The U.S. Trend in Religion Points to (Something Like) Paganism


It is laughable when one reads statements by those trying to put a happy face on Christianity's declining numbers. Often the apologist will try to appear wise and knowledgeable saying like, "Well, people are not really leaving the faith. They are just finding new ways of practicing it outside the confines of denominations." 

I've not seen evidence that leaving the confines of denominations is finding a new way of practicing Christianity. It is, instead, people finding their own version of a god. They might refer to it as "God" but it will be his/her own version of "God" which is really just another god.

It would be most helpful to see a comparison by a prominent apologist of the new "nones" and paganism. The number of nones now is larger than nearly all denominations. It is so large it is the league of Catholics and Southern Baptists. If nones are a branch of pagans, as it seems to me they are, it means paganism is a major U.S. religion. 

In an earlier time, pagans had local gods. Because people did not travel as much and information did not flow as quickly across the lands, local people probably reenforced to each other the version of local gods. Now, this is done across the world with the internet. Maybe some professor will do a study of the various ways "God" is seen among people. If we take the number of denominations, there are plenty of ways to interpret what the Bible says. Now that the Bible is read less and less, it would be reasonable to predict there are even more versions of what the Bible authors intended and what its main characters, God and Jesus, intended for this time, 2,000 plus years later. If the various versions of "God" exist, they become gods. 

This view of growing paganism is shared by several leaders in Christianity. One is Anthoney Fisher, Archbishop of Sydney, Australia. He compares the direction of faith to that of the late stages of the Roman Empire. The link author, a pagan, agrees with the Archbishop.  

Even though the Archbishop correctly identified nones as pagans, I don't expect Christian leaders to admit this. It would be the final admission of victory by the enemy. 

 


Comments

  1. Ardy BJanuary 21, 2023 at 5:48 AM

    “I've not seen evidence that leaving the confines of denominations is finding a new way of practicing Christianity. It is, instead, people finding their own version of a god.” There are some real hybrids or mutants out there.

    New revelations new gods. Throw out the Bible. Let elected latter-day apostles, guided by prophets inspired by deity with new revelations, plant a church bunker armed for “spiritual warfare” that they might dominate y’all ‘til Kingdom Come. I give you NAR: “an unbiblical religious movement that emphasizes experience over Scripture, mysticism over doctrine, and modern-day “apostles” over the plain text of the Bible.”
    https://www.gotquestions.org/New-Apostolic-Reformation.html

    New way of practicing or new god? Lots of aberrations out there. I don’t know. Is the New Apostolic Reformation even Christianity? Some say NAR is tied to Christianity by a thread — the Apostles Creed. Revelation, mysticism, and cultism, yup, sounds Christian.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ardy BJanuary 21, 2023 at 7:05 AM

    Here is the Wikipedia link for NAR I should have cited. It gives a more detailed description.
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Apostolic_Reformation

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JonJanuary 21, 2023 at 7:51 AM

      Thanks for that, Ardy. I've seen signs of "El Rey" in Fargo and I think here in Des Moines. I wonder if the "Prophet" takes the place of the priest or shaman. I see Kenneth Copeland is included in NAR. I don't know if he is a "prophet" but God has seen to it he has a Gulfstream V. They run about $40 million.

      Delete

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