'Christianity as default is gone'

Two interesting articles from the Grauniad:

'Christianity as default is gone': the rise of a non-Christian Europe

So Christianity is no longer the norm? Going underground will do it good

At the risk of sounding in denial, this may not be entirely bad news for Christianity. Arguably one of the most toxic developments in the history of the faith was its shift from being a radical political and spiritual movement to allowing itself to be co-opted by forces of oppression and militarism. Becoming a default or norm effectively drained it of much of its energy.

There have, of course, been countless Christians through the centuries who have resisted this, but the institutionalisation of Christianity as a whole has done it a great disservice. The move over the past few decades into a post-Christendom world is one we should surely embrace if we want to see the faith re-energised...

I tend to agree particularly with these two quoted paragraphs.

At the risk of sounding in denial, this may not be entirely bad news for Christianity.

As painful as this is, the situation offers a great opportunity to seize the initiative and live out the love of God. Talk is easy. Complaining is easy. Facing the situation realistically and focusing on love will do more to ignite a rebirth of Christianity then all the moaning.

One issue I see with many Christians in the U.S. is that they are obsessed with returning Christianity to a "most favored status". On the flip side, I don't think the answer is withdrawing from the world as in the Benedict option. To quote John Lennon, "Love is the answer".

On the topic, a post from Olive Tree blog:

http://blog.olivetree.com/2018/03/20/world-not-world/?spMailingID=56239039&s...

How are God’s people supposed to engage the broader culture around them? There is much confusion around the topic of cultural engagement. Whereas some Christians choose to ignore culture, others rail against it. And others are seduced by it.

The Bible calls us to engage the broader society while retaining a distinctive Christian identity and purpose. We need to think deeply and clearly about what it means to engage secular, pluralistic culture, especially in our work.

Engaging the broader culture around us is what the Catholic church tried to do at the institutional level through the Second Vatican Council. Unfortunately we got bogged down in internal arguments led by people who were resistant to reform, so Vatican II has not yet had the intended effect on the institutional church. Ultimately though it comes down to each one of us, and indeed "Love is the answer".

In 1986 when I was teaching in Tonga, A European visitor said that "the churches are empty in Europe" because the Church* is completely out of touch with her potential congregations. I think this is the only attempt I have ever seen/heard at an explanation of "empty churches". Do you have any ideas about an explanation?
In the past decade, Iʻve read that Ireland can no longer be called "a Catholic country". Poland, too? when I first heard of the Polish philosopher Leszek Kolakowski, I thought he was probably a typical unreligious European. But I have since seen him called a "Catholic philosopher". But today I see, in an LT post, that
only 17% of Poles, age 16-29, claim "no religious affiliation", while in other European countries
70% or more claim to be unreligious.

*He was Belgian, and I assume he meant the Roman Catholic Church.

>5 rolandperkins: From that same post, it is worth noting that the number of young people in the UK who identify as Catholic has outstripped the number of those who identify as members of the established church. With that in mind, I would be wary of identifying it as a specifically Catholic problem.