# When will the ENTIRE human race reject Christianity? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 24, 2010, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176 "2010-10-24T09:56:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/21 "2010-10-24T16:04:30Z")
Ah, another “When is everybody else going to wise up and see things as **I** do?” thread. > [@FriarTed](#): > > To the title Q, I don’t believe it will ever happen- rather it will be more likely that the vast majority of humanity will eventually trust Christ as Lord & Savior, whether by the work of the Spirit through the Church or by the direct Return of Jesus. But then will the human race have any use for “Christianity” as a religion? 🙂 Is there any irony in the OP’s wish that by “54000 **AD** ” Christianity will have been rejected? In my own system of GD scorekeeping: Points gained for comparing belief in God or Jesus with belief in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy: negative 5 Paints gained for mis-spelling it “Santa Clause” negative 15 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/22 "2010-10-24T16:34:02Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings … .” > > Religions come and go. The Egyptian gods were worshiped for far longer than Christianity has existed. Now nobody believes in them. Christianity itself will meet the same fate – abandoned for some new belief system that better serves people’s needs. How many modern religions - by which I mean organized, multi-national systems of faith - have disappeared over the past 2000 years? I can’t think of one. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/23 "2010-10-24T16:39:56Z")
Certainly if our civilization continues eventually Christianity will fall on history’s trash heap, just like Mithrasites, Norse God worshipers, and neolithic fat chick fetishism. Christianity is just as stupid as the worship of Zeus, so there is no reason to assume that someday it will be gone and supplanted by something equally stupid. Although I am sure that as wealth and education spread religion will diminish. But I doubt it will ever be completely gone. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/24 "2010-10-24T16:50:33Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > How many modern religions - by which I mean organized, multi-national systems of faith - have disappeared over the past 2000 years? I can’t think of one. The Greek and Roman faiths, the Aztec religion, and the Mayan religion would probably count. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/25 "2010-10-24T16:51:40Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Far later in the US than Australia. We can, at least, have an atheist Prime Minister living “in sin” in the Lodge, without anyone giving a shit. Let’s not go assuming that history is progressive. Five hundred years from now who knows what Australian politics is going to look like? ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/26 "2010-10-24T16:57:38Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > How many modern religions - by which I mean organized, multi-national systems of faith - have disappeared over the past 2000 years? I can’t think of one. Mithraism. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/27 "2010-10-24T17:03:48Z")
It depends on just how endemic religion really is to the human psyche. In an age of unprecedented scientific understanding, it’s becoming harder and harder to support ancient superstitions as having any rational function anymore, but religion is not rational and a lot of humans seem to invest a lot emotionally in it. I think Christianity (and religion in general) is likely to fade more and more over coming centuries (I don’t think it will take millennia anymore. The 20th Century was arguably the most transformative in human history). In much of Europe, it’s already becoming something of a quaint institution. It could possibly evolve into something else, or fuse with other religions into some more functional, ecumenical hybrid. If technology and science ever decline, I would imagine humans would return to superstition, but it will probably be new superstitions, not old ones. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/28 "2010-10-24T17:07:03Z")
> [@I'm Not Dennis Bergkamp](#): > > It’s an interesting question. The Catholic Church is reportedly [losing followers rapidly](http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=25966), but I don’t know if that’s specific to Catholicism or part of an overall trend among Christians. Anyone know? It’s denomination-specific. Basically, denominations that have been successful at missionary work in Asia and Africa (most of which are Protestant) are growing quite successfully. The same denominations may also grow in Catholic or Orthodox areas —in fact, the Pentecostals (annoyingly) send out missionaries to convert Orthodox. At least, one church I’ve been to does. > [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings … .” > > Religions come and go. The Egyptian gods were worshiped for far longer than Christianity has existed. > [@Lobohan](#): > > The Greek and Roman faiths, the Aztec religion, and the Mayan religion would probably count. I think it’s worth pointing out that every single Old World religion you two mention has followers nowadays, albeit not very many. (Egypt -\> Kemetism, Romans -\> Roman Polytheistic Reconstructionism, Greeks -\> Hellenic Polytheistic Reconstructionism), and I think the Aztec and Mayan religions may have some local adherents, as well as some neopagans. Either way, it’s worth pointing out that four of those five were wiped out, partially peacefully and partially by force, by Christianity —they didn’t merely fade away into nothing. I don’t know about the Egyptian gods. (PS. Yes, I stole the Roman and Greek neopagan religions’ names from Wikipedia. Couldn’t remember what they were properly called.) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/29 "2010-10-24T17:15:26Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > The Greek and Roman faiths, the Aztec religion, and the Mayan religion would probably count. Those were all national religions - bound to a specific place and tongue. Once you conquered and converted the region, the religion could be eradicated. One a religion starts hopping borders and cultures, like Christianity, Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism did, they’re almost impossible to stomp out. You kill them in one country, they flourish in another. (Note that according to my own definitions, I do not consider Judaism a modern religion). ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/30 "2010-10-24T17:24:01Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > At what point are 99.999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999+% of the human populace going to reject this crap? Christianity will be rejected when Jesus Christ comes again and puts a end to all rule and authority including religions and established His Father’s Kingdom on earth. When that will be - according to scripture the angels in heaven nor the Son knows, only the Father. Christianity being a bunch of sets of man made rules, regulations and religious authorities that get in the way of a person knowing Jesus personally. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/31 "2010-10-24T17:49:23Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Is there any irony in the OP’s wish that by “54000 **AD** ” Christianity will have been rejected? Is there any irony in denying the truth of Thor on Thursday or the Roman gods on Saturday? > [@Lobohan](#): > > Certainly if our civilization continues eventually Christianity will fall on history’s trash heap, just like Mithrasites, Norse God worshipers, and neolithic fat chick fetishism. The last one is still going strong. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/32 "2010-10-24T17:51:34Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > Is there any irony in denying the truth of Thor on Thursday or the Roman gods on Saturday? > > The last one is still going strong. A brief resurgence in America’s trailer parks. Eventually they’ll invent a fat-loss pill and it will disappear for good. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/33 "2010-10-24T18:01:13Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Those were all national religions - bound to a specific place and tongue. Once you conquered and converted the region, the religion could be eradicated. One a religion starts hopping borders and cultures, like Christianity, Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism did, they’re almost impossible to stomp out. You kill them in one country, they flourish in another. > > (Note that according to my own definitions, I do not consider Judaism a modern religion). Fair enough, although they did represent the powerhouse faiths at the time and place. In order for Christianity to fall quickly you’d have to overthrow Western society, which is, I’ll admit a lot less likely than in times past. But erosion due to education and prosperity is happening around the world. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/34 "2010-10-24T18:20:13Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Those were all national religions - bound to a specific place and tongue. Once you conquered and converted the region, the religion could be eradicated. One a religion starts hopping borders and cultures, like Christianity, Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism did, they’re almost impossible to stomp out. You kill them in one country, they flourish in another. > > (Note that according to my own definitions, I do not consider Judaism a modern religion). What about Syrian-Egyptian Gnosticism, Adoptionism, Psilanthropism, Manichaeism, or Zurvanism? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/35 "2010-10-24T18:53:00Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Those were all national religions - bound to a specific place and tongue. Once you conquered and converted the region, the religion could be eradicated. One a religion starts hopping borders and cultures, like Christianity, Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism did, they’re almost impossible to stomp out. You kill them in one country, they flourish in another. > > (Note that according to my own definitions, I do not consider Judaism a modern religion). It kind of makes no sense to ask “what modern religions have disappeared,” since if a religion has disappeared, it can’t be modern. The whole criterion of an “international religion” is kind of specious too, since the whole idea of an international, evangelical religion is pretty modern. In classical times, people just used to recognize that local gods varied, and didn’t concern themselves with trying to evangelize them (they still also recognized that they were often consonant with their own gods too, though). Having said that, Mithraism was an international religion which disappeared. You could also add movenments like Gnosticism. Historically, local religions have not faded away organically, but been supplanted by force. Christianity and Islam being the most notable supplanters. It is true that neither of these religions is likely to be supplanted by force, but that doesn’t mean they’ll hang around forever in a post-magical world. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/36 "2010-10-24T18:59:05Z")
The important thing is when will the rest of y’all convert to Athenism. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/37 "2010-10-24T19:02:16Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Christianity will be rejected when Jesus Christ comes again and puts a end to all rule and authority including religions and established His Father’s Kingdom on earth. 32nd of Never. Got it. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/38 "2010-10-24T19:03:50Z")
When people stop making threads about this. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/39 "2010-10-24T19:04:07Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > The important thing is when will the rest of y’all convert to Athenism. What are the odds of getting a handy from her avatar? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176/40 "2010-10-24T19:08:14Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > What are the odds of getting a handy from her avatar? IK’m going to assume that _handy_ = _handjob_ and release the bees. It’s not personal, just policy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-the-entire-human-race-reject-christianity/558176.md?page=3)