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Peter Kratz's brilliant and highly provocative Die Gatter des New Age (Berlin: Elefanten Press, 1994) has been left to the last because of its highly controversial nature. Kratz convincingly demonstrates that most, if not all, New Age beliefs are identical with the esotericism that promoted fascism in German society during the 1920's and 1930's. He then traces the history of New Age ideas to document their origins in the works of fascist writers. Finally, he shows that a significant number of key figures in the German New Age movement are, or were, Nazis who never repudiated National Socialism.

Of course, one can always argue that the origin of an idea says little or nothing about its present significance or use. In this way, the defenders of Heidegger attempt to distance the master from his Nazi past. It is also possible to argue that although New Age ideas can be found at the core of fascist ideology, they take on a different meaning in a democratic society. Both of these arguments have merit.

Nevertheless, Kratz has produced a well-documented book, which has a chilling effect on the reader. Kratz is no Constance Cumby or Dave Hunt pushing a sensational fundamentalist thesis. He is a very well-educated German psychologist who worked as a researcher in the German Parliament for almost fifteen years. This book cannot be easily discounted, nor can we avoid the serious questions it raises about the relationship between esoteric ideas and political action. As Wouter Hanegraaff observes, "the academic study of esotericism and of New Religious Movements" has hardly yet begun. Irving Hexhamis professor of Religious Studies at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and the author of many works on New Religious Movements.

Visit Books & Culture online at BooksandCulture.com

Books & Culture Corner appears Mondays at ChristianityToday.com. Earlier Books & Culture Corners include:

The Grove Press Bible | A former porn publisher gets in the Good Book biz By John Wilson

Everything Old Is on TV | Antiques Roadshow asks, 'What do you want to know today?' By Elesha Coffman

Cockroaches for Jesus | America's most respected newspaper stoops to cartoon history at millennium's end. By John Wilson

1984, 50 Years Later | Stop the spinning, I'm getting dizzy. By John Wilson

See "The Bewitching Charms of Neopaganism," which ran December 18 on ChristianityToday.com

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December (Web-only) 1999, Vol. 43