The Future of Christianity

Introduction: The Crisis in the Church

A Historical and Statistical Perspective By JoAnn Todd

“…a deep crisis has overtaken Christianity, which has become quite obvious in the erstwhile Christian nations of the West, but has also its manifestations in other parts of the world.” Jon Sobrino, Felix Wilfred,”Christianity In Crisis?” 2005

Growth of World Religions since 1920In Relation to the World Population Explosion

% of Jews has not increasedMuslims and Hindus have steadily increasedChristianity & Buddhism slowed, smaller percentage than in 1900Non belief increased more steeply than all of the above McManners

Demographics of Growth

Latin America, Africa & Asia have more Christian Adherents than in Europe, North America & USSRA “Third World” Christianity: rate of growth more than twice as great than in “First World” Will impact Christianity globally

Canadian Stats Weekly Church Attendance (Bibby)

1945: 60% Canadians, 90% Quebec1950s & 60s: 45% Cdns, 85% Quebec, Jews increased, Jehovah Witnesses “exploded”mid 1950s, about 3.4 million churchgoers or 43% total pop.By 1960, about 3.8 million churchgoers or 38% total pop. mid 1970s: Cdns, 27% Protestants, 45% Roman Catholics, declining futher in 1980s, falling for the first time in Cdn. history

Perspective on the Western Crisis Sobrino & Wilfred

Internal crisis “within the Church” -Church has lost social and institutional power and authorityExternal crisis “of the Church”

-Church unable to respond to “a world come of age” re: capacity to respond to demands of moral reason, ie poverty, injustice, oppression and plurality Failure to respond is the crisis

Response to Crisis, two fold

Opposition and resistanceApathy, seen in the churches in the West. My Conclusions: -new vision, reformation, change in perspective from internal to external responding to diversity, plurality and demands of moral reason for the world of today.

Crises, Historical Overview: Calls for Reform

Pre-reformation: 14th C John Wyclif-outspoken re: 2 popes, critical of ‘fat and lazy monks and immoral clergy”

Responded: -trained new travelling preachers-> Lollards

-translated Bible into English, access for all to scriptures

Protestant Reformation

Luther’s 95 thesis sparked a revolution of reformation Zwingli, Calvin, Menno Simmons, Quakers, Anglicans, Presbyterians/Knox, Reformed churches established by 1600“If the common people had not supported the reformers, the Reformation would not have succeeded, people were sufficiently disenchanted” James North

Period of Enlightenment

Parallels to today:Secularization resulting from mercantilism, booming tradeIdeological arguments threatens prosperityPassions of the reformation channeling into insistence of individual conversions, religion of the heart, no structure or conformity: idea of the invisible church theologically accepted. 18th C. “age of reason”

Modern Period: Period of European Transformation

Immigration, Christianizing Indigenous peoplesLegalization of Religious Tolerance->so what/where was Christendom?Liberalism influences politics & religionBy 1914 fewer European Christians than in 1800Improvements in medical care, urbanization, evolutionary & scientific theories counter historicity of the Bible, discoveries of ancient biblical texts: parallels for post-modern society

Currently

Crisis of industrial society & urbanization, particularly post WWIIChurches unable to keep up to changes, 20th C. response: Pentecostal Movement in USA, Latin America and Africa

“It responds to the individuism and subjectivism of the new society.”Comblin

Reginald Bibby, again

“…secularization does not lead to the demise of religion. On the contrary, it stimulates religious innovation in the form of (1) breakaway groups that seek to revive faith and (2) new religious traditions…”

“(C)rises are really proposals from the divine dynamic itself. It is in these crises, and in the need, time and again to re-work our own conception of what it is to be human, that we discover God’s ongoing saving dialogue with us.”

Nestor O. Miguez,