“The Bible might just save Britain’s self-obsessed youth” is not a headline I would have expected to find over an article by a secular lifestyle columnist in a national newspaper when I became a minister in the Church of England in 1996.
But that is the thrust of Celia Walden’s article in The Telegraph on March 10. I recall worthy but dull editorials in that conservative newspaper at Christmas and Easter back in the 1990s about the importance of Britain’s Christian heritage. But I do not recall reading such a strong plug for the Bible and Christian faith in a column covering lifestyle and entertainment.
Walden declared: “I noticed at the start of the year that Bible sales in Britain had more than doubled compared to pre-pandemic levels – driven, apparently, by a surge in interest from Gen Z. And when Nielsen IQ BookData confirmed yesterday that, after a 19 per cent rise in 2025, sales are now at their highest levels since the 1990s, my first thought was this: Just how lost are young people feeling?”
She continued: “The short answer is surely ‘very’."
She goes on to reason that in "an increasingly turbulent world, where everything from global politics and the economy to your Instagram and X is constantly shifting – a world in which world leaders no longer demonstrate serenity but a frightening human volatility daily", it shouldn't come as any surprise that young people are turning to something loftier to steady them "in the storm".
She concluded: “A number of quick fixes have been touted and tried by many – from mindfulness, yoga and meditation to barefooting, sound baths, flotation tanks and celery juice. The list goes on. But what if it turns out that they were just an extension of the self-pampering ‘me-mind’ virus? ... I think [Gen Z] are far more open to exploring their spirituality than previous generations. I think they are more open-minded, full stop. And I know that many of them are tired of the superficiality and the self-obsession. So if they can just stick with this new interest long enough, it may well pay dividends.”
Walden caused controversy with a different column on March 3 in which she commented on the news that former Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has been seeing a psychotherapist since his resignation in November 2024. He has been weighed down by a feeling of failure after the C of E’s Makin Review into the John Smyth abuse scandal criticised him for his handling of disclosures.
Welby told broadcaster Gyles Brandreth on the Rosebud Podcast: “I’ve been seeing a psychotherapist for a considerable period of time. And a psychiatrist. Very helpful. It’s not about saying, ‘oh, it didn’t matter’, or anything like that, quite the reverse – how does one live with such a failure?”
In her column headlined “What’s the point of God if even Justin Welby is seeing a therapist?”, Walden argued: “I realise that therapy and religion are very different things ... But in my experience, people either believe in one or the other. If the former Archbishop didn’t have a satisfactory experience with the Lord, where does that leave the rest of us?”
Among those outraged by Walden’s piece was Church Times writer Madeleine Davies. She quoted the above on X tailing it with “NO NO NO”.
Ironically, knowledge of the Bible’s doctrine of ‘common grace’ would have helped Celia Walden to see that trusting in the Lord and getting professional help with mental health issues is not a binary choice. God as the gracious Creator of men and women in his image has given some people, regardless of whether they are Christian believers, specialist skills in this area that can bring help and a degree of healing to individuals suffering from mental health problems.
A Christian person seeing a secular psychotherapist needs to evaluate the therapy they are receiving in the light of the special revelation that God has given his believing people in the Holy Scriptures. They need to ensure that they are not being led into error or disobedience by aspects of the worldview that underlie the therapy. But ‘common grace’ insights from a skilled psychotherapist can be the gift of God through his creation that a suffering person needs.
Nonetheless, she is perceptive when it comes to what may be going on with Gen Z. Perhaps I am being over-optimistic, but Walden’s positive piece on the Bible makes me think that an Anglican evangelical starting ordained ministry in 2026 instead of 1996 might find the cultural soil more receptive to the Christian message than I found it. As to whether "The Bible might just save Britain's self-obsessed youth", that would require the Lord's Holy Spirit to apply his Word to individual hearts and minds, for which British Christians should certainly pray.
Julian Mann, a former Church of England vicar, is an evangelical journalist based in Lancashire.
