The Greatest Threat to Christianity is....

[SirTJ]

...the internet (says a Christian apologist)

http://www.christianpost.com/news/internet-the-greatest-threat-to-christians-apologist-josh-mcdowell-says-52382/#cmcqAhLh6BKdQzvb.99

I thought this article was interesting. Josh McDowell says: Atheists and skeptics now have equal access to our children as we have, which is why the number of Christian youth who believe in the fundamentals of Christianity is decreasing and sexual immorality is growing.

Agree?

[blyempowered]

...the internet (says a Christian apologist)

http://www.christianpost.com/news/internet-the-greatest-threat-to-christians-apologist-josh-mcdowell-says-52382/#cmcqAhLh6BKdQzvb.99

I thought this article was interesting. Josh McDowell says: Atheists and skeptics now have equal access to our children as we have, which is why the number of Christian youth who believe in the fundamentals of Christianity is decreasing and sexual immorality is growing.

Agree?

I didn't read the article but I agree. Here's why: the internet (or the great expansion of the internet the last 15 years) has given more available options of religion to people. Information is at an all-time high and while I'm glad that there are hardly any more excuses of ignorance left I also think too much information can be a problem.

I would add 2 more things as the biggest threats to Christianity:
1. Secularlism/Postmodern Thought (as Fenix said in another thread-he said secularism and I added postmodern thought)
2. Hypocrisy among those who claim to be Christians (been a threat for ages).

[Arkhams Finest]

...the internet (says a Christian apologist)

http://www.christianpost.com/news/internet-the-greatest-threat-to-christians-apologist-josh-mcdowell-says-52382/#cmcqAhLh6BKdQzvb.99

I thought this article was interesting. Josh McDowell says: Atheists and skeptics now have equal access to our children as we have, which is why the number of Christian youth who believe in the fundamentals of Christianity is decreasing and sexual immorality is growing.

Agree?

Interesting that 78% of the christians surveyed didn't believe in absolute truth.  Once we lose sight of the fact that there are absolute truths we start to move toward relativism which is very dangerous.

The internet is simply a conduit for the flow of information.  Blaming the internet seems to be like blaming a microphone for bad singing.  Don't blame the conduit.  Blame the source.

[Fenix]

Interesting that 78% of the christians surveyed didn't believe in absolute truth.  Once we lose sight of the fact that there are absolute truths we start to move toward relativism which is very dangerous.

This is actually the statistic that shocked me. Its not surprising though. People nowadays seem to shy away from absolutes. I frankly don't understand it. I find comfort in knowing that there is an absolute good and absolute evil and that there is an absolute Truth. Otherwise, the world is in chaos.

The irony though is that, even though many people don't believe in absolutes, they still subconsciously rely on the fact that there is an absolute Truth and they actually seek it without knowing that they are.

Most people throw around vague phrases like "I want to be successful and happy". I think the church should seek God and find out what exactly that means. Then we should teach it and live it so our kids can see it in action and walk in it.

[Fenix]

Oh and here is another bit of irony for you: those who say there are no absolutes are themselves stating an absolute.



Seriously, you humans are so funny.

[gtrdave]

Not to sound like a pessimist, but...umm...show me in the Bible where it says that things will get better before Jesus comes back...

[phbrown]

...the internet (says a Christian apologist)

http://www.christianpost.com/news/internet-the-greatest-threat-to-christians-apologist-josh-mcdowell-says-52382/#cmcqAhLh6BKdQzvb.99

I thought this article was interesting. Josh McDowell says: Atheists and skeptics now have equal access to our children as we have, which is why the number of Christian youth who believe in the fundamentals of Christianity is decreasing and sexual immorality is growing.

Agree?

disagree the internet is a two way street

[sjonathan02]

Not to sound like a pessimist, but...umm...show me in the Bible where it says that things will get better before Jesus comes back...

Indeed.

[blyempowered]

Interesting that 78% of the christians surveyed didn't believe in absolute truth.  Once we lose sight of the fact that there are absolute truths we start to move toward relativism which is very dangerous.

Yep and I don't want to be too pessimistic but I feel like we're getting to a point of no return.

[Fenix]

Not to sound like a pessimist, but...umm...show me in the Bible where it says that things will get better before Jesus comes back...

This raises an interesting issue I came across while in church.

Our pastor asked us to pray that there would be no more earthquakes and natural disasters worldwide.

I was like  . Where did it ask that we should pray for that in the bible?

[malthumb]

I was gonna answer "Christians"   

[malthumb]

Oh and here is another bit of irony for you: those who say there are no absolutes are themselves stating an absolute.
....

Kind of a conundrum.  Like......If Pinocchio said to you "I am lying" ......nothing more, nothing less, would his nose grow?

Y'all tolerate me.....I'm waiting to get on a plane and in quite the silly mood (first one to say "so what's changed?" is on my list)

[gtrdave]

I was gonna answer "Christians"   

Yeah, that was gonna be my #2 response. 

[Hasmonean1]

Interesting that 78% of the christians surveyed didn't believe in absolute truth.  Once we lose sight of the fact that there are absolute truths we start to move toward relativism which is very dangerous.

The internet is simply a conduit for the flow of information.  Blaming the internet seems to be like blaming a microphone for bad singing.  Don't blame the conduit.  Blame the source.

Not surprising when one considers what is being taught in churches these days.  We seem to have gone from one extreme, "Heaven or Hell", to this as stated by sister in bible study and the love of many is waxing cold.

[Furious Styles]

While I think modern technology superimposes immorality I don't think it is the root cause of why this generation seems to be more advanced sexually than in times past. Sure technological advances throughout the age meant evil could be done more efficiently but remember the concept had to be formed in the mind before the new way of doing something old was made to be more advanced. The biggest threat to christianity should be DISCIPLESHIP. IF believers strived to be more like JESUS everyday then "christianity" would decrease. Jesus never described us as "christians" in the first place.

He always stated that if someone desired to follow him they must be disciples. Somewhere along the way through history we only counted the 12 as the only "disciples" when in fact the entire reasoning behind selecting the 12 was about spreading the same power that he exposed them to. That's powerful when you put into the context of the Book of Acts..

SO where is our Book of Acts experience in this age? The only thing remotely close is frivilous debates about church sizes, theological beliefs, denominational dogma, political power, withcraft, sexual sin, and all manners of evil that I don't have time to call out. SO the threat to christianity is DISCIPLESHIP. Let's drop all of the titles and use them as the functional gifts as GOD originally intended.

[Mysteryman]

The break down of the family is the biggest threat.

[malthumb]

Ironic that a system of 0s and 1s would be used to promote the idea that there is no "on" or "off", not "true" or "false".

I think the statistics if website hits on the Internet can help determine whether Internet is a huge threat or not.

A good measure of how much of an influence it may have, but not a measure of whether or not the influence is a net positive or a net negative.

No Internet, no porn sites, no LGM, no Facebook bullying, no online Bibles, no racist blogs, no spiritually focused blogs.

It's all a question of balance.  And also to be noted that the people who have found and who propagate the evil stuff on the web would have found and propagated it elsewhere.  Those who find more efficient means to propagate the Word through the web would've found other means.