11th March 2009

Posted in

Blog :: Internet Monk

One of the my long-admired Christian bloggers (the Internet Monk) has hit the bigtime with an article in the Christian Science Monitor titled The Coming Evangelical Collapse. Since the article was published I've seen links on social networking sites like Digg and Reddit, he's been linked by religious/media bloggers (Get Religion, etc) and I think he's been linked by Drudge. I'm glad to see IMonk get some media attention and wish him well...

Part of the reason for all the hoopla is the release of the latest American Religious Identification Survey results which indicate declining religious affiliation pretty much across the Christian spectrum. Along with the discussion of the results (see this post for a good highlight of the results) the media is looking for analysis. Internet Monk is not a newcomer to the Evangelicaldom-is-dying bus and lists seven reasons for the decline in Evangelicalism in the Christian Science Monitor article. I don't agree with all of his predictions but observe many of the same reasons for decline that he points to. Wonder why I'm not wildly enthusiastic about attempts to re-pattern my Church on what was trendy 20 years ago in the Evangelical world? Because I'm not optimistic that the long term (or even short term) effects will be positive spiritually... Point number two resonates with me, but read the whole thing:

2. We Evangelicals have failed to pass on to our young people an orthodox form of faith that can take root and survive the secular onslaught. Ironically, the billions of dollars we've spent on youth ministers, Christian music, publishing, and media has produced a culture of young Christians who know next to nothing about their own faith except how they feel about it. Our young people have deep beliefs about the culture war, but do not know why they should obey scripture, the essentials of theology, or the experience of spiritual discipline and community. Coming generations of Christians are going to be monumentally ignorant and unprepared for culture-wide pressures.

Posted on March 11th 2009, 11:16 PM

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