World News and Trends: Mainstream Christianity losing ground in America
A recent cover story in USA Today revealed that "the percentage of people who call themselves some type of Christian has dropped more than 11% in a generation" ("Almost All Denominations Losing Ground, Survey Finds," March 10, 2009).
A recent cover story in USA Today revealed that "the percentage of people who call themselves some type of Christian has dropped more than 11% in a generation" ("Almost All Denominations Losing Ground, Survey Finds," March 10, 2009). These findings are based on a recent study by the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), which began in 1990. The article also stated that "faith is shifting, drifting or vanishing outright."
People are either freelancing religiously or dropping their faith entirely—perhaps partially due to the increasing spread of secularism. Almost all religious denominations have been adversely affected with declining numbers.
Today about 15 percent of Americans do not claim any faith—almost double the 8 percent in 1990. According to the USA Today article, this reduction in Christendom's numbers "does not come from other religions but from a rejection of all forms of religion."
Perhaps this shouldn't be surprising, since much if not most of mainstream Christianity is based not on the teachings of the Bible, but instead on the traditions of men. To understand the principle and gain insight as to how it is being played out today, please see Mark 7:7-9. Over the last 2,000 years a culture of paganism has gradually encrusted itself onto Christendom and changed the basic teachings of the Bible almost beyond recognition.
If you would like to know what really happened to true Christianity, read our free booklet The Church Jesus Built. (Source: USA Today.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: May - June 2009
Course Content
Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
