Faith is Rising

Despite the statistics of church decline and public antagonism towards Christianity, Justin Brierley says there are signs of a growing belief in God

I was stunned last November when Ayaan Hirsi Ali announced she had become a Christian. Why? Because she is one of the last people I ever expected to embrace faith.

Ayaan was arguably the most famous female atheist in the world. Having rejected the fundamentalist Islam she grew up with in Somalia, she became an outspoken critic of religion along with other well-known atheists in the mid-2000s, such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris.

However, in a viral article titled ‘Why I am now a Christian’, Ayaan explained she came to realise that everything she values about Western civilisation is built on the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Some accused Ayaan of embracing Christianity for purely cultural reasons. However, in subsequent interviews she describes a personal journey to faith in Christ that came after a period of depression. In her article she wrote:

‘I have also turned to Christianity because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable — indeed very nearly self-destructive. Atheism failed to answer a simple question: what is the meaning and purpose of life?’

The End Of New Atheism

Ayaan Hirsi Ali announced her conversion shortly after I published my book The Surprising Rebirth Of Belief In God. In many ways I felt her extraordinary story was a vindication of the thesis of the book.

Some eighteen years ago, I began to host weekly radio conversations between Christians and non-Christians, at a time when ‘New Atheism’ was a dominant cultural force. Anti-God books were topping the bestseller lists and for several years it became fashionable to be an atheist and to dismiss religion.

But as the years wore on, more and more of the non-believers I met were choosing to distance themselves from this aggressive form of non-belief. New Atheism grew old pretty quickly, with the movement suffering an internal implosion.

In ‘The Surprising Rebirth Of Belief In God’ podcast documentary series, I chart the rise and fall of New Atheism and the growth of a new conversation among secular intellectuals who are reconsidering the value of Christianity.

Examples include Jordan Peterson, a psychologist whose lectures on the Bible are reaching millions of people, and Louise Perry, a secular female rights advocate who came to startlingly Christian conclusions in the course of writing her book The Case Against The Sexual Revolution.

In addition to this, there have been a number of examples of high profile artists, authors and influencers such as Russell Brand, Kat Von D and Paul Kingsnorth, embracing Christian faith as adult converts. Even Richard Dawkins has been choosing to call himself a ‘cultural Christian’ in recent months.

Is The Tide Turning?

Psychologists have identified a growing ‘meaning crisis’ in our culture. The Christian story that once gave many generations of people a shared sense of meaning, purpose and identity, has gradually faded from view. In its place has come a ‘be who you want to be’ philosophy of self-fulfillment. But we weren’t designed to live in a ‘create your own adventure’ world.

We are all searching to be part of a story that is bigger than ourselves. However, the stories we are currently reaching for to fill the God-shaped hole are not enough to sustain us. People are exhausted by a never-ending search for identity and the culture wars it creates.

Fuelled by social media and smartphone addiction, this meaning crisis is also producing a mental health crisis among young people as rates of anxiety, depression and suicide have rocketed to an all-time high.

This is not the way we were meant to live, and I believe that many people are beginning to realise it. Along with many others, I have noticed evidence of a spiritual hunger bubbling up again in the hearts of many people. Let me spell out just three examples:

Bumper Easter Attendance

Over the Easter period, many church leaders reported a surge in church service attendance. Jamie Bambrick, associate pastor of Hope Church Craigavon in Northern Ireland, catalogued a number of examples with a thread on X (formerly Twitter) that included churches reporting hundreds of conversions, significant growth in people attending Alpha courses and evangelistic ministries reporting a surge in response.

Bambrick says his own church, without doing anything different, has experienced a surge in growth over the past year. He attributes this partly to a ‘normie revival’. Those uncomfortable with a culture swinging in wildly progressive directions are coming to church for a sense of stability in a chaotic-feeling world.

A Catholic Revival In France

France has a reputation for being secular and anti-clerical. However, this year the French Catholic church announced a record number of adult baptisms. A third of the people involved were aged 18-25, with many from a non-religious background.

This apparent revival of interest in Catholicism is going on alongside a growing interest in other forms of ancient liturgical worship. The Eastern Orthodox church has been experiencing a boom in interest. Many parishes in the USA and Canada have doubled or tripled in recent years.

The Asbury Awakening Among Gen Z

When students spontaneously began to gather for 24 hour prayer and worship in the chapel of Asbury University in February 2023, it led to thousands more flocking to the small town to be part of an ‘awakening’ led by Gen Z. There was no hype, no celebrity leaders, just young people desperate for the presence of God.

Since then there have been many more reports of students across the world gathering together to seek God, including thousands turning out for all-night gatherings at a church in. London.

When I spoke to Roscoe Crawley of the student ministry Fusion, he described ‘unprecedented’ levels of openness to God and church among non-Christian university students across the UK. Likewise, multiple surveys have revealed that Gen Z are far more spiritually ‘open’ than their Millennial and Gen X predecessors.

Hopes Of Rebirth

Some of these observations are anecdotal, others are backed up by hard data. What can’t be denied is that the atmosphere around the ‘God conversation’ has changed dramatically since the days when New Atheism was in fashion.

Nowadays I am encountering a surprising number of people calling themselves ‘lapsed atheists’. These are people who having been let down by the empty promises of secularism, and are willing to give Christianity a try.

I believe the tide of faith is turning. People need a story to live by, and the church still has the most beautiful and compelling story that has ever been told.