Friday, September 20, 2024

*** This is a rough transcript of today’s show ***

It is the 20th of September 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Well, it’s the last of the pre-taped shows- there’s nothing left in the can. God willing I’ll have a show for this weekend, maybe some fun stories from Germany.

Last time to the mailbag for this iteration of the show- Craig, a longtime listener, and emailer of questions and encouragement - wrote a question that touched on one of my favorite topics and areas of research.

He writes: “Today, we are seeing the decline of church membership and attendance.   Were there other periods in history when religious membership/participation waxed and waned?”

Craig, this is, in part, one of the questions that led me to the film project I’ve been working on for over a year- you might remember a year ago, I was in Sweden, and the reason we were there is because it has seen the most precipitous decline in professed belief. We are seeing in America what the last century saw in Western Europe. In the past few years, both Germany and France have failed under the “50%” threshold for the first time.

And here’s the thing: this is happening without the kind of persecution that marked past “warnings.” You have the 3rd century under Diocletian in the Roman Empire (and the big controversy when lapsed Christians came back). In the Middle East and North Africa, the 7th and 8th centuries saw persecution with the rise of Islam in these territories.

The Scandinavians under the Vikings saw a similar fate. And then in the modern era, we have Japan in the 17th century and France in the 18th century when the persecution by the state saw the percentage of Christians drop precipitously.

What is curious about the 20th century in Europe and the 21st here in America is the decline of the church without direct persecution- in these modern liberal societies, the percentage of Christians is dropping not from persecution but rather a malaise.

However, there is another model country to use when looking at the state of the American church and its decline: America in the 19th century.

I’ve talked about it before- the sometime Puritan insistence on a conversion experience for church membership saw many people just stop going to church. Add to that westward expansion, limited resources, and the lack of cultural expectations (that’s a big one) saw church membership dip below 20% and in some estimations in the single digits in some places.  

So, what happened? Tragedy. Civil War, World Wars, and then, most helpfully, isolating our primary geopolitical enemy- the USSR and specifically noting that they were an atheistic state. More money, adjusted for inflation, was spent on church construction in the decade after World War II than at any time in American history. “One Nation Under God” became our official motto under Eisenhower. If we take this and telescope in the Jesus People Movement of the 60s and 70s, I think it's fair to see that as a “3rd Great Awakening” (but too many scholars have too many differing “Great Awakenings” but nonetheless).

In our own context today, I am more concerned with the health of churches rather than the exact number of Christians there. Over the past five or so years, I have been gathering everything I can to look at the global population of Christianity. Things keep pointing back to the magical 30% number- we see the church wax and wane in places such that the percentage of Christians worldwide seems to be pretty constant from the time of the late Roman Empire to today. I suppose the question is if there is another “Great Awakening” or if the European model from the 20th century is our fate. But I can say with some assurance that if it wanes here, it will wax elsewhere- the Global South and East Asia seem to be the big movers in this new century.

Thanks for the question, as always Craig- I’m back to Monday mailbags for the foreseeable future and would love to collect even more questions.

The last word for today is from the daily lectionary and Romans 11 for spicy verses with all kinds of history from Romans 11:

25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written:

“The deliverer will come from Zion;
    he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.

27 And this is my covenant with them
    when I take away their sins.”

28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29 for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now[d] receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. 32 For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 20th of September 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man you should ask how will all Israel be saved? He is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who finds the phrase “wax and wanes” to be particularly mellifluous- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.