Most of these claims are obviously false. Five minutes intelligent study and they disappear. We must understand, however, that truth is complex.
I was told early in my school life that water conducts electricity. That is why, declared my teacher, you should be careful about water on floors. Years later I was taught that water does not conduct electricity, it is only the impurities in water that allow conduction. Still later I learned that water does conduct electricity, it is just that it does not conduct it very much. Truth is indeed complex, and in the Bible God has entrusted us with spiritual truth in all its complexity.
Christianity is dying
In 1430 one in 99 of the worlds population were Christians.
In 1790 one in 49
In 1940 one in 32
In 1970 one in 19
In 1980 one in 16
In 1983 one in 13
In 1986 one in 11
In 1994 one in 10
In the period 1934-1994, the number of Christians in the world increased by 1300 percent (from 40 million to 540 million in the last 60 years), while the worlds population grew only 400 percent. Reference
For a different view from a reliable source that is not religious, see The Truth is Surprising.
Real, life-changing conversions to Christianity are increasing at an amazing rate. Space allows just a few highlights.
In our century, Communism declared the death sentence upon Christianity. In so many parts of eastern Europe where the atheistic experiment was continually and violently enforced, Communism is in deep trouble and Christianity is going well.
In Communist China, in the face of sometimes frightening Government attacks, people are committing themselves to a spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ at a rate averaging about 28,000 new converts a day. This is happening in the home of yin and yang and other anti-Christian ideas and practices admired by New Agers. In this nation steeped for thousands of years in non-Christian religion, then mercilessly brainwashed into atheism, so many millions of Chinese have turned their back on all that and become born again Christians that it is now thought the figure is a staggering 80 million Chinese. (Some studies suggest it is as many as 100 million.) For that many million to take such a step in a country strongly opposed both to religion and to anything thought to be foreign, they must have discovered something very real and powerful.
In Africa, the number who follow Christ has risen from 3% in 1900 to 45% today.
Over the last few decades, South Koreans have been rushing to Jesus by the millions. As a result, the UN has officially declared as a Christian nation this one-time Buddhist stronghold.
Worldwide, people are giving their lives to Jesus at an astounding average of nearly a million converts a week.
On the decline? You must be joking! It is estimated that of every true Christian since the first century, 70% came to Christ after 1900. Of these, 70% had their life-changing experience with Jesus since World War II. And of them, 70% became Christians in the last 4-5 years.
A different view: The Bible declares that at the name of Jesus every human and god and demon and force will bow. Jesus position of head of the universe was confirmed by what happened to his blood drained corpse, trapped in a sealed tomb, tied up with cloth, weighed down with spices, its insides ripped apart by a spear. His body sprang to life again. And his uniqueness has been put to the test by missionaries reaching every religion known with the never-ending power of Jesus and by Christian converts from all manner of beliefs who through Christ have been set free from atheism, Satanism, demon possession, curses, slavery to drugs, alcohol, impure sex, and so on.
Is Christianity old fashioned? Continue to find out . . . OR . . . Return to Contents
Christianity is out of date
Ancient Greeks believed the world was round. In the third century BC Eratosthenes even calculated the earths circumference. Yet this belief eventually fell out of favor and remained unpopular for centuries until scientific advance made the belief popular again. But popular opinion never changed the shape of the earth. Neither can popular opinion change our spiritual need.
Christianity, like probably nothing else in modern society, has stood the test of time. In fact, it is gaining popularity like never before. (See above.)
Jesus teaching is unfashionable in the same sense that travel to other planets is not fashionable. If, however, by old-fashioned we mean that which is crude and outclassed, Jesus teaching makes modern society old-fashioned.
The morality of Jesus was so far ahead of its time that 2,000 years after Jesus brought it to this planet, modern society is still no closer to reaching it. Go the extra mile ... bless those who curse you ... Judge not ... It is more blessed to give than to receive . . .
Present day morality, with its crude focus on things easily seen rather than on heart attitude, is hopelessly primitive and out of touch with reality. Consider these examples:
Anything is OK
as long as you do not hurt anyone, says a man who would not dream
of injuring his wife, and hurts her more than many beatings by
cheating on her.
Many people call
it love when a person stops at nothing to try to lure to bed
someone who is already married. To sexually tempt people is to
try to corrupt them so completely as to make them willing partners
in immorality. Even the horrible crime of rape leaves its unwilling
victims morally pure.
People teach their
children to say thankyou and they themselves never thank the God
who gives them everything they have ever enjoyed. They pride themselves
on paying off their debts and ignore the God to whom they owe
everything.
What separates most
of us from criminals is not morality but lack of opportunity (not
knowing how to commit the perfect crime, or not holding a gun
at our weakest moment) or fear (fear of getting caught, of people
disapproving of us, and so on), yet we hold our head high in a
society that clings to outdated morality.
27. To become a real Christian is almost impossible
