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Christianity Today, March, 2009 |

The Other Side of Church Growth

Philip Jenkins says we need a theology of church extinction.

Interview by Stan Guthrie | posted 3/18/2009 08:45AM

In our time, we are witnessing an extraordinary phenomenon: the virtual wiping out of the church in a place it has existed for nearly 2,000 years. The plight of Iraq's Christian community reminds us that ...

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Raymond Takashi Swenson

Posted: March 26, 2009 6:33 PM

I would be interested in Phillip Jenkin's comparison of the experience of persecuted Christians in the Near East and the persecution of the Mormons in America, which involved official government persecution by the State of Missouri, which drove the Mormons to Illinois, then of Illinois, which drove the Mormons to Utah Territory, and then thirty years of persecution by the Federal government. The Federal persecution included an Army campaign in 1857-58, the last major military action of the Army before the Civil War, and culminated in laws that disincorporated the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, confiscated its church buildings, and took away the civil rights of Mormons. Mind you, all of the people who attacked the Mormons thought they were being good Christians while doing it, as is still the case today. Intolerant Christians are not in a good position to complain about intolerant Muslims.

Johann

Posted: March 26, 2009 10:33 AM

Interesting article. However, one solution is to have lots of babies and bring them up with a solid faith formation, which is something I don't see in superficial American evangelicalism. Look at Ireland: you Proddies tried to literally exterminate the Irish Catholics for hundreds of years yet the Faith emerged stronger than ever because the Catholics had a spiritual perspective, not a materialist one. In Northern Ireland, Catholics will soon outnumber their Protestant oppressors because the Prods worship birth control while the Catholics have bigger families.

Tesfatadelle

Posted: March 24, 2009 10:45 AM


Thank you, Pete Benson for declaring the Truth. We do not need man's explanations (Robert in Amman) when we have the guidance from the Holy Scriptures. Yes, Revelation 2 and 3 stand forever more. We can find blames everywhere if we look for them and not look at His word.

Dave N.

Posted: March 22, 2009 12:37 PM

This is an interesting topic, but I think blaming church collapse on persecution (which seems to be the general gist of the article) is a mistake. Ironically, Christianity in Iraq, though certainly in the minority, was relatively stable until the the US invasion. World events and shifts in power play a huge role. In this vein, Jenkins needs to study the growth of Islam in the Near East and Africa in the 9th and 10th centuries a little more closely. His approach, if I understand it, would be something akin (though not an exact analogy) to blaming the growth of Islam in contemporary England on persecution of Christians. Christianity and Byzantine rule of Africa and the Near East was on the wane long before the Arabs came along. The muslim conquest took advantage of a spiritual vacuum and hatred of foreign rule, resulting in the spread of a religion not seen since fourth century Rome.

H. D. Schmidt

Posted: March 21, 2009 7:36 AM

The greatest and latest shameful culprit in destroying Christianity worldwide, and even in America itself, and of recent, was none other than the man whose hero he claimed was Jesus and said that he prays and reads the Bible daily, is none other than George W. with the full support of his cronies close by plus the thousands if not millions of the most Conservative American Christians. Yes, historically speaking, Satan always used Christianity to wipe out Christianity, and he did a master piece as now America and even in full violation of the US Constitution, has fully converted itself into the most abusive and far-reaching Empire the world has ever heretofore known, and does so by constantly demanding of God to bless America. Yes, of late wiping out Christianiy in Iraq for the sake of oil, nothing else period. Yes, the mass graves of Saddam, oponed up while at the same time, America is the mass grave of around 50 million of unborn babies, as the butcher shops remain open!

Z	Posted: March 20, 2009 7:02 PM

Philip Jenkins says that Christianity declined in the Middle East after 1915. Unfortunately he doens't say a word about the growth in the number of converts from Judaism and Islam since the establishmentof the state of Israel in 1948. Why not ? Is it because it might call attention to despised dispensationalist doctrines ? If the death of Christianity in many Middle Eastern countries is providential, its growth in Israel, and the rise of evangelicalism among Palestinian Arabs is also providential. It's no accident that Israel is a democracy (albeit imperfect), with no history of dictatorship and no strong Islamic population.

Z	Posted: March 20, 2009 7:01 PM

pete Benson, editor UNITYINCHRIST.COM

Posted: March 20, 2009 5:54 AM

You'll find a doctrine of church extinction in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. Some think those two chapters apply to only seven physical churches in Asia Minor. But what they represent is a template for eras of Christian churches from the 100s AD to the 2nd coming. Denominations start as fiery Holy Spirit inspired revivals, like the Methodist revival under John Wesley. If John Wesley were to be resurrected now instead of at Jesus' 2nd coming, and to attend a service in a Methodist church, well, need I say more? Denominations that start through revivals like that go through a life-cycle, which begins with more 'born-again' members, and ends with more 'born-into' but not 'born-again' members, as Charles Stanley says. I think you've missed the core of the issue. Check out the church history section of my website for a study on Wesley's early revival, read it, and compare it to what you know of Methodist churches now. That's the life cycle of church denominations, from life to death.

Ted Voth Jr

Posted: March 19, 2009 11:12 PM

I was just going to say what Robert in Amman just said above. Ironically the most vociferous portion of the Church in the US, the Pharisees of the Religious Right, with their rabid, mindless support of the vicious, irresponsible, and tyrannical– see what they did to our Constitution– Cheney Administration are going to answer with them, and indeed with all us the People of the US, for the last gasp of the Church in Iraq– and Lebanon, and Palestine, with their/our mindless support of our running-dog Zionist allies. The Name of the Lord is blasphemed among the Arabs and Muslims because of them/us. [Romans 2.24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.]

Chop	Posted: March 19, 2009 9:11 PM


What does this say about the soft and well fed Christian communities? Do we let those Christian communities die out? Do we fight back to save them? Does anyone really care enough to do something about it?

Paul	Posted: March 19, 2009 4:14 PM


@HPShiao you're point is taken, but the truth of the matter is that churches do die out. It is something that we need to allow for in our theological framework of the church.

Jim M. Roane, PhD

Posted: March 19, 2009 10:20 AM

It is refreshing to see a man such respected scholarship asking the same question that Jesus asked in Luke 18:8; which, I think, deserves careful consideration. Eschatology is a controversial topic; however, I do think it merits a more thorough treatment than that given by Hal Lindsey (“The Late, Great Planet Earth”) and Tim LaHay (“Left Behind” series). I suppose in some aspects the answers is in how we define Christianity. In that regards, however, I am not convinced that the average Joe Christian has the foggiest notion of what that definition is; and therein lies the problem.

Robert in Amman

Posted: March 19, 2009 8:49 AM

I wonder how many American evangelical Christians who supported Bush's war in Iraq and the toppling of Saddam Hussein realize that this has only opened the door to chaos, Islamic extremism,and the driving out of tens of thousands of Christians from Iraq and the closing down of churches. Now, the only Christian ministries going on there are in the "protected area" of the north among Kurds. This bubble will also burst someday soon when the Iraqi government has to come to terms with dividing up the country without the Americans. Jenkins was right when he stated : "Just as important is the state's role, or the lack thereof. If you remove the state, with its ability to hold mobs and vigilantes in check, you open the door to the uprooting and expulsion of those minorities." Right. But Jenkins did not mention who it was that held them in check: Saddam Hussein. He would never have allowed this.

Fane Conant

Posted: March 19, 2009 6:10 AM

Matthew 16:16F Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." We have to read Philip's article in the context of the Lord's promise. But this does not refer to an individual church and in fact a number of the churches mentioned in Revelation effectively do not exist today.

KM	Posted: March 19, 2009 5:26 AM

I tend to agree with Jenkins, Western Christianity has done all too little theological reflection on the phenomenon of church extinction and has, instead, focused too much on church growth and Christian triumphalism. I believe there are important lessons to be learned from reflecting on the experiences of Christian communities which are no longer in the Zenith of their existence, and may now be extinct. Yes, persecution is undoubtedly a major factor in some situations. When this happens, at least we have the comfort of knowing that perhaps the church was doing something right. Which may raise some painful questions for the Church in the comfortable West - e.g. "Is our lack of persecution a reflection that we may have strayed from the path of discipleship?" However, according to the 2nd and 3rd chs. of Revelation there are other theological reasons for church extinction that are rarely discussed. My fear is some of these may explain the demise of the church in Western Europe.

Claire

Posted: March 19, 2009 2:07 AM

Although these things are happening in unbelievable numbers in certain areas, we shouldn't forget the places where the reverse is true, like in Korea, in Kurdistan, Mexico and elsewhere. After all we don't introduce people to a religion but to a person called Jesus, and once they meet an acknowlege his truth, he will keep them regardless of anything else...just wanted to put in a positive note. God knows the end from the beginning and these things sometimes are a sign of things to come. Let's just keep working and trust Him. That's what he told us to do.

Ruth Bard

Posted: March 18, 2009 9:28 PM


For one thing, just because you can't see the church doesn't mean it isn't there. For another, Jenkins seems to be largely ignoring the most important factor of all - the church's response to persecution. This is also what separates nominal Christians from the real thing.

Anna	Posted: March 18, 2009 9:23 PM

In 2000 years it is inevitable Christians presecuted Christians. Basically it converts instead of wiping out. The Middle East was Jewish, Christian and pagan until Islam. The Crusades came about because Islam militarily invaded the areas of the Jews (Israel) and Christians (Palistine and Turkey) and literally told Christian men to marry their daughters to Muslim men or no jobs, school, home ownership, mob killed, etc. Effectively wipes out a group of educated, productive people and leaves the poor following Christianity. Palestine and Turkey are definitely proof of that. Remember Islam won all the wars in the Crusades and got into Spain before Europe woke up and finally used military might to stop them in the last Crusade war. Where Christianity wins, freedom of choice prevails, where Islam wins the only freedom you have is poverty whether Muslim or not for population control purposes and the ownership of women. We should be ashamed for not standing up noisely for our brethren.

lobo	Posted: March 18, 2009 8:39 PM


Amen. I agree. The church for too long has always attributed the good to "God's will" but ignored the bad (because it messes with the "kingdom" theology). You can't have the proverbial cake.

ObamaSupporter

Posted: March 18, 2009 7:25 PM

This article is shrill in its 'persecution complex'. Islam is the cause of Christianity's demise in the contemporary Mid-East? Really? In Iraq, Bush's war against Saddam Hussein has done more to destroy the Christian community, don't believe me? ask Tariq Aziz and his co-religionists. Mid-East Christians suffered more under Christian Byzantine persecution than under Islam, that's why Islam triumphed, because of Christians have always suffered from the attitude of 'if you don't believe as I do 100% of the time, then you're 1000% against me!'. Ironically, these sects were protected by Islam, otherwise they'd been wiped out by either Rome or Constantinople (ie. Celtic Church of Ireland in the Dark Ages). Europe is full of 'extinct churches', also know as 'Heresies' (ie. Hussites). But one Heresy did manage to survive, called Protestanism. Or the Black Church under White Southerners, told to pick cotton and love Jesus. MY POINT: Christians suffer more at the hands of other Christians.

Dave	Posted: March 18, 2009 6:50 PM


What an encouraging word in this world so full of hype. By honestly looking at difficult truths and pondering them, we are able to become more effective ministers of God's truth and love and grace especially to those who are suffering persecution. God's paths are not necessarily easy, but they are beautiful. Thanks for a thoughtful an thought provoking peace.

Geoff

Posted: March 18, 2009 6:04 PM

I think some of the commenters here have missed the point: Jenkins isn't saying that churches should give up, or stop witnessing, or that Christians aren't going to be persecuted (although, there is a difference between being a martyr and having a martyr complex!). He is merely pointing out what has happened, historically, to different churches that are no longer around. One clarification: I think Jenkins is referring primarily to churches in particular geographical locations. As HPShiao notes, sometimes persecution causes all the Christians in a particular area to move away. But sometimes it results in their extinction -- not of a denomination or individual church, but of all the Christians living in a particular country or region. Maybe that's where some of the confusion is coming from here.

Bill Bray

Posted: March 18, 2009 4:58 PM

Some wonderful insights here. We certainly do need a theology of extinction, or at least of survival, since most enthno-linguistic national churches flee the lands where they are persecuted and thrive elsewhere. The Assyrian church of Iraq is thriving overseas in a Diaspora and we don't have any asssurance that the Islamic persecution there will kill that church. It certainly isn't dead yet. Here at Overseas Students Mission in Charlottesville, we are committed to sending thousands of additional indigenous missionaries back into all the lands where the churches have been exterminated or nearly exterminated by persecution -- especially in the Islamic terror states.

HT	Posted: March 18, 2009 4:38 PM

Yes, Jesus said there would be persecution - but he also said that if the gospel is being rejected in one locale, you should shake the dust off your feet and move your yourself to someplace new, where other people have the chance to hear you preach the gospel. He did not say "just sit there and sing songs and let them kill you." That would be like saying, "Its the lot of all people in the pacific northwest to be rained upon - therefore if it rains it is God's will for you to stand outside in said rain until you catch a cold." No. You take your butt inside and find shelter. Thanks for playing.

Beth	Posted: March 18, 2009 4:35 PM

He is right that we ignore where the church is being eliminated. In China (referenced above), as difficult as Christian life can be, the church is being persecuted, not exterminated. There are places on the planet where there is Christian genocide going on. That's a totally different situation, and we shouldn't confuse them. Whether facing persecuted or exterminated, no Christian should quit. Our history is full of people who would rather die than give up their faith. That's the story of hope and our example. Despite persecution or extermination, Christians have held fast. I think the article is very thought provoking and a good issue to put into the Christian discourse.

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