Even the most devout faith will sooner or later falter and fail unless those who hold it are willing to bring it into public debate and to test it against experience in every area of life. If the Christian faith about the source and goal of human life is to be denied access to the public realm, where decisions are made on the great issues of the common life, then it cannot in the long run survive even as an option for a minority.

Christian faith is in decline in America. A 2022 Pew research report observes that in 1972, 90% of Americans identified as Christian with 5% identifying as “nones” or religiously unaffiliated. Today, those identifying as Christians dropped to 63% with nones increasing to 29%. More staggering is the fact that according to a 2021 Arizona Christian University, Cultural Research Center (CRC) report, 43% of Millennials (18 -36 yrs) are “Don’ts”—Don’t know, don’t care, or don’t believe that God exists. Projections show a continuing decline in those identifying as Christians, so that by 2070 Christianity will be a minority religion in America with only about 35% of people identifying as Christian.

There is a concurrent decline in theological orthodoxy. According to the same 2021 CRC report, belief in an all-knowing, all-powerful Creator God who rules the world fell from 86% in 1991 to 46% in 2021. Belief in the Bible as the accurate Word of God fell from 70% in 1990 to 41% in 2021. According to a 2020 CRC study, 75% of evangelicals (defined as those who identify as born again) believe that people are basically good, which logically leads to the conclusion that Christ’s death is not salvific.

We could trace the decline back to the Enlightenment with contributions by historical criticism, Marxism, and evolutionary theory. We could even trace it further back to Adam and Eve who first decided to trust their own desires over God’s Word. Today some might add to the reasons for decline: the church is not welcoming enough, the church abused or oppressed people by calling them to repent; church scandals turn people away; the church’s Bible, theology, and practice are labeled misogynist, bigoted, and patriarchal. The list could go on.

In 1966, Time Magazine published an article, “Is God Dead?” that highlighted liberal voices attacking Christian faith. The author observes, “If nothing else, the Christian atheists [it would seem ‘Christian atheist’ is an oxymoron] are waking the churches to the brutal reality that the basic premise of faith—the existence of a personal God, who created the world and sustains it with his love—is now subject to profound attack.” Today the attack on Christian faith continues by news media, entertainment, academia and jurisprudence, with their voices magnified by 24/7 cable outlets and social media. The media reported recently that the Chief Diversity Officer of Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Office of Diversity published a hierarchical list of oppressors, stating in the accompanying newsletter that members of these privileged groups have unearned advantages and favors, “at the expense of members of other groups.” Christians were listed sixth just after white people, able-bodied people, heterosexuals, cisgender people and males. Although she apologized for her list, the list is not unusual. It is a typical intersectionality list from the Critical Race Theory movement.

When the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013, which sought to preserve in law the biblical definition of marriage that existed for 2000 years, the majority of the Court labeled the Christian view as bigoted and harmful. Justice Antonin Scalia in his dissenting opinion wrote:

But the majority says that the supporters of this Act acted with malice—with the “purpose” (ante, at 25) “to disparage and to injure” same-sex couples. It says that the motivation for DOMA was to “demean,” ibid.; to “impose inequality,” ante, at 22; to “impose . . . a stigma,” ante, at 21; to deny people “equal dignity,” ibid.; to brand gay people as “unworthy,” ante, at 23; and to “humiliat[e]” their children, ibid. (emphasis added).”

Entertainment media also feels justified in attacking and ridiculing Christian faith. In the second season of the popular TV series West Wing, the President, played by Martin Sheen, ridiculed a talk show host, who was opposed to same-sex behavior based on Old Testament passages. Sheen confronts the host suggesting, “My chief of staff, Leo McGarry, insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself or is it okay to call the police? …Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother, John, for planting different crops side by side?”

According to analyst George Barna, who heads up the Christian Research Center, “The United States has become one of the largest and most important mission fields in the world.” Yet, he explained, “many of the approaches now relied upon by Christian ministries—and especially churches—may be inadequate to impact the new population that needs to be reached with God’s truths and principles.”

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