Jesus said "Take heed that no-one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray" (Matthew 24:4-5). The latest false messiah to be announced to the public is Maitreya. Banner headlines appear "Maitreya the Christ is in London"; "Maitreya the World Teacher"; "The Emergence of the World Teacher". In which paper do these banner headlines appear? In the little known paper Share International, whose editor in chief is one Benjamin Creme. Who he? I hear you ask. He is an American mystic who is giving monthly lectures in Friends' House, Euston Road on "The Emergence of Maitreya the World Teacher".
When I was a youth I travelled to London once a week to have my music lessons at Trinity College of Music in Mandeville Place W1. My attention was drawn to Tube posters announcing "Lectures in Theosophy" to be given by this or that guru. "Please mummy what is Theosophy" I asked. Mummy couldn't tell me; but perhaps it was a good question.
What is Theosophy?
Theosophy is an eastern mysticism founded loosely on Hinduism; a sort of westernised, customised Hinduism suitable for Anglo-American consumption in a post-Christian environment. The name Theosophy was coined by Madame Blavatsky, and is derived from the Greek words Theos (God) and Sophia (Wisdom). So Theosophy means "The Wisdom of God". But this is a title of Christ! He is the eternal Wisdom of God (Proverbs 8:1-36). He is "the Power of God and the Wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24).
Madame Blavatsky
Helena Petrovna Hahn-Hahn was born in Yekaterinaslav, Russia, in 1831. In 1848 at the age of 17 she married the septuagenarian Russian General Blavatsky, but deserted him after three months. There was no legal provision for divorce in Tsarist Russia. In 1880 at age 49 she remarried a 16-year-old boy who went mad the day after the wedding. Between 1848 and 1857 she claimed to have visited Tibet where she met a mysterious race of "Masters", a group of "perfected beings" willing to impart their knowledge to Theosophists. From them she learnt the "secret of the Mahatmas". In 1871 she opened a Spiritistic Society in Cairo, but ran into trouble for tricking the public. In 1875 she founded the Theosophical Society in New York. There she also ran into trouble, being accused of trickery in 1884 by the Psychical Research Society.
Mrs Annie Besant
Blavatsky's successor was Mrs Annie Besant. She was the daughter of a clergyman, but found it heard to embrace traditional Christianity. Her marriage to a young clergyman was soon on the rocks and she divorced him. She joined the atheist Charles Bradlaugh who was barred from taking his seat in Parliament in 1880 for refusing to take the oath on atheistic grounds. Besant was interested in the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity. She found in Theosophy what she was seeking and soon became its leader. She founded the British Theosophical Society, called "The Order of the Star of the East". Its principal item of belief was "We believe that a Great Teacher will soon appear in the world, and we wish so to live now that we may be worthy to know Him when He comes". Besant taught her followers to expect the imminent manifestation on earth of a messianic figure, the Lord Maitreya (from French maître, master, plus Hebrew äé Yah, for YHWH; or German Ja meaning Yes: as in Oui-ja Board). In 1908 she adopted an Indian boy called Jiddu Krishnamurti; then in 1925 announced him to the world as the New Messiah. After living this lie for four years, Jiddu could take it no longer. In 1929 he denounced Mrs Besant's claims as a fraud, and launched into his own career as a wandering guru. After this devastating failure, one would have expected Theosophy to fade quietly away; but no!
Benjamin Creme
This modern American claims to have begun his training as a "Master of Wisdom" in 1959. After an uneventful career he became Editor in Chief of the newspaper Share International. In 1982 his paper announced that "the Lord Maitreya" was living in an Indian immigrant community in South London and would shortly appear. In 1988 the paper claimed that apparitions of Maitreya had taken place in Nairobi at a business-men's conference, accompanied by visions of "crosses of light". In 1990 it is claimed he appeared and disappeared several times during a "large conference of dignitaries from around the world". In 1991 "he appeared before 500-plus people in Mexico City". In 1992/93 "he appeared miraculously at meetings in 23 different countries".
The Real Christ
Christians know that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Wisdom of God, the Word of God, the Messiah of God. He is the Saviour of the World; he is the Light of the World; he is the Life of the World. He is the King of the Universe. He will return at the end of the age (New Agers are constantly telling us that this is the end of the age of Pisces, the sign of the Fish, which is to Christians Ichthus, the sign of Jesus Christ God's Son Saviour; and the beginning of the New Age of Aquarius). "His feet will stand that day on the Mount of Olives" (Zechariah 14:4). When Jesus ascended into heaven it was from the Mount of Olives; angelic messengers appeared and said "This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). Then a stream of living waters will issue from Jerusalem for the healing of the nations (Ezekiel 47:1-12; Revelation 22:1-2); Aquarius indeed! Meanwhile Jesus says "If anyone says to you, 'Lo, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false prophets and false Christs shall arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Lo, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, 'Lo, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out; if they say, 'Lo, he is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man" (Matthew 24:23-27).
Are you ready for His Coming? Ben Crick