Why Hell Is Eternal

Many people today refuse to believe that God’s punishment for those who reject Him is eternal. Not that we can really, fully grasp what eternity would be like, but what sense we can make of such concepts leaves us feeling that the punishment simply doesn’t “fit the crime.” We don’t send people to prison for life for taking a thing of minor value. Even if we sinned against God every day of, say, an 80-year life, how could punishment that is still being imposed a gazillion years later still be fair?

Furthermore, they reason, God could cut the punishment short, couldn’t He? Why not a reprieve after an adequate length of time, or if not that, then at least annihilation? Isn’t oblivion better than eternal torment?

There is no reason I can think of that would limit God’s options as to what lies beyond.  But I start from the premise that a perfect being has set things up in a way that is just. So, why then would “justice” require eternal torment? 

Perhaps the problem lies in our view of the nature of time and eternity. Like a fish asked to describe what life on land would be like, it isn’t easy for us to contemplate such foreign notions as “living forever.” But God is not bound by time. He created time at the same point (from our perspective) that he created matter – what’s referred to as the time-space continuum. There is never a before or after for him; only an eternal present. He may have brought us into existence at a point on that time-space continuum, but because he is not bound by it, it is non-sensical to think of God as waiting for our birth in the same way that our Earthly parents did. From his perspective, we are always eternally present to him, at whatever stage of life we may perceive ourselves to be. When our souls depart this time-space continuum, they too cease to be bound by time. That, simply put, is why the torment is eternal: because God is eternal.

Seen from this light, death is the dividing point: if God does not destroy the soul when the body dies, the soul becomes timeless. It experiences eternity because there is no alternative. When time is removed, there is nothing to end. The question then becomes, can we square such a view with any understanding of “mercy?” Can we continue to view God as “loving, merciful and just” – attributes we contend He has in infinite measure – while also holding to the existence of a place of torment that God created and sustains without end?

Defining terms is the best first step. “Mercy” is the disposition to give someone an undeserved benefit. More specifically in this context, mercy is on display when forgiveness is extended that is not earned. In isolation, “mercy” would require that all be saved. But unlimited mercy would mean that those who seek to thwart God’s will would nonetheless be joined with Him when their earthly life ended. They would be rewarded with infinite good, notwithstanding the quantity or quality of their offenses. “Justice,” by contrast, requires that a wrongdoer be held accountable, not rewarded, and that an appropriate response be imposed. The response must be measured, of course, but justice cannot celebrate wrongdoing. Unlimited mercy would, therefore, defeat justice. Finally, “love” involves a commitment of the will to the good of  the other. In this context, a perfectly loving God wills the greatest good for all his creation. If the good includes free will, then God must allow us the free to reject him and separate ourselves from him.

These attributes appear contradictory. But are they? Is there a way in which they can be reconciled? Justice requires a response to our misbehavior.  At a bare minimum, that response involves God separating the wrongdoer from himself. Separating ourselves from those who would harm us is a basic right; there is no reason that it would not also apply to God. Separation from the source of all goodness is necessarily an expression of the ultimate torment. Imagine being aware of the loving family that wants to embrace you but remaining locked away from them, behind an impenetrable barrier.

But God does not compel this result. Through his unmerited mercy, we are all being given the chance to not get what we deserve, to be allowed to reunite with Him. But he will not force this, because forcing us to accept him runs contrary to any notion of free will. Instead, God shows his infinite love by giving us the freedom to choose what we want. The resulting conclusion may seem shocking, but Hell is actually good too. God created it for a purpose, and God has no bad purposes. So what is the good? That those who choose to rebel against God, despite the offer of mercy, are dealt with justly. If separation from God is what they want, then there is nothing more to be said. In a way (though not completely), Hell can be analogized to prisons on Earth: yes, they may seem “bad” to the people inside them, but their purpose and function are good. They separate those who remain intransigent in their desire to harm others from their intended victims. 

Eternity, then, is both the good news and the bad - good because we all feel innately the desire to go on living forever. We all feel the clock ticking away, as our bodies and minds continue their inexorable decay. That’s why potions to prolong life have captured our imagination since time immemorial. But we want that life to be healthy, productive and enjoyable.  We want the good times to keep rolling on. But we cannot have it both ways. We cannot be destined to escape this temporal prison we presently inhabit, while at the same time be allowed to thwart justice. 

To recap, time has no impact on God. He could destroy the soul when the body died, but then his plan to create us and allow us fellowship with him would be thwarted, as would justice for all our wrongdoing. If he allows the soul to survive death, the soul departs the time-space continuum, at which point time no longer functions. The soul lives timelessly, with no end, because end points are functions of time, and there is no longer a temporal limitation.

 

So, “eternal” punishment is not a period of confinement, measured in days and months and years. Comparative analysis – of crime v. punishment – therefore has no relevance, because hell is not a place of endless torture. It is not a place at all, but a condition of the rebellious soul, cut off from the source of all that is good, focusing inward in a forever of self-centered darkness. It lasts forever because forever is all there is on the other side of the time-space continuum.

We can’t have it both ways, it seems. When God made us, it was for eternity. That’s why the stakes here are so high.

Why Hell Is Eternal

Stop Teaching Young Christians About Their Faith

In my last post, I summarized the studies and publications that describe the flight of young people from the Church. A compelling cumulative circumstantial case can be made to support the fact that young college aged Christians are walking away from Christianity in record numbers. What can we do about it? What can be done? Whenever people ask me this question, I always say the same thing. STOP TEACHING YOUNG CHRISTIANS. Just stop it. Whatever Christendom is doing in its effort to teach it’s young, the effort appears to largely be a failure. In fact, Ken Ham (in his book, Already Gone:Why Your Kids Will Quit Church and What You Can Do To Stop It) found that young Christians who faithfully attended Bible classes were actually more likely to question the authority of Scripture, more likely to defend the legality of abortion, same-sex marriage, and premarital sex, and more likely to leave the church! What’s going on here? I think I know. It’s time to stop teaching our young people; it’s time to start training them.

There’s a difference between teaching and training. Training is teaching in preparation for a battle. Boxers train for upcoming fights. In fact, boxers are sometimes known to get fat and lazy until the next fight is scheduled. Once the date has been signed, fighters begin to train in earnest. Why? Because they know that they are going to eventually get in the ring and face an aggressive opponent. We train when we know we are about to encounter a battle. Imagine for a moment that you are enrolled in an algebra class. If the teacher assured you that you would never, ever be required to take a test, and that you would pass the class regardless of your level of understanding, how hard do you think you would study? How deeply do you think you would come to understand the material? How committed do you think you would be to the material?

The problem we have in the Church today is not that we lack good teachers. There are many excellent teachers in the Church. The problem is that none of these teachers are scheduling battles. Make no mistake about it, there are battles looming for each and every young Christian in the Church today, but church leaders are not involved in the scheduling of these battles. The battles are waiting for our sons and daughters when they get to University (or enter the secular workplace). The Church needs to be in the business of scheduling battles and training our young people for these battles. Teaching without a planned battle is little more than “blah, blah blah.” This is the problem with traditional Sunday School programs. They are often well-intended, informative and powerfully delivered. But they are impotent, because our young people have no sense of urgency or necessity. There is no planned battle looming on the horizon and the battle of University life is simply too far away to be palpable. It’s time to address the problem not with our classes but with our calendar. It’s time to start scheduling battles so our teaching becomes training.

Years ago, as a youth pastor, I started taking annual trips to Salt Lake City and Berkeley. Why? I was scheduling theological and philosophical battles to help prepare my young Christians for the larger looming battle they would someday face on their own. If you want to teach your young people theology, there is no better method than to put them in direct contact with people who believe in a very sophisticated heresy. Mormons use the same terminology as Christians but deny the basic tenants of our faith. In order to dialogue with Mormons effectively, we first have to understand what we believe. When we train young people in preparation for an evangelism trip to Salt Lake City, we give meaning and purpose to the content of our teaching. In a similar way, our evangelistic trips to Berkeley (where we contact notable atheist speakers and atheist groups on campus) require us to prepare ourselves to answer the myriad of atheistic objections we will inevitably encounter. Once again, the content of our teaching in preparation for this trip takes on purpose and meaning when we know the level of our understanding will eventually be tested.

These trips are not easy, but they are essential. They require us, as leaders, to become good apologists. They require us, as pastors, to prioritize our calendars to make room for the trip and for the important training that will take place for months prior to the trips. One last thing; I’ve learned the importance of this approach first-hand. My first year as a youth pastor was perhaps my toughest. As a former designer with a strong interest in the arts, I spent my first year focusing on the artistic nature of the Sunday gathering. I incorporated music, video, art and drama to create compelling Sunday experiences that were more entertainment than content. The kids who graduated from my ministry that first year were not prepared for what they encountered in college and all but one walked away from their faith. This impacted the way I did ministry from that time on. I began to schedule battles and train young people for these important tests. I don’t think I’ve lost a student since.

If we want to do our young people a service, we need to stop teaching them. It’s time to start scheduling battles so we can turn teaching into training.

(For more information on how you can take young people on trips of this nature, check out the important work that Brett Kunkle is doing at Stand to Reason).

Stop Teaching Young Christians About Their Faith

The Minimal Facts of the Resurrection in 1,000 Words

This essay originally appeared in a series entitled "Is Christianity True?" Visit Apologetics 315 to read all the contributions and download the audio versions.

“The evidence for the resurrection is better than for claimed miracles in any other religion. It’s outstandingly different in quality and quantity.” 
— Antony Flew

The truth of Christianity stands or falls on the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Paul himself said, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”1 Here the Apostle provides an objective criterion by which to judge the legitimacy of the Christian worldview. Show that Christ has not been raised from the dead and you will have successfully proven Christianity false. Consequently, it is entirely appropriate that a positive case for “Why Christianity is true” focus on the most central truth claim of the Christian faith: the Resurrection.
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The Minimal Facts Approach

The approach I will take in this essay is commonly referred to as the “minimal facts approach.” This method “considers only those data that are so strongly attested historically that they are granted by nearly every scholar who studies the subject, even the rather skeptical ones.”2 It should be noted this approach does not assume the inerrancy or divine inspiration of any New Testament document. Rather it merely holds these writings to be historical documents penned during the first century AD.3 Though as many as 12 minimal facts surrounding the death and resurrection of Christ may be examined,4 the brevity of this essay limits our examination to three: the crucifixion, the empty tomb,5 and the post-resurrection appearances. I contend that the best explanation for these minimal facts is that Jesus was raised bodily from the grave.

Fact #1 – The Crucifixion of Jesus

Perhaps no other fact surrounding the life of the historical Jesus is better attested to than His death by crucifixion. Not only is the crucifixion account included in every gospel narrative6 but it is also confirmed by several non-Christian sources. Some of these include the Jewish historian Josephus, the Roman historian Tacitus, the Greek satirist Lucian of Samosata, as well as the Jewish Talmud.7  Josephus tells us that “Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us…condemned him to the cross…”8 From a perspective of historiography, Jesus’ crucifixion meets the historical criteria of multiple, independent and early eyewitness sources, including enemy attestation. John Dominic Crossan, non-Christian critical scholar and co-founder of the Jesus Seminar, puts it this way: “That he was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be.”9

Fact #2 – The Empty Tomb

Something happened to the body of Jesus. Of this we can be sure. Not only was Jesus publicly executed in Jerusalem but “His post-mortem appearances and empty tomb were first publicly proclaimed there.”10 This would have been impossible with a decaying corpse still in the tomb. “It would have been wholly un-Jewish,” notes William Lane Craig, “not to say foolish, to believe that a man was raised from the dead when his body was still in the grave.”11 The Jewish authorities had plenty of motivation to produce a body and silence these men who “turned the world upside down,”12 effectively ending the Christian religion for good. But no one could. The only early opposing theory recorded by the enemies of Christianity is that the disciples stole the body.13 Ironically, this presupposes the empty tomb.

In addition, all four gospel narratives attest to an empty tomb and place women as the primary witnesses.14 It is hard to imagine this being an invention of the early church considering the low social status of women in both Jewish and Roman cultures and their inability to testify as legal witnesses.15  As with the crucifixion, the account of the empty tomb meets the historical criteria of multiple, independent and early eyewitness sources, including implicit enemy attestation as well as the principle of embarrassment. Atheist historian Michael Grant concedes that “the historian… cannot justifiably deny the empty tomb” since applied historical criteria shows “the evidence is firm and plausible enough to necessitate the conclusion that the tomb was indeed found empty.”16

Fact #3 – The Post-Resurrection Appearances

In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 Paul recounts what biblical scholars recognize as an early Christian creed dating to within a few years of the crucifixion. Included in this creed are all three of our minimal facts: the death of Jesus, the empty tomb, and the post-resurrection appearances. Atheist New Testament scholar Gerd Lüdemann states, “the elements in the tradition are to be dated to the first two years after the crucifixion of Jesus…not later than three years…the formation of the appearance traditions mentioned in 1 Cor. 15:3-8 falls into the time between 30 and 33 C.E.”17 The early date of this creed rules out the possibility of myth or legendary development as a plausible explanation and demonstrates that the disciples began proclaiming Jesus’ death, resurrection, and post-resurrection appearances very early.

Furthermore, the disciples sincerely believed the resurrection occurred as demonstrated by their transformed lives. Eleven early sources testify to the willingness of the original disciples to suffer and die for their belief in the resurrection.18 Many people will die for what they believe to be true but no one willingly suffers and dies for what they know to be false. Liars make poor martyrs. Again Lüdemann acknowledges, “It may be taken as historically certain that Peter and the disciples had experiences after Jesus’ death in which Jesus appeared to them as the risen Christ.”19 Appealing to hallucinations as an explanation simply won’t work. Hallucinations are private experiences requiring the proper frame of mind. They cannot explain such facts as the empty tomb, the conversions of skeptics like Paul and James, nor the multiple and varied resurrection appearances.20 As with the crucifixion and empty tomb, the post-resurrection appearances meet the historical criteria of multiple, independent and early eyewitness sources.

Conclusion

How do we know Christianity is true? Because Jesus was resurrected and “God wouldn’t have raised a heretic.”21 Jesus’ resurrection fits the context of his life, vindicating His teachings and radical claim to be the unique divine Son of God. Naturalistic explanations such as legendary development, fraud, or hallucinations fail to account for all the relevant data. Conversely, the Resurrection Hypothesis accounts for all of the known facts, has greater explanatory scope and power, is more plausible, and less ad hoc.22 Only if one is guided by a prior commitment to philosophical naturalism will the conclusion “God raised Jesus from the dead” seem unjustified.
__________________________________

1 1 Cor. 15:14. All Scripture quotations are from the NIV unless otherwise noted.
2 Gary R. Habermas and Michael R. Licona, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2004), 44.
3 For more information on the historical reliability of the New Testament see Craig Blomberg, The Historical Reliability of the Gospels, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2007), and F.F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?, 6th ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981).
4 See Gary Habermas, The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ, Rev. ed. (Joplin: College Press, 1996), 158-167.
5 Habermas and Licona note that “roughly 75 percent of scholars on the subject accept the empty tomb as a historical fact” (The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, 70).
6 See Matthew 27:35, Mark 15:24, Luke 23:33, and John 19:18.
7 Josephus Jewish Antiquities 18.3.3; Tacitus Annals 15:44; Lucian of Samosata The Death of Peregrine 11-13; Talmud Sanhedrin 43a.
8 Flavius Josephus, The New Complete Works of Josephus, Rev. ed., trans. William Whiston (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1999), 590.
9 John Dominic Crossan, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2009), 163.
10 Habermas and Licona, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, 70. See also Acts 2 and Tacitus Annals 15:44.
11 William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, 3rd ed. (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008), 361.
12 Acts 17:6, NKJV.
13 See Matt. 28:12-13; Justin Martyr Trypho 108; Tertullian De Spectaculis 30.
14 See Matt. 28:1, Mark 16:1, Luke 24:10, and John 20:1.
15 Craig, Reasonable Faith, 367.
16 Michael Grant, Jesus: An Historian’s Review of the Gospels (New York: Scribners, 1976), 176.
17 Gerd Lüdemann, The Resurrection of Jesus: History, Experience, Theology, trans. John Bowden (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994), 38 (His emphasis).
18 Luke, Paul, Josephus, Clement of Rome, Clement of Alexandria, Polycarp, Ignatius, Dionysius of Corinth, Tertullian, Origen, and Hegesippus. See Habermas and Licona, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, 56-62.
19 Gerd Lüdemann, What Really Happened to Jesus?: A Historical Approach to the Resurrection, trans. John Bowden (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1995), 80. Lüdemann appeals to hallucinations as an explanation.
20 See The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, 104-119, and Reasonable Faith, 384-387, for more on the hallucination theory.
21 Habermas and Licona, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, 184.
22 Craig, Reasonable Faith, 397-399.

WORKS CITED

1. Craig, William Lane. Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics. 3rd ed. Wheaton: Crossway, 2008.
2. Crossan, John Dominic. Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2009.
3. Grant, Michael. Jesus: An Historian’s Review of the Gospels. New York: Scribners, 1976.
4. Habermas, Gary R. and Michael R. Licona. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2004.
5. Josephus, Flavius. The New Complete Works of Josephus. Rev. ed. Translated by William Whiston. Commentary by Paul L. Maier. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1999.
6. Lüdemann, Gerd. The Resurrection of Jesus: History, Theology, Experience. Translated by John Bowden. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994.
7. Lüdemann, Gerd. What Really Happened to Jesus?: A Historical Approach to the Resurrection. Translated by John Bowden. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1995.

The Minimal Facts of the Resurrection in 1,000 Words

Are Young People Really Leaving Christianity?

A recent blog post at Theological Matters examines the Biblical illiteracy of young Christians. Much has been written about both the illiteracy of teenage believers and the flight of young people from the Church. Many have observed this trend, and I too have witnessed it anecdotally as a youth pastor (and shamefully, I contributed to the trend for some time before I changed course). Some writers and Christian observers deny the flight of young people altogether, but the growing statistics should alarm us enough as Church leaders to do something about the dilemma. My hope in this post is to simply consolidate some of the research (many of the summaries are directly quoted) so you can decide for yourself. I’m going to organize the recent findings in a way that illuminates the problem:

Research Related to Spiritual Life of Teenagers:

Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers

Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton, Oxford University Press, 2005

Book Findings: The majority of teenagers are incredibly inarticulate about their faith, religious beliefs and practices, and its place in their lives. The de facto dominant religion among contemporary U.S. teenagers is what they call ‘Moralistic Therapeutic Deism’: A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth; God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions; the central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself; God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem; and good people go to heaven when they die.

           

Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling theAmerican Church

Kenda Creasy Dean, Oxford University Press, 2010

Book Findings: Dean affirms what Soul Searching called ‘Moralistic Therapeutic Deism’ “If teenagers lack an articulate faith, it may be because the faith we show them is too spineless to merit much in the way of conversation.”

The Teen Guide to Global Action: How to Connect with Others (Near &Far) to Create Social Change

Barbara A. Lewis, Free Spirit Publishing, 2007

Book Findings: More teens are embracing a nebulous belief in God. Yet there's been an "explosion" in youth service since 1995 that Lewis attributes to more schools emphasizing community service.

Research Related to the Attitude of College Professors:

Politics and Professional Advancement Among College Faculty

(2005)

Study Findings: "Nearly three-quarters" (72%) of faculty members describe themselves as politically liberal, according to 1999 data from the North American Academic Study Survey (NAASS), up from 39 percent in a 1984 survey by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

How Religious are America’sCollege and University Professors?

Neil Gross, Solon Simmons (2006)

Study Findings: About 25% of college professors are professing atheists or agnostics (5-7% of the general population is atheistic or agnostic). Only 6% of college professors said the Bible is “the actual word of God”. 51% described it as “an ancient book of fables, legends, history and moral precepts.” 75% believe religion does not belong in public schools.

The Religious Beliefs and Behavior of College Faculty

The Institute for Jewish & Community Research Review – Staff (2007)

Study Findings: The majority of faculty identify with a religion and feel that religion is somewhat important in their lives and for their family. They would like their children to have at least some religious training and themselves attend religious services at least occasionally. However, faculty are more personal about their religion than the American public. For the most part, they object to expressions of religion in the public sector, though notably this tendency is far stronger for some religions than others. Faculty are generally skeptical, if not hostile toward Evangelical Christians, especially in the public sector.

Research Related to the Decreasing Christian Population in General

American Religious Identification Survey

Barry A. Kosmin, Egon Mayer, and Ariela Keysar (2001)

Study Findings: The number of people who identify themselves as Christian has dropped from 85% in 1990 to 76% in 2008. About 52% of American adults identify themselves as Protestant or other non-Catholic Christian denominations, according to the. That's down from 60% in 1990.

Research Related to the Flight of Young People from the Church

Southern Baptist Convention Data

Pinkney, T.C., Remarks to the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, Nashville, Tennessee (2001)

Study Findings: Data from the Southern Baptist Convention indicates that they are currently losing 70-88% of their youth after their freshman year in college. 70% of teenagers involved in church youth groups stop attending church within two years of their high school graduation.

Gallup Poll Study: "The Religiosity Cycle"

(2002)

Study Findings: The results indicate that teens are more religious during their early teen years, and that religiosity begins to decline as teens near adulthood. When asked, "How important are your religious beliefs?", 63% of 13- to 15-year-olds answered "very important," compared to 52% of 16- to 17-year-olds. Church attendance also drops during the teen and young adult years and begins to climb as adults age. Fifty-four percent of teens aged 13 to 15 reported having attended church in the past seven days, as did 51% of 16- to 17-year-old teens. The figure drops to 32% among 18- to 29- year-olds but rises again to 44% among 50- to 64-year-olds and 60% among those aged 75 and older. 69% percent of 13- to 15-year-olds report being members of a church or synagogue, compared to 59% of 16- to 17-year-olds, 60% of 18- to 29-year-olds, 72% of 50- to 64-year-olds, and 80% of those aged 75 and older.

The Southern Baptist Convention's Family Life Council

Southern Baptist Council on Family Life report to Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (2002)

Study Findings:  88% of the children in evangelical homes leave church at the age of 18

Revolution

George Barna, Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, IL (2005)

Book Findings: If current trends in the belief systems and practices of the younger generation continue, in ten years, church attendance will be half the size it is today.

Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers

Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton, Oxford University Press (2005)

Book Findings: Students leave faith behind primarily because of intellectual doubt and skepticism (page 89). “Why did they fall away from the faith in which they were raised?” This was an open-ended question there were no multiple-choice answers. 32% said they left faith behind because of intellectual skepticism or doubt. (“It didn’t make any sense anymore.” “Some stuff is too far-fetched for me to believe.” “I think scientifically and there is no real proof.” “Too many questions that can’t be answered.”)

"Barna Study: "Most Twentysomethings Put Christianity on theShelf..."

(2006)

Study Findings: A majority of twenty-somethings - 61% of today’s young adults - had been churched at one point during their teen years but they are now spiritually disengaged.

The Last Christian Generation

Josh McDowell,  David H. Bellis, Green Key Books (2006)

Book Findings: 63% of teenaged Christians don't believe that Jesus is the Son of the one true God. 51% don't believe that Jesus rose from the dead. 68% don't believe that the Holy Spirit is a real entity. Only 33% of churched youth have said that the church will play a part in their lives when they leave home.

Assemblies of God Study

Dayton A. Kingsriter (2007)

Study Findings: At least half and possibly over two-thirds of Christian young people will step away from the Christian faith while attending a non-Christian college or university. Between 50% and 66.7% of Assemblies of God young 
people who attend a non-Christian public or private university will have left the faith 
four years after entering college.

LifeWay Research Study

LifeWay Research and Ministry Development (2007)

Study Findings: 70% will leave the faith in college. Only 35% eventually return. 7 in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30 - both evangelical and mainline - who went to church regularly in high school said they quit attending by age 23. 34% of those said they had not returned, even sporadically, by age 30. That means about one in four Protestant young people have left the church. “The most frequent reason for leaving church is, in fact, a self-imposed change, ‘I simply wanted a break from church’ (27%).” “The path toward college and the workforce are also strong reasons for young people to leave church: ‘I moved to college and stopped attending church’ (25%) and ‘work responsibilities prevented me from attending’ (23%).”

Unchristian

Barna Research Group director David Kinnaman, Baker Books; (2007)

Book Findings: Christians in their 20s are "significantly less likely to believe a person's faith in God is meant to be developed by involvement in a local church. This life stage of spiritual disengagement is not going to fade away."

Rethink: Is Student Ministry Working?

Steve Wright, InQuest Ministries, Inc. (2007)

Book Findings: 63% don’t believe Jesus is the Son of the one true God. 58% believe all faiths teach equally valid truths. 51% don’t believe Jesus rose from the dead. 65% don’t believe Satan is a real entity. 68% don’t believe the Holy Spirit is a real entity

Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of EmergingAdults (2009)

Christian Smith, Patricia Snell (2009)

Book Findings: Among American adults, emerging adults are significantly less religious.
Generally speaking, the importance and practice of religion declines among young adults. No more than 15% of the total emerging adult population, embrace a strong religious faith. 30% tend to customize their faith to fit the rest of their lives. They often have strong religious upbringing but tend to be more discriminating about what they will adopt. A smaller group, about 15%, believe in some higher power but are not sure what that is or means. About 25% of the emerging adult population may claim to be religious or even appreciate religion—but it simply does not matter. 5% of all emerging adults have had little to no exposure to religious people, ideas, or organizations. 10% of emerging adults are  skeptical of religion and reject the idea of personal faith. They tend to hold critical, derogatory, and antagonistic attitudes towards religion.

The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church

Jossey-Bass, San Francisco (2009)

Book Findings: 90% of youth active in high school church programs drop out of church by the time they are sophomores on college.

Already Gone: Why your kids will quit church and what you can do tostop it

Ken Ham, Britt Beemer, with Todd Hillard, New Leaf Publishing Group/Master Books (2009)

Book Findings: Church youth already are “lost” in their hearts and minds in elementary, middle and high school – not in college as many assume.

After the Baby Boomers: How Twenty- and Thirty-Somethings Are Shapingthe Future of American Religion

Robert Wuthnow, Princeton University Press (2010)

Book Findings: "Unless religious leaders take younger adults more seriously, the future of American religion is in doubt.” The proportion of young adults identifying with mainline churches, is "about half the size it was a generation ago. Evangelical Protestants have barely held their own."

"Spirituality in Higher Education": The Higher Education ResearchInstitute at UCLA

Alexander W. Astin, Helen S. Astin, and Jennifer A. Lindholm (2010)

Study Findings: 52% of college students reported frequent church attendance the year before they entered college but only 29% continued frequent church attendance by their junior year. 

College Transition Project:  TheFuller Youth Institute

(2010)

Study Findings: Current data seems "to suggest that about 40-50% of students in youth groups struggle in their faith after graduation."

Generation Ex-Christian: Why Young Adults Are Leaving the Faith... andHow to Bring Them Back

Drew Dyck, Moody Publishers (2010)

Book Findings: The departure of young people from the Church is acknowledged and several categories of “leavers” are identified, including “Post Modern Leavers”, “Recoilers”, “Modern Leavers”, “Neo Pagans”, “Rebels” and “Drifters”

You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church . . . andRethinking Faith

David Kinnaman, Baker Books (2011)

Book Findings: Nearly three out of every five young Christians disconnect from their churches after the age of 15.

Lost in Transition: The Dark Side of Emerging Adulthood

Christian Smith with Kari Christoffersen, Hilary Davidson and Patricia Snell Herzog

Oxford University Press (2011)

Book Findings: Young adults are unable to think coherently about moral beliefs and problems. Young adults have an excessive focus on consumption and materialism as the good life. The prevalent lifestyle of young adults includes routine intoxication and drug usage. The sexual encounters of young adults are not practiced in an environment of physical, mental, or emotional health. Young adults appear to have an inability to care about, invest in, and hope for the larger world through civic and political participation.

While this survey of books and studies is probably less than complete, it does provide us with powerful cumulative, circumstantial evidence supporting the claim that young people are leaving the Church in large numbers. In addition, it appears that many of these young people are leaving based on their experiences in college. Studies related to the attitudes of University professors may account for this, and many ministries have tried to develop a response to the dilemma. Some studies have attempted to isolate potential responses that can be employed by parents and Church leaders:

Research Related to Potential Responses to the Flight of Young People from the Church

Youth Theological Initiative at Emory University in Georgia.

Elizabeth Corrie

Book Findings: There appears to be no shortage of teenagers who want to be inspired and make the world better. But the version of Christianity some are taught doesn't inspire them "to change anything that's broken in the world." Teens want to be challenged; they want their tough questions taken on. "We think that they want cake, but they actually want steak and potatoes, and we keep giving them cake," Churches, not just parents, share some of the blame for teens' religious apathy. “…The gospel of niceness can't teach teens how to confront tragedy. It can't bear the weight of deeper questions: Why are my parents getting a divorce? Why did my best friend commit suicide? Why, in this economy, can't I get the good job I was promised if I was a good kid?”

Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of EmergingAdults

Christian Smith, Patricia Snell (2009)

Book Findings: Parents are the most crucial and powerful socializers in the lives of their adolescents. The adolescent years are not the time to disengage as a parent. Growing adolescent independence often necessitates negotiation. If adolescents experience parents who are religiously withdrawn and functionally absent, then the faith of an emerging adult likely will also be vacuous, directionless, and empty. The more adults involved in the lives of adolescents, the better off they will be. This will mean that ministries to youth and families must find ways to incorporate loving, agenda-free adults into the lives of the ministry. Ministries to youth matter now more than ever. With the breakdown of the family and the systemic erosion of adult support, congregational youth ministers are more necessary than ever before.

Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've BeenTold: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media (2010)

Bradley R. E. Wright, Bethany House (2010)

Book Findings: Parents of students who did not leave the church emphasized religion twice as much as those who students who left the church. Students who stayed in church through college said that the first thing they do when they have doubts or questions was to talk to their parents and then read their Bibles.

You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church . . . andRethinking Faith

David Kinnaman, Baker Books (2011)

Book Findings: Nearly 25% of the 18- to 29-year-olds interviewed said “Christians demonize everything outside of the church” most of the time. 22% also said the church ignores real-world problems and 18% said that their church was too concerned about the negative impact of movies, music and video games. 33% of survey participants felt that “church is boring.” 20% of those who attended as a teenager said that God appeared to be missing from their experience of church. Many young adults do not like the way churches appear to be against science. Over 33% of young adults said that “Christians are too confident they know all the answers” and 25% of them said that “Christianity is anti-science.” 17% percent of young Christians say they've “made mistakes and feel judged in church because of them.” Two out of five young adult Catholics said that the church's teachings on birth control and sex are “out of date.” 29% of young Christians said “churches are afraid of the beliefs of other faiths” and feel they have to choose between their friends and their faith. Over 33% of young adults said they feel like they can't ask life's most pressing questions in church and 23% said they had “significant intellectual doubts” about their faith.

There you have it; a short summary of some of the research being done on the exodus of young people from the Church and some of the reasons they give for their departure. Can a case be made that young Christians are leaving the Church in record numbers? Yes. Can a case be made that many of these young people are leaving because the culture around them has impacted them deeply and caused them to question the truth claims of Christianity? Yes, again. So, what are we going to do about it? What can be done? That’s a topic for my next post.

PS: I usually don't open up my blog posts for comments (I don't usually have the time in my schedule to adequately respond), but in this case I am enabling comments so you can add whatever additional research YOU may have uncovered that addresses these issues. Please post your findings here!

Are Young People Really Leaving Christianity?