The title is, “Modeling the Future of Religion in America.” But it’s the tagline that will catch your interest: “If recent trends in religious switching continue, Christians could make up less than half of the U.S. population within a few decades.” See the study here: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/09/13/modeling-the-future-of-religion-in-america/ The study created four different models regarding how things might look by the year, 2070. Plot-Spoiler: The outcomes don’t look that great for churches as we know them. They were kind enough to include one scenario in which case something magical happens. It’s up to all of us to pray — and obey — for that magic to happen. One thing we know: This article deserves a close read by all of us. Our questions are these:
a) What’s your take on the study? Do you consider it sound research to do a “modeling” study like this based on current trends?
b) Which of the four models do YOU feel is more likely and why?
c) What should this study prompt us to do about our faith? How should we respond?
Please give us your take in the comments. We’re on the edge of our seats.
10) Your Take On This Brand New Study: Religion in America?
Pray and labor for a spiritual awakening!
We might think of the 1700s, the days of Jonathan Edwards, as a tightly religious, puritanical society. This could not be further from the truth. In fact, the debauchery and drunkenness of society in those times were at its peak, and the secular humanistic ideas of the Enlightenment mocked and persecuted authentic Christians. Thomas Paine, the famous author of Common Sense, declared that Christianity would be eradicated from the Americas within 30 years.
It was in this context that the magnanimous preachers of the Great Awakening emerged. They rode out of the closets of prayer and the study of the Word, thundering against false ideologies, exposing sin and calling all men to the saving knowledge of Christ. These were not men bound by the fear of man; they were heralds from heaven, hounding lost men and wayward Christians until they repented of their sins and believed in Christ.
Within a decade, the entire atmosphere of the eastern seaboard had changed. Bars and brothels were closed, worship filled the cities streets, and society was transformed. Jonathan Edwards remarked that, especially among the young people, “radical holiness was the standard of the day.”
American Churchianity is about clergy employment clubs (congregations) and professional networking (denominations, seminaries).
Other models have and do exist.
https://www.housechurchtheology.com/what-is-the-house-church