Evangelical Protestants have become more devoted to their religious beliefs over the last three decades, even as Catholics have become less attached to their faith, new research finds.
The denominational differences come even as religious affiliations have decreased overall in America, with the number of people who claim no religious affiliation at all doubling from 7 percent in 1990 to 14 percent in 2000, said study researcher Philip Schwadel, a sociologist at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
Nevertheless, Schwadel said, these unaffiliated individuals seem to be dropping out of religious institutions that they were previously ambivalent about. People who feel strongly about their faith are as numerous as ever.
This is in line with several other sources in recent years. “Cultural Christianity” is declining; committed (though still imperfect) discipleship is being revealed as the authentic norm for Christian belief and practice today, as it really has always been in the liturgical formularies of the Church. As with the change from a Anglo-normative nation to a more truly multi-cultural society, this new context will yield some severe challenges…and some great blessings.
This article reveals the relative insignificance of Liberal Protestantism in our mass culture. Lacking a truly differentiating characteristic (Evangelicalism’s conversion emphasis, say, or the RC Church’s papacy), Liberal Protestantism (and this includes TEC, of course) is largely interesting only for something approaching “entertainment value” in the popular press. If one adds this sense to the discipleship culture of TEC–a phrase that almost seems oxymoronic on the face of it in many places–the future of this part of the Church looks dim, at best.
However, I always maintain that God can bring something amazing out TEC yet. Faith in Christ will allow me no other response.
“In the 1970s, there was only about a 5-percentage-point difference in how strongly Catholics and Evangelicals felt about their religion, Schwadel said. Today, it’s around 20 percentage points. About 56 percent of Evangelicals currently say they’re strongly affiliated with their religion, while only 35 percent of Catholics say the same.”
Apparently this means “evangelical protestants”. I wonder how this was defined?