Millennials Are Turning to Astrology and “Spirituality” for Meaning and Purpose

According to a recent article, “interest in spirituality has been booming in recent years while interest in religion plummets, especially among millennials.” This article quotes research that found “the majority of Americans now believe it is not necessary to believe in God to have good morals” and “the percentage of people between the ages of 18 and 29 who ‘never doubt existence of God’ fell from 81% in 2007 to 67% in 2012.”

They go on to say,

Meanwhile, more than half of young adults in the U.S. believe astrology is science. . . . The psychic services industry—which includes astrology, aura reading, mediumship, tarot-card reading and palmistry, among other metaphysical services—grew 2% between 2011 and 2016. It is now worth $2 billion annually.

Many millennials are being captured by this idea of “spirituality,” which is really nothing more than man’s attempt to find purpose and meaning apart from God and his revelation to us in his Word. It is a man-based religion.

One particular astrology app’s servers were so overwhelmed with demand when the app was launched that they crashed three times in a week. The cofounder of the app explains why she thinks astrology has caught on with the millennial generation:

It’s very different from the way we usually work and live and date, where everything is hyper-mediated and rational. . . . There is a belief vacuum: we go from work to a bar to dinner and a date, with no semblance of meaning. Astrology is a way out of it, a way of putting yourself in the context of thousands of years of history and the universe.

People are searching for meaning in this life, and atheism (the religion taught almost exclusively in public schools and secular colleges and by the media) doesn’t offer any ultimate purpose, meaning, or hope. So people are turning to “spirituality” to find some meaning and purpose for their life.

But meaning, purpose, and hope aren’t found in trying to discern patterns in the motions of the heavenly bodies. Those bodies weren’t created for that! They were created to give glory to God and to serve as lights and “for signs and seasons, and for days and years” (Genesis 1:14) for mankind. Whatever meaning and purpose they might determine is subjective anyway.

True meaning, purpose, and hope come from the message of the gospel!

True meaning, purpose, and hope come from the message of the gospel! The point is, without an absolute authority there is no ultimate meaning and purpose—all is relative! But we were created by the same One who made the stars, planets, sun, and moon. We were created in his image (Genesis 1:27) to bring glory to him. But he didn’t just create us and then let us be. He stepped into history as the God-man Jesus Christ. He died on the Cross, taking the penalty that we deserve—death—upon himself (John 3:16). He then rose from the dead and now offers new and eternal life to all who will put their faith and trust in him (Romans 10:9). We can have meaning, purpose, and hope in this life and for eternity.

That’s the good news we need to be telling everyone! I encourage you to learn more about reaching those caught in astrology, witchcraft, spiritualism, and more with World Religions and Cults Volume 2, available at our online store.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.