The term “New Breed” is not a benign term. It is a term with a frightening history. The fact that this term is still being used, and has been incorporated into teachings of the New Apostolic Reformation, is even more alarming. The history of this term demonstrates that it begins with a “spiritual” meaning, but inevitably a physical application comes along, e.g. racism. “New Breed” always creates a division — between those who are the elites and those who are classified as “sub-human” for whatever reason.
There is a spiritualized class structure being built by the New Apostolic Reformation — a new group of super leaders (“apostles,” “prophets” and highly-trained “change agent” pastors) who have special “powers.” Those who don’t go along with this “2nd Reformation” (“transformation”) are already being mocked, ridiculed and disparaged in the New Apostolic writings.
History
In 1800s Germany there was a big stew of new ideas and philosophies cooking. It captivated the upper class with its Theosophy, eroticism, mysticism, spirtualism, paganism, Buddhism, Hinduism, pessimism, utopianism, vegetarianism, nudism, positivism, evolutionism, scientism, mythology, Wagnerism, Nietzcheanism, irrationalism, rationalism and every other kind of “ism” imaginable. Christianity was challenged as a “myth” and in its void these other “isms” became fashionable and popular, gradually replacing the Christian ethic with a new order.
Richard Noll, in his classic work, The Jung Cult: Origins of a Charismatic Movement (Princeton University Press, 1994), presents a most comprehensive historical overview of these various movements in Germany. He noted that there was an inordinate emphasis on anything “new” —
“Given the fin-de-siecle [turn-of-the-century, ed.] mood of degeneration and decay and its obsession with individualism, eroticism, mysticism, and the dead, the conditions were ripe for those seeking novel paths of cultural, political, physical, and especially spiritual renewel. The great cultural historian Jacob Burckhardt (1818-1897) . . . could observe as early as 1843 that, ‘Everybody wants to be new but nothing else. . . .’ Neophilia [abnormal attraction to the new, ed.] in the form of a quest for new ideas, new experiences, new academic disciplines, new therapeutics, obsessed the imaginations of many. . . .” (p. 32)
Noll examines the significance of the life work of Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) at the University of Jena who took the evolutionary ideas of Charles Darwin and “designed secular paths of cultural renewal or regeneration that were greatly influenced by evolutionary biological training.” (p. 43) Haeckel is most noted for his theory that “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.” This is the idea that the development of the structure of the human embryo mimicked the evolution of the species. Readers may recall seeing photos or diagrams in old physiology textbooks based on this philosophy. This idea, incredibly, still shows up in certain segments of academia as well as Theosophy. Those who won’t evolve to a higher order species of mankind are said to possess remnants of a reptilian brain.
Haeckel postulated a “phylogeny of the soul” — a “natural evolution of our whole body and mind” and proposed a “‘phylogenetic psychology’ as a science of evolutionary research alongside embryology, paleontology, and biological phylogeny.” (p. 2)
Haeckel created a new “‘natural religion’ based on the natural sciences,” a “pantheistic natural religion, based on scientific principles — a philosophy called ‘Monism’ — . . . a way of linking science and religion.” (p. 48) Noll explains,
“In a secular rite of passage, the monist is thus reborn through the rejection of the tenets of organized religion (separation), an initiation into the proof of the essential unity of matter and spirit (a period of liminality), and then participation in local societies promoting monistic ideas (reincorporation.” (p. 49) [emphasis added]
It is in this description that one can see the early shades of the tradition–transition–transformation model of human evolution. Significantly, this was derived from a pagan “rite of initiation” ceremony.
Other German academics took the ideas of Haeckel, and other influential academics working with similar ideas, and initiated Social Darwinian cultural reforms in the increasingly popular areas of eugenics and economics. Haeckel’s ideas were incorporated into the newly-forming academic disciplines of psychology, anthropology and sociology. With this kind of academic sustenance and nurture, his ideas remained entrenched for generations.
These philosophies took variant forms, giving rise to a cultural and spiritual elitism, a god-building movement (V.I. Lenin, et al), scientific socialism, the deification of mankind, the creation of a new utopia and a new social order, and a eugenically pure race. In these ideas one can observe “the many mystical or prefascist sources of National Socialism.” (p. 55)
[The 4-tape video series by Dean Gotcher entitled “Research Seminar/Transitional-Transformational OBE/TQM/STW,” http://www.authorityresearch.com,/ mentioned in the 1/31/06 Herescope post tracks the history of these movements and philosophies from the late 1800s into the 20th century disciplines of social science, psychology and education.]
Evolutionary Biology
Haeckel is credited with “adding the ‘biological inferiority’ twist to the Jewish question” (p. 85). His comprehensive application of pseudo-scientific Darwinian precepts to the human condition ensured that some races, or some peoples, would be seen as inferior while others would be deemed superior. Haeckel sought to give German volkisch mysticism scientific credibility. The ramifications of this merger of science and religion were staggering. Noll writes,
“Not surprisingly, Haeckelian monism, the ‘scientific religion,’ and volkisch nature worship were fused in the minds of many at this time. In his important study, The Scientific Origins of National Socialism, Gasman calls Haeckel ‘the Volkish Prophet’ and persuasively documents his thesis that ‘proto-Nazi Volkism did not invariably originate in opposition to science and modernism.’ Gasman argues that ‘one of the earliest, if not the earliest comprehensive program embodying National Socialist principles in Germany’ was Haeckel and Ostwald’s Monistic League, and therefore National Socialism arose ‘in the context of a movement which prided itself on its scientific ideology and modern view of the world.'” (p. 90-91)
We know from history the rest of this gruesome story — the ghastly history of Nazi Germany’s racial “science,” Hitler’s eugenics programs to conduct selective-breeding experiments to engineer a more perfect society of those with “pure blood,” and the genocide of millions of “biologically inferior” people.
These ideas did not remain in Germany. By the late 1800s there was a huge cross-fertilization of ideas and movements beyond borders and nationalities. These philosophies attained respectability in the highest echelons of academia as “sciences.” The racial purity ideas entered American mainstream through elite individuals and organizations, most notably including Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood. [Ed. note: for further reading on the topic of how pervasive and influential these ideas became in America, read: Margaret Sanger: Father of Modern Society by Elasah Drogin (CUL Publications, 1989) and The Leipzig Connection: The Systematic Destruction of American Education by Paolo Lionni and Lance J. Klass (Heron Books, 1980).]
Richard Noll, in the context of analyzing the influences upon the life of Carl Jung, writes of the rise of the mystery cults in Germany during the 1800s, and their goal to create man into a superman. This history is quite complex, involving Gnosticism, Hermeticism, the German philosophers (e.g., Hegel, Nietzsche, et al), and the rise of various social, cultural and religious movements. Noll makes a convincing case that Jung created a psychological rite of initiation for the purpose of self-deification, to become the god within. Jung wrote that by tapping into the collective evolving consciousness (a “pre-Christian, mythological layer of the unconscious mind” [p. 129]) man could undergo the transformative experience of becoming one with god.
It is this creation of a god-man that pertains to the doctrine of the “New Breed.” This mystical doctrine teaches that humanity is gradually evolving into a deity. Man may require some “scientific” assistance to facilitate this evolution. Particularly, a blend of psycho-social-medtech science with religion could expedite matters. The new term for this in our postmodern era is “transhumanism,” which entails high-tech “enhancements” to create superhumans.
The Truth:
This extremely brief chronology indicates that the idea of a “New Breed” is one that is rooted in the occult. It can be tracked back into the darkest roots of Hermeticism and Alchemy. It has nothing to do with Christianity. It is not found in Scripture. Any doctrine that teaches that one race or one man or one group is superior to another — for whatever reason — is heresy. Any doctrine that teaches man can become a super-spiritual human or an elite “new breed” is heresy.
“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:26-29)
Tomorrow: The New Breed and Incarnating Christ. . . .