Marilyn Brown has done a wonderful job unmasking the truth behind the sugar coated “Alpha Course”, created by Nicky Gumbel, Anglican priest of Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, London, England. It has been promoted, since its launch by Gumbel 1977, by many main stream “churches” worldwide. People need to be alerted as more and more false prophets arise in these last days to deceive many of you humans.

Gibber! Gibber!

Chugley

THE ALPHA COURSE, TORONTO BLESSING, NEW AGE AND KUNDALINI

Marilyn Brown

When compared to Scriptural doctrines and principles, it is almost impossible to find anything of value in Nicky Gumbel’s Alpha Course.  On the surface, it appears to be an attempt at some sort of evangelism, albeit a very wishy-washy one, but, below the surface, it is far from benign, exposing its attendees to demonic activity and a false belief that they have been saved when they haven’t.

Of the church that would be prominent in the Last Days which would lead up to the final years of the Great Tribulation, the church of Laodicea, Jesus Christ had this to say:

“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.  I could wish you were cold or hot.  So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.  Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy and have need of nothing’ – and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked – I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire….” (Revelation 3:14-18)

The hallmark of today’s Church of England, along with most of today’s Christian churches, is lukewarmness, with the ordination of women, homosexuals and lesbians; the elevation to high office of people who openly deny the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, and the literal interpretation of Scripture, particularly the Creation story; and an increasing flirtation with the Church of Rome, ecumenism, and the global agenda.

Of course, it is entirely possible that a member of the Church of England could still be sound in doctrine and faithful to the Word of God, but, unfortunately, this is not in evidence in Nicky Gumbel’s Alpha Course.

Authors, Elizabeth McDonald and Dusty Peterson, have devoted three volumes to an-depth examination of the course, comparing it to the clear teaching of the Scriptures – Alpha, the Unofficial Guide: Overview, and the two-volume Alpha, the Unofficial Guide.  Not only that, but so great was their concern, that they also produced a paper on their findings – The Powers Behind the Alpha Course: The Powerful Spirit.  They write:

“It may reassure readers to know that eight man-years of full-time research have gone into this new work.  Naturally, every part of an official Alpha Course was specially attended, but beyond this we have read virtually every Alpha-related book and Alpha newspaper, plus many other publications from HTB/Nicky Gumbel (as well as many relevant books, articles etc from other sources), and every video was watched multiple times in order to create this Guide.”¹

“The proper tests of a movement are……Who are the people behind it, and what are their views?  What are its ingredients?  How is it produced?  And how is it supposed to be received?  Biblically speaking, if we happen to come across people who have already got involved with the movement in question, its effects on them must be understood in the light of these other, correct tests – but certain Christians are being told (often rather impatiently too) that the opposite is the case…… Nicky Gumbel said, of a well-known movement of the mid-90s, ‘The fruit is the test’.”²

ALPHA ERRORS

A view of other religions, including Roman Catholicism, Seventh Day Adventism and Islam, as containing both truth and error.  Titus 3:10-11.  Nicky actively promotes the ecumenical views which abound today and are, therefore, dismissive of those martyrs who gave their lives to bring the world Biblical truth:  “I feel strongly….we need to unite.  We need to encourage….whatever God is doing in different places, not try to put our experience onto any other church…..[which includes] Roman Catholics….Nobody is suspicious of anybody else.  Everyone is working together and I believe that is what the Spirit achieves.”  

Rome officially endorses Alpha and employs it to bring people into her system.  Since Rome’s God is so different from the one described in Scripture, the Course must be somewhat compromised – to say the least – for Rome to be prepared to use it…….the Catholic Alpha Office has affirmed that ‘Catholics who have read the Alpha material have found it remarkably free from anything which we might object to’.

Teaching which is non-confrontational, abounding in affirmation of the attendee’s self-worth, and devoid of real teaching on sin.  1 Timothy 4:13-16.  Nicky has said, “Jesus on earth was so attractive…He was magnetic, so the church of Jesus Christ, His body now on earth, should be so attractive that people are drawn to it.”

A more accurate statement of how the world actually saw Jesus is given in Isaiah 53:2-3.  Jesus was so ‘magnetic’ that, fewer than four years into His ministry, He was cast away by the world and put to an horrific death.

Testimonies which are experiential, with little or no evidence of repentance.  They almost all have one thing in common:  they are all ‘me-centred’ or Alpha centred, rather than Christ centred.  While some Alpha testimonies are certainly emotional, many people attending secular psychotherapy meetings will have very moving experiences and real results too.

Alpha discourages its attendees from being discerning as to whether someone else is truly saved.  However, the entirety of John’s first epistle is dedicated to explaining how believers can indeed distinguish real brothers from false ones.  The Spirit of God achieves separation from heresy and unrighteousness, not unity with the ‘Faith’ movement and its siblings.

Given that the act of visualisation is shamanic rather than scriptural, it is worrying that Nicky encourages Alpha participants to visualise Jesus.  (Nicky even shows Course attendees a painting of a ‘Jesus’ complete with Romish halo).  He informs attendees that we have ‘royal rights’ to command God to do our will.

Nicky never once tells Alpha participants that God is to be feared.  He thereby rejects those who stand up for God’s Word on this pivotal matter, as well as undermining the walk of his hearers.  Deuteronomy 5:29.  Nicky condemns those who are committed to the truth whilst he praises those who permit falsehoods to be taught about God.  As Paul said in Galatians 4:16 to those who had allowed false teachings to prevail and who were rejecting him for his stand for the one true faith:  “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?”

Nicky teaches Post-Millennialism, i.e. that the world is already under the Millennial reign of Christ.  It is the source of the belief that the Church is heading for a time of great revival and will usher in Christ’s return.  This belief denies the clear teaching of the book of Revelation that our world is becoming more and more corrupt, with an increasingly ‘lukewarm’ and ineffectual church, and is heading for a time of frightening judgment at God’s hands, a grossly misleading concept for supposedly new believers.  It also completely omits the underlying theme throughout the Bible that, ultimately, it is Israel who will usher in Christ’s return.

ALPHA’S CONNECTION TO NEW AGEISM^1,2

• Alpha’s ecumenical position and embracing of Roman Catholicism;
• Nicky Gumbel’s substantial credence given to the “General Theory of Evolution” and the undermining of the inerrancy of Scripture;
• The use of New Age terminology such as “the Age of the Spirit”, “the New Age”, “the Old Covenant God”, together with the favourable quoting of New Agers;
• Alpha’s emphasis on group consciousness and group experience rather than on the bringing of God’s Word;
• Nicky’s subtle support for baptismal regeneration;
• The teaching that people can be in a friendly relationship with God before they are saved;
• Alpha’s experience-based “salvation” and “easy believism”;
• Nicky Gumbel’s view of Jesus Christ and the subtle attacks on His deity;
• Gumbel’s emphasis on visible unity over doctrinal purity;
• Alpha’s support for the Power of Positive Thinking techniques and the people who propagate them;
• Nicky’s Post Millennial views and other assaults on Israel;
• His neglect of God the Father and over-emphasis on the Holy Spirit.;
• The wide-ranging doctrinal confusion on the Course.

ALPHA, TORONTO/PENSACOLA AND KUNDALINI^3,4,5,6

Probably the most worrying aspect of all about the Alpha Course is the Holy Spirit weekend, which is nothing more than the impartation of the Toronto “blessing”, which has its roots in New Ageism and Kundalini yoga.

In Hindu mythology and occult anatomy, the goddess Kundalini is thought of as a female serpent lying dormant at the base of the spine.  She is, thus, separated from her male counterpart, Shiva, who resides in the brain.  Yoga practices enable her to uncoil, travel up the spine to meet her lover and release psychic powers en route.  Kundalini arousal or its equivalent is found not only in yoga; it is also encountered in scores of new religions and is at the heart of the Toronto/Pensacola manifestations.

“Suddenly surges of energy-like electrical charges streaked up my spine….Suddenly a scream from someone in the back of the room, then another.  In a few moments the place was a mad house.  People were crying hysterically, laughing uncontrollably, gasping for breath, even rolling on the floor.” (Toronto?  Alpha?  No – a guru-led session of group meditation.)

The risen Kundalini often leads to:

• Intervals of tremendous joy, love, peace and compassion;
• Psychic experiences:  extrasensory perception; past life memories; healing powers;
• Increased creativity:  new interests in self-expression and spiritual communication;
• Intensified understanding and sensitivity:  insight into one’s own essence; deeper understanding of spiritual things; exquisite awareness of one’s environment;
• Enlightenment experiences:  direct Knowing of a more expansive reality; transcendent awareness.

And here is a list of risen Kundalini bodily responses which have all been documented as Toronto/Pensacola and Alpha “Holy Spirit” weekend responses:

• Energy rushes or feeling of electricity;
• Tingling sensations;
• Unnatural heat or cold;
• Involuntary bodily movements:  jerking, tremors, shaking; feeling a force, especially a force pushing one or moving one’s body;
• Numbness or pain in the limbs (particularly the left-hand limbs);
• Rapid mood shifts, unprovoked episodes of grief, fear, rage, depression;
• ‘Whooshing’ sensations and other strange activity (e.g. white lights) in the head;
• Spontaneous and unintentional vocalizations (including laughing and weeping);
• Trances or out-of-body experiences (also bouts of self-grandiosity);
• Contacts through spirit-guides through inner voices or visions.

These manifestations can be produced in participants who are self-confessedly not Christians.  When this happens during the Holy Spirit weekend of the Alpha Course, Course leaders invariably assume that these people are now saved (if not baptized in the Holy Spirit) and tell them so.

How much more deadly are these experiences for children who are especially vulnerable to spiritual deception!

Finally, here is the closing report on the Holy Spirit weekend, from a Jewish journalist, Jon Ronson, who attended the Alpha Course for “The Guardian” newspaper, U.K

“I wobble on my feet.  Later, James tells me that wobbling is a possible sign of the Holy Spirit.  I open my eyes for a moment and look at the group…..James walks over to me:  ‘Is it working for you?’ he asks.  ‘Well, it might have,’ I reply truthfully, ‘ but the truth is, I’m a journalist, so I couldn’t keep my eyes closed.’  ‘Would you like me to pray for you?’ he asks.  ‘Okay,’ I say.  James rests his hand on my shoulder,……’Oh thank you, Jesus, for Jon’s wonderfully enquiring journalistic mind…..and may his journalism become even more wonderful now he is working in Your name, Jesus Christ…’  I tell James I’m sorry, and follow Alice outside, where half-a-dozen furious agnostics have gathered on the grass.  ‘Why didn’t anyone tell me I’d signed up for a brainwashing cult?’ says one.  ‘I felt like I was in a pack of hyenas.’…..Alice is devastated:  ‘I used to think Nicky was fantastic…..But now I’m thinking, just get me away from these weirdos.  I’ve been dragged all the way out here under false pretences, and there’s no escape.  I’m actually very, very upset.’  We…..watch as the new converts file out of the chapel, red-eyed from crying or smiling beatifically.  Tony is one such convert, but he is not smiling.  In fact, he seems miserable.  ‘Something overwhelmed me,’ he says, ‘I didn’t want it to.  I tried to resist it , but I couldn’t……I was thinking of all the reasons why I didn’t want it to happen – you know, the Christian lifestyle.’”⁷

Compare this to genuine conversion accounts in the Scriptures:

“’Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.’  Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’  Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name  of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” (Acts 2:36-38)

“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8)

References

¹Alpha, the Unofficial Guide: Overview, by Elizabeth McDonald & Dusty Peterson (copyright ©  Elizabeth McDonald & Dusty Peterson 2002, Published by St. Mattew Publishing Ltd.)

²The Powers Behind the Alpha Course: The Powerful Spirit, by Elizabeth McDonald & Dusty Peterson (published in Moriel On-Line, 2006)

³Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, by John Ankerberg & John Weldon (Copyright © 1996 by Harvest House Publishers)

⁴The Toronto Blessing and Slaying in the Spirit, The telling wonder, by Nader Mikhaiel (Copyright © 1992 by Nader Mikhael)

⁵Alpha, the Unofficial Guide: Overview 

⁶The Powers Behind the Alpha Course: The Powerful Spirit 

⁷Catch Me if You Can’ by Jon Ronson, The Guardian, U.K., October 2000

Marilyn Brown was born in Sydney, Australia.  A darkly unhappy child and passionately enamoured of horses but unable to own one, by the age of 10, she was suffering from ulcerative colitis, a stress-related illness, causing ulceration of the bowel.  She managed to scrape through the Leaving Certificate at the Methodist Ladies’ College, where evolutionary biology and geography were two of her subjects.  At the age of 21, an on-again/off-again relationship drove her to hand her life over to a God whose Word was not particularly relevant as science had proven that its opening chapters were not.  Classical singing lessons produced a passion to succeed in this field and, at the age of 30, she and Max, her life-long friend and husband of 6 years, set off for England to pursue the dream.  But the Lord had other plans.  Instead of continuing her training, the colitis, which had come as acute attacks at times of stress, now became chronic.  It was Max who directed their search for answers to the Lord, buying books on Christian healing for them to read.  It was through these books that the Lord led them both to be baptized with the Holy Spirit which, soon after, prompted Marilyn to question whether David Attenbrough’s Life on Earth, showing on U.K. television at the time, were the whole story.  Could the Biblical version have any support at all?  As the Lord always does, once we display an interest in the truth, He will see to it that we find it.  It took very few pages of a thick tome, The Creation/ Evolution Controversy, by D.L. Wysong, for the truth to burst the bubble of the evolutionary lie.  From that moment, the passion of Marilyn’s heart has been to point people to the absolute, unshakeable truth of the Bible.  The worsening level of the colitis would send Max and Marilyn back home to Australia where they began attending Hills C.L.C. (now Hillsong), then only 12 months old.  Here they would be nurtured and encouraged to hold fast to the Word of God and would provide an Australia-wide network of prayer as the illness continued its grim progress over the next 10 years, culminating in a perforated bowel that would place Marilyn on life-support in hospital.  However, after 12 years, without any fanfare, the Lord moved and the colitis began to recede so that now, contrary to all medical expectations of this disease, there have now been 19 years that have been free of colitis.  When finally able to return to C.L.C., the Church that had once been Bible-based and Christ-centred seemed to be shifting away from these foundations, subtly at first and now, of course, in a landslide.  It was time to move on.  Marilyn continues to constantly strive to be equipped to impart Biblical truth to whomever should ask questions.  “…and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you…..” (1 Peter 3:15)