The answer is very clear: No He is Not a Christian!
“For Tolle, ascribing any unique significance to Jesus of Nazareth is ultimately wrong-headed. “
1 John 4:3:
and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
Oprah winfrey’s recent promotion of Eckhart Tolle has put the German-born author’s latest work, A New Earth, on the bestseller lists with the largest reprint run in the history of Penguin Books. Tolle, in turn, has given Oprah a new sense of purpose. She calls her work with him the most important and exciting thing she has ever done. This spring she hosted 10 Monday-night web seminars with him. As many as one million people watched them live, and 27 million more downloaded them afterward.
Tolle claims no specific religion and states that his teaching fits with the essence of all spiritual paths. While he quotes freely from Jesus, Buddha, and others, he focuses on the divinity in all beings. “How ‘spiritual’ you are has nothing to do with what you believe but everything to do with your state of consciousness,” he writes in A New Earth.
To his credit, Tolle is quite good at recognizing human folly, which is significant given New Age tendencies to deny evil outright. A New Earth states, “If the history of humanity were the clinical case history of a single human being, the diagnosis would have to be: chronic paranoid delusions, a pathological propensity to commit murder, and acts of extreme violence and cruelty.”
Tolle is also sharp in his critique of false paths to freedom. He warns about “outer riches and inner poverty.” He states that “the absurd overvaluation of fame is just one of the many manifestations of egoic madness in our world.” He also provides some telling commentary about the dangers of grounding identity in the external roles of society. Further, his writings are seasoned with sensible advice, such as, “It is not uncommon for people to spend their whole life waiting to start living,” or, “If you delve into the past, it will become a bottomless pit: there is always more.”
Yet Tolle’s occasional realism and practical wisdom are outweighed by a worldview at odds with central Christian convictions. First, he argues that there is no ultimate distinction between humans and God since all is one. From this monistic perspective, Tolle scorns common Western usage of the term God: “There can be no subject-object relationship here, no duality, no you and God.”
Not only is there no you and God—Tolle also claims there’s no actual you. Pulling a page from Buddhism, Tolle says the human self is an illusion, and belief in it is the main reason for human suffering. “If a fish is born in your aquarium and you call him John, write out a birth certificate, tell him about his family history, and two minutes later he gets eaten by another fish—that’s tragic,” he writes in The Power of Now. “But it’s only tragic because you projected a separate self where there was none.” Tolle even tries to argue that Jesus affirmed this view when he told his disciples to deny themselves (Mark 8:34). According to Tolle, Jesus meant, “Negate (and thus undo) the illusion of self.”
Yet the New Testament’s concerns about self have to do with its corruption, not its existence. Jesus lamented those who gain the whole world but lose their very selves. The New Testament’s call for the eradication of self comes in the context of the new self created in Christ (Col. 2:9-10).
Tolle’s reworking of Hindu monism and Buddhist no-self thought may be popular, but one wonders whether claims such as “time isn’t precious at all, because it is an illusion” and “both death and the body are illusions” resonate with American readers. Then there are Tolle’s impenetrable claims, such as “the energy frequency of the mind appears to be essentially male” and “at the level of Being, all suffering is recognized as an illusion.” There are moments in the webcast when even Oprah seems to have no idea what he’s talking about.
Ultimately, Tolle’s system undercuts the person and work of Jesus, the most quoted teacher in both of Tolle’s books. At the beginning of A New Earth, he denies the deity of Jesus and grossly distorts Jesus’ teaching about himself: “The Truth is inseparable from who you are. Yes, you are the Truth. If you look for it elsewhere, you will be deceived every time. The very Being that you are is Truth. Jesus tried to convey that when he said, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.’”
For Tolle, ascribing any unique significance to Jesus of Nazareth is ultimately wrong-headed. The Power of Now states: “Never personalize Christ. Don’t make Christ into a form identity. Avatars, divine mothers, enlightened masters, the very few that are real, are not special as persons.” In Tolle’s system, “Jesus” is little more than a cipher for “awakened consciousness.” The particular God-man Jesus and his saving acts in history are of no concern to Tolle. In fact, Jesus only becomes “the way” when the crucified, risen, and exalted Lord of history is put aside.
WHAT?????!!!!!! There is a reason I do not read Christianity Today and this silly question sums up why I don’t spend my hard earned money on this stuff. No. Tolle says that Jesus did not come to get worship as God, but that we came to teach us that WE ARE GOD! No, that is a lie from the pit of hell and you would think that a “Christian” publication would set people straight on this man’s teachings. His book is all about how we need to think or *be* different and reconize our divinity and we can have heaven on earth! All with out Jesus! That is anti-christ garbage. I listened to 7 of the 10 Oprah webinars where she and Tolle taught the book to the masses and read about 2 chapters of the book and that was very difficult to stomach all that. But I wanted to understand the philosophy so I could help fight for a biblical world view in the Oprah chat rooms to guide people passionatly and lovingly back to the truth. Tolle is a blend of New Age, Hindu and Buddism with a christineze wrapper, sort of. People are taken by this terrible lie and instead of CT setting the record straight, they put this garbage out to support him. (Based on the title of the article) I tend to wonder if this man will be the False Prophet? I don’t know. This is very sad that we are at an all time bibilical discernment LOW and can not tell the different between TRUTH and LIES that lead to hell!
Actually, since reading the CT article, I do think they did a good job of exposing Tolle and his teachings and how they do not line up with truth. I do beleive that they should have put a different title on the article though. Stronger language that Tolle is a false prophet too, is needed. A lot of “Christians” and Catholics are tacken by this liar who is very smooth. Call poison what it is loud and for everyone to hear. Anyhow, for content, I do give CT a pat on the back and a “atta, boy!”God bless!
tolle is a false teacher. so called “churchians” today do not know the word enough to tell a false teacher when they see one… and they do not know the Holy Spirit in order to have power to speak out if they do recognize it.
Hi – I am dismayed at the seeming lack of Christian response on the web over this man’s teaching. Surely it is there somewhere and I am just missing it! Googling “The Power of Now” caused me to go through page after page of accolades and testimonies of this false prophet before I found anything even hinting at a problem. My brother, going through a difficult divorce, has latched on to him. His remark was that the book (The Power of Now) is causing him to re-think Christianity and his understanding of Jesus. Now, this is from a born and raised Catholic who never really knew God and Jesus in the first place! I am looking for help in detouring my brother away from this crazy deception, but I have not read the book to refute specific points. Can anyone help me with this?? Thank you to Christianity Today – you were the first thing I found that even seemed to question this “holy” man……
I just finished reading for the second time ‘The Power of Now’ and the author states: “Never personalize Christ. Don’t make Christ into a form identity.”
Well Eckhart, I have a very different view to that based on first-hand experience.
I used to be into new age stuff such as the ‘Power of Now’ and just about anything else you can name. To cut a very long story short: I was sick for more than 2 years, and towards the end of the sickness in 2006 thought of ways of escaping the illness (i.e. exit the world). As an absolute last resort, in desperation and on my knees, I turned to God and God proved to me he exists.
I experienced 3 miracles in 3 months. During one of those miracles all of my core beliefs about the nature of this world and whether God exists or not were changed in an instant.
“Never personalise Christ”?
“Don’t make Christ into a form of identity”?
I never would have fully believed it until I experienced what I experienced, but the truth is: in the blink of an eye Jesus Christ HIMSELF healed me. Jesus proved to me without words and without a shadow of doubt that he is absolutely real, alive, present and eternal. Not only that but he is NOTHING like the insipid stereotypes that exist about him in this world. Jesus Christ has the resurrection power. That power, only through God’s GRACE was put into my body and spirit and restored my health.
Tolle is completely wrong about Jesus Christ. Tolle positions himself as a kind of saviour and teacher of humanity, but Tolle’s work is full of lies and deception. In fact, I think he is actively working against Christ. Yet, when it suits him, he appropriates the words of Christ to sanction his own work.
Jesus Christ is very real and alive and present. Just call on him.
Tolle admonishes readers to not “personalize” Christ. Yet it is Christ who is our personal Lord and Saviour if we accept the free gift He offers. Tolle is indeed a false teacher. He’s leading millions astray and Oprah is cheering him on. She too will answer for this horrible thing that is being done. Oprah has an enormous following and can influence many. Her charismatic personality, good works and philanthropy have blinded thousands to the fact that she is not a Christian. Tolle attempts to put Christ in the same league as Buddha or Mohammed. But no one can be in the same league as Christ. He is above all and is all. God is the Great I Am, we are not “i am” as Tolle teaches.
Eckhart Tolle is just one of the latest in a long string of antichrists who are saturating our world more and more and leading in the great apostasy. Tolle, Oprah, Jesus Miranda, false prophets and teachers are abroad in our world today.
“Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.”(1 John 2:18)
How are people being taken in by these false teachers? Simple – they don’t read the Bible!
If they did, they’d be heeding the warnings about these false teachings that are all over the Old and New Testament.
Have you ever walked up to a house and seen a sign that said “Beware of Dog”? Of course you have, and you looked around for a mean dog before treading very carefully where you were going.
Now imagine walking up to a house with a sign that says “Beware of Wolves”. You would be terrified, and some of you might run for your lives. Seems preposterous that there would be a pack of ravenous wolves to beware of in our every day lives, but it’s actually a very real fact. Our Lord Jesus Christ put up the sign 2,000 years ago.
““Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”(Matthew 7:15)
The wolves are the false prophets of the world. And if Jesus said “beware”, then we need to beware.
These wolves are tricky, and they come to us in sheep’s clothing. What I’d like to do is help peal back the fleece they wear and let you see the ravenous wolves underneath.
There are 3 kinds of false prophets, and if you’re only looking for 1, you’re likely to miss the other 2. And some false prophets are all 3 types in 1.
The good thing is the Bible tells us all 3 different kinds in 1 Bible verse:
“Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.”(Jude 11)
#1 – “they have gone in the way of Cain,” these are the false prophets who pervert the Gospel. Who is Cain?
In Genesis 4, there is the story of Cain and Abel. They were brothers, the first 2 sons of Adam and Eve. Cain worked the fields and grew crops, and Abel was a keeper of sheep. When they made their offerings to God, Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. He offered God the work of his hands.
When Abel made his offerings, he sacrificed an animal. Abel was demonstrating early on what the author of Hebrews said “without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin.”
God accepted the spilt blood from Abel, but he rejected the work of Cain’s hands. You don’t think Cain had animals to sacrifice? Of course he did, he was a farmer. How did he till the ground without animals to work the plow? But Cain did not make a blood sacrifice, he offered his labor, the work of his own hands and God did not accept it. In the same way, God will not accept the work of our hands.
It is only by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, our great God and savior, that we are redeemed, washed clean of our sins, and grafted into the true vine that is the body of Christ.
But there are many false prophets in the world who preach that we must earn our Salvation by our own works, Tolle teaches, and Oprah promotes the idea that “my Salvation comes from me”, and it’s not surprising they do “For they have gone in the way of Cain”.
#2 – “have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit,” these are the false prophets who prostitute the Gospel.
Who is Balaam?
Numbers chapters 22, 23 & 24 will tell you about Balaam, he was a prophet of God. The king of Moab was scared because God going before the Israelites had just slaughtered the Amorites, and the Israelites were camping right across from Moab. Balak (the king of Moab) could look out and behold a sea of Jews, and their army was strong because God was with them, and Balak got scared. So he sent for the prophet Balaam, his plan was to pay Balaam to curse the Israelites, so that his army could defeat them in battle. Balaam said “are you crazy?” Balaam heard the voice of God, he knew that Israel was God’s people, he knew that God had said to Abraham “whoever blesses you I will bless, whoever curses you I will curse.” he wasn’t going to curse them, he knew better. Balak insisted, offering him fortune beyond Balaam’s wildest dreams. Balaam took the money, but he told them he would not speak anything other than what the Lord told him to speak. Balaam never did curse Israel, God put a blessing in his mouth 3 times instead. So, Balak resorted to getting Israel to curse themselves by sending the girls of Moab to flirt with the boys of Israel, and adultery and fornication caused God to curse them (the same things which I think cause Him to curse America). They bowed down to the false god Baal, and caused God’s anger to burn against them.
There are many false prophets in the world today who are greedy men seeking to profit by prostituting the Gospel. They may teach the truth, they may not, but they earn money dishonestly and hoard wealth because they “have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit,”
#3 – “and perished in the rebellion of Korah.”, these are the false prophets who perish because they reject openly The Lord Jesus Christ.
Who is Korah?
Numbers 16 will tell you the story of Korah. Korah led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron and he perished supernaturally. Moses was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, and so was Aaron a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Moses was a prophet, Christ is The Prophet. Aaron was a high priest, Jesus is our Great High Priest.
There are many false prophets in the world today who openly reject Christ in these positions, they say we must have a man on earth as “high priest”, instead of acknowledging Our Great High Priest seated at the right hand of God the Father who makes intercession for us. They reject Christ in His office “and perished in the rebellion of Korah.”
Beloved who read this, I pray that this will help some of you to recognize the wolves wearing fleece like Oprah, and flee from the false prophets like Eckhart Tolle.
You’d run for your life from a “Beware of Wolves” sign, please recognize the sign Our Lord put up long ago and flee for your eternal lives from the false prophets of this world.
And if I may ask, join me in also praying for Tolle and Oprah, because if they die believing in the Jesus they believe in now, they will indeed die in their sins. Pray for them to seek our Lord honestly, and our Lord to reveal Himself to them.
With all the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s blessings to all.