The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back examines the surge of interest in Gnosticism, and calls the church to understand why today’s spirituality is so similar to that of the church’s early spiritual enemies.

    Jones demonstrates in a thorough and engaging way that the New Age is not new at all…the church desperately needs to hear Professor Jones’ call for a clearer comprehension of truth.
    — Charles Colson

Gay rights are promoted in popular magazines, public radio and Hollywood. Feminist spirituality is making inroads into Christianity. Christian students are being silenced in the name of religious tolerance. Mystical techniques for achieving well-being and self-knowledge are being adopted in the business world and in the military. Merely coincidental trends?

Peter Jones says no. They are expressions of an ancient heresy reasserting itself today. Documenting how Gnosticism–a heresy of self-deification–has returned with a vengeance in New Age spirituality, Jones calls the church to spiritual warfare.

Table of Contents

Preface
Chapter 1: Getting a Handle on the New Age
Chapter 2: The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back
Chapter 3: All You Really Need to Know about Ancient Gnosticism
Chapter 4: The New Age: The Return of Ancient Gnosticism
Chapter 5: Perspectives for the Planet and for the Church

Preface

Have you ever asked yourself any of the following questions?

Why is homosexuality on the rise? Why is it endorsed by Time Magazine, promoted on publicly funded radio, and featured in children’s comic stripswith great moral fervor and in the name of democracy?  Why is feminism such a powerful force today?  Why is this movement developing its own goddess spirituality?  Why is witchcraft taught in certain California school districts?  Why is feminist spirituality making enormous inroads into Christianity?  Why is abortion a vitallyimportant part of the feminist manifesto?  Is ecology just a neutral concern about the survival of the planet, or does it too have a religious agenda?  Why is American Indian nature religion being actively promoted?  Why is the work ethic no longer working?  Why is multiculturalism and political correctness so important on many college campuses?  Are these seemingly dis-connected issues related in any way to the so-called New Age Movement?  Why arethe numerous New Age spiritual techniques for healing, peace of mind, and self-knowledge being publicized so vigorously in the media, and more and more utilized in the business world and the armed forces?

The real question is this: Are these apparently disconnected issues really part of a coherent pagan ideology poised to impose its religious belief system on the New World Order (the Age of Aquarius) of the twenty-first century?  The following comparison of New Age objectives with the pagan Gnosticism that dominated society in the first three centuries of the Christian church would answer yes to that most important question.

This study’s aim is thus:

    To clarify the true nature of the forces opposing Christians today and to demonstrate their interconnectedness;
    To warn the church of the battle that lies ahead in order that Christians might be prepared;
    To encourage believers to “fight the good fight” using the weapons of faith, particularly the sword of God’s Word, by which pagan Gnosticism was once already put to flight from the early church, and by which it will be put to flight again.