Jump directly to the content
Ted OlsenTed Olsen

Weblog

'Christianity in America Won't Survive Another Decade'

Plus: The GOP's evangelical erosion, political Pentecostals, a bunch of commas, and other stories from online sources around the world.

Today's top five

1.Ron Luce makes The New York Times front page
Just as Jesus Camp and Righteous are provoking fear nationwide that a bunch of freaky theocrat kids are being trained to take over the country, along comes a New York Times front page story covering Ron Luce and his claim that "Christianity in America won't survive another decade." (Actually, that quote doesn't appear in the Times, but it's the bold print in Luce's ads, which bear the National Association of Evangelicals' imprimatur. Haven't seen the ads? Subscribe to CT, you naughty freeloader.)

"I'm looking at the data," Luce tells the paper, "and we've become post-Christian America, like post-Christian Europe. We've been working as hard as we know how to work — everyone in youth ministry is working hard — but we're losing."

Luce's "data" is his much quoted claim that only 4 percent of teenagers will be "Bible-believing Christians" (or, in his ads, "evangelical believers") as adults. The Times rightly calls the claim, first promoted by Barna Research, "highly suspect" and notes that it has been questioned by Group magazine and others. Among them, Christian Smith, whose landmark book Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers won a Christianity Todaybook award this year.

"A lot of the goals [of the new evangelical youth campaign] I'm very supportive of," Smith said, "but it just kills me that it's framed in such apocalyptic terms that couldn't possibly hold up under half a second of scrutiny. It's just self-defeating."

We wish we could hear the reaction to the article at the National Youth Workers Convention in Austin this week. But somebloggers involved in youth ministry are criticizing Luce as a fearmonger. New Testament ...

Article Preview

This article is currently available to CT subscribers only.

To continue reading:
LoginorSubscribe

Weblog

Launched in 1999, Christianity Today’s Weblog was not just one of the first religion-oriented weblogs, but one of the first published by a media organization. (Hence its rather bland title.) Mostly compiled by then-online editor Ted Olsen, Weblog rounded up religion news and opinion pieces from publications around the world. As Christianity Today’s website grew, it launched other blogs. Olsen took on management responsibilities, and the Weblog feature as such was mothballed. But CT’s efforts to round up important news and opinion from around the web continues, especially on our Gleanings feature.

Ted Olsen

Ted Olsen

Ted Olsen is Christianity Today's managing editor for news and online journalism. He wrote the magazine's Weblog—a collection of news and opinion articles from mainstream news sources around the world—from 1999 to 2006. In 2004, the magazine launched Weblog in Print, which looks for unexpected connections and trends in articles appearing in the mainstream press. The column was later renamed "Tidings" and ran until 2007.


More from Christianity Today

La complejidad hispana: Todo cambió en el 2012

¿Hacia dónde vamos?—Una palabra para los creyentes hispanos sobre forjar un futuro.
Jesus' Elevator Speech

Jesus' Elevator Speech

Or was it his inaugural address? There's a difference.

The Latest in Movie News, May 20, 2013

Box office news, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cannes, and AFI honors Mel Brooks.
Divine Rehab

Divine Rehab

Whatever your addiction, God's grace is the only hope for a way out.
Get Instant Access
Christianity Today Magazine
Subscribe now for a year (10 issues) at $24.95 for print, iPad, and instant web access.

International Orders

Comments

This article has no comments
You must be a Christianity Today subscriber to post comments
(on articles open to the public, you must at least register for a free account).
Login
or
Subscribe
or
Register

Don't Miss

Forgiving Iran

Forgiving Iran

Long before I knew the true God, he helped me release my hatred.
Guilt Gone Wild

Guilt Gone Wild

The right kind of guilt can be healthy. But false guilt depletes your soul and ministry.

Training for "One Pitch" Preachers

Training for "One Pitch" Preachers

If you're stuck in a rut, this is how to mix things up.

more | current issue

Facebook

CT eBooks & Bible Studies


Shopping