Former New Ager Steven Bancarz Debunks Occult Myth of 'Christ Consciousness'
Steven Bancarz was steeped in the occult for several years before turning to Christ last September and is now on a mission to debunk claims the New Age movement makes about Jesus.
Bancarz shared his journey of how he got involved in such spiritual darkness, his success running a New Age website, and how God delivered him from the New Age movement, during an interview with The Christian Post last week. His new website, Exposing The New Age, is a Christian apologetics resource specifically aimed at derailing the deception of the occult and addresses false claims made about Jesus.
In a follow-up interview with CP, Bancarz was asked to address a particular New Age myth known as "Christ Copiousness" — the belief that human beings can in a way become Christ, and that Christ is a state of consciousness.
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Without a moment of hesitation, Bancarz rattled off several points. Suffice it to say, there is a big difference between being conscious or aware of the presence of Jesus and Jesus as consciousness.
"Jesus, in Matthew 24:3-5, explains to His disciples after they ask, 'What shall the signs of thy coming be and of the end of the age?' that 'many shall come in my name saying I am Christ and will deceive many.' So Jesus warns specifically against those who say that Christ is something that we are or that we can become," Bancarz said.
Later in that same chapter, "Jesus says if anyone says they know where Christ is, don't believe them. Every New Age teacher is telling us that Christ is something dormant within your heart, Christ is a state of consciousness, and Jesus warns against these specifically," he continued.
Also, according to Jesus, the greatest prophet ever was John the Baptist, and John the Baptist denied being Christ, Bancarz emphasized.
Matthew 11:11a reads: "Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist."
"So if John the Baptist who is the greatest man ever who baptized Jesus Himself, who was predicted in the Old Testament ... if he's not the Christ how are we all the Christ?"
The New Age Christ consciousness also requires a radical redefinition of the word "Christ."
"The word Christ in Greek is Christos, which means the Messiah and the Savior, and what the New Age movement does is like a little trick, a little fallacy of equivocation they slip in there. They redefine Christ to be a state of consciousness. So they actually turn Christos from a he to an it," Bancarz said.
"And out of the 538 times the word Christos is used in the New Testament it always refers to a person every single time, namely Jesus Christ."
Such a redefinition is completely unwarranted, Bancarz explains. Furthermore, the Bible specifically says that we are not God.
Ezekiel 28 verse 2 reads: "Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, This is what the Sovereign LORD says: 'In the pride of your heart you say, 'I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas.' But you are a mere mortal and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god."
The Apostle Paul also warned against this notion, Bancarz notes. In 1 Corinthians 3:21, Paul says "Let no man boast in human leaders."
"The Bible clearly teaches that we are fallen men in need of a Savior and that is completely opposite to the philosophy of Christ consciousness," Bancarz said.
Finally, Christ consciousness "perfectly parallels the lie told in the garden of Eden." It turns out this deception is not a uniquely New Age one at all as there is nothing new about it.
"Eve is promised by Satan that if she eats from the tree that he will give her secret knowledge, she can become like God." Bancarz said. "And we're hearing that exact same lie in the New Age movement, through secret knowledge, through raising our own vibration, and through accessing higher consciousness we can all become Christ. It's the exact same lie from the Fall rebranded."
"So that should be a warning sign to us that this is not something Jesus taught. It's the entire philosophy of Christ consciousness is the one that brought the sin into the world that Jesus died for in the first place," Bancarz concluded.
For more on this subject, watch Bancarz's video by clicking here or below.
