Has Christianity Declined and Fallen (and Can”t Get Up)?

 

by David A. Fiensy

For its Easter edition in 1966, Time magazine”s cover asked, “Is God Dead?”1 We might wonder if similar motivations prompted Newsweek“s attention-grabbing Easter cover this year (April 13). It featured these words forming the shape of a cross: “The Decline and Fall of Christian America.” The occasion for this dire prophecy was the 2009 American Religious Identification Survey that found the number of Americans unaffiliated with any religious group rose from 8 percent to 15 percent since 1990.2

These figures even convinced some Christian leaders the sky was falling. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, stated, “Clearly, there is a new narrative, a post-Christian narrative, that is animating large portions of this society.”3

To be fair, the author of the Newsweek essay presented a balanced picture. It appears the magazine”s editors tried to spin the reporting in a certain direction (by their cover design) to create more controversy.

So, how is the church doing (and by church I mean the church universal)? Quite well, thank you. I think the model in everyone”s mind””whether that person is wringing his hands on one side or clapping them in delight on the other””is the same. People are thinking of Europe.

Europe used to be the bastion of Christianity; now countries like England can roust only 6 percent of their population out of bed on any given Sunday.4 The assumption is that modernity inevitably brings the decline and ultimate fall of faith. Many assume America will go the way of Europe, and that all other religious countries will soon follow.

But paradoxically, new studies show just the opposite is happening. These studies lead to three encouraging observations:

 

Observation 1: No, the Gates of Hades have not prevailed.

The premise of the new book God Is Back is that religion, especially Christianity, is on the rise in most of the world. The authors state, “The global drift toward secularism has been halted.”

For example, Africa went from 10 million Christians in 1900 to 400 million today, or almost half the population. There are at least 75 million Christians in China today, and in the next 40 years, the authors predict, China will be the largest Christian nation in the world except for the U.S.

Even more surprising is the poll taken in Russia in 2006 (only 17 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union). It found that 84 percent of Russians believe in God. Philip Jenkins states confidently that by 2050 there will be 3 billion Christians on this planet (up from the current 2 billion).5 The authors of God Is Back conclude: “Man, whether the neo-atheists like it or not, is a (God-oriented) beast: given the option, he is inclined to believe in a God.”6

Even in the U.S., where we should expect to see churches crumbling from disuse (based on the Newsweek headline), we have received some surprising news. First, a Pew Research Forum poll found that 44 percent of Americans have changed their religious affiliation at least once in their lifetime, mainly because their current group is not meeting their spiritual needs.7 This phenomenon indicates religious fervor, not malaise.

Next, a Gallup Poll discovered that 51 percent of Americans now identify themselves as pro-life and only 42 percent say they are pro-choice. A year ago, 50 percent affirmed they were pro-choice.8

It is inaccurate to speak of Christianity”s decline, even in the U.S., and certainly not worldwide. A fairer statement is that people are searching for spiritual meaning in their lives, and this search has faith on the move.

 

Observation 2: My enemy has become my brother.

Anyone who is over 50 remembers growing up fearing the “red menace”””the evil regimes of the Soviet Union and China. It is difficult for some people to think of these countries (now Russia and China) in any other way. But the figures above suggest we should stop thinking of these people as godless and evil and start thinking of them as brothers and sisters in Christ (or at least as potentially so).

For example, Vladimir Putin, the former president and current prime minister of Russia, and still a powerful figure, wears a baptismal cross and attends church regularly.9 But we, in the West, think of him as only a thug leftover from the old Soviet government.

China is fascinating to watch. It reminds me of the old Roman Empire. It seems it will only be a matter of time before China has its first Christian premier. Is it possible that in our lifetime Christianity could become the official state religion of China? It is time to rethink our old prejudices and fears.

 

Observation 3: There is another (larger) Restoration Movement happening.

The churches in the “global south,” as Jenkins calls them, look to me a lot like the earliest church in the book of Acts.10 These characteristics will make some of our Western Christian brothers and sisters a bit squeamish. There are practices we would rather not talk about. We certainly hope they will soon go away when these good folks “mature.”

In the first place, it seems certain one-quarter of the total Christian population is charismatic or Pentecostal. Interestingly, even in France, the fastest-growing religious group includes the Pentecostal groups.11

The people of the global south, especially, believe in the ongoing validity of prophecy, faith healing, and in casting out demons. These things are not just on the periphery of their faith, but are integral. Christianity is more supernatural, more sensitive to the world of demons and spirits, and more familiar with miracles in the countries where the faith is the newest. They do not share our jaded, post-Enlightenment version of the faith.12

Second, most of these Christian upstarts preach and teach some form of what we call the health and wealth gospel. To these people, when the Bible speaks about poverty and God”s blessings on the righteous, it is speaking directly to them.

One church in Korea, for example, claims 500,000 members and teaches the threefold blessings of 3 John 2: health, prosperity, and salvation through Christ.13 Will we burst into their assemblies someday and tell them they are wrong? Or will they tell us something?

Christianity is not declining and certainly has not fallen. What may be falling is the notion that the United States is the protector of the faith, the fortress of Christendom. The Christian faith will do quite nicely whether we remain Christian or not. But even those reports are highly exaggerated.

When one looks at the data, one is struck not with the decline in either the number or the fervor of Christian adherents, but in the amazing vitality of the faith. It is marching forward with or without the United States of America.

As Christmas approaches and we think about the meaning of the coming of the Christ child, it is important to ponder the amazing energy””power really””that he unleashed in our world to make people righteous and give them hope. That power is still very much at work.

________

 

1Reported in John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, God Is Back: How the Global Revival of Faith Is Changing the World (New York: Penguin Press, 2009), 11.

2Jon Meacham, “The End of Christian America,” Newsweek, 13 April 2009, 34-38.

3Quoted in Meacham, Newsweek, 34.

4God Is Back, 31.

5Philip Jenkins, The New Faces of Christianity (Oxford: Oxford University, 2006), 9.

6God Is Back, 4, 5, 16, 31.

7“Faith in Flux,” Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 27 April 2009, http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1204/religion-changes-affiliations-survey.

8Reported in Ashland Daily Independent, 16 May 2009.

9God Is Back, 13.

10“Global South” refers to the nations of Africa, Central and Latin America, and most of Asia.

11God Is Back, 14, 17.

12New Faces, 1-8, 98.

13New Faces, 91.

 

 

 

David Fiensy has served as dean of the Graduate School of Bible and Ministry at Kentucky Christian University in Grayson since 2004.