CT 113: Transcendentalism & New Age Spirituality Study Guide

A comprehensive vocabulary review of core terms, the 7 worldview questions, epistemology, New Age pathways, Sire's evaluation tests, and the 3-worldview comparison matrix from the CT 113 Exam 3 Study Guide Worksheet.

Pantheistic Monism

The worldview asserting that all reality is one divine essence and that everything is connected.

Brahman

The eternal, infinite source of everything and the one ultimate spiritual reality in Eastern Pantheistic Monism.

Atman

The true self or soul in Eastern Pantheistic Monism.

Maya

The concept that the physical material world is ultimately an illusion.

Samsara

The cyclical process of birth, death, and rebirth repeating until liberation is achieved.

Karma

The principle that human actions produce consequences that directly affect future lives.

Prime Reality (Eastern Pantheistic Monism)

Brahman is the one ultimate reality.

External Reality (Eastern Pantheistic Monism)

The physical world is an illusion; Brahman is the ultimate reality.

Human Beings (Eastern Pantheistic Monism)

Humans are part of Brahman, and Atman is their true self.

Physical Death & Destiny (Eastern Pantheistic Monism)

People are reborn through Samsara until they reach liberation.

Epistemology (Eastern Pantheistic Monism)

True knowledge comes through spiritual experience rather than rational observation or propositions.

Ethics (Eastern Pantheistic Monism)

Good and evil are not ultimately separate realities, but dualistic human distinctions.

Meaning of Human History (Eastern Pantheistic Monism)

History repeats cyclically through Samsara until liberation is reached.

The Failure of Language

The pantheistic claim that language inherently creates dualistic distinctions (such as 'this' vs. 'that') and therefore fails to convey ultimate truth, where all is undivided oneness.

Christian Epistemological Contrast (1 Corinthians 15:3–8)

The biblical foundation of knowledge grounded in public historical events witnessed by many people (Jesus' resurrection), contrasting with private, non-verifiable pantheistic experiences.

Ethics 'Beyond Good & Evil'

The pantheistic doctrine that because all is one and the cosmos is perfect at every moment, morality and evil are merely human dualistic illusions rather than ultimate realities.

Problem of Evil (Test of the Inner World)

The breakdown occurring when suffering is dismissed as an illusion (Maya), conflicting with real-world cruelty; contrasted with the Bible's explanation of moral evil through human sin and free will.

Eastern Dissolution vs. Western Self-Exaltation

The contrast between Eastern thought, which emphasizes shedding the ego into Brahman, and Western New Age spirituality, which exalts the self to godhood ('the Divine Self as prime reality').

The Occult Pathway

A New Age pathway attempting to bypass rational thought by seeking hidden knowledge through tarot, astrology, channeling, and spirit guides.

The Psychedelic Pathway

A New Age pathway attempting to bypass rational thought through chemical alteration, Ayahuasca, altered states of consciousness, and 'ego death'.

The Relativistic Pathway

A New Age pathway that bypasses objective empirical evidence by emphasizing 'my truth', manifestation, and individually constructing one's own reality.

Test of Reason (Evaluating Transcendentalism)

Demonstrates self-referential inconsistency by using reason, written books, and logical arguments to claim that reason and language cannot be trusted.

Test of the Outer World (Evaluating Transcendentalism)

The problem of diversity, in which pantheism cannot adequately explain how an undivided, spiritual Oneness could produce a physical world of distinct objects and natural laws.

Test of the Inner World (Evaluating Transcendentalism)

The failure to align with human moral intuition and conscience by defining real-world cruelty and suffering as an illusion.

Test of the Real World (Evaluating Transcendentalism)

The practical breakdown where pantheistic systems revert to primitive animism, attempting to appease unseen spiritual forces or manipulate karma through rituals.

Epistemology Across the 3-Worldview Matrix

Naturalism derives knowledge from reason, observation, and science; Transcendentalism from spiritual experience; Biblical Theism from reason, Scripture, and revelation.

Morality Across the 3-Worldview Matrix

Naturalism views morality as developing through society and biology; Transcendentalism treats good and evil as ultimate illusions; Biblical Theism grounds morality in God's character.