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The New Message from God (abbreviated as TNFMGor The New Message) is a new religious movement[1] originating from Boulder CO, USA. It is based on the writings of the movement's leader, Marshall Vian Summers, who claims[2] to be the recipient of a divine communication for the human race warning of imminent environmental, political and economic upheaval while opportunistic extraterrestrials would take advantage of the situation; the solution the New Message proposes, a spiritual practice.[3]

History

In 1981, Marshall Vian Summers, formerly a musician and a teacher for blind children, was "called into the desert" by "a voice" that commanded him to record a series of messages from angelic beings which told him that he was destined to convey God's message to the world[4][5]. Summers and his family would later move from California to New York and eventually settle in Colorado, where he published his first book, Steps to Knowledge, in 1989, the first in a series of texts purportedly channelled through Summers from an angelic source[6][7]. Summers would go on to trademark his brand of "Inner Guidance Training" the following year and, in 1992, founded The Society for the Greater Community Way of Knowledge, a religious non-profit organization dedicated to publishing and promoting Summers' teachings[7]. The organization would later rename itself as The Society for the New Message from God, and its books as installments of one larger series, The New Message from God. Summers himself (later joined by his son, Reed Summers) would proceed to hold several radio interviews throughout the United States and the United Kingdom over the following decades, preaching a message of human and religious unity in the face of global instability and alien contact[8][5]. By 2012 The New Message had developed a worldwide following, with members throughout North America, Asia and Europe. Promoting itself as "a new world religion"[9], the organization began hosting annual meetings in Colorado to host students of its teachings. Presently, The New Message from God boasts a wide social media presence[10][11], including online crowdfunding campaigns for its books, making it a case study in religious expression and influence in the 21st century[12].


Beliefs

The New Message bears similarities with the Baháʼí Faith in its concepts of religious universalism and progressive revelation, with the Dharmic religions and Gnosticism in its teachings on reincarnation and the centrality of spiritual knowledge in the human experience, and with Mormonism and modern UFO religions in its views on the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life Its neo-Gnostic elements and status as a modern-day "revealed text" have generated comparisons to A Course in Miracles[13].

God

The New Message characterizes God as the creator and source of all physical and non-physical existence[14], a being that is simultaneously omnipresent within its own creation and transcendent of it. God in The New Message is described in explicitly impersonal terms, and is never referred to using personal pronouns such as "he", "she" or even "it". The divine is instead defined in an impersonal or relational sense as "the experience of total relationship"[15] or as "the sum of all relationships"[16].

Spiritual Knowledge

The New Message teaches that all intelligent beings in the universe have a fundamental spiritual nature called Knowledge, which is also described as a "greater intelligence" distinct from the human intellect[17]. Every individual is said to have been sent into the world to contribute a specific and unique service to others, with destined relationships with specific people enabling the fulfillment of this purpose[18]. The ability to recognize one's unique service and destined relationships is contained said to be contained within Knowledge in the individual, who may receive guidance from Knowledge in states of inner stillness or awareness[19].

Succession of Messengers

In New Message theology, Marshall Vian Summers is preceded by Muhammad, Jesus and the Buddha in a line of messengers tasked with receiving divine revelation via an "angelic presence" which communicates with humanity on behalf of God[20]. As "God's Messenger for this time", Summers claims that he is currently the sole recipient of direct communication from the divine[2].

Religious Universalism

The New Message asserts that all of the world's religious traditions have a single divine origin, but have been changed or corrupted in such a way their original intent has become obscured or hidden[21]. It does not state that other religions are not valid, but does claim to represent a manifestation of "pure religion", or an essential spiritual experience that is the core of all religions[22]. Proponents of The New Message from God insist that it is not affiliated with any specific religion and represents a distinct tradition[23].

Extraterrestrial life

A core belief of The New Message from God is the existence of intelligent life beyond Earth[24]. Adherents believe that humanity is destined to interact with extraterrestrial races, and that this interaction has already been initiated by races that are currently visiting Earth. Rather than presenting such interaction as salvific for humanity, The New Message compares first contact by extraterrestrial races with the European colonization of the Americas[25], and warns that humanity faces potential subjugation as a result of activities such as alien abduction. The series of texts titled The Allies of Humanity, purportedly communicated to Marshall Vian Summers by benevolent extraterrestrials, describes an effort by other, malevolent extraterrestrials "to take advantage of humanity and gain access to the resources of Earth" and plans to hoax the Second Coming of Christ[26].

Cataclysmic change

The New Message states that humanity will experience a series of cataclysmic events as a result of anthropogenic climate change, referred to as "The Great Waves of Change"[27]. These include imminent food and water crises, extreme global warming, sea level rise of "over a hundred feet" (about 30 meters) within the next 150 years, the flooding of coastal cities and a resulting mass displacement of people[28].

History

Scriptures and practices

"The New Message from God" refers to both the religious movement itself and the texts on which it is based, which in turn are transcribed from a series of spoken audio recordings. Marshall Vian Summers is the sole author of these audio recordings and texts, which he and his followers view as divinely inspired scriptures. Estimated at over 9000 pages in length and continuing to grow[2][13], Summers' collected writings are longer than the combined length of the Bible[29] and the Quran[30]. A number of texts have been translated in 36 languages, with upwards of 2000 followers in 104 countries[13].

The practices of The New Message are contained in the central text, Steps to Knowledge, which prescribes a daily routine of meditation and contemplation[1] with a focus on reconnecting the individual with their spiritual "Knowledge". Adherents of the religion are encouraged to follow the practices outlined in Steps to Knowledge in order to lead the practitioner to "a revelation about [their] life and destiny"[31].

Organization and membership

The Society for the New Message from God is a 501(c) religious non-profit organization established in 1992 to promote The New Message from God. The Society, consisting of 10 members and several "core assistants", is led by Marshall Vian Summers, his wife, Patricia Summers, and his son, Reed Summers, who serve as teachers and spokespersons on behalf of the senior Mr. Summers[32]. Although the Society has released Summers' texts free of charge on its website[4], the Society's own publishing arm, the "New Knowledge Library", also publishes and sells The New Message from God in book form[33]

The New Message from God has more than 230,000 followers on Facebook from 102 countries.[2] A number of texts have been translated in 36 languages, with upwards of 2000 followers in 104 countries[13].

References

Template:Reflist

. Template:Drafts moved from mainspace Category:UFO religions Category:Religious organizations Category:New religious movements Category:Channelled texts Category:Prophecy


1. the express.UK citation has one good line pertinent to NMFG as distinct from MVS. It states the # of FB followers. So I lifted that sentence and rearranged the words and moved the citation lower in the feed. I feel strongly we can stand by this source though it's not the most reputable. It was being used to support the rando abbreviation TNMFG which is not a thing, so I say delete that.

2. I substituted Marshall at the MUFON symposium for the citation # 4 with TGC.

3. The first paragraph under ==Beliefs==, let it all go? As original to us, mostly. A Course in Miracles does come up for comparison but our best reference is to a comment on gururating.com?

[34]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Why Are Some People Attracted to New Religions? - The Atlantic|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2017/08/
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Template:Cite web
  3. ↑ Guru Rating - Marshall Vian Summers|url=https://gururating.org/marshall-vian-summers/
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Template:Cite web
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Template:Citation
  6. ↑ Template:Cite web
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Template:Citation
  8. ↑ Template:Cite web
  9. ↑ Template:Cite web
  10. ↑ Template:Cite web
  11. ↑ Template:Cite web
  12. ↑ Template:Cite web
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Template:Cite web
  14. ↑ Template:Cite web
  15. ↑ Template:Cite web
  16. ↑ Template:Cite web
  17. ↑ Template:Cite web
  18. ↑ Template:Cite web
  19. ↑ Template:Cite web
  20. ↑ Template:Cite web
  21. ↑ Template:Citation
  22. ↑ Template:Cite web
  23. ↑ Template:Cite web
  24. ↑ Template:Cite web
  25. ↑ Template:Citation
  26. ↑ Template:Cite web
  27. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named :6
  28. ↑ Template:Citation
  29. ↑ Template:Cite web
  30. ↑ Template:Cite web
  31. ↑ Template:Cite web
  32. ↑ Template:Cite web
  33. ↑ Template:Cite web
  34. ↑ Marshall Vian Summers. "The Alien Agenda and the Ethics of Contact" at the 37th Annual MUFON International Symposium, July 2006, Denver, CO
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