Why the new age is a bigger threat to Christianity than Islam

Christians and non-Christians alike are concerned about immigration and the increasing presence of Islam in the UK. As recent protests have shown, many think it is time to ‘reclaim’ Britain and bring it back to its Judeo-Christian roots. 

Since I came to faith four years ago, it’s been fascinating to learn how our Western society’s values have its roots in Christianity. I’ve enjoyed reading books such as Tom Holland’s Dominion (Little, Brown) and Glen Scrivener’s The Air We Breathe (The Good Book Company) and learning how so many of the moral values I took for granted came from the Christian faith.  

I’ve followed the recent debates about how we should live out our faith in this era of mass immigration. It is sometimes alarming to hear the news headlines about Sharia law courts, rape gangs and rising tensions. But, when it comes to the Christian faith, there’s a problem I find far more concerning - and that’s the rise of the new age.  

Noticing the nones

The new age movement first emerged in the 1960s. It’s a smorgasbord of spiritual practises including the occult, yoga and meditation from the East, as well as ancient Western pagan philosophy.    

The new age came with a message of love, light and freedom. It came with charismatic figures and groups such as The Beatles, who sang about Jesus but also referenced Hare Krishna in the same verse. Some new age ideas might have seemed foreign or strange at first, but figures at the forefront of the movement learned how to appeal to a Western audience. There were deliberate, calculated plans to strip yoga and meditation of religious content, for example, so they would be more palatable to those in the West.  

There is no ‘spiritual not religious’ category on the UK census but, in 2021, there was a steep increase in those ticking the ‘no religion’ box (37.2 per cent in England and Wales). In 2022, theologian Hannah Waite’s research paper The Nones (Theos), looked at what this subset of people believes. She found that 42 per cent of those who identify as having no religion did believe in the supernatural.  

The new age won’t ask you to renounce Christ. It will just slowly and gently try to replace your belief 

A news item that everyone’s talking about – such as the rise of Islam - seems a bit like someone banging loudly at the front door. We rush to see who it is, while neglecting to notice that we have left the back door wide open.  

The new age continues to sneak in. It’s harder to spot. But it’s anywhere and everywhere - from yoga classes at the local church hall, to psychic fairs, wellbeing workshops, and notebooks and mugs printed with spiritual slogans.  

New agers aren’t going to do something obvious, like take over a disused church and turn it into a mosque or a temple. Yet the new age has infiltrated the Church, nonetheless. It’s in the enneagram and the breath prayers, the women’s Bible study where the focus is more on self than Jesus. It’s in the wolves at the pulpit who teach their congregation to breathe out their emotions while quoting enough Bible verses to keep everyone at ease.  

Seeking peace

When I talk about Jesus with new agers, one of the major objections I hear is that religion is responsible for so many wars. They see the ‘spiritual not religious’ route as the true path of peace, where all beliefs are equally valid routes to the divine.  

As tensions increase, the new age may seem like an even more appealing option to avoid the division and conflict we see all around us. In 1 Thessalonians 5:3 Paul wrote of the coming day of the Lord: “While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” 

There were calculated plans to strip yoga and meditation of religious content so they would be more palatable 

I wonder if we will reach a time where there is apparent peace that is actually spiritually dark. As it says in 2 Corinthians 11:14: “Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” 

More than cultural Christianity

We are seeing revival and an increase in interest in Christianity as people scramble to hold onto the Christians roots we didn’t even know were there. That is wonderful to see. But I also sense a growing, worldly, cultural Christianity that seems focused on ‘Christian values,’ but with little mention of the gospel or the exclusivity of Christ. 

The new age won’t ask you to renounce Christ to join its movement. It will just slowly and gently try to replace your belief with a different Jesus.  

If we don’t recognise the snake in the Church right now, would we recognise a counterfeit Christian/new age kingdom? Jesus warned us that “false Christs, and false prophets will arise, and will do great miracles and wonders, insomuch as it were possible, the very elect would be deceived” (Matthew 24:24).  

Headlines are blaring, tensions are rising, and it feels like we are poised on the edge of a major crisis. As much as we long and pray for peace, let’s also pray for discernment - and remember what the Bible says about the nature of the spiritual enemy behind it all.