August 22, 2022
Introduction
A couple of months ago I wrote an article called: Did Astrology Predict the End of Christianity?
That one was fun to research and write. As I’ve said before, ever since my deconversion from Christianity (and no longer being beholden to God-type explanations for the world and reality) I’ve really enjoyed diving into non-mainstream viewpoints that try to explain what the hell we’re all doing down here on this crazy planet and what it all means.
The above article comes to the conclusion that if you look at certain astro-theological aspects and connect a few dots, then it would seem that yes, the end of the era of Christianity dominating the world as the mainstream religion was foretold in the stars (that time period being the one we’re living through now).
Is that accurate? I don’t know, but it would seem Christianity as an entire religion is in hot water these days. There are lots of things happening lately that seem to indicate that we are indeed heading in the direction that the stars suggested all those thousands of years ago.
Here are 3 things that prove the Church has started fading away:
People Just Don’t Believe in God Anymore
This is probably the biggest and best indicator that Christianity is fading away: most Americans just don’t believe in God anymore.
Gallup has been polling this regularly since 1944. Back then, according to their results, 98% of Americans believed in God. Now, as of their most recent poll, that number has dropped to 81%.
That still seems like a lot. However, that’s just the United States. In Europe, a measly 26% of people said they believe in God.
Also, the important thing here is the trend. Belief in God has been trending downward since 1944, and will very likely pick up exponential speed as it spirals further into the toilet.
Also of note is that most of the Americans polled who said they don’t believe in God are young. These folks are precisely who the Church is trying to target, and failing. These young Americans will likely decline to raise their own children in religion, so when the older generation who still believes dies off, that 81% is going to drop like a stone.
Seminaries Are Downsizing and “Pivoting”
Seminaries across the country are selling off buildings and parts of their property.
Why? Many of them are vacillating as to the reasons, but the main driving force behind this seems to be financial struggles. Enrollment has dropped significantly in these institutions, and in order to get a quick injection of capital, these seminaries are selling off pieces of their property.
They are not closing, though. They are simply downsizing.
I first read about this here. One thing that stood out to me in the article was this:
“Despite the challenges, the seminaries that are selling frame their moves as a pivot rather than a downgrade.”
“Pivot” is very much a business term. It’s what companies do when their business plan simply isn’t working and they need to try something else lest they go under. This also happens when the service the business performs is no longer relevant (either because technology has replaced it, or people no longer value or require it, etc.) and they need to find something else to do, lest they go under.
As I’ve said many times before, the church (and a seminary) is a business. And just like any and all other businesses, they have to do whatever it takes to stick around. If your local grocery store had less people shopping there, then it would also downsize by laying off employees and selling off excess space it no longer needed.
It makes perfect sense, especially considering the point above. As less and less people believe in God, that means less and less people will feel “called” to a life of ministry, which would require a degree from a seminary.
Many seminaries have noted an uptick in online enrollment, citing this as one of the reasons for needing less space in the form of physical buildings. However, the stats can’t be covered up: despite their online enrollment numbers, overall enrollment is down.
Another point of interest from the article: many of these schools are offering “ecumenical and interfaith education.” Interesting. The very niched product they were selling (a theological education) seems to be expanding to include some aspects of belief that previously might not have been entertained within those hallowed halls. Again, it’s all an effort to keep students (and tuition) rolling in.
Churn and Burn of Worship Music
This was an interesting thing for me to come across: the lifespan of a contemporary Christian worship song has decreased significantly.
Christian music hits just don’t endure like they used to.
It felt like “How Great is Our God?” would never go away. It got played in—I’m pretty sure—every single one of the Wednesday chapels at my Christian high school (I’m dating myself). A good friend of mine led worship for the student worship band every week, and he’d grown to despise the song because of how much he was forced to sing it (we also served as youth leaders together at the same church, and he led worship there too; and just like at school chapel, the church leaders wanted him to play the Chris Tomlin hit any chance he got).
But apparently, songs with enduring popularity—like what was enjoyed by “How Great is Our God?”—are few and far between these days, if not entirely extinct. They’re a thing of the past. These days, songs blast onto the scene, shoot to the top of the charts for a very short stay, and then vanish completely, both from Christian radio and worshipping congregations, only to be replaced by the next song that will inevitably follow the same pattern.
To learn more about the study that was done about this situation, read this.
Since contemporary Christian music is a business, the only way that these writers and producers can keep up with this trend is to churn out more and more music, as if running on a desperate hamster wheel. If you thought Christian worship music was already bland, then I suspect it’s going to get even worse as the treadmill increases speed and these producers are forced to throw more slop at the wall just to see what sticks—simply because they’re left with no other option.
When it becomes a race of quantity rather than quality, that’s a trap that brings almost every product, service, or business to ruin eventually. The Christian music industry will be no different.
These days, you have entire churches and megachurches that are hanging on just because people like the music. What happens when even the music starts going to shit? People already have plenty of excuses to stop going to church and with the lack of decent worship music looming in the near future (in some ways it’s already here), then that’s just another reason for more people to call it quits when it comes to church attendance.
Conclusion
What’s interesting to note here is I haven’t even mentioned all the harm that churches and pastors do, which serves as a major motivation for many people to leave church or to never get involved at all. Even if churches and pastors weren’t harming people, the Church and Christianity as a whole are still declining for other reasons.