The Drift Away from Christianity Seems Unstoppable
As church membership and attendance at church services continues to drop there is much finger pointing inside the faith. In the Catholic church some say the decline is due to liberalization that dating back some 30 years. Others say it is the past conservative Popes who drove people away. Then all blame the child sexual abuse scandals.
In Protestantism there is something similar. There are conservative branches claiming numbers would reverse if their version of the faith was the only version. And, liberals are doing the same.
Evidence is that none of this really explains the decline. The descent originates from the same cause as its ascent. This is cultural change. The culture of the Middle East 2,000 years ago and later in Europe gave rise to Christianity. That culture is now moving somewhere else that is not the old Christian religion.
If anyone were to ask my advice, I would advise them not to believe Christianity came from some great truth. For 98% of human history people had never heard of a Christian version of gods. We know that since recorded history began the majority has had other gods.
But, when cultural conditions were right, parts of the world latched onto the god of the Jews and later Christian. Other parts of the world went other directions.
The bulldozer of cultural change will keep going as it always has. Efforts to stop this change are like toothpicks in its path.
In Protestantism there is something similar. There are conservative branches claiming numbers would reverse if their version of the faith was the only version. And, liberals are doing the same.
Evidence is that none of this really explains the decline. The descent originates from the same cause as its ascent. This is cultural change. The culture of the Middle East 2,000 years ago and later in Europe gave rise to Christianity. That culture is now moving somewhere else that is not the old Christian religion.
If anyone were to ask my advice, I would advise them not to believe Christianity came from some great truth. For 98% of human history people had never heard of a Christian version of gods. We know that since recorded history began the majority has had other gods.
But, when cultural conditions were right, parts of the world latched onto the god of the Jews and later Christian. Other parts of the world went other directions.
The bulldozer of cultural change will keep going as it always has. Efforts to stop this change are like toothpicks in its path.
I noticed in this article on Skrive your words "Christianity came from some..." became " Christianity gave from some...". Just wondering if you noticed this. I think it happens quite often.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that. My screen reads correctly. The software of Skrive is new and maybe there are glitches to be ironed out. Also, I have some dyslexia and miss mistakes of my own.
ReplyDeleteNo big deal just thought you should know. I'm a big fan of Grammarly but it has it's limitations.
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