To find it interesting how the UK is apparently having a 'Christian revival'?

[BonxBonx]

I was watching the news the other day and they were talking about how there has been a big increase in church attendance over the past couple of years, particularly among Gen Z. Anecdotally, I have seen a few friends (in our mid-to-late 20s) 'find God' and start going to church over the past couple of years. Not just passively attending either; actively engaging in Bible classes and retreats. My TikTok is also showing me a lot of this - British 20-somethings talking about their Christianity.

I find it really interesting, especially the timing of it. With the advances in science and us having been a pretty atheist society for a while now, I am surprised. Is it a consequence of being on the back end of the pandemic followed by a cost-of-living crisis that people are looking for answers outside of themselves? I know when things get hard I find myself praying, even when I don't believe in God. Is this an example of that kind of thinking but on a bigger scale?

THIS. People are desperate to find true meaning to life. There has to be more then the grind of this life.

People have always sought to find meaning in life.

In general though, turning to organised religion for it hasn't worked out so well for us.

Most C of E churches aren't right wing. I go to my local church sometimes and there are plenty of single mums and SEND kids there (including my own). I have found the church goers tend to be more liberal in their views than the rest of the local population. It has been the clergy and members if the church, for example, who have supported the asylum seekers living in a local hotel while most of the locals hold up their hands in horror.

Can't say I've noticed an influx of Gen Z in the congregation though.

Sure, but not the key bit about Jesus rising from the dead.

I'm millennial (born 1988) and although I'm not a Christian, I'm also not an atheist. (I'm a polytheist and occultist with a leaning towards Celtic Paganism.)

This is the first I've heard of young people taking more of an interest in Christianity, but if that's the case, there could be couple of reasons: Gen Z will have largely been raised by either older millennials, Gen X or younger Boomers, and I suspect that those generations have had a fewer number of Christians (or religious people in general) as a whole than earlier generations.

So perhaps Generation Z has had a higher demographic of non-religious parents than earlier generations?

And many young people like to explore different ideas to the ones they grew up with - this isn't necessarily some sort of rebellious act; it could be simply curiosity. For a number of members of Generation Z, Christianity (and perhaps religion/spirituality in general) may be seen as something 'different' and therefore something that they're curious about. It may even have something of the 'cool' factor.

As to why they'd be exploring Christianity rather than other faiths, as Christianity is still the dominant faith, a lot of people are presented with the idea that it's either Christianity or atheism. Of course, it's not - there are plenty of other religious options out there - but it tends to be seen in that binary way by a lot of people.

So maybe this could be fuelling some of it.

I read an article last year which reported a huge increase of American men attending church in the US.

I agree, it could be just people looking for meaning in their lives. Also the CofE have been brainwashing promoting the Church heavily online with various schemes to raise attendance. Maybe they've worked?

I find the prospect of our country falling back into mediaeval thinking quite terrifying. You’ve only got to look at Bible thumping America to see where that ends. Most Christians I know are anything but! They are small minded and bigoted. They use hypocritical nonsensical examples of the Bible to justify awful things that they do and say. I have no time for it. I grew up in a strict Christian community. I remember only too well how I was told what to think and when to think it. It was a very oppressive . when I reached an age where they had no control over me anymore I told my parents and my family what I thought of their religion and I didn’t want to hear it of it again. They were upset but accepted it and actually overtime they've mostly become irreligious themselves. We need to continue evolving not sliding backwards.

Which bits exactly does science disprove? I mean there are miracles / healing the sick / rising from the dead stuff but those things being outside normal human experience is kind of the point. You don't exactly need science to show that.

Depressing if true.

But those bits are what religion is.

I read that the UK might become a Catholic country due to the decline of the Church of England and growing immigration. Catholics are already the majority Christian religion in London. There's been more Catholic church goers than Anglican in the UK since 2007 and there are more Catholic 18-29 year olds than Anglican

https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2020/07/14/is-a-re-catholicization-of-britain-underway/

Well, let’s start with 7-day creationism.

Also, as an aside, surely good Christians do not wish the OT to be followed? Flogging people for wearing clothes made of two different materials etc?

I'd imagine the post is based on this research by the Bible Society

www.biblesociety.org.uk/research/quiet-revival

Maybe linked to American inspired evangelical churches and the influence of the Internet? They are definitely in the ascendancy over the pond, sadly.

Yes, otherwise we just have a first-century Jewish preacher who was executed for sedition and whose followers, believing he was divine, gathered strength and split off from Second Temple Judaism.

Yes hard stats on you gov

Yikes.

Wonder if we'll get a revival of Satanic Panic too?

Check out the documentaries by Al Jazeera about "Praying for Armageddon".
Fascinating and terrifying. People who have the ear of those in government in the US are actively trying to bring about the second coming, apparently.

There's an uptick in evangelical pro-life meddlers actively lobbying Reform etc as well.

I definitely think it's something to keep an eye on. Radicalisation isn't faith specific

Unfortunately the revival is in Catholicism and pentecostalism not c of e.

Not many Christians take the 7 day creation story literally. The word translated as "days" actually means something closer to "ages" or "eras". Its explanation of the order in which the universe / Earth / living creatures appeared isn't actually that different from our modern understanding.

And no, Christians don't follow the Old Testament because Jesus rewrote our relationship with God so that all those laws are no longer necessary.

I am agnostic and my 3 daughters where raised not really church going - my mum is a Christian - a fairly radical lefty one, and we occasionally went with her.

my 22 year old very lefty political eldest became Christian about 18 mths ago - she doesn’t go to church much, is considering being baptised- she prays nightly and finds great comfort in her faith- it massively improved her anxiety and stress. She’s still the same person- she has a massive respect and understanding of other faiths but it is something that works for her.

@SorcererGaheris urgh, that figures. This generation haven't grown up with religion so they don't see its harms. They aren't aware of the stifling, stunting effect, the corners of nebulously undefined power that nurture abuse. They just think it's a nice addition in their ongoing journey of self realisation that they can engage with piecemeal without consequence.

Well, I'm sure they'll learn, there'll be a kickback against this retreat from reason, and the whole cycle will start again, but it'll take decades, just as it did before.

Hmmm, not all christians agree with you.

Why? Would you feel the same if the post was about the rise of Islam or Judaism?

Not really. They are just the signs through which Jesus showed us who He is. A sign wouldn't be much use if it obeyed the laws of science! Christianity is about much more. I recommend actually reading the Bible if you're interested - the New Testament isn't actually that long and you might be surprised at what it's actually about.

Not many Christians take the 7 day creation story literally. The word translated as "days" actually means something closer to "ages" or "eras". Its explanation of the order in which the universe / Earth / living creatures appeared isn't actually that different from our modern understanding.

Spectacular moving of the goalposts there!
The first example given, from the first chapter of the bible, is disproven, and your response is "Well, we don't believe that bit. And anyway, it doesn't mean what it says". And you really have to twist things and ignore facts when you say that its not actually that different anyway.