A New Earth

I've been reading a book called "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle. Oprah has been recommending this book and a couple of million of people worldwide are currently doing an online course. I chose to pick it up in part because the title "A New Earth" is a phrase borrowed from the pages of Scripture. Also, I knew that the book promoted a certain "worldview" (a belief system about the world in which we live)and I was curious to see if the belief system proposed in the book looked anything like Biblical Christianity. Well, I'm not quite finished with the book yet, but can say with certainty that the book is not starting from a decidely Christian worldview (although many aspects of the book touch on teachings and behaviors that Christians would agree with). I view Tolle sort of standing amidst a religious smorgersborgue and is arbitrarily picking and choosing which ideas and beliefs he'll choose to feast upon and which he will ignore. So he ends up with a worldview platter that consists of a spoonful of Buddhism, a portion of Christianity, a sprinkling of Hinduism and a side dish of Naturalism. One might look at the healthy portion of Christianity and think "sure, this is coming from a Christian perspective." However, this is simply not the case. Some of the most foundational truths in Christian thought (i.e. the atonement/Christ's sacrificial death and resurrection as the way to inner life and peace) simply are not part of Tolle's worldview.



Greg Boyd's book review blog on "A New Earth" that I recently read points out some of the major "red flags" that I had as well. Christians should be aware of as they pick up this book what aspects of it simply doesn't jive with the teachings of Jesus and the Scriptures. It's a little heady, but worth the read. Here's the link. Enjoy.

http://gregboyd.blogspot.com/2008/04/echhart-tolles-new-earth-book-review.html