Many members of the church may never have heard of The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield, but it has enjoyed great success as a hardcover book–so much so that (so far as we know) it is not even available in paperback yet. Most libraries will have two or more copies, and they are checked out more than they are on the shelves. As of May 4th, this book has been on the New York Times’ Best Sellers’ List for 160 weeks, which is more than three years. For most of those weeks it was one of the top ten books being sold in America
What can explain the popularity of this book? It has its own Web Page on the Internet, and groups are being formed all across the country to discuss the contents of this work of fiction. The average work of fiction lasts nowhere this amount of time on the best seller’s list; What is behind this book’s phenomenal success?
It deals with mystical matters and could be classified as New Age literature. The book is copyrighted in 1994, which means that it has been a best seller practically since the day of its release. Published by Warner Books, who placed a disclaimer regarding the book’s contents, it contains a quote from Daniel 12:3-4 near the title page. The author does not say what translation he is using, but instead of the usual “those who are wise,” the reader finds “those who have insight.”
Even the NIV is not this loose in its rendering of the verse, which makes one wonder if Redfield did not just substitute the word (insight) that fits his theology. The book concerns the discovery of nine insights that were written in Aramaic in Peru about 600 B.C. (9).
The author does not elaborate or speculate on the mechanism that would allow for the manuscript to be written in a language peculiar to one part of the world, but which finds its way to a distant corner of the globe. Perhaps Thor Heyerdahl (author of Kon-tiki) could help us out. The Book of Mormon, after all, is theoretically an account of how Jews migrated to the Americas. Is Redfield implying that some of Daniel’s friends fled to the South American continent where someone wrote these nine insights about what would happen around the year 2000? Only he knows for sure.
The story itself concerns a man who is informed about this ancient manuscript by a friend. He decides to go to Peru to find out what he can about it only to find that there is severe hostility against it on the part of the government (which is not only suppressing the manuscript but also denying its existence). Behind this government conspiracy to do away with the manuscript stands a Roman Catholic Cardinal who deems the manuscript dangerous and a threat to their religion. The main character spends half of his time fleeing from the persecutors and the other half being taught the contents of the manuscript by various individuals he comes in contact with (many of whom are Catholic priests).
Obviously, if Redfield had just written nine insights, he probably would not have had a best-seller on his hands, but by incorporating them into an adventure story he can sustain the reader’s interest, much as Ayn Rand did with Atlas Shrugged (still a great novel despite her unworkable and flawed system of morality). Nevertheless, the appeal of the book is the nine insights, a discussion of which follows.
The First Three Insights
“The first insight occurs when we take the coincidences seriously. These coincidences make us feel there is something more, something spiritual, operating underneath everything we do” (119).
At first reading, this “insight” sounds like some who have overemphasized the Biblical doctrine of Providence or the philosophy that some Pentecostals have who feel that God is directing every step of their lives by means of the Holy Spirit. The one who buys into this precept has begun a journey of subjectivism. In other words, the word coincidence becomes meaningless. Every action is part of a divine plan, and guess what? That divine plan involves ME! God is advancing me spiritually–if I have enough insight to realize it. Seems a tad egotistical, doesn’t it?
The second insight involves waking up to spirituality, to consider why we are really here (27, 119). Although this question is one that Christians frequently encourage others to consider, the solution here is not to go to the Bible to get answers.
“The answers I’m talking about are coming from many different areas of inquiry. The findings of physics, psychology, mysticism, and religion are all coming together into a new synthesis based on a perception of the coincidences” (36).
These first two insights would probably seem relatively innocuous to most people, but how rational souls get beyond the third one is a mystery. The third insight “Defines the physical universe as one of pure energy, and energy that somehow responds to how we think” (119). Wow! What does that statement mean? It means that there is “an energy field hovering about everything” (44). Furthermore, you can see it! Yes, there are energy fields even around plants; the main character in the novel focuses on the plants and sees their energy fields (humans have them, also). Not only that, but several people are experimenting with the plants, projecting their energies on the plants, and (as a result) the plants grow healthier and are more full of vitamins! Now the reader knows he is reading fiction for sure, but insight #3 is an integral part of the Celestine system. Anyone who wants to see these energy fields around persons or plants should try it at sunrise or sunset, the two optimum times of the day (50).
Incidentally, a little known fact (which is an interesting sidelight) is that: “When a person has sexual thoughts, the person’s energy field sort of swirls about and actually propels outward toward the person who’s the object of attraction” (49). As if sexual harassment lawsuits were not cloudy enough already, how will a judge deal with a woman who says, “Your honor, he didn’t say anything and didn’t touch me inappropriately, but I definitely saw his energy field swirling in my direction!”?
The Fourth and Fifth Insights
Having established that human beings have their own personal energy, the fourth insight causes us to realize that we try to enhance our own energy at the expense of others. This goal is achieved by winning arguments or tearing another person down. We rob them of their energy level while increasing our own.
“And the Fourth exposes the human tendency to steal energy from other humans by controlling them, taking over their minds, a crime in which we engage because we so often feel depleted of energy, and cut off. This shortage of energy can be remedied, of course, when we connect with the higher source. The universe can provide all we need if we can only open up to it. That is the revelation of the Fifth Insight” (119-20).
How does one get energy from a higher source? “‘When you appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of things,’ he explained, ‘you receive energy'” (113). The main character has already experienced such an epiphany as he became one with nature. Everything was part of him, and he “experienced the entire universe” (98).
Part of what he experiences is the entire process of “evolution,” beginning with the “big bang” and continuing to the present day (98-100). The author tries (unsuccessfully) to tie evolution to the Bible. When the Cardinal later objects to evolution as a violation of the Scriptures, a priest tells him:
“Yes, I fought against the idea of evolution as a replacement for God, as a way to explain the universe without reference to God. But now I see that the truth is a synthesis of the scientific and religious world views. The truth is that evolution is the way God created, and is still creating” (236).
No, the truth is that God made Adam and Eve in the beginning (Matt. 19:4). The truth is that God created the world in six days (Ex. 20:11). The truth is that God has revealed to us “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3); mankind is not evolving spiritually. Everything we need to know has been revealed to us and available to us since the first century! Redfield is right to anticipate objections to his “Insights”; unfortunately, he does not answer them adequately.
Occasionally, the author attempts to appropriate Christian ideas for his own use. He says the shortsighted Cardinal is attempting to approach spiritual knowledge “by faith alone,” meaning that he is seeking God only through the Bible (115). Then, referring to the mystical approach, he says, “The truth shall make you free” (115). Jesus says that truth comes through a study of His objective teachings (John 8:31-32); these verses actually refute Redfield’s notions. He also asserts that praying before eating “is not just about being thankful, it is to make eating a holy experience, so the energy from the food can enter your body” (113).
The Sixth Insight and Beyond
Next we must recognize the unconscious control dramas we all act out daily. We receive these attitudes from our parents, and they determine how we behave and react in certain situations. We may interrogate, intimidate, remain aloof from others, or take refuge in being a victim (127-29). Our parents formed one of these dispositions in us, the author avers.
The seventh insight involves ridding our minds of negative images. “Love is the way we keep our vibration up. It keeps us healthy” (174). The final two insights build on the earlier ones and intensify them. Consider this affirmation: “Whenever people cross our paths, there is always a message for us. Chance encounters do not exist” (200).
Try this system in your next discussion group:
“As the members of a group talk, only one will have the most powerful idea at any one time. If they are alert, the others in the group can feel who is about to speak, and they can consciously focus this energy on this person, helping to bring out his idea with the greatest clarity” (214).
And there is much more. Visions and daydreams can foretell what is about to happen. As our energy levels increase we become lighter, and (if we eliminate fear) we can become invisible! Also, money will soon become obsolete; people will voluntarily give up its usage. In the near future earthlings will agree to have fewer children, and we will develop powerful forests from which to raise our energy levels.
What about love? “Love is not an intellectual concept or a moral imperative or anything else. It is a background emotion that exists when one is connected to the energy available in the universe. . .” (153). Alas, love can deteriorate into a power struggle for each other’s energy; neither should be subservient (194).
The Upshot?
Is this stuff a threat to Christianity? Anyone who believes these precepts might possibly be a better person (by treating others politely and with respect), and surely they are no danger to the rest of society if they want to focus on plants and raise their energy levels. But the philosophy of the entire system is wrong, just as all New Age ideas are. The overriding goal is self-development; there is no emphasis at all on morality or attempting to please God. Jesus becomes only a being of higher consciousness, not the Savior of all mankind.
Although there was no mention of reincarnation, there was this sentence: “This is your evolutionary question, your quest this lifetime” (139). Ideas such as these capture people’s fancy because they sound new and different. New Agers will be lost because of their failure to obey the gospel, but they pose no direct threat to others–unless they decide to force their ideas upon us.