The coming evangelical collapse!

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the linked article was an opinion piece that was high on theory and low on fact. it did remind me of 2 things i already knew though:
  1. THE Catholic Church won’t be going away, ever
  2. Personally i don’t care if protestantism does go away, maybe its even a good thing. all the more reason they’d have to come home.
 
It will be wonderful to welcome in our Evangelical brothers and sisters! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ :):D:p:p Their passion, work ethic, determination, friendliness, and openness may even revitalize our Church while we help put the current conception of Christianity on a firmer foundation. I think that also with the advent of denominations like the “Church of Christ” and the “Episcopal Church,” the word Christian is losing its meaning, so it may be more lovely to see the meaning restored to its full glory and dignity!
 
I think that a good part of the future of the Catholic Church is going to be due to converts. They have such a fire that gets even us long-time Catholics going!

That, and they do bring the gifts they got from their faith with them, which of course strengthens us. I really do think that they will be a major reason for renewal within the Church.

God Bless,
Snert
 
Many cradle Catholics, and I do mean many, have much to learn from converts.
 
An evangelical friend of mine fears this is true…She said her minister was questioned by the FBI for daring to preach that gay sex is a sin
 
That entire article was a complete joke.

Totally worthless. Just look at the last two paragraphs:
I’m not a prophet. My view of evangelicalism is not authoritative or infallible. I am certainly wrong in some of these predictions. But is there anyone who is observing evangelicalism in these times who does not sense that the future of our movement holds many dangers and much potential?*
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• Michael Spencer is a writer and communicator living and working in a Christian community in Kentucky. He describes himself as “a postevangelical reformation Christian in search of a Jesus-shaped spirituality.”* This essay is adapted from a series on his blog, InternetMonk.com .
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This guy practically tells you that he expects to be wrong, and his bio suggests to me that he is spiritually “troubled”.

So unless the very Hand Of God Himself appears to Evangelicals and tells them that they need to become Catholic, I don’t ever see it happening.

Now way, no how …
 
I think you are reading in it what you want to see…He is giving his opinion and I have heard others say this same thing…He says he isn’t a prophet…The way things are going he could be right

A court just ordered a mom to put her kids into public school instead of home schooling because he husband doesn’t like the way they are taught. Not because they aren’t doing well, they are…They are keeping up with their grade level, and learning

What we have just seen in Connecticut should make everyone worried…The state seems to be encroaching more and more into religion
 
redrosetea said:
I think you are reading in it what you want to see…He is giving his opinion and I have heard others say this same thing…He says he isn’t a prophet…The way things are going he could be right
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I think so too. I think he was just being honest and showing people that he’s not one of those types who thinks he’s right all the time. I write disclaimers like that all the time, not because I expect to be wrong, but I want those reading my words to know that I’m not a “know it all” and think every word that comes out of my mouth is right.

To me, those who criticize such statements in such a way seem to be the type to think that every word that comes out of their own mouth should be taken as gospel.

I wrote a similar disclaimer (something like I was no expert or it was my own opinion and not necessarily correct) on one of my responses in a thread and someone said to me (quite possibly the same person) that basically what I said was stupid and that I expected to be proven wrong. I never said that. If I expect to be proven wrong, I’ll say ‘…and I expect to be proven wrong’. If I say it’s my opionion then by all means refute it, but don’t insinuate that I’m stupid. Whether I am or not. :mad:

But then again, I guess it’s just the individual way that each of us thinks. I would never have thought that this person “expects” to be wrong. I was thinking that this person is giving us his opinion and trying to get us to consider his view.

That’s all. 🤷
 
In our area, the “feel good churches” and the evangelicals are going great guns. It’s the mainline protestants and Catholics that are hurting, especially financially. We have around 15% unemployment (heavily automotive) and things are really getting tight. I wouldn’t put too much stock in the article. If they go down, we’ll probably go down right along with them, IMO.
 
davy39 said:
I If they go down, we’ll probably go down right along with them, IMO.
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I think that we will see a unified Church but that the Catholic Church as whole will be a lot smaller. I just don’t think most people will have the spiritual will to battle what will be facing us in the near future. :twocents:
 
Jennifer123 said:
I just don’t think most people will have the spiritual will to battle what will be facing us in the near future. :
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I on the otherhand see the Church growing. In my area voctions are up. Church attendance is increasing. RCIA & RCIC are both growing. A.C.T.S. retreats have done much to help with this and O see the Church as being vibrant. This is not only my parish, but many others in the city. Is it all roses? No it isn’t. But I am not pessimistic about the future of the Church.
 
Jennifer123 said:
I think that we will see a unified Church but that the Catholic Church as whole will be a lot smaller. I just don’t think most people will have the spiritual will to battle what will be facing us in the near future. :twocents:
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I think what’s happening is that people will no longer be able to sit on fences; and those fence sitters will be counted among those who have said “No” not just to the Church but to G_D. I think with the growing sense that “SOMETHING” is coming and coming soon, many people are looking for answers to that “something”.
 
Deacon_Ed_B said:
Many cradle Catholics, and I do mean many, have much to learn from converts.
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Be slow and thoughtful with making such statements. Many converts bring their old ideas into the Church, and yes while they are on fire, they often want to spread a bad fire.
 
tyson said:
Sounds like they are throwing in the towel, I love the fact that they will come to the Catholic Church but it is somewhat saddening to have them come over because they are seemingly forced to.

csmonitor.com/2009/0310/p09s01-coop.html

Thoughts?
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One smart and interesting blogger gets an article published in the CS Monitor, and you assume that “evangelicals are throwing in the towel”???

If one Catholic op-ed writer expressed similar thoughts in a non-Catholic periodical, would you think it was fair for non-Catholics to take it as an official Catholic pronouncement?

Edwin
 
Deacon_Ed_B said:
I on the otherhand see the Church growing. In my area voctions are up. Church attendance is increasing. RCIA & RCIC are both growing. A.C.T.S. retreats have done much to help with this and O see the Church as being vibrant. This is not only my parish, but many others in the city. Is it all roses? No it isn’t. But I am not pessimistic about the future of the Church.
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In my diocese, vocations are growing stronger each year, Catholic high school students are showing a higher degree of commitment to their Faith than was ever the case in the 1950’s and 1960’s, the new young priests coming out of seminary are rock solid.

At the same time, I think the author may be accurate in his predicitons, especially this:

“This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the post-Christian West. Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes, and public policy will become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the opponent of the common good.”

The culture will certainly be hostile to all forms of serious Christianity which it is not able to co-opt. It won’t be just a matter of serious Evangelicals coming over to Catholicism. The Catholic Church will be the subject of just as much hostility, and it’s likely that those who are not serious about their Faith will drop out because of fear and hostility. Who wants to be part of a persecuted minority? If Evangelicals lose members, so will Catholics.

But, to take another quote from the article,“Christianity loves a crumbling empire.” The Chrisitan West is collapsing before our eyes, but the Church will ultimately prevail.
 
I am the fourth person in less than two years to go from the same evangelical church (in my very small town) to the beautiful Catholic Church. All of us are there to stay and are pressing forward to be Catholic, not change the Church at all. We love her too much to want to change her. Draw your own conclusions. Blessings, Luminous Hope (this name expresses how I feel about becoming Catholic).
 
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