Emerging Adulthood and Faith

by Jonathan P. Hill

Is the Church losing the next generation of young people? Jonathan P. Hill critically examines this question, interpreting sociological data that takes into account the broader cultural and historical context. He challenges common assumptions and draws conclusions that are counterintuitive, complex, and encouraging.

96 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2015

Reviews

[Wesley Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really nice little book that should serve to temper the alarmism and anxiety over the "exodus" of young people from the church, the "danger" imposed by "secular" institutions of higher education on young people of faith, and the apparent "faith crisis" raised by modern science.

If Jonathan Hill is right (and we all know statistics can be a great vehicle for lies) then it turns out that "roughly the same percentage of young people are sitting in the pews (or folding chairs) of Protestant churches today as were there in the 1970s" (p.17). "College graduates are actually more likely [than people who never go to college] to practice their faith and say it is important in their daily life" (p.30). And "the supposed crisis of faith brought about by mainstream science and certain readings of the early chapters of Genesis simply does not exist for most young people" (p.57). Who knew?!

I don't put a lot of stock in these kinds of quantitative research projects anyway, but I'm glad this one exists if only to balance out the extreme fear mongering that takes place in some of the other sociological interpretations of data. Fun little read!

[Bryn Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book proved to be incredibly rich and helpful in understanding the sociological trends of youth and young adults with regards to their faith. The thesis of the book- which is supported with numerous tiers and aspects of statistical data- is that young millennials, on a whole, are not different from previous generations of young adults with regards to their adherence to faith. There is a tendency of fear-mongering in headlines regarding the loss of students to unbelief, particularly at college and mid-adult levels. While there is certainly truth behind these departures, the reality is that none of the challenges we face today are disproportionate to challenges faced in the past. Therefore what is needed is not a knee-jerk reaction that centers on an unexpressed panic at the thought of 'losing this generation' but rather a paradigm shift that is grounded if the reality of how the world relates to our faith and how we pass such a worldview on to future generations.

[JimtheDean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book. Short but worth the read. The author challenges the idea that emerging adults are leaving the church and Christianity in higher numbers than previous generations, especially those entering adulthood by way of seeking an higher education. Using current research the author suggests that this mass movement away from faith is likely untrue and offers explanations for some of the changes to which others point to support their belief in the secularizing effect of emerging adulthood and higher education. The author does suggest that there is reason to continue to support strong faith upbringing in the home, which he seems to believe is one way to encourage young people through the emerging adult years to remain strong in their Christian faith.

[Kiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this short read over the weekend. It's a very helpful sociological look at some assumptions that have falsely been made about the affect of liberal arts education on faith in emerging adults. Typical to many assumptions versus actual research, many of the findings contradict common thinking on the matter. Education does not diminish faith necessarily, that is a clear misnomer according to the research. It appears, as usual, that media and common assumption are not keeping the actual data and facts at the fore when commenting on issues of faith across the board, including as it relates to emerging adults. There are many other nuances in the data that are helpful, I recommend it, especially in light of the deluge of factless assumptions swirling about.