From watching this video, one would think that the decline of church attendance and rise of disaffiliation could be satisfactorily described, and their future trends projected, without recourse to the supernatural. The more methodological naturalism is successful, the more I wonder if there even is an unstoppable soteriological plan. If we can't see the determinative actions of a Holy Spirit in the growth of churches and the moral conduct of members' lives, then how do we even know there is a Holy Spirit? If we can't rely on the biblical record, how can we know there is a supernatural power behind it? We are not just watching the diminishing of church congregations, we are watching the diminishing of the whole enterprise of Christianity. Churches were places we went to obtain the solution to the problem of sin and alienation from God. This problem was so keenly felt, that we spent the bulk of our week working on it in various church activities. But if we modern people no longer believe in the problem, what good is the solution? Especially when this spiritual solution redirects so much of our earthly lives and opportunities toward its administration and budget (so to speak)?
I graduated from a local SBC seminary and lead a non-denominational church. The SBC has done it to itself.
From watching this video, one would think that the decline of church attendance and rise of disaffiliation could be satisfactorily described, and their future trends projected, without recourse to the supernatural. The more methodological naturalism is successful, the more I wonder if there even is an unstoppable soteriological plan. If we can't see the determinative actions of a Holy Spirit in the growth of churches and the moral conduct of members' lives, then how do we even know there is a Holy Spirit? If we can't rely on the biblical record, how can we know there is a supernatural power behind it?
We are not just watching the diminishing of church congregations, we are watching the diminishing of the whole enterprise of Christianity. Churches were places we went to obtain the solution to the problem of sin and alienation from God. This problem was so keenly felt, that we spent the bulk of our week working on it in various church activities. But if we modern people no longer believe in the problem, what good is the solution? Especially when this spiritual solution redirects so much of our earthly lives and opportunities toward its administration and budget (so to speak)?
"I can't put the holy spirit as a variable in my regression model" - HAHA! Love it!
The Conservative Resurgence itself was doomed from the start. The danger in drawing circles is that they grow tighter and tighter.
Liberalism does not grow the denomination. The mainlines all tanked by trying to accommodate the culture
That’s because the culture became more accepting.
Judging by what's happening to the SBC, conservatism doesn't grow churches either. Everyone's in the same boat now. It's a religious bear market.
Jesus started one church
The Roman Catholic Church