I have a relative [a brother] who is in a mental hospital. He thinks he is  Christ. Well, that’s groovy. I am Christ also… as far as I’m concerned we are all God.”

The Himalayan Institute (Swami Rama). “The Christ is your Soul and you should learn to see Him in all beings.”

The Holy Order of Mans (Paul Blighton). “The Master Jesus never made any claims for himself…. [He] was a man, and through discipline and striving became receptive enough for the Christ force to enter and change him.”

Integral Yoga (Sri Aurobindo). “If Jesus returned today, He would not recognize in Christianity what He Himself taught.”

International Society for Krishna Consciousness (A. C. Bhaktivendanta Prabhupada). “Christ’s claim to be the only son of God is often misunderstood…. When Jesus Christ taught His doctrine in the Middle East, he appeared to be God’s only son, or pure devotee…. [But] why should God have only one son?… God can have billions and trillions of sons and … each and every one can be His ‘only’ son.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses (Charles Taze Russell). “The incarnation is scripturally erroneous. Indeed, if he (Christ) had been an incarnate being, he could never have redeemed mankind.”

The Local Church (Witness Lee). “He has God’s nature, and we also have God’s nature. He is no longer God’s only begotten Son: now by His resurrection He has become God’s firstborn Son (Romans 8:29) and we are the many sons of God (Hebrews 2:10).” (How to Meet, pg. 30)

Love Family/The Children of God (David Berg). “[There is] no reason why He [Jesus] shouldn’t enjoy the sexual fellowship of Mary and Martha! AND HE DID BECAUSE I SAW MARY MAKING LOVE TO HIM in a vision.”

Lucis Trust (Alice Bailey). The Incarnation, which is for popular Christianity synonymous with the historical birth and earthly life of Christ, is for the mystic not only this but also a perpetual cosmic and personal process.”

The Masonic Lodge. A former Mason reports, “Freemasonry ‘carefully excludes’ the Lord Jesus Christ from the lodge and chapter, repudiates His mediatorship, rejects His atonement, denies and disowns His Gospel, frowns upon His religion and His church, ignores the Holy Spirit… .”

Mighty I AM (Guy Ballard, pen name GodfreRay King). “I [Jesus] wish it distinctly understood by all who may receive this or ever contact it, that I am not and never was a Special Being created of God different from the rest of humanity!” [Alleged revelation from Jesus.]

Mormonism (Joseph Smith). “Christ is the firstborn spirit Son in the eternal family, and while yet in preexistence he advanced and progressed and became like the Father in power and intelligence; that is, he became a God.”

New Thought. “We revere Jesus the man… as one who exemplified… the great Principle of perfection and wholeness. Jesus was a Way-Shower-the Savior- in the sense that He drew us out of our limitations.”

Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism (Daisaku Ikeda). “The doctrines of the divinity and the resurrection of Christ are outside the province of rational thought… Christians are schizophrenic.”

Radhasoami/Radhaswami/Radha Soami (Charan Singh; Sawan Singh Ji). “Actually there is no statement in the New Testament, except possibly one or two interpolations, in which Jesus makes any claim to an exclusive divine sonship. This idea was not incorporated into the Christian religion until long after his death.”

Rajneesh Foundation International (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh). “To tell you the truth, Jesus is a mental case…. He is a fanatic. He carries the same kind of mind as Adolf Hitler. He is a fascist. He thinks that only those who follow him will be saved.”

Rosicrucianism/AMORC (H. Spencer Lewis). “Nowhere in the teachings and practices of Jesus can we find the least intimation that His great system was intended to bring salvation to the physical body of man. Even the salvation of the soul was not taught by Jesus, and all references in the Christian Bible to the salvation of the soul constitute a misinterpretation, a misunderstanding, of the secret [Rosicrucianism] principle that Jesus taught.”

Rudrananda Foundation (Swami Rudrananda; Rudi). In Spiritual Cannibalism Jesus is described as “a god,” a “realized” man, like Buddha and other teachers.

Ruhani Satsang (Kirpal Singh). “Everyone is under the impression that Jesus Christ remains forever. The Christ Power remains forever [not Jesus]; but they [Christians] identify Christ with Jesus, the [solely] human pole, which is not right.”

Sai Baba Society (Sathya Sai Baba). “The inner mystery of the Incarnation [is] God incarnating in all. All are One; the One is All.”

Science of Mind (Ernest Holmes). “Jesus is the name of a man. Christ means the Universal Principal of Divine Sonship.”

Scientology (L. Ron Hubbard). “Neither Lord Buddha nor Jesus Christ were OTs [Operation Thetans, enlightened beings] according to the evidence. They were just a shade above clear [relatively low on the Scientology scale of spiritual advancement].”

Self-Realization Fellowship (Paramahansa Yogananda). “In Christian Scriptures it [Christ] is called the ‘only begotten son.’… It is the universal consciousness, oneness with God, manifested by Jesus, Krishna, and other avatars.”

3HO (Happy, Healthy, Holy) Sikhism (Yogi Bhajan). Jesus was a man of God only, who had to become qualified for his spiritual role. He didn’t know if Joseph was his father, and his mother created “her son to really be a Christ,” but not a savior.

Sri Chinmoy Centers(Sri Chinmoy). “[To] say that Christ is the Savior and the only way to salvation is a mistake…. He laughs when His followers say He is the only Savior….”

Tibetan Buddhism (Chogyam Trungpa). “Any kind of savior notion will not function a hundred percent….” Worshipping a “deity of any kind” is “the wrong way,” and taking refuge in a Father God “is truly self-defeating.”

Theosophy (H. P. Blavatsky). “Nowhere throughout the New Testament is Jesus found calling himself God, or anything higher ‘a son of God,’ the son of a ‘Father,’ common to all.”

Transcendental Meditation (Maharishi Mahesh Yogi). “[When] Christ said, ‘Be still and know that I am God,’ [He also meant] ‘Be still and know that you are God.'” “I don’t think Christ ever suffered [on the Cross]…. Those who count upon the suffering, it is a wrong interpretation of the life of Christ and the message of Christ. It is wrong.”

The Unification Church (Sun Myung Moon). “It is a great error to think Jesus was God Himself. Jesus is no different from other men.”

Unitarian/Universalism. Unitarian Universalist minister Waldemar Argow states; “They [Unitarian/Universalists] do not regard him as a supernatural creature, the literal son of God who was miraculously sent to earth as part of an involved plan for the salvation of human souls.”

Unity School of Christianity (Charles Fillmore). “Most of our religious beliefs are based on the [erroneous] idea that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God.”

Vedanta. Swami Prabhavananda alleges that we “cannot accept Christ as the only Son of God. Those who insist on regarding the life and teachings of Jesus as unique are bound to have great difficulty in understanding them.”

The Walk (John Robert Stevens and the Church of the Living Word). “The Lord puts you through a process that will bring you into sonship, into deity…. God becoming man means nothing unless we become God, unless we become lost in Him.”

The Way International (Victor Paul Wierwille). “Trinitarian dogma placing Jesus Christ on God’s level degrades God and leaves man UNREDEEMED!” (advertisement for Wierwille’s book, Jesus Christ Is Not God). “Our very redemption… is dependent on Jesus Christ’s being a man and not God.”

The Yoga Fellowship (Swami Kriyananda). “What is Christ? St. Simeon the new theologian wrote, ‘I move my hand, and Christ moves, who is my hand.'”

Zen Buddhism. The Gospel According to Zen quotes Meister Eckhart: “Who is Jesus? He has no name,” and “Jesus” declares, “Split wood: I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there.”

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You may want to check out Is Jesus Christ Really God? and Evidence for the Trinity.