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Angels are very popular in the New Age movement. Despite the origin of these spirit beings being created by God and explained by the Bible, New Age beliefs present angels in different ways than declared in Scripture.
In this limited space, the goal is to give an overarching view of how Angels are described by the Bible as created by God versus how they have been interpreted later by the New Age movement.
It should be noted that angels are part of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths and belief systems, which all believe in good and evil spiritual beings. In this short article, we will focus mostly on the good angels.
According to the Bible, God created angels before the world and humankind to accomplish His will for all existence. Angels are spirit beings who can move between both the supernatural and physical world, according to the Gospel coalition.
The Bible talks about different types of angels: hear angels, archangels, cherubim, Seraphim, ministering spirits, guardian angels, and the like. These names describe the function God created them for and assigned them to.
We also read sons of God, heavenly ones, heavenly hosts, watchers, stars, and more.
All these terms can be simplified to one of three things: Their nature, status or function.
The Hebrew Bible uses the word mal’ak, and the plural form of the Hebrew word mal’akim is translated into English as “angels.” But the word also means “messenger.”
The Bible only names three angels: Gabriel (Archangel), Michael (Archangel), and Lucifer (cherubim). There is a fourth unnamed Angel referred to as the angel Abaddon (Hebrew)/Apollyon (Greek), who appears to be a fallen angel that rules over the abyss (the bottomless pit), only mentioned in Revelation 9 and 11.
One of the best books on Angels from a biblical perspective is “Angels: What the Bible Really Says About God’s Heavenly Host,” by Michael S. Heiser. This book not only grounds the discussion in Old Testament Scripture but also draws on the wider context of the ancient Near Eastern world, bringing in information from academic research and archaeology.
Angels are a very prevalent part of the New Age movement, which essentially co-opted the concept of angels from the Abraham religions, then changed many of the traditional beliefs into new attributes and creations.
However, unlike Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions, there is not a sole focus on Angels being created by God, but also consider many possibilities, such as angels could have come from the Pleiades or other star systems, conscious collective thought or even are created from our own consciousness.
New Age beliefs even consider that humans can become angels, the opposite of Abrahamic traditions, which teach angels were created to serve God and humans.
The New Age sees angels as guardians, spirit guides, energy, or ascended Masters (they believe Jesus is a Master).
Certain occult practices such as divination and numerology have been combined with angels in the form of Angel Oracle cards and Angel numbers.
Angel cards are essentially a variation on the tarot deck, using them for the purpose of divination. The cards display angel imagery and words, and card readers professed to make connections with angelic beings as spiritual guides.
An article about Angel Oracle cards claims that the angel cards center on Abrahamic religious beliefs. This is expressly untrue because the Bible forbids divination. This is the danger of the New Age movement as it is largely a mish-mash of differing belief systems and often tries to combine practices that are forbidden by Abrahamic religions.
One of the most successful New Age teachers with a lucrative rock star-like lifestyle, Doreen Virtue, came to Christ several years ago and disavowed New Age practices. Virtue was especially known for various Angel card decks, Angel books, and other Angel-related products that bore her name.
Virtue recently spoke out about coming to Christianity and learning the truth in an article entitled: “I Left the New Age Behind When I Read the Old Testament.”
Like other New Agers, Virtue saw Jesus as an ascended Master” ‘spirit guide’ who, like a magic genie, helped me make my wishes come true.”
“Neither I nor any of the other New Age teachers ever pointed to the real Jesus Christ,” Virtue says. “Instead, we encouraged people to pursue their selfish desires, making them more covetous and materialistic.”
Virtue now says she is “begging people to ignore what I taught.” She lost everything by stepping away from the New Age but feels she has gained everything in choosing Christ.
