This Easter it’s hard not to be a bit pessimistic – war in Ukraine, talk of war in Asia, endless other troubles. Christianity in the West is approaching two crisis points, writes Greg Sheridan. Source: The Australian.
Pope Francis is nearing the end of his papacy. The choice of his successor is profoundly important. Francis has appointed a lot of cardinals from impoverished parts of the developing world but, as the global split in Anglicanism shows, religious leaders in the developing world tend to be more religiously religious – that is, more conservative in belief and practice – than their counterparts in the West.
Evangelical Christians in the US, a goodly number at least, are seeking to break free of their extremely troubled attachments to Donald Trump. But who knows what Trump’s latest adventures mean for the culture?
The Christian faith is booming in Africa, Asia and Latin America but still declining in the West, though there are plenty of green shoots, signs of new life.
We should remember what Christians believe about Easter. They believe Jesus, the son of God, rose from the dead and lived among his disciples in his physical body. As Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Kanishka Raffel puts it in his Easter message: “Jesus’ resurrection was physical and real. Death really was defeated.”
But did you know that virtually all Christian denominations teach, as a matter of core belief, that all human beings will rise from the dead to live for eternity in their physical body? This isn’t a fringe belief but a central teaching.
The best chance for Christianity to grow again in the West is not to hide but to proclaim its radically weird teachings.
FULL STORY
How Christianity can grow again in the West (By Greg Sheridan, The Australian)
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