The Pew Research Center published the results of a survey that found many American adults who identify as Christians also hold to New Age beliefs like reincarnation, astrology, psychics, or spiritual energy in physical objects like mountains or trees. This was true for members of mainline churches, Catholics, Nones (believers in nothing in particular), and even Evangelicals. But when people who identified as agnostics and atheists express less faith in New Age beliefs than “Christians,” we need to take a closer look.
According to Pew’s research, 62% of adult Americans accept least one of the above New Age beliefs. With the beliefs of so-called Christian Americans, this only drops to 61%. Members of Protestant main line churches, who hold to at least one New Age belief, were at 67%; Catholics were 70%; self-identified Evangelicals were at 47%; and Nones were at 78%. Tellingly, only 22% of atheists believed in at least one of the above New Age beliefs. See the chart below from the Pew article.
Looking at the percentages of respondents who identify as Evangelical, it’s concerning that 24% believe spiritual energy can be located in physical things; 33% believe in psychics; 19% believe in reincarnation; and 18% believe in astrology. Catholics and mainline Protestants were more likely to hold to those beliefs than Evangelicals.
According to Pew Research, Nones make up around 28% of U.S. adults. In Pew’s latest data, “17% of ‘nones’ identify as atheist, 20% say they are agnostic, and 63% choose ‘nothing in particular.’” When asked why they aren’t religious, 67% say they either question many religious teachings, or they don’t believe in God. Others say they dislike religious organizations or they’ve had bad experiences with religious people. Most nones believe in God or a higher power, but not the biblical God. Only 29% deny that there is any higher power or spiritual force in the universe, and most reject the idea that science can explain everything.
Perhaps here is where we see a reason Nones are more receptive to New Age ideas than other individuals.
Some “nones” are indeed spiritual. About half say spirituality is very important in their lives or say they think of themselves as spiritual. Most “nones” believe animals other than humans can have spirits or spiritual energies – and many say this is true of parts of nature, such as mountains, rivers or trees.
When the respondents to the Pew survey were sorted according to the broader labels of “spiritual” and “religious,” American adults who said they were both religious and spiritual tended to acknowledge at least one New Age belief (65%). Those who identified as religious, but not spiritual were at 58%; those who were spiritual, but not religious were at 77%; and those who were neither religious or spiritual were at 45%. Respondents were categorized as “religious” if they described themselves as “very religious” or somewhat religious.” And they were categorized as “spiritual” if they described themselves as “very spiritual” or “somewhat spiritual.” See the chart below from the Pew article.
Pew Research said New Age beliefs were not necessarily replacing belief in traditional forms of religious beliefs or practices in American adults. But if they are religiously unaffiliated, or are mixing traditional Christian beliefs and practices with the New Age it is a problem as we can see with Nones.
How New Age Thinking Creeped Into the Church
Melissa Dougherty said in “How New Age Thinking Is Creeping into the Church,” that the Law of Attraction was a difficult New Age (or New Thought) belief for her to shake. Based on the principle of “like attracts like,” the Law of Attraction holds that positive or negative thoughts attract positive or negative experiences into a person’s life. This means you can manifest your reality; your words have power to activate your reality. She said: “With enough faith and belief, you can actually manifest your own reality now.” Also see, “What is the law of attraction?
Related ideas to the Law of Attraction were that experience shaped worldview and that “love” was a power to create. “If you could harness this love and show love, that you are basically showing God’s will.” Some Scriptures, like Matthew 7:7 or Mark 11:24 are believed to support this idea: “that there’s power in your prayer; there’s power in your thoughts.” There are sincere Christians who say this. Dougherty “guaranteed” they got that idea from someone connected to the Word of Faith movement.
Got Questions said the Word of Faith movement grew out of the Pentecostal movement of the late 20th century, where New Thought teachings were combined with Pentecostalism. This resulted in a peculiar mix of orthodox Christianity and mysticism.
At the heart of the Word of Faith movement is the belief in the “force of faith.” It is believed words can be used to manipulate the faith-force, and thus actually create what they believe Scripture promises (health and wealth). Laws supposedly governing the faith-force are said to operate independently of God’s sovereign will and that God Himself is subject to these laws. This is nothing short of idolatry, turning our faith—and by extension ourselves—into god.
Its theology just strays further and further from Scripture: it claims that God created human beings in His literal, physical image as little gods. Before the fall, humans had the potential to call things into existence by using the faith-force. After the fall, humans took on Satan’s nature and lost the ability to call things into existence. In order to correct this situation, Jesus Christ gave up His divinity and became a man, died spiritually, took Satan’s nature upon Himself, went to hell, was born again, and rose from the dead with God’s nature. After this, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to replicate the Incarnation in believers so they could become little gods as God had originally intended.
Following the natural progression of these teachings, as little gods we again have the ability to manipulate the faith-force and become prosperous in all areas of life. Illness, sin, and failure are the result of a lack of faith, and are remedied by confession—claiming God’s promises for oneself into existence. Simply put, the Word of Faith movement exalts man to god-status and reduces God to man-status. Needless to say, this is a false representation of what Christianity is all about. Obviously, Word of Faith teaching does not take into account what is found in Scripture. Personal revelation, not Scripture, is highly relied upon in order to come up with such absurd beliefs, which is just one more proof of its heretical nature.
Counter Word of Faith teaching by reading the Bible, and read it in context. God is the sovereign Creator of the universe (Genesis 1:1). He does not need faith. Rather, He is the object of faith (Mark 11:22; Hebrews 11:3). Humans were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26; 9:6), but this doesn’t make us a little god or divine in any way.
The Word of Faith movement is deceiving countless people, causing them to grasp after a way of life and faith that is not biblical. At its core is the same lie Satan has been telling since the Garden: “You shall be as God” (Genesis 3:5) . . . Our hope is in the Lord, not in our own words, not even in our own faith (Psalm 33:20-22). Our faith comes from God in the first place (Ephesians 2:8; Hebrews 12:2) and is not something we create for ourselves. So, be wary of the Word of Faith movement and any church that aligns itself with Word of Faith teachings.
Remember the warning Moses gave the Israelites in Deuteronomy 18:9-12 to not follow the abominable practices of the nations in the land the Lord was giving them. They weren’t to practice divination, or tell fortunes, or interpret omens. They couldn’t be sorcerers, mediums or necromancers; nor could they inquire of the dead. “For whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord.” Reject New Age beliefs and practices like reincarnation, astrology, or psychics, and that spiritual energy can be located in physical things like trees or mountains.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not rely your own understanding (or that of New Age, or New Thought). Acknowledge him and his Word, and he will make your paths straight.
