Thoughts.com Blogs - The future for Christianity?

It is said by some that Christianity is in decline with fewer people attending church regularly and difficulty in recruitment for ministers, priests and nuns being experienced across the board. Well, I believe the greatest threat facing Christianity are Christians themselves. Not all, of course but enough for it to make a difference!

Christianity preaches a doctrine of being the only, right religion to grant access to God and Heaven and even then only if one repents and gives unquestioning obedience to God. However, there are many different versions of Christian teaching in these modern times and each version teaches that its way is the right way and the others are wrong. How convenient and how confusing for anyone who is coming to the religion seeking God!

One of the largest and oldest organized religions, Christianity has moved with the times to a certain extent but perhaps not enough yet. Had it done so, perhaps more people would be sitting in church of a Sunday rather than doing whatever it is they do. God himself preached to and converted the ungodly; he never turned his back on them and left them to their own devices. As Gods representative on earth, allegedly, why should the church be any different?

The media coverage of stories of physical and sexual abuse in schools run by nuns, monks and priests have done nothing to help the cause of the Christian religion either and the apparent or alleged attempt to deny these injustices from the highest levels were seen as reasons to turn away from the church, if not the religion. Some who would perhaps have been more accepting previously now found it difficult to reconcile themselves to heeding the words of a mortal man standing on the altar who may or may not, have been involved in the corruption of youngsters.

The church's stance on such topics as abortion, pregnancy out-with wedlock, homosexuality etc., have created further divisions within its ranks with people falling on both sides of the divide depending upon their own personal belief.

Whilst all this internal wrangling and struggling and divisions carry on unchecked, the Christian religion becomes weaker and its teachings more tenuous to the truth. Perhaps the question is not whether Christianity can recover from the tests it has been set in recent years but whether Christians can remember in time that theirs is a religion of peace and unification, not one of division and separation?