Brad Littlejohn says that, yes, Americans on the whole tend to be conservative, but only in this sense: "Many people want to conserve the only status quo that they know." That includes legalized abortion among other issues that used to be considered "liberal."
Yesterday we posted about people who do not believe in God but are not atheists. Today we are posting about atheists who (sort of) believe in Christianity. A look at Richard Dawkin's "cultural Christianity" and Slavoj Žižek's "Christian atheism." And how the ancient apologist Tertullian answers them.
One paradox of America's religious landscape is that the decline in religion is not being accompanied by a rise in atheism. That is to say, most people without a religion still believe in God. Conversely, many people who believe in God say they have no religion. How can that be?
Canada's "blood libel against Christians"; the world's baby shortage; and the Taylor Swift liturgy.
A defining tenet of Lutheranism is the belief that the Word of God, Baptism, and Holy Communion are "means of grace." That is, that God conveys the gospel of Christ and creates faith by these physical means. But to what extent do LCMS members actually believe that? Lyman Stone's study of the denomination investigates that. And the answers will surprise you.
"Supposing you eliminated suffering, what a dreadful place the world would be! I would almost rather eliminate happiness. The world would be the most ghastly place because everything that corrects the tendency of this unspeakable little creature, man, to feel over-important and over-pleased with himself would disappear. . . ."
Delving into the details of the 2023 Lutheran Religious Life Survey. For example, "Converts make up about 32% of self-identified “Traditional” or “Confessional” Lutherans, vs. about 15-25% of other Lutherans."
"'Confessional' churches receive more converts than 'Missional' churches, and 'Traditional' churches receive more converts than 'Contemporary' services." So says a study of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.
A new book shows how the Catholic priest Fulton J. Sheen and the Lutheran pastor Walter A. Maier achieved such enormous popularity in the new medium of radio that they made their "foreign religions" acceptable to Americans and helped reverse the decline in American religion known as the "Religious Depression" that in many ways was worse than what we are experiencing today. (A free post) Read more
Originally, the progressive Methodists were supposed to leave. Why the pro-Hamas protesters are targeting liberals. The silent majority of college students.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In