Concept

Warren Smith (Ex-New Age)

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.

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.

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.