Conversations with God, Also known as: The ReCreation Foundation, Inc. Website: http://cwg.org/index.php

Affiliated with Humanity’s Team http://www.humanitysteam.org/, The School of the New Spirituality http://cwg4kids.com/, and The Changing Change Network http://changingchange.net/home/

Founder: Neale Donald Walsch

Headquarters: Ashland, Oregon

Membership: Unknown

Practices: Life Skills Program, CwG Centers and Study Groups, Retreats, Wisdom Circles, Prison Outreach Program, and others that can be found on the website.

Background: Mr. Walsh is said to be a “modern-day spiritual messenger.” Frustrated with life, he turned to God with questions. He claims God answered with “…a voice, soft and kind, warm and loving…” He found himself “…engaged in a two-way on-paper dialogue.” These dialogues continued, and are contained in his Conversations With God books.8
In his media download, “Is CwG the Truth,” Mr. Walsh says the intent of CwG (Conversations with God) is to “…invite you inside the material, so that you may understand it thoroughly, and thus be led to your own deepest truth.” He also says that the purpose and function of the words in CwG are to lead you to the truth, not reveal the truth. “For God would not have you follow God, but rather, lead God to the next grandest experience of Who You Really Are. In this do you demonstrate yourself to be The Creator? In this is the greatest promise of God redeemed — and your own Soul, as well.”9

Teachings: Below are summary statements of teachings in Mr. Walsch’s books. It was difficult to narrow down the list because so many teachings are contrary to the Bible and logical thought process. The teachings that appear to be the reoccurring themes from Mr. Walsch’s god were the ones chosen for this article. After each summary statement is a link to a few specific quotes from the books, followed by a Biblical response.

#1: God is not separate from man, or from anything else in the universe [1].

Response: Pantheism, which teaches that God is everything, is contrary to the Biblical teaching of Monotheism which teaches one God who created everything, and who is distinct from His creation. Since God created the universe (Gen. 1), but in the beginning, there was God (John 1:1-3), God is separate from His creation.

#2: God is still creating itself through us [2].

Response: If Mr. Walsch’s god created everything and everything is god, but “it” is still creating itself, how did it create itself? This teaching is not only illogical but unbiblical because God does not change (Malachi 3:6).

#3: Humans can and do create their own reality [3].

Response: Such teaching would mean that humans can create truth within each individual reality. However, the Bible clearly states that God’s Word is truth (Psalm 119:160; John 8:31,32; John 14:6; John 17:17). What is interesting is Mr. Walsch and his god’s explanation of why certain things that a person wants to happen don’t happen, or vice versa. He says it’s because a person inadvertently selected what really happened. So if a person is kidnapped and being tortured, wanting desperately to be free, is he inadvertently selecting what is happening? If a person wants and tries to be popular and well-liked, but instead people tease her or ignore her, is she inadvertently selecting to be rejected?

#4: Love is God, so we are also love and we will do kind things for others and the world if we allow ourselves to create what we truly desire [4].

Response: From Mr. Walsch’s writings, the underlying assumption is that humans are basically good, and when allowed to be free from an authority of moral standards we will choose to help and love others instead of behaving selfishly and cruelly. However, to know what love is, what happiness is, what good is, to know selfish and cruel behaviors, one must have a standard of good and evil. If we reject the standard of God revealed in the Bible, we then insert our own standard. The Bible says only God is good (Luke 18:19), and that all people have sinned (Rom. 3:23). We can only know what good is by looking to the righteousness of God. And although God is love (1 John 4:8) as the chief characteristic of who He is, the Bible does not teach that love is God.

#5: Jesus is God made man, but so are the rest of us [5].

Response: By saying every person is “God made Man,” the uniqueness of the only Son of God, Jesus Messiah, is denied (cf. John 1:18 where “the only begotten” indicates uniqueness).

#6: Jesus didn’t make judgments, but helped people get what they wanted [6].

Response: The Jesus described in Mr. Walsch’s books is not the Jesus revealed in the Bible. While Jesus did see everyone as they truly are since He knows all things (John 16:30), He spoke the truth and called men everywhere to repent (Matt. 4:17). He did not come to help and empower people at their own level. He came to save the lost by His perfect sacrifice on the cross (Luke 19:10).

#7: The second coming of Christ isn’t going to be a literal event as described in the Bible, but is expressing what Jesus will do in his afterlife [7].

Response: Mr. Walsch misinterprets the return of Christ – which is clearly stated in Matt. 24:30, Acts 1:11, and Rev. 22 – and teaches it in the context of a type of reincarnation. If Mr. Walsch’s god that allows us to create our own reality were true, could Jesus in His own reality come back as stated He will in the Bible, but at the same time those who deny His second coming would not experience it?

#8: Salvation is understanding that we are not separate from God, and there is more than one way to achieve this salvation [8].

Response: The teachings from Mr. Walsch and his god deny salvation through Christ alone (John 14:6, Acts 4:12), the Sovereignty of God in the process of salvation (Rom. 8:28-30), as well as denying the nation of Israel as God’s chosen people, Hell, and death. The “New Gospel” he teaches isn’t anything new, but a combination of Pantheism and Post-modernism.

#9: The Bible is not to be taken literally as though it’s from God [9].

Response: Although it’s true that there are instances in the Bible where one cannot take it literally (i.e., Jesus is not literally a door, John 10:9), if a person reads Mr. Walsch’s books it’s clear that he means it is not literally from God and should not be considered absolute truth. At the same time, he and his god use certain Scriptures to support some of their teachings, so one must wonder: Can someone just teach whatever he wants about the Bible? Where does a person draw the line between an accurate and inaccurate interpretation of the Bible? Mr. Walsch does not give us one and appears to ignore a literal reading of the Bible because such a straightforward reading contradicts his false teachings.
It should not surprise us that this god teaches that the Bible was passed down and changed by man. For an accurate description of how the Bible has been passed down to us, please read Is The Bible Reliable? For a more in-depth study on Bible transmission, there are many articles here: Bible Section.

#10: Truth is not absolute, and contradictions exist within truth [10].

Response: If there is no absolute truth, why has Mr. Walsch written books and developed support groups to teach what he and his god are declaring as being true – one truth being that there is no truth? Furthermore, how can this god have a truth that stands (see [11]), but also say there is no such thing as the truth? This god is self-contradictory and inconsistent. Even if the truth is that there is no truth but also truth, then that is still a claim of absolute truth.

#11: Humans are not born with a sinful nature, [12].

Response: In the context of his writings, here we see more of Mr. Walsch’s god assuming that people are good. But based on what standard? Romans 5:12-21 sums up the truth about sin. It came into the world by Adam, which brought death into the world. We have inherited this sin nature. It’s only through Christ that we can be declared righteous by God (Rom. 3:22, 2 Cor. 5:21).

#12: There is no right or wrong, and morality is subjective [13].

Response: By this god saying nothing is right or wrong, but there is only what works and what doesn’t, then if a person or society found that it “worked” to abuse children and the elderly then such behavior would be defined as good. What if, for me, what works is that there is right and wrong? If Mr. Walsch truly believes that morality is subjective then he can’t say it’s wrong to write this article with the intent of showing that he is a false teacher!

#13: Hell and Satan do not exist [14].

Response: The Bible talks about Satan from the beginning, when he tempted Eve in the Garden (Gen. 3). He also tempted Jesus (Matt. 4:1-11). God has prepared the Lake of Fire for Satan and his angels (Matt. 25:41). It is also reserved for humans who continue in their sins (Mark 9:43, Rom. 1:18, Rev. 21:8). While many people in the past and present abuse the teachings of Satan and Hell simply to scare people as Mr. Walsch’s god states, it does not mean that such a being and place don’t exist.

#14: You decide when you die, but you really don’t die. Your physical body will end, but you get to decide if you want to go back or do something/go somewhere else [15].

Response: This just flatly contradicts a number of Biblical passages: Matt. 25:41-46, Mark 9:43ff, Rev. 20:11-15, Jude 1:6-7, Heb. 9:27, etc. Even though our physical bodies will die, there will be a bodily resurrection of the righteous and unrighteous (1 Cor. 15:20-22) where Christ will judge (Acts 17:31). For a person to teach that humans decide when to die, which isn’t really dying, and then we get to decide where to go on living, is not Biblical. Mr. Walsch’s god is deceiving people into believing there is no sin, and death is not really dying because you get to choose where to go next. Although this teaching sounds comforting, it does not conform to observable reality, let alone the truth found in God’s Word.

Final Comments

Just from the teachings provided it’s clear that Mr. Walsch and his god deny essential doctrines of Christianity – salvation by grace through Christ alone (Eph. 2:8-9, John 14:6), the Gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-4), monotheism (Isa. 44:6), and the Trinity. The Deity of Christ (Col. 2:9) isn’t outright denied, as he says we are all God made Man, but it’s blasphemy as it denies the Only God-Man (John 1:1-18). He also denies the basic doctrines of God’s sovereignty over His creation (Prov. 16:4), the Bible being inspired by God (2 Tim. 3:16), original sin (Rom. 5:12) and our separation from God because of it (Isa. 59:2), a literal hell (Matt. 25:41), etc. The denial of such doctrines leads to the denial of almost every Biblical teaching.

Mr. Walsch and his god also allow behaviors that are defined as sinful by the Bible, such as sex outside of marriage (p. 103 [2], p. 64 [3]) and consulting psychics (p. 128 [3]), to name just two. While denying the literal God-breathed Bible and teaching others to behave contrary to Biblical teachings, he sometimes uses Bible verses to support his ideas. This is nothing new, as Satan also denied and twisted God’s Word in the Garden (Gen. 3) and when tempting Christ (Matt. 4:1-11). Mr. Walsch, being led by his own thoughts or a demon, is doing what fallen angels and sinful humans have done from the beginning – they question God’s Word and then redefine it to fit their own personal ideas and desires. Infused with a generous heap of post-modernism where what you believe is what’s really true regardless of contradictions and inconsistencies, these teachings are pure idolatry, creating a god in one’s own image instead of giving glory to the Creator of all things (Rom. 1:23). Mr. Walsch claims that believing you are God and creating what you want is freeing. However, if one chooses to adopt these teachings, he is really not his own god but is relying on the teachings of Mr. Walsch’s false god.

Absolute truth and absolute morality are denied by the god of Mr. Walsch’s revelation. In a world where there is no absolute truth or morality from God (let alone the lack of logic in the writings), there would be no basis on which to believe what Mr. Walsch is really talking about. If there are no objective truths, then why believe anything that Mr. Walsch has said? His own god-standard contradicts itself, therefore making it an irrational and inconsistent worldview where each person does and believes what is right in his own eyes. Again, this is nothing new, as all man-centered and man-made religions and gods allow people to create their own standards.

In conclusion, CwG denies the essential and basic doctrines of Christianity. By not starting with the Bible as the Word of God, and instead of following the teachings of another person or one’s own self, these teachings are against God (Matt. 12:30). Since the beginning of knowledge is the fear of the LORD (Prov. 1:7), any other teachings are foolish and untrue (1 Cor. 1:20-29). Let us pray that Mr. Walsch and his followers would repent of their false beliefs and idolatry, trusting Christ alone for salvation (John 14:6).