Blooming Christianity

A century ago, G.K. Chesterton noted that when men cease to believe in God they tend to believe in anything. When the German people chose to deny God and follow Hitler, they embraced the nonsense of Mein Kampf and the Nazi reign of terror. Decades later the Soviets ruled Eastern Europe and much of Asia with godless Communism that denied the most basic human rights. The Chinese Communists sought to stamp out all religions and even the 25 century old belief in Confucianism with it’s principles of good conduct and social values.

In Western Europe, secular relativism began to replace religious practice, and today only about 1/3 of Europeans are religious. Indeed, among Western nations, America is exceptional for its belief in God (86%), Christianity (80%) and religiosity (75%).

Elsewhere on God’s green Earth, Christianity is blooming like wild flowers. In a recent New York Times opinion piece (3/26/05), columnist Nicholas Christoff noted that “one of the most important trends reshaping the world is the decline of Christianity in Europe and its rise in Africa and other parts of the developing world, including Asia and Latin America.” The statistics are astounding. “On Easter, more Anglicans will attend church in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda - each - than Anglicans and Episcopalians together will attend services in Britain, Canada and the U.S. combined. More Roman Catholics will celebrate Easter Mass in the Philippines than in any European country.”

While Chairman Mao suppressed Chinese religions, “David Lyle Jeffrey of Baylor University sees some parallels between China today and the early Roman empire. He wonders aloud whether a Chinese Constantine will come along and convert to Christianity.” It is estimated that there are already several hundred million underground Christians in China. In a few decades China could be the largest Christian nation.

In Africa, Christianity is competing with Islam for converts. The Christian denominations such as evangelicals that are the strictest are flourishing. Thus global Christianity is becoming more socially conservative.

Meanwhile, in Europe, immigration is causing a resurgence of religion. If demographic trends continue, formerly Christian Europe will be Muslim by mid-century. And in America, an already Christian population will become even more so with the influx of immigrants from Mexico and from Central and South America. Good for America.