Surveys, Statistics and the “Decline” of Christianity

Surveys, Statistics and the “Decline” of Christianity | Thomas M. Doran | CWR Blog

Christians in every age—those faithful disciples of Jesus Christ who strive to conform their lives to the Gospels—were in the minority, and often a negligible minority from a statistical standpoint

A new Pew Research Center survey suggests that those who identify as Christian have dramatically declined in the past decade, while those with no religious affiliation have dramatically increased. Is this a harbinger of the demise—as many hope—of Christianity? Does this suggest that Christianity—as many hope—is irrelevant? Does this mean—as many hope—that there are fewer committed disciples of Jesus Christ?

In a word, no.

The flaw with these surveys and their interpreters is they observe political/social/cultural Christianity declining and, according to their worldview, this means that Christianity is less relevant, or dying. The truth is, Christians in every age—those faithful disciples of Jesus Christ who strive to conform their lives to the Gospels—were in the minority, and often a negligible minority from a statistical standpoint. Some ages had many political/social/cultural Christians (people whose power, fortunes, or reputations were enhanced by identifying with Catholicism—“The crown of France is worth a Mass a week”), making these seem to be "Christian" countries, while some ages had fewer of these cultural Christians. Worse yet is the conscription of Christianity to supply political or mercantile projects a veneer of legitimacy.

Isn’t superficial, or worse—opportunistic, Christianity a spiritual condition that Augustine, Aquinas, Dante, and John Henry Newman confronted in their writings? They clearly understand the gulf between nominally and authentic Christian cultures.

It’s always been dangerous to take Christianity seriously in ones daily life.

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