RANSOMED FROM DARKNESS

by Moira Noonan

Reviewed by Katy King

I love books by former New Age believers who convert to Christianity after a long trek through the myriad pathways of New Age beliefs. Moira Noonan seems to have become an expert practitioner in almost every major New Age pathway during her years of practicing as a clairvoyant and psychic.

Ms. Noonan began studying New Age practices in college in the 1970s. She even became a Reiki master (an occult healing method), a licensed hypnotherapist, a past-life regression practitioner, used crystals and various other occult means of divination (foretelling the future), and studied A Course In Miracles diligently. All these practices are common in the New Age belief system, and almost any weird or peculiar path has its adherents.

In 1993, Ms. Noonan had a series of religious experiences that led back to Jesus and the Catholic faith of her childhood. In one instance, Ms. Noonan attended a table-tipping session, but as she rested her hands on the table with the other attendees, she felt a beautiful presence and pulled her hands from the table. Then she found herself unable to extend her hands again, as they were locked to her body. She rose and went outside, asking herself what was happening and heard an inner voice she believed came from God.”

She suddenly wanted to know more. She also realized she would never go back to the table-tipping center. As she journeyed toward conversion, she continued to find herself mysteriously blocked from her former New Age practices. Finally, after an experience in a Catholic church, she sought out a priest, made her confession, and knew she had come home at last.

However, she still carried a lot of New Age baggage, and as she learned more about the faith, she began to clear out all her New Age books and paraphernalia, with help from her new found Christian friends. Then she met a priest who was experienced in New Age conversions, who spent hours with her, taking her through each New Age practice she had participated in and having her renounce it and the demons associated with it. When she finished, she knew she was free at last.

As she grew in faith and learned more about her new-found faith, Ms. Noonan began to realize that many in the Catholic Church, including some priests and nuns, had no idea what they were getting into when they sponsored A Course In Miracles and other practices Ms. Noonan had recently renounced. She began making it her business to educate them as to exactly what they were involved in.

As she so accurately observes, most New Age practices, including A Course In Miracles, are all part of the church of “Me, Myself, and I.” You are god, you are innocent and perfect, and there is no sin or evil. Therefore, you do not need a Savior.

Although Ms. Noonan seems to have been gently led out of her New Age beliefs, many New Agers are shocked out of it when they learn, first-hand, that evil is real and that the name of Jesus Christ has great power over evil. In fact, it’s the only thing that does.

Ms. Noonan’s book is an excellent introduction to the myriad of practices that go into making up the New Age belief system, and she shows how they are completely opposed to Christianity in spite of their seeming agreement with it.