The Evangelical Alliance is calling on Christians to respond confidently to growing interest in tarot, crystals, astrology, manifesting and other spiritual practices, while cautioning believers not to view such practices as spiritually harmless.
A new free resource from the organization says Britain’s rising spiritual curiosity presents both a challenge and an opportunity for evangelism, particularly as interest in New Age spirituality appears to be emerging alongside a renewed openness to Christianity.
Produced through the Evangelical Alliance’s Being Human initiative, the “Spiritual Curiosity” booklet examines why alternative spiritual practices are attracting attention and provides biblical, pastoral and practical guidance for Christians. It also includes accounts of people who explored such practices before later becoming Christians.
Katherine Brown, co-lead of Being Human, said signs of spiritual curiosity are becoming increasingly visible in mainstream culture.
“Whether it is the pub down the road offering a psychic night, Dua Lipa talking about manifesting her Glastonbury main stage or Ariana Grande describing herself as ‘a literal witch’, it’s clear we’re living in a time of real spiritual curiosity,” she said.
“The cultural moment we’re living in is one of remarkable spiritual curiosity,” the guide states, adding that more people appear open to the possibility that reality extends beyond the material world.
According to the Evangelical Alliance, churches are encountering more people with questions about faith, while some Christians, especially younger believers, are being exposed online to alternative spiritual beliefs and practices.
The booklet says congregations are also seeing more people enter churches after experimenting with New Age spirituality, changing the kinds of questions being raised in conversations about faith. “The question for many people is no longer whether God exists; the question now is - which God?” the booklet says.
The guide explains a range of practices and concepts, including angel numbers, astrology, chakras, crystals, karma, manifesting, mediums, psychics, tarot cards, psychedelics and so-called “WitchTok” content. It notes that people who participate in such practices may not identify themselves as New Age practitioners and may instead simply describe themselves as “spiritual.”
From a Christian standpoint, however, the resource cautions against incorporating such practices into Christian belief. “Regardless of where someone falls on that spectrum, though, we see these practices as dangerous and opposed to the way of Jesus,” it says.
The guide also provides a biblical framework for understanding spiritual curiosity, beginning with the Christian teaching that human beings were created for relationship with God and continue to experience a longing for Him despite humanity’s separation from God through sin.
New Age spirituality, according to the booklet, represents an attempt to satisfy desires for meaning, connection, healing and transcendence apart from God. The resource further argues that Christianity does not view the spiritual realm as “neutral,” citing passages such as Ephesians 6:12 and Old Testament prohibitions against practices including divination and necromancy.
“You cannot hold Christ in one hand and New Age practices in the other,” the booklet says. “Jesus requires total allegiance and obedience to His will and way.”
The Evangelical Alliance says it wants Christians to respond to the current cultural moment with both theological conviction and compassion, rather than dismissing the spiritual questions increasingly being raised around them.
