I recently heard an economist make the remark that because the world is becoming increasingly secular, it will be harder and harder for Christians to be the church (to which she claimed membership). Perhaps immersion in her own field has not provided time to explore much recent research and writing about contemporary religious belief that call into question the “Death of God” (it’s back!) assumptions about modernity.

The dominant western intellectual view since the Enlightenment has been to pit scientific (objective) knowledge against theological (speculative) knowledge. As the world moved into modernity, it was assumed belief in God would become less and less plausible. Much religious history of the last few hundred years has been defined by mutual suspicion between modernity and divinity.

American Christianity’s coup de grace has been predicted more than once in our own cultural life going back to the famous 1966 Time Magazine cover “God is Dead” to the Easter week 2009 cover of Newsweek Magazine that announces “The Decline and Fall of Christian America.” Newsweek’s piece was thoughtful and fair, written by its editor Jon Meacham. To access this article click here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/192583.

Yes, there is evidence supporting the view that Americans are less religiously observant than they used to be. However, my own reading on this broad subject leads me to the conclusion that Americans may be as religious as ever, but we are simply living in times of hyper-religious individualism. That is, religious piety, affiliation, and communal life may be on the wane, but there is something enduring in the human spirit that longs for God. In the absence of perceived benefits in belonging to a denomination or community of Christian belief, individuals will simply make up a religious system of belief on their own, however vague and incoherent.

Nevertheless, I also sense that today’s true believers in atheism may be more self-assertive than in the past. Those who are secular in their worldview are increasingly confident and expressive about such a worldview. We witnessed a plethora of popular books in the last few years advocating atheism and lambasting those of us primitive enough to still believe in God. It was Timothy Keller in his marvelous book of 2007, The Reason for God, who introduced me to the notion that the world is becoming at once more secular and more religious. The intensity of those who do not believe in God is rising, while the intensity of those searching for God is also rising, perhaps because of disappointment in the hoped for better life of modernity. This epochal moment places the church in a unique position to contemplate its evangelistic mission, but that is a subject for another entry.

Since last spring, I have read a number of reviews and interviews with the authors of a new book entitled, God is Back: How the Global Revival of Faith is Changing the World. What makes this book interesting is that it was not written by Christian apologists. Hardly. John Micklethwait is editor in chief of The Economist, and Adrian Wooldridge is that magazine’s Washington bureau chief. Both writers come to their subject as non-partisans in the great God debate. Their conclusion? God is not dead. Indeed, God is feeling just fine, thank you.

In an editorial last spring in the Wall Street Journal, the authors refute the dubious claims that Americans are becoming increasingly irreligious. “There is plenty of data to show that the turmoil of modernity stimulates demand for religion.” Later in the piece, the author’s remark on the influence of American Christianity on world religion: “Looked at from a celestial perspective, the American model of religion, far from retreating, is going global.” To read this interesting opinion piece, go here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123906081768295037.html

Similarly, an interview in US News and World Report with Adrian Wooldridge may be found here: http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/2009/05/01/god-is-back-religions-revival-and-its-global-impact.html.

I found most helpful a book review of Mickelthwait’s and Wooldridge’s book in the current issue of Foreign Affairs (September/October 2009). Written by Timothy Samuel Shah, this substantial review examines the central points of God is Back with a focus on the “enduring power of American evangelicalism.” Shah’s review is found here: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/65231/timothy-samuel-shah/born-again-in-the-usa.