It\u2019s widely rumored that organized religion is going down the drain. While the secularization thesis has been debated for decades, its main components are hardly controversial. Religion has reduced social power: its chief officers have less influence on political ideas and social norms, its language and habits no longer permeate the discourse of public life, and fewer people make collective worship and fellowship the rhythm of their week. Death no longer has a compelling hold on the public imagination: people still die, but usually not in the home or in their youth, and few people are terrified of the prospect of eternal hell. Meanwhile, with the possible exception of minority faiths among recent immigrants, it\u2019s become increasingly difficult to socialize young people into a religion. It\u2019s not that religion adheres to egregious ideas so much as that the whole notion of being habituated into a committed community of ritual and tradition seems incongruous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s little that\u2019s specifically Christian about all this. Real as the church\u2019s failures are, most of its challenges it shares with other institutions associated with the pretechnological era. But in any case, in most congregations in the US mainline and the UK equivalent, a disproportionate number of the people are over age 65. The prospects for self-replication in 30 years\u2019 time aren\u2019t promising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are we to do about this? I see three main options…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> \u201cWe have no idea what lies around the corner. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but the way the Holy Spirit makes Christ present to us seems to be ever changing.\u201d
\u2013 Samuel Wellshttps:\/\/t.co\/Vh9j7Gfe1E<\/a><\/p>— theChristianCentury (@ChristianCent) October 18, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>