New Age Holistic Health: Implications for Seventh-day Adventist Faith and Practice
Manuel A. Vásquez
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism Mysticism |
| Keywords | Occult Taoism Hinduism Spirituality Astrology Parapsychology Holistic health Alchemy Psychic Traditional medicine Alternative medicine Aesthetics Religious studies Theology |
| Key findings | New Age holistic health therapies are based on Eastern mystical religious philosophies and the occult, making them spiritually dangerous for Seventh-day Adventist Christians. |
Abstract
Problem. Alternative New Age holistic health therapies can be physically and spiritually dangerous for Seventh-day Adventist Christians because these therapies are based on nonbiblical worldview philosophies, universal energy forces, astrology, the occult, and Eastern mysticism. Method. Primary and secondary New Age holistic health sources, as well as the Bible, the writings of Ellen G. White and other Christian writers were researched. Interviews were conducted with Chinese acupuncturists and New Age holistic health practitioners. The intent was to discover the roots of New Age holistic health therapies and practices and the sources that the recent New Age holistic pioneers drew from in developing their characteristic modalities. Results. The findings of this research dissertation are that New Age holistic health roots are deeply embedded in Eastern mystical religious philosophies, such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism, as well as the occult. It is shown that typically New Age holistic health pioneers were either associated with or practiced occult parapsychology and the psychic phenomena. Conclusion. New Age holistic health therapies and practices are based on nonbiblical worldview philosophies. Eastern mysticism and the occult. It is spiritually dangerous, and sometimes physically harmful, for Christians to participate in these therapies or to think that they can separate the practices from their nonbiblical worldview philosophies and still remain loyal to their God and Savior.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Western Buddhist meditation practitioners and experts in Theravāda, Zen, and Tibetan... | 2017 | Qualitative study with mixed-methods | |
| A phenomenology of meditation-induced light experiences: traditional buddhist and neurobiological perspectives American Buddhist practitioners | 2014 | Qualitative study | |
| Common Core Thesis and Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Mysticism in Chinese Buddhist Monks and Nuns Chinese Pure Land and Chan Buddhist monks and nuns | 2011 | Mixed-methods study | n = 139 |
| Anger regulation in traumatized Cambodian refugees: the perspectives of Buddhist monks. Buddhist Cambodian monks in Massachusetts | 2011 | Qualitative study | n = 6 |
| The Lived Experiences of Experienced Vipassana Mahasi Meditators: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Experienced Vipassana Mahasi meditators | 2018 | Qualitative study |