German cities are replete with impressive churches, which often seem more museums and concert venues than places of worship.
Is this the permanent wave of the future?
Click to enlarge; click again to enlarge further.
In an interesting little article, the eminent — if not downright venerable — Austrian-American sociologist of religion Peter Berger considers the possibility that there might be a religious revival of sorts occurring in German-speaking Europe.
He looks particularly at recent phenomena in Dresden and Stuttgart:
http://www.the-american-interest.com/2015/06/03/are-evangelicals-winning-the-world/
If true, this wouldn’t altogether surprise me. I recall a talk from many years ago by a BYU historian of Europe, Douglas Tobler, who argued that such a rebirth of religion would come in Europe, because, he said, most people won’t, on the whole, be able to endure the emptiness of secular consumerism. They’ll find it unsatisfying. He even thought, from a Latter-day Saint perspective, that the loosening of the old ties to the established state churches would, in the end, prove to be a necessary and helpful development.
This has always struck me as plausible, albeit not altogether certain.
We shall see.
In any event, I found Professor Berger’s article interesting.
Posted from Darmstadt, Germany
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