For secular Americans—atheists, agnostics, humanists, and those who are simply uninterested in or indifferent to religion—a central paradox these days is this: our presence has never been so significant, the stigma against us has never been so tempered, and yet…
Liberty University expands into Europe in response to growing secularism
Liberty University, a large, private, non-profit evangelical Christian university located in Lynchburg, Virginia, is now offering 600 online degrees to students in Europe and actively exploring the possibility of establishing a physical campus in the future.
European Evangelism Congress Preaches Hope Despite Rising Secular Tide
When evangelist Billy Graham came to West Germany in 1954, more than 80,000 people packed into Berlin’s Olympic Stadium to hear the American preacher’s message. It’s hard to imagine that big of a crowd gathering in Germany to hear a sermon these…
Is the Republican Party too secular?
One of the most potent and frustrating images of President Donald Trump’s previous time in office was his infamous photo op at St. John’s Episcopal Church in June 2020, wherein the president cleared protesters out of the public space so…
This will be on the test: What’s the difference between ‘sacred’ and ‘secular’ education?
“Secularism” often functions as a catch-all bugaboo for religious circles in the United States, and concerns that culture is becoming increasingly secular raise fears among American Christians in particular. In the case of public education, there remains a myth that…
The church in exile: How will we respond to the marginalization of Christianity in American society?
Assuming the posture of exile is difficult and lonely. But could it be that the church’s loss of standing in American society is an opportunity to trust in God rather than in our privileged position?
Nativity scenes, inflatable Santas and creeping secularism: What’s in your yard?
Advent and its expectant incarnational witness doesn’t belong to shopping malls, town councils, Congress or even the U.S. presidency. It abides with the church of Jesus Christ.
Research finds Christians hold dizzying array of historically non-Christian beliefs
If there ever was a time when Christians shared a single, unified worldview rooted in scriptures and church, it’s over now. The Barna Group announced this week that it found only 17 percent of practicing Christians have an actual biblical…
Report offers good (and bad) news about the state of American faith
A new survey of Christian beliefs and practices opens with what many in the church world would consider very good news: nearly three-quarters of Americans claim to be Christian. Meanwhile, a fifth claim no religious belief or affiliation at all,…
Secularism rising: How should Christians respond?
By Bill Leonard “Secularization is the historical process whereby religious faith, religious involvement, religious identification, and religious institutions weaken, fade or become less significant in society. And while secularization is in no way inevitable or irreversible … when we look…
Christianity at a crossroads in America
Christianity, along with other faith traditions, is at a crossroads in American life. Many sociologists see the road leading us to a European secularism, where mostly-empty churches are monuments to the hollowed-out faith of the masses, and serve as reminders…