One of the fastest growing cults in the "New Age Movement" is Church Universal and Triumphant, formerly known as Summit Lighthouse. Summit Lighthouse was founded in 1958 by the late Mark L. Prophet (1918-1973), In 1961 Mark met Elizabeth Clare Wolf at a meeting he was holding in Boston, Mass. (in which the "angel Gabriel", using Mark as a medium, was the guest speaker) , Despite a twenty year age difference, they immediately fell into a love affair which resulted in marriage. After Mark suddenly died of a stroke, Elizabeth Clare Prophet rose to a position of absolute power as head of the organization. Her followers adore her as an incarnation of "Mother God", often referring to her as "Guru Ma", or "Mother". She is regarded as the only official "Messenger" of the "Ascended Masters" on the earth today.

The Ascended Masters are considered to be a body of super saints from all races and religious backgrounds who have "ascended" the cycle of birth and rebirth (reincarnation) and are now fully "God realized" souls (completely aware of and in tune with their own intrinsic divinity). They are said to dwell in a spiritual dimension, from which they can still influence the affairs of the earth for good, and communicate with us through their appointed "Messenger." The goal of all good chelas (disciples) of the Ascended Masters is to attain their own "ascension", and the entire teaching and program of Church Universal and Triumphant is geared toward helping each chela achieve this goal.

The concept of "Ascended Masters" was first popularized 100 years ago when Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the founder of Theosophy, claimed to be receiving dictations from the spiritual realm through the Masters M and K (later identified as El Marya Khan and Kuthumi, from whom Mrs. Prophet now claims to receive dictations). The "Ascended Masters" were further promoted by Guy and Edna Ballard, who claimed to be their sole messengers from 1930 until Mrs. Ballard's death in 1972. The Ballards were the founders of the "Mighty I Am" cult. While membership grew into the millions in the 1940's, it has significantly declined over the last few decades.

In addition to the Ascended Masters, a central aspect of the "Mighty I Am" cult that the Prophets absorbed into their system is the emphasis upon the divine name "I Am" (Exodus 3: 14). While Biblical theology regards this Name of God to be indicative of His absolute sovereignty and essential independence from His creation, the occult interpretation imposed upon these words by the Ballards and the Prophets is that "I Am" refers to the individualized God presence of every human being, known as the "I Am presence". Each soul is on an evolutionary journey from his lower or synthetic self to his higher or "God Self" (I Am Presence).

The connecting point between the Higher Self and the lower self is the "Christ Self" or "Christ consciousness", which mediates between God and men. All Biblical passages which affirm that Christ is the only mediator between God and man are understood in this light. "The Master's greatest desire was that they should not mistake the son of man (Jesus) for the Son of God (the Christ)... the Savior knew that generations to come would not worship the Christ, but the man Jesus."¹ Jesus is seen as a man who through previous incarnation attained a level of purity so as to perfectly manifest his "Christ Self", thus becoming known as a "Christ", something potentially achievable to all. According to this scheme, the orthodox church went astray when it began to exalt and worship Jesus as the Christ, rather than teaching that each man needs to become his own Christ.

The eastern/occultic concept of the "law of Karma" is believed to be the principle that governs a soul's evolution to fully realized godhood Karma is supposed to be an inexorable moral law of cause and effect. What a man has done in the past, or does in the present, exactly determines the nature of his future, whether good or bad. As long as bad Karma remains, a soul will be reborn into this world. "The ascension is the process whereby the lower figure, having balanced his Karma and fulfilled his divine plan, merges first with the Christ consciousness and then with the living Presence of the I AM THAT I AM. Once the ascension has taken place, the soul, the corruptible aspect of being, becomes the incorruptible one, a permanent atom in the body of God".²

Through the teachings of the Ascended Masters help in attaining one's ascension is received. A principal practice that the Masters recommend is the use of "decrees", a form of chanting which uncomfortably resembles the incantations used in witchcraft (though the "chelas" would hotly deny it), and, from the Christian perspective, undoubtedly operates through the same power source. The philosophy behind the decrees is a perversion of Biblical truth. The Bible teaches that God's creative power operates through His own spoken Word (Hebrews 1 :3, Genesis 1 :2, etc.). Thus, by affirming his own divinity by repeating the words I AM, the chela can unleash the creative energies of God, and through the power of the spoken word, command events in the lower world to conform to the purposes of the higher world, thus speeding up his own deification. Through decrees one also calls the "Masters" to one's side, supposedly to help.

Another important dispensation from the Masters for attaining cleansing of one's bad Karma or sins, is the Violet Consuming Flame. This path to salvation was supposedly "bought with a price"³ by Saint Germain (an occultist of the eighteenth century who is worshipped more fervently than any other Master, including "Jesus") , "whose love for you even before you took embodiment was such that he was willing to lay down a portion of his life that you might live in the fullness of your individual God Self-aware- ness".⁴ By visualizing them sieves surrounded and filled with this mystical flame, the chelas believe they can consume increasing amounts of the bad Karma they had built up for themselves. Thus, faithful practice of this discipline will greatly hasten their ascension.

Upon these basic foundations of doctrine and practice, Church Universal and Triumphant has developed what may be the most complex and syncretistic system of metaphysical belief known. Attempting to appeal to people from as many religious traditions as possible, they describe their teaching as a synthesis of east and west, and that is precisely what it is. They attempt to reconcile the discrepancies between the different world religions, implying that while there is truth and genuine spirituality in these religions, all religions had only partial glimpses of the whole until the Prophets came along and put the puzzle together. They teach their particular doctrines as though they were the only possible explanations for reality; what all the world's religions had unsuccessfully been trying to say all along. They especially employ Biblical terminology, having done an amazingly thorough job of reinterpreting such terms to fit their own scheme. For this reason they are especially dangerous to the ungrounded Christian, as they are able to supply an interpretation compatible with their beliefs for almost every scripture they are challenged with. For this reason it is important to understand their belief system before presenting Christ to them, for in that way we can be prepared to refute their twisted interpretation of Scripture, demonstrating to them how they have taken verses out of their proper context.

It is not impossible to reach these people with the Good News of the real Christ. We know of several who came to see the antichrist nature of the Prophet's doctrine, and are now living truly Christian lives. Included among these is one who for years was one of the Prophets' closest disciples, serving as their personal bodyguard, and contributing to the writing of their major text: Climb the Highest Mountain. The Christian must care, and study to show himself approved unto God, rightly interpreting the word of truth (II Timothy 2: 15).

1 Prophet, Mark and Elizabeth, Climb The Highest Mountain, (Los Angeles), The Summit Lighthouse, Inc., 1975, pp. 301, 302. 
2 Ascended Master El Morya (Dictated to the Messenger Elizabeth Clare Prophet) , The Chela and the Path, ( Los Angeles) , Summit University Press, 1975, p. 2. 
3 ibid., p. 46. 
4 ibid.

Prepared by Elliot Miller, Research Consultant

CHRISTIAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Post Office Box 500 San Juan Capistrano, CA 92693