Who’s still a Christian anyway?
Across various social media platforms, people are renouncing Christianity. YouTube videos entice viewers with the tagline, “Why I’m no longer Christian.” Articles and blogs share the same sentiment giving the impression that The Great Apostasy is in full throttle!
According to a study conducted between 2007 and 2014 by the Pew Research Center (2015), the number of those who identified as Christian fell from 78.4% in 2007 to 70.6% in 2014 with the greatest decline in the Mainline Protestant denominations. While the data does seem to support the idea of “a gradual falling away from the faith”, there is a greater conversation to be had among those who call themselves Christians. Therefore, rather than focus on why Christianity seems to be declining, I want to concentrate on why we call ourselves Christians and what is a more accurate description?