The Pseudo-Decline of Christianity

The latest USA Today poll shows that the total number of Christians is down 10%. This is indeed alarming for believers. Or, is it?

Adam in his blog crunches the numbers of this poll.

The big loser are mainline Christian denominations. They made up 18.7% of the population in 1990, and today only make up 12.9% of the population. The mainline denominations are Episcopalians, Methodists, Lutherans, and the United Church of Christ. These denominations tend to be: more theologically liberal, more focused on social programs and the social gospel rather than the Gospel, and require less reliance on belief in the scripture.

A Jeffrey Hadden poll in 1998 showed 13% of Lutheran Ministers, 30% of Presbyterian Ministers, 35% of Episcopalian Ministers, and 51% of Methodist ministers doubted the truth of the resurrection...

...However, that’s not the full story, the number of Americans identifying as Pentecostal/Charismatic is up from 3.2% to 3.5%. Non-Denominational Christians up from 0.1% back in 1990 to 3.5% today. Christian-unspecificied category has risen from 4.6% to 7.4% and Evangelical/Born Again with no specific denomination has tripled from 0.3% to 0.9%

I find this fascinating. I think one of the most important things one can draw from Adam's analysis is the causes for decline. While no doubt it is more complex than this, we see that when churches forget, abandon, or lessen the mission Christ gave the result is a loss of influence, specifically conversions.