Church of Oprah
Church of Oprah – New Age Purpose
Eckart Tolle’s books, The Power Now and Stillness Speaks, provide the doctrine for what many regard as the “Church of Oprah.” In his latest bestseller, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, Tolle “draws from the guiding principles of multiple religions.”1 The super-star talk show host Oprah Winfrey predicts, “I think he [Tolle] is a prophet for our time.”2 Her XM satellite station began January 2008 -- teaching a course in miracles (concurring with New Age teaching). Her 10-week Internet course based on Tolle’s “New Earth” book began March 3, 2008.
During her Oprah & Friends (Soul Series) radio program, Oprah revealed her purpose in life: “I’m so excited to tell you about my newest book club selection, A New Earth . . . I believe and try to live by the message of this book . . . it caused a greater sense of awakening for me.”3 Oprah believes her life purpose is to awaken the entire world to “your life’s purpose.”
Church of Oprah – The Beliefs
If the church of Oprah actually does exist, then how do Oprah and Tolle envision the “awakening” of their disciples? Tolle responds:
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Minimize Your Thoughts – “You are no longer possessed by the thinking mind . . .You don’t rely on thought anymore; you go beyond thinking...You suddenly find there’s another dimension deeper than thought inside you...I call it stillness ...an aware presence, nothing to do with past or future.”4
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Live for the Moment – “A continuous refocusing on what really matters...which is the present moment. People don’t realize that now is all there ever is; there is no past or future...The present moment is your life. It’s nowhere else -- never, ever.”5
- Let Your Consciousness Evolve – “Our ability to think more and more, so that gradually we became identified with thinking, was how we lost a deeper connectedness with life -- with Paradise...we are now at an evolutionary transition where far more human beings than ever before are able to go beyond ego into a new state of consciousness.”6
Church of Oprah – Comparison to the Bible
Eckhart Tolle’s beliefs characterize the church of Oprah which coincides with the New Age doctrine of evolutionary Godhood, as well as the union of earth and nature as “Gaia.” These ideas are contradictory to the teachings in the Bible.
Religion is man reaching out to God. Salvation, as presented in the Bible, is God’s love and mercy reaching out to imperfect man:
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Christ’s Mind – Instead of abandoning the thought-process, the Bible tells us that when we have a relationship with God, we gain understanding because we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:14–16). Any past guilt and future fears dissolve as we place our trust in God who created our bodies as well as our minds (Isaiah 26:3; Philippians 4:6–7).
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New Hope And A Future – Each one of us has struggled with our past. But God, through His Son, Jesus Christ, not only sets us free from condemnation, but offers us a new life and future (2 Corinthians 5:16–18). We are so highly valued by God that He actually custom-designed your life (Jeremiah 29:11–13).
- A Transformed Life – We can never form a connection for ourselves to heaven (Paradise) through meditation, rituals, or philanthropic deeds. We are imperfect humans, sinful by nature. So Jesus’ perfect, sinless life was offered in our place, “giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 3:22–24; Romans 5:21).
1 ”The Book that Changed Oprah’s Life,” Good Housekeeping’s Quick & Simple, April 29, 2008, p. 18.
2 Oprah Winfrey, “Oprah Talks to Eckhart Tolle, O, The Oprah Magazine, May 2008, p. 298.
3 ”Oprah’s New Religion – You will not believe your Ears!” – Video
4 (Oprah Winfrey, pp. 298–299).
5 (Oprah Winfrey, p. 344).
6 (Oprah Winfrey, p. 346).
7 You-Tube Video Interview with her audience “The Church of Oprah Exposed”
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