Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!princeton!njin!paul.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: tp0x+@cs.cmu.edu (Thomas Price) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Christians a dying breed? Message-ID: Date: 3 May 91 07:29:29 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon Lines: 60 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article jloucks@uts.amdahl.com (Jim Loucks) writes: >An atheist once told me that as a Christian, I was a dying breed. This >seems to be the general belief in a lot of newsgroups. The Center for >World Missions reports a different story: > >Worldwide Christianity is growing at a rate of 70,000 persons every >day; 3500 new churches are opening every week. In 1989, if I recall correctly, Islam was the fastest-growing religion in the United States. I doubt it would have slacked off. Religion in general is booming as a result of maturation of the spirituality of the 1960s. >After 70 years of oppression in the Soviet Union, people who are >officially Christians number about 100 million - 5 times the number >in the Communist Party and 36% of the Soviet population. This has as much to do with Nationalism as with anything else, IMHO. There is a lot more going on in the USSR than just religion, but as it is all happening together it is easy to oversimplify. >In China, Christianity is growing by an average of 28,000 every day. >Conservative estimates indicate there are 40-50 million Christians in That's about .04 % >The Church in Africa is increasing by 20,000 per day on the average; > ... >In 1900 Korea had no Protestant church. Today Korea is 30% Christian > ... >In Islamic Indonesia the percentage of Christians is so high the > ... Certain African countries are cracking down on big Evangelical groups because of their "success". It seems to me that bringing a highly trained organization with powerful media skills into a less sophisticated culture is reprehensible in the extreme. Certainly Jesus is Lord, but the Third-World evangelism of today could sell people on Zoroaster just as well. The message is presented in good faith to people who are not cynical or sophisticated enough for their acceptance of it to mean much. I don't think much of Robert Heinlein, but the "Fosterite Church of the New Revelation" from _Stranger in a Strange Land_ comes to mind as I make these comments. Christianity can't be sold nor marketed. Jesus of Nazareth said that many would be called but few would be chosen -- only one of many things he said which makes me think that Christianity is never going to be a "success" in the world ... and if it ever seems to be, then perhaps the marketing is what's succeeding and NOT the Christianity. >I'm not proselyting as some are quick to point out. Just pointing >out some facts so you may know... the rest of the story. I'm not flaming as some might be quick to point out. Just sharing some opinions so that you might question ... the reasons for the story. >Jim Loucks {sun, pyramid, uunet}!amdahl!jloucks Tom Price tp0x@cs.cmu.edu PS Chuck, if I could lovingly ask you not to commentate on this post ... ?