The story of The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) is similar to the foundation of New Age teachings because it’s based upon pride, rebellion, and spiritual deception. The Tower of Babel is a symbol of humanity’s attempt to have power apart from God which is exactly what New Age is about.

The Tower of Babel like New Age spirituality, was made for humanity to achieve enlightenment and glory without submission to the Creator. A close study of Babel through the biblical text, historical context, and theological reflection reveals striking parallels between the ancient project and the New Age movement, and it provides an urgent warning for Christians today.

The historical context is that the tower was built after the flood. This was at a time when humanity spoke one language and migrated eastward: “And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth’” (Genesis 11:3-4).

Their goal was threefold: (1) to construct a tower reaching heaven, (2) to make a name for themselves, and (3) to resist God’s command to fill the earth (Genesis 9:1). The tower was a theological rebellion of seeking glory, security, and immortality on humanity’s own terms instead of glorifying and depending upon God.

God’s response to this rebellion was to confuse their language, and scatter them across the earth (Genesis 11:7-9). God’s judgment of Babel restrained human pride from reaching its full evil expression, and demonstrated that God won’t allow collective rebellion to stand.

The tower was likely a “ziggurat,” which is a massive, stepped structure common in Mesopotamia. I visited and climbed a structure like this in the pagan Mayan territory of Mexico. Ziggurats were religious monuments designed as stairways connecting heaven and earth, where false gods were believed to descend and receive offerings. Archaeological remains of such structures such as the ziggurat of Ur (Abraham’s original home), confirm the cultural backdrop of Genesis 11.

The Tower of Bable was an attempt to bridge heaven and earth through self-made religion, as Colossians 2:23 warns about: “These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”

The Tower of Babel illustrates mankind’s sinful desire for glory and dominion apart from God. It was a counterfeit of Jacob’s ladder, where God Himself opened heaven and confirmed His covenant (Genesis 28:12-15). At Babel, humanity sought access to the divine without submission to the Lord, a pattern that reappears in the New Age and every self-made religion.

Theologically, Babel represents humanity’s prideful rebellion against God. The desire to “make a name” is a direct affront to the promise God later gave Abraham: “I will make your name great” (Genesis 12:2). Babel sought greatness through human achievement, while Abraham’s name was great only because it reflected God’s greatness.

Babel also warns us about the danger of unity apart from biblical truth, because the builders were united in their rebellion, which only magnified their sin. God said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do” (Genesis 11:6).

Unity without submission to God and adhering to His Word becomes a path for collective evil. We can see this in today’s culture as well.

The New Age movement echoes the rebellion of Babel in ways such as these:

1. Unity Consciousness
Just as the builders sought collective power through one voice and one project, New Age spirituality promotes “unity consciousness” or “global oneness.” Practices such as mass meditations, energy synchronizations, and global healing circles mirror the Babel mentality that humanity can reach the heavens if united apart from God. Yet the Bible teaches that true unity is found only in Christ (Ephesians 2:14-16). Prior to God saving me, I was a participant in those global New Age prayers and they were about channeling our own thoughts and energies, and completely self-directed just like Babel. They were not the prayers of the righteous (c.f., James 5:16).

2. Self-Exaltation
Babel’s goal was to “make a name” for themselves. New Age spirituality likewise promises self-deification: becoming divine, being a god or a goddess, manifesting reality, or connecting with one’s “higher self.” The serpent’s ancient lie that “you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5) was repeated at Babel and tragically continues in the New Age movement. In contrast, Scripture calls believers to deny themselves, take up the cross, and follow Christ (Luke 9:23). The New Age is all about giving yourself the glory through positive self-affirmations and visualizations, instead of giving all glory to God.

3. Technological and Spiritual Pride
The builders of Babel boasted in their innovation: “Come, let us make bricks” (Genesis 11:3). They trusted human advancement over divine dependence. Similarly, the New Age often merges spiritual claims with technological pride, speaking of “vibrations,” “energy fields,” “420 hertz” or “DNA ascension.” Both ancient and modern rebels believe that they can progress on their own strength and wisdom apart from God. Yet Psalm 127:1 says otherwise: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”

4. Resistance to God’s Command
God commanded humanity to spread out and fill the earth (Genesis 9:1), yet the people of Babel resisted by clustering together in defiance. New Age spirituality also resists God’s authority, rejecting His Word and His commands, while preferring a “free-spirited” lifestyle without moral accountability. Both Babel and the New Age represent mankind’s refusal to be scattered in dependence upon God, choosing instead to consolidate power in rebellion.

God’s judgment at Babel protection as well as punishment. By confusing language, God prevented humanity from uniting in total rebellion. We see God’s reversal at Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit enabled people from many languages to hear the Gospel in one tongue (Acts 2:6-11) which shows that true unity comes only from Christ.

The Tower of Babel serves as a warning that the New Age vision of global consciousness may appear compassionate, but it’s rebellion and false light. Revelation 17-18 portrays Babylon as a spiritual system that unites nations in idolatry, immorality, and pride, only to fall under God’s final judgment. We can see that the “Babel spirit” runs from Genesis to Revelation and shows that humanity’s attempt at a kingdom without God ends in ruin.

At Babel, humanity exchanged God’s glory for bricks and towers. New Agers exchange God’s glory for crystals, astrology, or tarot cards. In both cases, the creature is served instead of the Creator, with God giving people over to futility and sin (c.f., Romans 1:25). When people try to replace God with creation, morality collapses, idolatry reigns, and judgment follows.

The antidote to Babel and New Age deception is Christ Himself. While the builders sought to reach heaven, the gospel reveals heaven coming down to us in the person of Christ: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory” (John 1:14). At Babel, humanity tried to ascend, while in Christ, God descends to save us.

Jesus is the Mediator between heaven and earth, not a man-made tower or self-made religion. Jacob saw a ladder reaching to heaven, and Jesus declared, “You will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:51). He’s the bridge Babel sought to build but couldn’t. The tower was a monument to human pride, while the cross is the monument of divine humility. Where Babel was scattered, Christ gathers and unifies. Where Babel exalted human glory, Christ reveals God’s glory.

For more from Doreen please visit her page at Servants of Grace for her articles and podcasts and at our YouTube.