How much fuel is there left in the ol’ Christian engine? I have a strong feeling that no religion will ever replace judeo-christianity in terms of influence and power, so once this institution fades away, the world may never have organized religion again (aside from small “cults”).
today’s religions are tomorrow’s mythologies.
I have no idea about “ever” but Christianity will almost certainly remain unless some major revolution in religion comes about. I don’t, however, think that the dominant Christian theologies will be the same in 100 years, just as the dominant theologies of 100 years ago were superceded by those of today.
Christianity has been around for about 2,000 years and currently (according to this site: http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html ) has about 2 billion adherents. I don’t see it disappearing in the next hundred years.
Nor would I agree that, if it does disappear, “the world may never have organized religion again (aside from small “cults”)”. There are far more adherents of non-Christian religions than of Christian religions. Hinduism and Islam account for more adherents that Christianity and Judaism together, and Buddhism is thriving also, so the world will certainly have organised religion without Christianity. Unless you’re arguing that Christianity will disappear because the human needs which organised religion meets are going to disappear, and so all other organised religions will also disappear, I think the disappearance of organised religion is unlikely.
Furthermore, I think that in those areas where Christianity is the dominant religion, if it does disappear it will be replaced at least in large part by other religions. The new religions might be organised differently, of course, and no single religion might reach the numbers that Christianity has reached, but my guess is that, if Christianity disappeared, new religions would replace it, and they would be organised.
The only true God through his only true son’s true message is in charge of his only true religion. It cannot die.
(runs for cover!)
Various Christian churches are amongst the wealthiest institutions in the world. Moreover most of their wealth is not on paper it is in gold and art and real esate, etc.
As long as those material items are valuable then Chrisianity will survive at least in the form of these imensly wealthy entities.
With the money, “tradition” and indoctrination from the cradle that these institutions have at their disposal one hundred years is too little time for them to fall from power.
What Apos, UDS said.
Even if the big bureaucratic Christian denominations were to falter, there would be no lack of smaller, nimbler, more efficient religious entities ready to step into the vacuum.
And BTW, socio-politico-economic power of the major churches does not come from “immense wealth” (and really, by modern market standards very few have “immense” wealth; even those are not really liquid – the “gold” is mostly in the form of artwork itself, and many items being technically “priceless” do not make good trading commodities) but from a well established old-boy network (or else a highly motivated new-convert network) of political allies, financial backers and social contacts.
I suggest that you read The Power of Myth which will tell you why Christianity will eventually be replaced and why.
I suggest that you read the Old and New Testaments, which will tell you why Christianity will never be replaced, and why.
kniz, a gratuitous assertion may be equally gratuitously denied. It’s insufficient to merely mention a book title and claim that your argument is proven thereby. My tongue-in-cheek example above hopefully makes that clear.
If that’s the level of sophistication of The Power of Myth, I don’t think I’ll bother. Hasn’t that been thought since at least the beginning of the enlightenment, 500 or so years ago?
The OP asks about the next 100 years. Is there any relevant difference between now and the past that would make this the time that Christianity will go belly up?
Consider especially that average lifespans are slowly increasing. There is nothing forseeable in the next 25 years that would cause Christian parents to stop raising children as Christians; and there is nothing forseeable for the 75 years following that that would cause every single one of those Christians to reject their faith.
So, no, I don’t think there is any good reason to believe that Christianity has only a handful of years left. The religion has proven very adaptable over the last 20 centuries. It currently finds many, quite different, forms of expression around the world. Nothing indicates that that will not continue.
kg m²/s²
Pretty much my reaction. Materialistic Rationalism predicts the end of religion like some religions predict the end of the world–any day now. Certainly within a hundred years, religion will be dead, or the world will have been destroyed. It’s gotta be.
Thieves in the night.
Very, very sneaky thieves.
Anyone ever noticed how each side (the religous and non-religious) think exactly along the same terms. I’ll use Christianity in my example, although I believe it works with nearly any religion out there.
Christian: Any time now, they will see that Jesus is Lord, and they will all convert. Only a matter of time now.
Atheist: Any time now, they will all see that religion is a mass brainwashing tactic, and they will all renounce their faith. Only a matter of time now.
I admit that I haven’t re-read it for a few years. But, I can’t recall Campbell making any such statement. Could you provide some quotes or direct us to a specific chapter?
Pantone- Try searching for posts by Lolo.
Pantone…Lolo…hmmmm…
Provided we are actually here in 100 years (I seriously doubt we will be), yes, I think Christianity will be around but it will be much, much less socially acceptable than it currently is. I think a lot of Christians will have to go underground in order to escape persecution.
Hey, you asked.
Of course Christianity will be around in a 100 years.
Well unless of course nuclear war happens and all education (history, reading, and the like) are forgotten… With all that’s going on in the world this is an entirely frightening, yet possible proposition.
Do you mean world wide, or in the United States? If in the U.S., then from whom will Christians be “escaping”? Seems to me like you’ve watched that silly CNN “What if America Wasn’t America” commercial too many times (the one where the Christians appear to be leaving church, but then the camera oh-so-cleverly shows them coming out of a bunker-basement and looking about to see if the coast is clear).
Perhaps the best answer is in history – during the Enlightenment many people became Unitarian, deist or agnostic through a high level of skepticism in the claims of Christianity (virtually all of which was dogmatically conservative at the time). It survived – with more intellectual honesty than immediately prior to that time.
Today the intellectual climate is quite similar – a similarly strong emphasis on the value of reason and a tendency to downplay revelation as a matter on which to be intensely skeptical.
And probably the result will be similar.
WV_Woman, I would presume that your implication relates to a period of tribulation, whether the prophecied one or simply a lowercase one. I can agree that there is a possibility of what you expect, but in the absence of acts by leaders of Christian advocacy groups that are totally offensive to the rest of the populace (and I assume that, having hung out here for a while, you can gather what I’m alluding to), the likelihood of such a period is fairly low.
I believe there will be Christianity 500 years from now. Not because it is more right or better.
It is just that it has done a very good job at indoctrination and adapting over the years (It may still be socially behind by a century or to but it still has adapted).
As for the PARANOIA that it will have to go underground, I’ll leave that to Jack Chick and his ilk. I’ve seen no evidence anyone is trying to make Christianity illegal.
You may have a sigh of relief WWoman. No one is out to get you .
Seeing as how I haven’t been in the good ol’ US of A in a few months, can I ask if some sort of anti-Christian trend has emerged? What group is dishing out this persecution? Why would we have to go underground? And how is being a Christian in any way “less socially acceptable?” I mean, from what I see (relatively strong Catholic here) this country (USA) is WAY more religious than it should be.*
*In terms of seperation of church and state.
I believe Christianity will most definitely be around in 100 years, but will have changed dramatically. I think the many of the extreme forms of Christianity will die out or become more mainstream. There will still be extremists, and they may be just as vocal as today, but I think they will be even more in the minority. I also think (and hope) that more Christians will turn away from Creationism and such trivial things as having the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and will focus more on the loving and friendly aspects of their religion.
In short, in a 100 years Christianity will still be around but will have become more mature.
—I suggest that you read The Power of Myth which will tell you why Christianity will eventually be replaced and why.—
There’s nothing stranger, in my mind, than people who attempt to tell the history of the future. I didn’t get it when Marx did it, and I don’t get it here either.
I have a “wait and see” approach to studying history. 