# Warren Smith (Ex-New Age) ## Intro Warren B. Smith spent the 1970s and 80s deep in California's New Age: psychic readings, spirit guides, and above all *A Course in Miracles*, which he treated as his bible. He came to believe the "Christ" the New Age offered was a counterfeit of the real one, and left. Along the way he had a jarring experience of commanding an oppressive spirit out of his home in the name of Jesus. ## In full Warren B. Smith is an American former New Age practitioner whose conversion he attributes chiefly to discernment, reading the Bible against *A Course in Miracles* and concluding the New Age "Christ" was a counterfeit, with a supernatural deliverance episode alongside it. This is a Tier 2 (Attested) entry with a scope caveat: the turn was primarily intellectual and discernment-led, and the supernatural element is secondary. He is included because a genuine spirit-deliverance beat is present and his account is well documented and undisputed. ## The before Smith's New Age involvement ran through psychic readings, spirit guides, the Rajneesh movement, and centrally *A Course in Miracles*, which he describes as his "New Age bible." His secular biography is checkable: a University of Pennsylvania degree, a Tulane master's in social work, and a career as a social worker. ## The encounter Two supernatural beats appear in his account. Early on, a psychic reading produced a physical "tingling over my head" that drew him deeper in. Later, an oppressive spiritual presence troubling his wife led Smith to command it to leave: *"Satan, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, go!"* But the decisive turn was discernment: reading Scripture against *A Course in Miracles*, he concluded that the New Age "Christ" was not the real Christ. As he put it, he had been *"led down a yellow brick road by pied piper spirits,"* and the "Christ" the movement proclaimed "was not the real Christ at all." ## The after Smith converted and became a Christian author and discernment writer, publishing *The Light That Was Dark: From the New Age to Amazing Grace* (1992) and later works critical of New Age influence inside the church. He has maintained a documented ministry for over three decades. ## Verification - **Documented:** his secular biography (degrees, career) and a thirty-year public ministry with a published memoir. - **Self-attested:** the New Age practices and the supernatural episodes. - **Debunking:** no fraud claims. The controversy around Smith is doctrinal (his critiques of popular evangelical figures are contested within evangelicalism), not about the truth of his story. - **Scope caveat:** the conversion was discernment-led, with the deliverance episode secondary. He is included as an ex-New Age case with a real supernatural beat, not as a pure encounter conversion. ## Apologetic value - **A Course in Miracles from the inside.** Smith is a primary voice on *A Course in Miracles* and the New Age "counterfeit Christ" theme, useful against syncretism that borrows Christian vocabulary. - **Discernment as testimony.** The case models testing spirits by Scripture, the conclusion that the New Age Christ failed that test is the heart of his account. ## See also - [Conversion Testimonies](/codex/conversion-testimonies/), master hub - [Steven Bancarz (Ex-New Age Teacher)](/codex/steven-bancarz-ex-new-age-teacher/), companion ex-New Age case - [Doreen Virtue (Ex-New Age Author)](/codex/doreen-virtue-ex-new-age-author/), companion ex-New Age case - _conversion-testimonies-schema, the vetting standard
## Common questions this page answers **Q: Who is Warren B. Smith?** Warren B. Smith is an American former New Age practitioner, deeply involved with psychic readings, spirit guides, and *A Course in Miracles*, who converted to Christianity and became a discernment author. He tells the story in *The Light That Was Dark*. **Q: Why did Warren Smith leave the New Age?** Reading the Bible against *A Course in Miracles*, he concluded that the "Christ" of the New Age was a counterfeit of the real Jesus. His account also includes a deliverance episode in which he commanded an oppressive spirit to leave in the name of Jesus, but the decisive turn was discernment. **Q: Is his testimony credible?** His secular biography and thirty-year ministry are documented and undisputed, supporting a Tier 2 (attested) grade. The caveat is that his conversion was primarily discernment-led rather than driven by a single supernatural encounter, so he is presented as an ex-New Age case with a real supernatural element rather than a pure encounter conversion.