A new wave of secularism ridden by the 20^th century’s heirs of the enlightenment was in vogue. Across the world atheistic totalitarian regimes inspired by Marx were seizing power and seeking to eradicate the influence of religion on society. Within many theological schools of thought, the conclusion was that God had not survived the theory of evolution, the atom bomb or birth control.

Since then atheism and secularism have taken root and gained even more adherents. Scholars and intellectuals speak of a post Christian era. The new European constitution makes no mention of God while a recently conducted poll asking Britons to name an inspirational figure had respondents placing pop star Britney Spears ahead of Christ.

The phrase “God is dead” is attributed to the 19^th century German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche. Contrary to popular interpretation, Nietzsche was not simply propagating his atheism. He was in fact making this assertion based on his observation of European society at the time. The death of God was his way of saying that Europeans no longer believed in a cosmic order; God and the Judeo-Christian values which he represented were no longer an influence in the society. This rejection of a divine order and of universal moral law would lead to nihilism. A nightmarish future awaited mankind.

Nietzsche believed that the solution lay not in resurrecting God but in forging a new secular foundation for human existence; a new epoch in which man free of the restraints of God, supernaturalism and morality would become the measure of all things.

Nietzsche was one of a triad of highly influential atheists including Marx and Freud. Their influence on the vast expanse of human thought is colossal.

For all of this however, news of God’s death turned out to be highly exaggerated. The deicide anticipated by voices from Voltaire to John Lennon never happened. The same sixties period birthed a seamless spiritual movement that was later dubbed the new age. For while some answered Time magazine’s question in the affirmative, there were others who continued to seek in order that they might find. The prophets of this new age spoke of the dawning of a new epoch of spiritual enlightenment that would replace the mechanistic civilization of the industrial age with a global nirvana. This movement was born during an era of great disenchantment with organized religion, materialism and unjust socio-political orders. Thus this movement with its nearly unqualified syncretism attracted many with its holistic creed which combined elements of eastern mysticism, Christianity, ecology, feminism, quantum physics, health and social activism in a fascinating brew. It drew seekers who rebelled against the secular earth promised by those who had danced on God’s grave. Many of these same seekers had also fled the temples of organized religion in favour of a more direct route to the unseen world of the fourth dimension.

At the dawn of the 20^th century, the philosophers and prophets of the age of reason had designed a brave new world devoid of intuition and conscience; a world unfettered by morality or God and powered by the emancipated intellect of Homo sapiens. By the latter quarter of the century, two world wars, one cold war and several conflicts later, the uncertain foundations of secular civilization had been exposed. At the same time many people had become disillusioned by organized religion which seemed mostly only able to serve as an opiatic distraction from reality or as a justification for some of the century’s most horrendous evils.

Religion in fact ranks alongside political ideology and economics as one of the major causes of human conflict. This detail is important in understanding the rise of atheism and secularism in Europe and subsequently in much of the west. Before the late 18^th century, there were almost no atheists in Europe. The alliance between the corrupt Bourbon monarchy and the Catholic Church provoked the French revolution which instituted a philosophy of secularism as a bulwark against the tyrannical merger of the church and the state. The French philosopher Voltaire argued that atheism is shaped by its socio-historical context and not merely by its philosophical substance. That socio-historical context referred to the corruption of Christian institutions, witch burning, and the torture of heretics, religious wars and other varied manifestations of ecclesiastical despotism.

During the sixties, people began to speak of a coming cosmic shift from the age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius. The references are astrological. The age of Pisces represented by the astrological symbol of the fish is approximately the Judeo-Christian era. The prevailing culture of this period has been described as one of ‘creative selfishness’ in which individuals, groups including churches pursue their self interest but, in so doing prove creative. The remarkable cultural achievements of this age are thus inherited by the church or Christendom.

The Age of Aquarius represented in astrological symbolism by a water carrier is a time of spiritual outpouring following the decline of the church. The imagery is of the water carrier pouring out water upon the earth. In the words of Wesley Carr in his book, ‘Manifest Wisdom: Christians in the New Age,’ “that which is now dry will flourish with new vitality as he brings living water and what is now becoming soulless desert will once again turn green. The transformation is to be total. It will both affect individual attitudes and involve social change. As personal consciousness is awakened and raised, social transformation will be accomplished.”

In the light of current events, it is fair to interpret the end of the age of Pisces as the decline of Christianity or Judeo-christianism as we know it. It is not the death of the gospel of Christ but that of the institutions, models and paradigms that have come to represent it over the centuries. The notion of Christendom and the organized religion purveyed by much of the church is incapable of addressing the powers, the principalities and the present darkness of the 21^st century. Religion has been a key element in our most pressing global challenges: terrorism, racism and sectarian conflict. A new sort of spirituality is needed to resolve the crisis facing our planet.

The Age of Aquarius correlates with a biblical prophecy recorded by the ancient Hebrew prophet Joel:

And afterward I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams; your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days (Joel 2:28).

Clearly the bible anticipates a coming explosion of a global spirituality which will know no racial or sectarian boundaries. It will be “for all people.” This movement will entail close encounters with the fourth dimension, precognition, extrasensory perception and paranormal phenomena consistent with the mystical traditions of the early church.

The Age of Aquarius and the spiritual outpouring envisioned by Joel both coincide in many ways in their anticipation of a quantum shift in the spirituality of the 21^st century.

For centuries secularists and atheists have tried to convince the world that there exists nothing beyond the material dimensions of time and space. The death of God and the non existence of the metaphysical realm have been preached aggressively from the bully pulpits of science and technology. But in recent time scientists have had to reassess their assumptions about God in light of new advances particularly in the area of investigating the origins of the universe. According to the British astrophysicist, Stephen Hawking, “the initial state of the universe must have been very carefully chosen indeed if the hot big bang model is correct right back to the beginning of time. It would be very difficult to explain why the universe should have begun in just this way except as the act of a God who intended to create beings like us.” Hawking ended his 1988 book, ‘A Brief History of Time,’ with the hope that through science we may some day “know the mind of God.”

In the wake of secular civilization’s failure, a new kind of enlightenment is about to emerge; one that will accurately apprehend the interconnectedness and interdependence of the material dimension of time and space with the metaphysical dimension. Plato in conceptualizing his world of ideas hinted at the existence of a realm beyond here. The world of ideas is the fourth dimension– the spirit world or astral sphere of the mystics _ and it will become increasingly accessible to mankind in this new millennium. In earthly terms this will translate into great strides in science, technology and the arts. Every field of human imagination will profit from this epiphany. Education will become even more imperative as a holistic broadening of the horizons of the mind and spirit to embrace new possibilities. In the words of the biblical prophet Daniel, “knowledge will increase.” Aptly enough, we are living in the information age; the era of the knowledge economy in which the most valuable commodity of all is knowledge. Wealth is measured increasingly in terms of intangibles: intellectual capital, ideas, experience, skill, imagination and information- all downloads from the world of ideas.

As it was in the sixties, much of this new age spirituality will occur outside the walls of organized religion, as God pours out his spirit on all people. The bankruptcy of religion arises primarily when structures of power are erected to regulate and control what in essence is meant to be mankind’s free intercourse with the divine. In time, regulation becomes control, means of guidance become machineries of power. In time, man becomes the mediator between his fellow man and God and then becomes a god himself feeding on the dependence and gullibility of his followers. This is the homocentric idolatry at the heart of many cults and religious and even political movements today in which man is put in the place of God. Man in the place of God demanding worship is the principle of the antichrist- a recurrent decimal throughout human history from the ancient Pharaohs to the Caesars to Hitler.

Historically whenever religious structures have become systems of control, new spiritual movements emerge providentially outside the system to guide humanity forward on its quest for God. For instance, Jesus Christ operated outside the Jewish establishment which had become a political class and a vehicle of social control at the time. Over five hundred years earlier, Siddhartha Gautama Buddha had escaped the constraints of Hinduism in order find a new path to nirvana. These movements were stages on the path of our pursuit of God.

In the 20^th century, the forces of atheism tried to dethrone God and replace him with man. Although they failed, many still cling to that aspiration. In Greek myth, Icarus crafts wings held together with wax and flies away from the labyrinth of Minos. However he soars too close to the sun which melts his waxen wings and he falls into the sea. The fall of Icarus, like that of Lucifer is a parable of pride for hubristic humanity. With the wings of science, humanity has haughtily taken flight and is now soaring too close to the sun. A fall is imminent.

The worldwide popularity of books such as J.K. Rowlings’s Harry Potter series or Rick Warren’s ‘Purpose Driven Life’ bespeaks a spiritual hunger. The quest of the 21^st century is to enthrone God in our philosophy, our science and in our culture; to acknowledge him as the first cause and as the ultimate principle of the universe. It is to have our eyes opened to see the fourth dimension of existence and to understand the interconnectedness which binds God, humanity and the universe together. This is none other than the Pauline concept of reconciliation elaborated upon in his New Testament epistles. It is the reconciliation of God with man, spirit with matter, the sacred and the secular, physics with metaphysics, heaven and earth, male with female, faith and reason, spirit, mind and body. This is what will establish the kingdom of God on earth as the ultimate culture and birth what Paul described as the new mankind.

Humanity or the old man exists within a fragmented reality and is trapped within time and space. The new man lives purposefully in an integrated universe in which time, space and spirit coexist.

The truth is out there. Seek and you shall find.

Robot  # 1 | 25.10.2005 10:41

Link to the article is here

Guest  # 2 | 26.10.2005 03:18

What you\'ve written is pure fantasy. You\'ve brought together different unrelated quotes/events to lead you to a conclusion you already harboured. i.e. the existence of God. I bet you are a Pastor at one of the Nigerian Churches. Pls try again!

Guest  # 3 | 26.10.2005 14:24

The question ”Is God dead” since Nietzsche, must have been asked and debated over a million times in Western colleges, universities, pubs, wine bars, dinner tables etc. It is old news. Your article reminded me of a book I once read – I think it is called the “Concise guide to Today’s Religions. It pretended to discuss today’s religion” but was simply a propaganda for Christianity with clear intention of showing the other religions in bad lights. You failed to present to your readers the historical analysis that brought about communist and its attraction to the people. The problem with your article is that it lacks proper analysis of anything. In all European wars, you will find the hands of religion. It is, therefore, not surprising for the European constitution to avoid the issues of God. John Lennon, J.K. Rowlings – come on, lets be serious. This thing about the Age of Aquarius, what is that all about? You also give the impression that Nietzsche, Marx and Freud are famous for just being atheist, and to place Nietzsche and Marx side by side as if they belong to some brotherhood is just ridiculous. As a reader of Nietzsche, his “will to power and self responsibility” - among others - goes totally against the teaching of Marxism. Atheists assert that there is no God, whereas believers assert that there is a God, but neither side can provide proof, but the burden of proof weight more heavily on the believers. If you claim that I am sitting in front of a gorilla and not a computer it is you not I who should be providing the proof. We can never know the origin of the universe because we are not equipped mentally to understand how something can be created out of nothing . You can trace every component that make up this computer to its primary sources on earth but can man do the same with the universe?. The answer is no! For the believers, the simple answer is God created everything – so said the primitive people that wrote the Bible and Koran, and you must accept or die. In which case is it possible for God to exist before creating himself? Alternatively, if God was created by some other being, who then created that being? There is no answer; the idea of a big bang is tantalizing and sexy but we will never know the truth about our universe. And even if we were to meet some green people - far more superior -somewhere in the universe, I very much doubt if they will have the answer. Secularism provides the best environment for long-term peace, freedom, security and prosperity. The evidence is there for everyone to see. Horn Head