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Walsch's Conversations with God… Or Is It?
Published in the Christian Chronicle - By S. E. Ray - 11/19/06
Hardly a week goes by without a new book showing up in the New Age/religious section of your local book reseller. Many expound a divine encounter with the supernatural or a new revelation unto spiritual attainment. The rapid growth of self-proclaimed enlightened teachers has generated a mixed bag of everything conceivable. Keeping with this trend arises a new voice named Neale Donald Walsch, from Milwaukee, WI. Reared as an erstwhile Roman Catholic by a family who encouraged his quest for spiritual truth. He read the Bible, studied the Rig Veda and the Upanishads, which eventually lead to his recent famed book series “Conversations With God: Books 1, 2, 3, Friendship With God, and Communion With God, The New Revelations.” His newest book, "Home with God: In a Life That Never Ends" which appeared in the bookstores July 2006.
The book series is claimed to be one of the fastest-selling New Age books in the world, being number one on the New York Best Sellers list for 120 weeks. Numerous Christians have read this series and asked, “Is the content valid?” Could God have chosen a special man to bring about new revelations for a progressive world? While other self-promoting guru's have channeled and transcribed various discarnate spirits from the other side, Mr. Walsch seems to have been talking to the Creator himself. This is similar to the way Helen Schucman channeled a spiritual entity when she wrote "A Course in Miracles." God, or something that calls itself "god", apparently has choose to grant Neale the answers to many of life's biggest questions. Additionally, his "god" chooses to reveal to Mr. Walsch things that had not been asked: principally, the fact that Neale himself is none other than a god.
[See photo Conversations with God Book 1 by Neale Donald Walsch below.]
In the spring of 1992, Walsch was a very unhappy man--frustrated by life, bitter after a series of five failed marriages, a mix of nine children, worn out from "thirty years of seeking the truth." At this bleak juncture in his life, he decided to do something different. "I picked up my trusty yellow legal pad and began pouring out my feelings. This time, rather than another letter to another person I imagined to be victimizing me, I thought I would go straight to the source; straight to the greatest victimizer of them all. I decided to write a letter to God." As he finished his ‘spiteful, passionate letter, full of confusions, contortions, and condemnations,’ an amazing thing happened. His pen, still poised above the legal pad froze, suspended, and then suddenly "began moving on its own." The first message to come across the page. "Do you really want answers to all these questions, or are you just venting?" (1:1)
Thus began the conversations with his "god". In time, the topics would move beyond this prosaic beginning to truly weighty matters, such as pleasing yourself before pleasing others. For Walsch, revelation remains open and God has much more to say to His children. Walsch’s god introduces a number of “pseudo-truths” that diametrically oppose orthodox Christianity. For example, he promotes reincarnation, rejects original sin, denies the devil and hell, and devalues the biblical God. He places the Bible among sources that are "not authoritative". These are but a few of the adverse teachings of this “god” who superintends Walsch’s hand and through him offers us his “new revelation.”
Automatic writing is a method commonly utilized by occultists, being a process wherein one lets go of conscious thought, all the while loosely holding a writing utensil over a piece of paper, and becomes a medium, either for one's own subconscious thoughts, or the thoughts of some spirit communicating through the "medium". Advocates of automatic writing claim that the process allows them to access other intelligences and entities for information and guidance. According to psychic Ellie Crystal, "entities from beyond are constantly trying to communicate with us." Some people have reported bad experiences after automatic writing; to the point that they are convinced that evil is behind it.
[See photo of Neale Donald Walsch, author Conversations with God series below.]
Even though his books are channeled via the occult method of automatic writing, Walsch claims they are inspired by God and that they can help a person relate to Him from a modern perspective. The god in his books, for example, says that "there is nothing you have to do." Walsch believes in a pantheistic god, who tries to communicate Himself as being unselfish. He claims God's new vision expressed is of a modern spirituality: an expansion and unification of all present theologies; rendering all of our current sacred teachings even more relevant to our present day and time. Walsch's god teaches that we are to first rely on our feelings. His approach makes experience and emotion the authority in decisions which is opposite of the teaching of scripture which demonstrates that the emotions are deceptive and misleading. Even psychology recognizes that feelings fluctuate and are unsuitable for ascertaining what is true.
There is much material to consider and it is impossible to illustrate it all in this review. We will look at least one combination of thoughts that clarify the writers premise. One claim made is ‘Truth is not absolute, but experiential.’ “Listen to your feelings. Listen to your Highest Thoughts. Listen to your experience.” “There are no ‘shoulds’ or ‘shouldn’ts’ in God’s world. Do what you want to do. Do what reflects you; what represents you as a grander version of your Self.” “I have never set down a ‘right’ or ‘wrong,’ a ‘do’ or a ‘don’t.’ To do so would be to strip you completely of your greatest gift – the opportunity to do as you please, and experience the results of that; the chance to create yourself anew in the image and likeness of Who You Are.” “I will begin with a statement that will startle you – and perhaps offend the sensitivities of many people. There are no such things as the Ten Commandments.”
[See photo of Conversations with God Book 3 by Neale Donald Walsch below.]
From the world's point of view, this is the material they seek and want to read. It is a wide open door to do whatever they want without restraint. The world system gratefully welcomes writings that support the stance of no accountability. No absolute truths, no right or wrong, there is no such thing as evil, do what you want. Life is a gift and yours to do as you wish. Any path is acceptable, there is no wrong path. There are many ways to God, try them all and reject nothing. This message is as old as life and has not changed in its diametrical opposition to the message of the God of the Bible. There are some correct philosophical points made in his books, but the bulk is New Age thought and anti-Christ. Light and darkness are two primal opposing forces in a constant struggle and to the undiscerning soul; it is difficult to define which part is speaking. Darkness always masquerades as the God of light, is proud, licentious and seeks to deceive those who are susceptible by mixing half-truths with lies.
Mr. Walsch has generated a lucrative cash flow from his god's words by offering the “Recreating Yourself” and “Being It” workshops from $400 to $1,250 a person. New Age gurus seek gain and fame; genuine souls touched by God give freely without recognition. At a recent Humanity’s Team conference, 73-year-old Barbara Marx Hubbard honestly admitted to a group of people that Neale Donald Walsch has a big ego problem and that she sees part of her own role as a balance to Walsch’s overwhelming ego. From this proud man comes strange and surrealistic dogma. "Extraterrestrials are responsible for the technological advances of the past 75 years" (2:237). "The Buddha, Krishna, and Jesus were spacemen" (2:244). Yet despite the long list of absurd conjectures, the cult-like following continues to grow. For the enlightened, one will find that prince of darkness reveals his presence once too often in this material. His hostility to Christ and his constant attacks on orthodox writings give him away.
False teachers and demonically inspired writings are not new, whereas texts have been written of this sort for thousands of years and will increase in the end days. Jesus spoke once saying "I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber." (John 10:1) If a person declares another way to God apart from Jesus, he is governed by error and seeks to damage your soul. "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved... I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:7-10) "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." (John 10:27) "But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." (John 10:5) Jesus was illustrating that redeemed souls who have been genuinely enlightened and are truly his will easily discern his voice among the deceivers and will refuse to follow false teachers.
Hardly a week goes by without a new book showing up in the New Age/religious section of your local book reseller. Many expound a divine encounter with the supernatural or a new revelation unto spiritual attainment. The rapid growth of self-proclaimed enlightened teachers has generated a mixed bag of everything conceivable. Keeping with this trend arises a new voice named Neale Donald Walsch, from Milwaukee, WI. Reared as an erstwhile Roman Catholic by a family who encouraged his quest for spiritual truth. He read the Bible, studied the Rig Veda and the Upanishads, which eventually lead to his recent famed book series “Conversations With God: Books 1, 2, 3, Friendship With God, and Communion With God, The New Revelations.” His newest book, "Home with God: In a Life That Never Ends" which appeared in the bookstores July 2006.
The book series is claimed to be one of the fastest-selling New Age books in the world, being number one on the New York Best Sellers list for 120 weeks. Numerous Christians have read this series and asked, “Is the content valid?” Could God have chosen a special man to bring about new revelations for a progressive world? While other self-promoting guru's have channeled and transcribed various discarnate spirits from the other side, Mr. Walsch seems to have been talking to the Creator himself. This is similar to the way Helen Schucman channeled a spiritual entity when she wrote "A Course in Miracles." God, or something that calls itself "god", apparently has choose to grant Neale the answers to many of life's biggest questions. Additionally, his "god" chooses to reveal to Mr. Walsch things that had not been asked: principally, the fact that Neale himself is none other than a god.
[See photo Conversations with God Book 1 by Neale Donald Walsch below.]
In the spring of 1992, Walsch was a very unhappy man--frustrated by life, bitter after a series of five failed marriages, a mix of nine children, worn out from "thirty years of seeking the truth." At this bleak juncture in his life, he decided to do something different. "I picked up my trusty yellow legal pad and began pouring out my feelings. This time, rather than another letter to another person I imagined to be victimizing me, I thought I would go straight to the source; straight to the greatest victimizer of them all. I decided to write a letter to God." As he finished his ‘spiteful, passionate letter, full of confusions, contortions, and condemnations,’ an amazing thing happened. His pen, still poised above the legal pad froze, suspended, and then suddenly "began moving on its own." The first message to come across the page. "Do you really want answers to all these questions, or are you just venting?" (1:1)
Thus began the conversations with his "god". In time, the topics would move beyond this prosaic beginning to truly weighty matters, such as pleasing yourself before pleasing others. For Walsch, revelation remains open and God has much more to say to His children. Walsch’s god introduces a number of “pseudo-truths” that diametrically oppose orthodox Christianity. For example, he promotes reincarnation, rejects original sin, denies the devil and hell, and devalues the biblical God. He places the Bible among sources that are "not authoritative". These are but a few of the adverse teachings of this “god” who superintends Walsch’s hand and through him offers us his “new revelation.”
Automatic writing is a method commonly utilized by occultists, being a process wherein one lets go of conscious thought, all the while loosely holding a writing utensil over a piece of paper, and becomes a medium, either for one's own subconscious thoughts, or the thoughts of some spirit communicating through the "medium". Advocates of automatic writing claim that the process allows them to access other intelligences and entities for information and guidance. According to psychic Ellie Crystal, "entities from beyond are constantly trying to communicate with us." Some people have reported bad experiences after automatic writing; to the point that they are convinced that evil is behind it.
[See photo of Neale Donald Walsch, author Conversations with God series below.]
Even though his books are channeled via the occult method of automatic writing, Walsch claims they are inspired by God and that they can help a person relate to Him from a modern perspective. The god in his books, for example, says that "there is nothing you have to do." Walsch believes in a pantheistic god, who tries to communicate Himself as being unselfish. He claims God's new vision expressed is of a modern spirituality: an expansion and unification of all present theologies; rendering all of our current sacred teachings even more relevant to our present day and time. Walsch's god teaches that we are to first rely on our feelings. His approach makes experience and emotion the authority in decisions which is opposite of the teaching of scripture which demonstrates that the emotions are deceptive and misleading. Even psychology recognizes that feelings fluctuate and are unsuitable for ascertaining what is true.
There is much material to consider and it is impossible to illustrate it all in this review. We will look at least one combination of thoughts that clarify the writers premise. One claim made is ‘Truth is not absolute, but experiential.’ “Listen to your feelings. Listen to your Highest Thoughts. Listen to your experience.” “There are no ‘shoulds’ or ‘shouldn’ts’ in God’s world. Do what you want to do. Do what reflects you; what represents you as a grander version of your Self.” “I have never set down a ‘right’ or ‘wrong,’ a ‘do’ or a ‘don’t.’ To do so would be to strip you completely of your greatest gift – the opportunity to do as you please, and experience the results of that; the chance to create yourself anew in the image and likeness of Who You Are.” “I will begin with a statement that will startle you – and perhaps offend the sensitivities of many people. There are no such things as the Ten Commandments.”
[See photo of Conversations with God Book 3 by Neale Donald Walsch below.]
From the world's point of view, this is the material they seek and want to read. It is a wide open door to do whatever they want without restraint. The world system gratefully welcomes writings that support the stance of no accountability. No absolute truths, no right or wrong, there is no such thing as evil, do what you want. Life is a gift and yours to do as you wish. Any path is acceptable, there is no wrong path. There are many ways to God, try them all and reject nothing. This message is as old as life and has not changed in its diametrical opposition to the message of the God of the Bible. There are some correct philosophical points made in his books, but the bulk is New Age thought and anti-Christ. Light and darkness are two primal opposing forces in a constant struggle and to the undiscerning soul; it is difficult to define which part is speaking. Darkness always masquerades as the God of light, is proud, licentious and seeks to deceive those who are susceptible by mixing half-truths with lies.
Mr. Walsch has generated a lucrative cash flow from his god's words by offering the “Recreating Yourself” and “Being It” workshops from $400 to $1,250 a person. New Age gurus seek gain and fame; genuine souls touched by God give freely without recognition. At a recent Humanity’s Team conference, 73-year-old Barbara Marx Hubbard honestly admitted to a group of people that Neale Donald Walsch has a big ego problem and that she sees part of her own role as a balance to Walsch’s overwhelming ego. From this proud man comes strange and surrealistic dogma. "Extraterrestrials are responsible for the technological advances of the past 75 years" (2:237). "The Buddha, Krishna, and Jesus were spacemen" (2:244). Yet despite the long list of absurd conjectures, the cult-like following continues to grow. For the enlightened, one will find that prince of darkness reveals his presence once too often in this material. His hostility to Christ and his constant attacks on orthodox writings give him away.
False teachers and demonically inspired writings are not new, whereas texts have been written of this sort for thousands of years and will increase in the end days. Jesus spoke once saying "I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber." (John 10:1) If a person declares another way to God apart from Jesus, he is governed by error and seeks to damage your soul. "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved... I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:7-10) "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." (John 10:27) "But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." (John 10:5) Jesus was illustrating that redeemed souls who have been genuinely enlightened and are truly his will easily discern his voice among the deceivers and will refuse to follow false teachers.
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