The coming evangelical collapse

I picked up on this article from some hostile comments directed towards it on another website, but think it’s worth-while reading for all Christians.

Point 2 to me is especially relevant. When I read some discussions by Christians, it seems they don't really know a lot about the history of how the Bible was written, who wrote it, when, how it was put together etc. There are many Apologetics sites which package information and even provide cut and paste answers, but certainly I know from personal experience that some of them are so far from being honest or properly researched as to really be astounding. Especially in this day and age, with all the information available at one's fingertips, the need for honesty and integrity and serious Biblical research and criticism is needed.

Aparently this article has caused uproar - well, if it helps the Monitor's readership, that's great! 😀

The coming evangelical collapse
An anti-Christian chapter in Western history is about to begin. But out of the ruins, a new vitality and integrity will rise.
By Michael Spencer from the March 10, 2009 edition of The Christian Science Monitor

• Michael Spencer is a writer and communicator living and working in a Christian community in Kentucky. He describes himself as "a postevangelical reformation Christian in search of a Jesus-shaped spirituality." This essay is adapted from a series on his blog, .

Here are just a very few of his observations:

Why is this going to happen?

1. Evangelicals have identified their movement with the culture war and with political conservatism. This will prove to be a very costly mistake. Evangelicals will increasingly be seen as a threat to cultural progress. Public leaders will consider us bad for America, bad for education, bad for children, and bad for society.

The evangelical investment in moral, social, and political issues has depleted our resources and exposed our weaknesses. Being against gay marriage and being rhetorically pro-life will not make up for the fact that massive majorities of Evangelicals can't articulate the Gospel with any coherence. We fell for the trap of believing in a cause more than a faith.

2. We Evangelicals have failed to pass on to our young people an orthodox form of faith that can take root and survive the secular onslaught. Ironically, the billions of dollars we've spent on youth ministers, Christian music, publishing, and media has produced a culture of young Christians who know next to nothing about their own faith except how they feel about it. Our young people have deep beliefs about the culture war, but do not know why they should obey scripture, the essentials of theology, or the experience of spiritual discipline and community. Coming generations of Christians are going to be monumentally ignorant and unprepared for culture-wide pressures……..

•Expect a fragmented response to the culture war. Some Evangelicals will work to create their own countercultures, rather than try to change the culture at large. Some will continue to see conservatism and Christianity through one lens and will engage the culture war much as before – a status quo the media will be all too happy to perpetuate. A significant number, however, may give up political engagement for a discipleship of deeper impact.

Is all of this a bad thing?

…..We can rejoice that in the ruins, new forms of Christian vitality and ministry will be born. I expect to see a vital and growing house church movement. This cannot help but be good for an evangelicalism that has made buildings, numbers, and paid staff its drugs for half a century.

Looking at his website, he comments:

Couple of notes on the original posts that may clear up some commenter feedback:
UPDATE: I’ve been linked at Out of Ur, GetReligion and all over today. I want to say two things to all of them: 1) The CSM piece was on the commentary page. It is commentary, not news or research. 2) I did not say that evangelicalism is dying. I said it is going to decline quickly to a smaller, more chastened, more diverse, less influential form.

For all my new readers, here are the original, longer and more detailed “Coming Evangelical Collapse” posts......

Love and peace,

Judy