In response to a hardline Catholic’s response to another hardline Catholic, an evangelical agrees that there is ‘no better time’ to join up. Of course, it’s not like anyone could choose any other time in which to exist than the present. But it got me thinking. In terms of sheer Read more
Thom Rainer functions as a living, breathing, nonstop rebuttal to evangelical claims. Back in Ye Olden Daies of evangelical power, he reigned as the leader of Lifeway Christian Resources, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) propaganda and publishing arm. During that time, Lifeway tanked in sales. Once he scare-quotes ‘retired,’ he Read more
Last week, I introduced you to a real live ‘Gen Z expert,’ Tanita Maddox. As I noted at the time, Maddox has been very busy writing articles and recording videos about her subject matter for other evangelicals, who apparently know absolutely no Gen Z people. One of her articles of Read more
In recent years, we’ve talked a lot about evangelicals’ utter inability to appeal to Gen Z. But the latest approach I saw at Christian Post (archive) might take the cake for potential hilarity. Opinion post writer Tanita Tualla Maddox has made a few suggestions that sound like they will backfire catastrophically Read more
I bet that nowadays, some people can’t even remember a time when evangelicals weren’t in decline. It’s been going on for a long, long time now. But when one evangelical leader predicted the looming decline of evangelicalism in 2009, the entire Christ-o-sphere erupted into anger and disbelief. They simply couldn’t Read more
One doesn’t hear the phrase quite as often these days, but the 4-14 Window might be one of the things Christian leaders fear most. It refers to children’s ages, you see. If Christians can’t get a child between those ages decently-well indoctrinated, then the chances are good that that child Read more
It feels like I’ve known about Carey Nieuwhof for ages and ages now. He haunts the Christ-o-sphere offering panicky evangelical pastors surefire tips about making their churches grow again. Such advice represents the newest post-Christian-America cottage industry, it seems. Though he has written perhaps hundreds of blog posts discussing church Read more
Last week, we talked about how hardline evangelical and Tradcath Christians engage with atheists who don’t accept or believe their claims. As it turns out, one of their favorite tactics is plugging their ears with their fingers and chanting LA LA LA LA ATHEISTS DON’T EVEN REALLY EXIST until their existential Read more
Years ago in the 2000s and 2010s, evangelicals tangled with atheists all the time. This squabbling formed part of what we now call internet blood sports. Nowadays, though, the landscape of the Christ-o-sphere looks very different. Out-and-out squabbling and entanglement aren’t as popular as they once were. Gen Z and Read more
A recent Barna survey shows churches having trouble finding pastors: first, because there are simply fewer Christians in each successive age cohort, and second, because the young adults who still affiliate with Christianity are seldom doctrinally pure enough for their elders.