Is Christianity Fading Over Time?

Question

I posted a similar thing yesterday, under the assumption that everyone already knew this. But people thought I was full of it. Fact is, even the evangelicals are aware that the numbers of American believers is gradually decreasing, even though their voice is just as loud as ever.

Each generation has more atheists and agnostics than the one before. percentages are of atheists/agnostics:

Age 18-22 19%
Age 23-41 14%
Age 42-60 9%
Age 61+ 6%

"The study shows that 16- to 29-year-olds exhibit a greater degree of criticism toward Christianity than did previous generations when they were at the same stage of life."

Even though Christians are in the majority, these people who call themselves "Christians" have a very watered down version from what their grandparents did. It gets more watered down every generation.

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Answer 1

Yes thankfully. In a few hundred years time people will look back at amazement and pity that such non sense was ever believed.

Answer 2

Christianity is the fastest growing religion in the world right now.
Christianity is the fastest growing religion for the past century.
Christianity is the fastest growing religion in History.

America is not the world.
The number of Christians in Africa today is 47times what it was a hundred years ago. This is the largest increase of any religion in any place ever.
Christianity has grown to a similar extent in Asia.
There are 3 Billion Christians in the world, and more every day. In all of these places it is the Evangelical version of Christianity that is growing the fastest.

America is an interesting story.
The traditional denominations, Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, and especially Episcopalian, all of which have watered down their version of the Faith as you say, are indeed shrinking, and their members are more ambivalent than ever before about their faith. In fact, people have been abandoning the traditional denominations in droves over the last thirty years.
But if your polls studies and numbers are cued to these groups you will get a distorted picture. Evangelical Christianity, much of which is non-denominational is growing by leaps and bounds and is a counter trend to the decline of traditional denominations. It is also geographically and demographically concentrated in middle-class families in the Mid-West, so, again if you don't live their and belong to that group, you might be missing the story. The growth of Christianity in America is positive, according to my sources, even though the decline in east-coast denominations brings the numbers down somewhat.

There is some disagreement among statisticians about whether Islam or Christianity is growing the fastest. But Islam's numbers are fueled primarily by birthrate, not by conversion. Even in the middle-east the heartland of Islam Christianity is growing. There is an underground Church in Iran now that numbers in the Millions, with hundreds of thousands joining yearly, often at the risk of their own lives. Christianity is growing in Egypt, in Jordan, in Syria and in Saudi Arabia, despite the fact that it is a capitol crime.


The truth?
All over the world more and more people are hearing the Good News of Jesus Christ and committing themselves to His way— the Way of Love, Peace, Kindness and Joy. Thousands every day, Hundreds of Thousands every year, millions every decade. Christianity is the largest religion by numbers, the fastest growing in both absolute and relative terms, and the most diverse culturally. No other religion in history has crossed so many barriers and made sense to so many people in so many different cultures. Christianity is the Global Religion. If you think Christianity is in decline you have been misled in a big way. Christianity is for everyone.
Don't miss out!

Answer 3

Absolutely. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I give religion, as a whole, another hundred years. In 100 years, it will have fallen out of our lives for good, down to where it really belongs... the lunatic fringe.

There will still be some lunatics out there that will still practice religion. But they will show their religion to be what it actually is.... A CULT.

Just like Charlie Manson or Westboro, the only people that will still practice any kind of faith will be nutjobs. It just so happens, in this day and age, those nutjobs had a few hundred years of violence where they were able to force their cult on the masses.

But that time is FINALLY coming to an end.

Answer 4

I don't think it is fading, but it is changing.
The main beliefs of Christianity have not, will not, and do not change. Most of the different Christian denominations agree about who Jesus was and what He did. What differs is application of doctrine and dogma to the way we live our lives.

As an agnostic for many years after being raised a Roman Catholic, I had ventured along many paths to find God, enlightenment, and mystical experiences. Re-evaluating Christianity with an objective and open minded perspective, I found myself facing the exclusive claim that Jesus said He was the way, the truth, and the life... and that no one could come to God except through Him. I have found this claim to be true, as have millions over thousands of years.

Christianity is not about living a "religious" life... it is the ultimate in living a Spiritual life in a dynamic relationship with the living God. I hope others will cross whatever lines they've drawn and go beyond their pre-conceived assumptions and conclusions to find this truth for themselves. God bless and may you find joy in the journey and peace for your soul.

Answer 5

Isn't it funny when you hear older people say things like, "What is wrong with kids today?". But I bet their parents said the same thing. Your statistics simply show that young people like to call themselves atheist/agnostic. I bet if you take those statistics 10 years from now, they will be exactly the same. That would mean, younger people are more likely to call themselves atheist/agnostic...but as they grow up...I bet that changes. My theory is that the older you get, the more you will look for God and the more open you will be to his message. This doesn't mean getting closer to death, I mean getting married, getting a good job, having children. It is easy to be an atheist as a 16-25 year old that just wants to have fun with no other responsibilities but yourself.

Answer 6

I don't call it fading but rather FALLING AWAY

2 Thessalonians 2:3
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;


2 Timothy 4:3
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

Answer 7

This is not true on a global scale. Most of the world's Christians (60%) live in Asia and Africa, where the rates are growing exponentially. Latin America is now sending missionaries to Miami.

Answer 8

Not fading, but certainly changing. We were warned of this in the Bible, concerning the end times, that people's hearts would wander from the truth, being unwilling to face sound doctrines.

Answer 9

Read the bible then walk down the street or walk anywhere and see if you believe 75% of Americans are christians. It is probably more like 2%.

Answer 10

I feel it is because the radicals are the people with the loudest voice and they turn people off of Christiaity. We need not look at others for what is right or wrong, but look in our own hearts.