Posted on 03/10/2009 4:02:24 AM PDT by dalight
Oneida, Ky. - We are on the verge – within 10 years – of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity. This breakdown will follow the deterioration of the mainline Protestant world and it will fundamentally alter the religious and cultural environment in the West.
Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants. (Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals.) In the "Protestant" 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century.
This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the post-Christian West. Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes, and public policy will become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the opponent of the common good.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
"Are these people competent enough to run an economy or set the science agenda for the country. The Republicans may be back in congress in a few years but are they ready?"
The nondenominational and neo-congregational model is a terrible one for passing down biblical teachings, etc. Whatever survives from one generation survives entirely on complete re-creation by the Holy Spirit in each and every generation. If you look at hierarchy and institutions as the precise and complete reason for the obstruction of the Holy Spirit in mainline churches, you can read that and ask, “Yeah? What’s the problem?” As someone who has observed Holy Spirit-based movements in mainline churches, it’s somewhat terrifying.
Part of the problem is a definition of the Holy Spirit. What these churches define as the sole action of the Holy Spirit is what other churches define as the extraordinary actions of the Holy Spirit. The ordinary means are someone reading the bible, reading St. Augustine, hearing a theologically sound sermon. The extraordinary means are receiving signs such as faith healings, prophecies, etc.
Why is a congregation which relies on extraordinary means regarded by new churches as stronger than the one which relies on ordinary means of the Holy Spirit? Isn’t this like saying that the invalid who must be carried is stronger than the marathon runner? Are the preachers’ prophecies more certainly true than the persistent faith handed down through the centuries?
I read on FR all the time about how Protestant churches are dominated by former Catholics. Well, where are the cradle Protestants? I’ll agree that such a condition is unnerving for Catholicism, but isn’t it all the more terrifying to the Protestants making that boast? If cradle Catholics become Protestants, and cradle Protestants become non-Christian, whose church has the bigger problem?
Protestant splinter denominations (that is, conservative offshoots of mainline traditions which have gone liberal) sound so sure of themselves that such a high portion of their congregants are socially conservative and upholding morality. Don’t they know that the traditions they splintered off from felt the same way a century ago? How are they more immune to false preachers? Because Piper teaches better doctrine than Edwards?
Jesus left His disciples specific instructions. Preach The Gospel to every creature. Heal the sick, cast out devils, “do this in remembrance of Me, baptise in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Why do we keep wandering away from that?
The biggest reason Christianity falters is that Christians aren’t reading the Bible.
- - - and I’m not paying attention to punctuation.
“But you have to leaugh at how many adjectives the guy takes to describe himself.”
LOL Are you channeling Inspector Clusoe (sp)?
All he is saying is that the culture of the USA will resemble that of Europe in 20 years.
This is not a tough prediction since all the trends are going that way.
There are no culture wars in Europe. The homosexual nazis have won.
You nailed it!
LLS
Always set predictions 10 years out. By that time you will have sold your books, made your money, and been forgotten. Hell, even 2 years out can work.
It’s the Mainline Protestant churches that are in deep trouble because they’re pro-choice and run by democrat liberals at the highest levels. For example, the United Church of Christ became the first mainline Christian denomination to support same-sex marriage. They also ordain gay pastors.
People are leaving the mainline churches for evangelical denominations. I left the LIBERAL PRESBYTERIAN USA to become a member of the conservative Wesleyan denomination. The future of the Protestant churches is with evangelicals, IMO.
... a postevangelical reformation Christian in search of a Jesus-shaped spirituality
But “barking moonbat” takes fewer keystrokes!
Better yet, how about “fool”?
The evangelical investment in moral, social, and political issues has depleted our resources and exposed our weaknesses. Being against gay marriage and being rhetorically pro-life will not make up for the fact that massive majorities of Evangelicals can't articulate the Gospel with any coherence. We fell for the trap of believing in a cause more than a faith.
Where doees this guy do his research? The reason he thinks evangelicalism is all about politics is because the political angle is the only angle that the NYT considers interesting. Just because the NYT did not write about last week's "Biblically Dealing with Jealously" topic in our Bible Study Group doesn't mean that the millions in such study groups don't exist or have no impact.
To follow the newspapers, you'd never know Bible and Prayer groups even existed, or that most evangelical churches rarely speak about homosexuality or even abortion (which doesn't mean conservative viewpoints aren't there). Church is by far the LEAST political part of my week.
Massive majorities cannot articulate the gospel?
You mean that "Jesus Christ died for me and paid for my sins?" Massive majorities?
Where does this man live???
My church is full of coffee and jeans and many times we do feel good. Then again we cry over sin, are troubled by the suffering in the world, and speaking on behalf of my maligned brothers, are doing more about it than anyone else that I know of.
actually i think he is one hundred percent right.
there is no cultural knowledge or understanding of christianity today. it is not embedded in the culture and will deminish expotentially...as the last of the chrisian educated boomers die
I suppose so.
Both mother and a favorite pastor used such terms liberally when warranted.
Sometimes just seems to be the most accurate assertion to make.
Yet, you make a good point. Will prayerfully ponder more.
How about being like Jesus and calling them
white washed tombs
and a brood of vipers?
Your an author. Am I right?
The other plan is to reissue your gloom and doom forecasts and change the date of the forecasted blowout by two years. There are several books out that have done that for 20 years. And they continue to sell.
We get a national rivival every ninety years. Like clockwork. Our last revival began in 1953 and a new one is starting but doesn’t yet seem to have an overall form although I have heard from a number of pastors that their children are turning out very charismatic and they think that the next revival may have that character.
The revivals are usually set off by an individual and I don’t yet think we see one on the national stage. Franklin Graham is not the guy, Joel Osteen is not, and Rick Warren is defintely not the pastor to set it off (I thought he was going to solve all the problems in Arica. What happened?).
I think we Evangelicals wil be pleasantly surprised to see it happen and most of us alive today will be there when it takes off. I am really looking forward to it.
Our church is experiencing an influx of new people and it may be the start of the Fourth Great Awakening, but we won’t know for a decade or so.
We have, by the way a very large number of new members who have been previously unchurched. Over half of our new members are in that category and they have not turned out to be Christian Lite, but tend to develop into conservative Christian activists. Extremely busy in Jesus’ work.
I would add that no one would ever accuse my church of being Liberal or non Biblically based. Very conservative, but very activist and highly creative.
So, don’t take the reports of the demise of Christianity too seriously. We win in the end and you can proceed with this certainty in your heart. Get out there and bring people to Jesus.
“Where does this man live???”
Probably Connecticut. Or Massachusetts. The article is a dead give-away.
Revelation 3: 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
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