THE DEATH OF RELIGION IS GREATLY EXAGGERATED

There is good news to be found about religion and the religious in spite of the doomsayers. Anyone scrolling through their social media feeds might surmise that religion has fallen on hard times. In response, sociologist Byron R. Johnson and historian Thomas S. Kidd address in their new book, The Death of Religion?, the rise of the so-called nones, or those with no religious affiliation. A litany of sociological studies produced by various outlets have documented this trend and paint a bleak picture of the future of religion in general and Christianity in particular as America becomes more religiously diverse.

And yet Johnson and Kidd argue that “the decline of American and world religion—and Christianity, in particular—has been vastly overstated.” Based upon recent findings drawn from studies performed by a variety of collaborative research projects, such as the Global Flourishing Study, the World Christian Database, and the Gallup World Poll, the authors remind us that the “nones” is itself a contested category. Instead it is better to speak of “the rise of the "others.’” They define the “others” as those who often do not fit neatly into traditional religious categories used in many surveys. Today more people are attending nondenominational churches yet might still regard themselves as “nones,” meaning they are committed Christians without a traditional denominational home.

But this raises important questions about what constitutes “religion "and who is considered a “Christian.” Historical Christian traditions and denominations have confessional statements that help bring some clarity to these questions, even if all adherents did not always subscribe to every jot and tittle of those statements. But with the rise of so many “others,” lines are getting blurred, which will continue to require more extensive sociological data to get at these more accurate answers to these questions of what it means to be a “none.”

In short, The Death of Religion? insists that religion is not dying; it's merely changing. Christianity may be declining in the West but it's growing elsewhere. “The fastest-growing areas of Christianity are in the Global South,” the authors state, “particularly sub-Sahara Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.” For those who are Christians, this is an important reminder that the work of God continues throughout the world, with Christianity continuing to advance in many places—and this is reason to celebrate.

In fact, Johnson and Kidd project that Pentecostals will continue to experience significant growth and may surpass a billion adherents by 2050, asserting that in this competitive religion economy, these are the groups that have managed to thrive. And while there are good reasons to criticize the consumeristic mindset of some Christian groups, “at some basic level, churches still have to account for congregants’ perceived needs.” Pentecostal congregations, apparently, do just that.

The authors acknowledge, however, that “the most salient story of Christian decline in American history has been the shocking collapse of the mainline denominations since the 1960’s.” They discuss the decline of several different denominations in American and around the world. The Methodist church, for example, has been deteriorating in the U.S. since the 1960s, but globally the denomination is doing very well. The Episcopal Church has a similar story. The denomination has not died yet, but “it is about as close to death as a well-heeled, historically influential denomination can getting contemporary America.” But like Methodism, the worldwide Anglican church, of which the Episcopal Church in America is butane part, appears to be growing in the Global South, and conservative Anglicans have formed new denominational structures such as the Anglican Church in North America that are trying to partner with like-minded groups around the world.

The reasons that the mainline denominations are failing is complex, but one of the key factors is their declining birthrates. For example, by the early 2000s the total number of children born to the average Episcopal woman in the U.S. was about 1.5, far below the population replacement rate of 2.1. Some denominations may counter severer trends, but they probably cannot overcome deep declines in fertility. And even the more conservative mainline groups are showing signs of stagnation in the face of expanding nondenominational churches.

It’s important not to gloss over these denominational losses. The declining mainlines and all the religious switching brings a kind of death, a loss of tradition and stability that have anchored this country for many years. When historic churches sit empty, when influential congregations are dying because the members are walking down the street to attend someplace else, that is nevertheless a loss. In some ways we may celebrate that religion is still active in the rise of the non-denoms and in the Global South, but without the structures of traditional denominations, it is going to be harder to maintain solidarity and stability among Christian communities over time. All the emerging churches will need to figure out how to cooperate in new kinds of partnerships that recognize the common mission of the spread of the Christian faith.ne salient point that The Death of Religion? makes is that non-denoms have always been among us. They observe that the "predictions of religion’s demise have been commonplace in America since Pilgrims stepped off the Mayflower in 1620.”

The authors detail several historical figures who were announcing the death of religion and preferred not to identify with any traditional Christian groups. For example, the Second Great Awakening in the early 19th century saw one of the most dramatic and expansive religious movements in American history. But many people caught up in these new religious movements did not fit neatly into any of the traditional Christian denominations, so they were called "nothingarians.” These “nothingarians” loomed large in the minds of Christians in the early republic and were often regarded as “the indifferent” or “the unchurched” because they refused to participate in the prevailing religious communities. There are extensive accounts of Christian fears over these “nothingarians” and attempts to bring them back into the fold.

The Christian citizens of the early republic also took issue with immigration, especially Catholic immigration. The authors write that “the rising tide of immigration exacerbated preexisting fears about religious affiliation, denominational diversity, and nonadherence.” This led to the rise of “a spirit of religious passivity, "with some Protestants fearing an indifference toward their own religious commitments that had been important in the forming of the national character. Catholics also feared the indifferentism of the flood of immigrants and made significant strides in organizing the immense waves of newcomers. “The Catholic church of this era,” the authors relate, “was nimble and competitive, as compared to the entrenched, established, and sometimes corrupt church of the European homelands.” The Methodist and Baptist churches were also motivated by the fear of indifferentism and embarked on missionary efforts into the interior of the country. The point is that "no one period of American history was a paradise of full church adherents,” and because of the efforts of Methodists, Baptists, Catholics, and other Christian groups, “the nineteenth century and early twentieth century saw a steady rise in church affiliation, often above the rapid pace of population growth.” These are helpful reminders that put the momentary troubles into perspective and should inspire Christians to always be about the good work of discipleship and church planting.

But I wonder how this argument might be complicated if we pullback and consider a broader sweep of church history outside the focus on America. Religious switching and displacement can be found throughout Christian history, going back to the early church. There are many places where Christianity had a significant presence, but its influence waned or disappeared completely. Consider the example of North Africa. While this study highlights the growth of Christianity in the Global South, there was a time when Christianity was common in North Africa, with many important Christian thinkers, including Augustine, Tertullian, and Cyprian, emerging from the Christian communities of the region. The work of Thomas Oden, for example, has tried to recover a sense of the Christian memory of Africa, even though little of that culture remains. So sometimes we are justified in fearing indifference, stagnation, and in the case of the Muslim invasions of North Africa, displacement. Yet, whatever the state of Christian communities, the authors are right to insist that we should not be so pessimistic to let this distract us from defending the Faith.

The Death of Religion accomplished nothing more than to remind us of the “terrible loss it would be if religion did collapse in American and around the world,” we should be grateful. The authors show that, while the “number of self-identified Christians in America stabilized at around 62 percent starting in the later 2010’s,”this is still a major drop from the 78% that earlier studies had documented. Yet these numbers tell another, more hopeful story: A higher percentage of young people, especially young men, are willing to identify as Christians. “This pattern,” the authors note, “is almost entirely unprecedented in American history.”

It must also be noted that, at several key points in the book, Johnson uses his studies on the impact of religion upon the incarcerated to defend not only the continuing presence of religion in the lives of Americans but also its goodness. I enjoyed those discussions, in part because my first teaching position was in a prison seminary program. For four years, I taught the Bible to offenders who we reserving long-term sentences. I have seen firsthand the impact that religion can have upon the lives of those who seem so lost. The kinds of studies that The Death of Religion? explores amply demonstrate that “if America or the world did become significantly more secular and irreligious, it would lead to huge increases in personal and social dysfunctionality, and huge decreases in human flourishing.”

Even in a world where doom-scrolling can get us down, now is not the time for the church to be discouraged; instead we must continue the good work to which God has called us. The church in every era has always grown weaker—and stronger—for all kinds of reasons, but through it all people of faith have always flourished and will continue to do so.

STEPHEN O. PRESLEY
Stephen O. Presley serves as Director of Education and Engagement at the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy. He completed his undergraduate work at Baylor University and earned Th.M. in historical theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. Heals received a Ph.D. from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where he carried out his research in patristics. Presley is the author of Cultural Sanctification: Engaging the World like the Early Church and Biblical Theology in the Life of the Early Church.

10/15/26, 1:33 PM The Death of Religion Is Greatly Exaggerated – Religion & Liberty Daily
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