Among all things, could debates about the age of the earth, intelligent design versus evolution, and six-day versus gradual creation be drawing young people away from the Christian faith?
Ken Ham, famous for his Answers in Genesis creation-science ministry, says a major study he commissioned reveals the reasons why many young people are leaving the Church. According to
a recent article, a respected researcher uncovered that two-thirds of young people in evangelical churches will leave as they approach their 20s.
In Ham's new book, "Already Gone: Why Your Kids Quit Church and What You Can Do to Stop it," a collaborative effort with researcher Britt Beemer, church youth are already "lost" in their hearts and minds during elementary and high school, not college as many expect.
Beemer conducted this study via phone interviews and surveys with 1,000 20 to 29 year-olds who used to attend evangelical churches on a daily basis.
The results struck Ham with surprise. According to these interviews and surveys, children who faithfully attended Bible schools are more likely to question Scriptural authority and eventually fall away from the church. He calls this the "Sunday school syndrome."
The survey reveals that children who regularly attend Sunday school are more likely to leave the Church, believe that the Bible is less true, defend the legality of abortion and same-sex marriage and defend premarital sex.
Although Ham believes that there are various reasons for this, he thinks the source of the problem is how churches and parents teach children to interpret the creation account in Genesis.
Ham firmly believes in six-day creation that occurred 6,000 to 10,000 years ago and argues that the Church opened up the door for the exodus of youth in the 19th century as soon as they began teaching that "the age of the Earth is not an issue as long as you trust in Jesus and believe in the resurrection and the Gospel accounts."
Ham believes that the youth of younger generations may have been better able to deal with this inconsistency and hold onto their faith, but today, with a highly secular and athiestic public education system, it becomes harder for young people to mesh together what they have learned at church and in school.
According to Ham, when parents and teachers tell kids that it's okay to believe in evolution that occurred over millions of years, they come to believe that what they learned in school is always correct. And what is taught in school has nothing to do with, and often contradicts, what Scripture teaches.
After reviewing the survey results, Ham came to the conclusion that as soon as youth believe that Scripture is not the authority on the creation of the universe, they instantly question Scriptural authority as a whole. This is dangerous, because the foundation of Christianity rests on Scripture.
In Ham's book, he intends to prevent youth from leaving Christianity by proving that the Bible connects to reality and is based on history.
Why do you think many youth are drifting away from Christianity? Do you think it has anything to with confusion about the origin of the universe and humanity, as Ham argues?
Comments (686)
I think it's because what the Bible teaches isn't viewed as relevant anymore.
I think it has to due with the amount of information available to everyone these days. The church and its dogma don't sound appealing when you have the internet showing you the "wonders" of the world.
I won't lie, that people telling me that Genesis is absolutely true, that I'm wrong for going with science that the Earth is 4.6 billion years old, that I think evolution is a fact is a BIG turn off for me. However, I also recognize that there are places I can go, where I am not belittled for accepting science for truth. I think that there are many ways that the bible can be interpreted and interpreting it literally is actually really shutting off your mind and the possibilities of it's real teachings. I don't think that's right.
But so far, while I haven't ever gone into a church and expressed my views about these things, I have run into a lot of people who call themselves Christians who belittle me and tell me I'm wrong.
Excuse me for thinking that no one truly KNOWS what is true and what is correct when it comes to religion. It's awful high and mighty to tell someone that they are wrong for believing science and religion can co exist. It's a big turn off for me. Why should I go somewhere where they are going to treat me like that?
I think young people have been drifting away for a combination of many reasons:
. Many think they are too smart for Christianity or any religion.
. This is compounded by Christians using antiquated arguments and spewing forth ignorance.
. Young people aren't afraid to ask the difficult questions.
. Older generations don't know how to adequately approach those questions, and expect young people to take everything at face value.
. Christianity, because of the above and other issues, has developed a somewhat ugly reputation.
. Authenticity is valued over tradition these days.Not so many young people value associating themselves with a faith for the sake of tradition or family. So really, we may just have less "nominal" Christians...which I think is fine.
. The Church isn't living up to it's calling. 1 John(and other passages) says God is made real to the world when we love one another. Maybe we just aren't loving each other as we should.
I found this statement to be classic:
"Ham believes that the youth of younger generations may have been better
able to deal with this inconsistency and hold onto their faith, but
today, with a highly secular and athiestic public education system, it
becomes harder for young people to mesh together what they have learned
at church and in school."
So in other words, with factual information more readily available, young people don't automatically buy everything well-meaning Christians teach them.
I personally lean towards some form of theistic evolution. I think its shameful when Christians ignore science to maintain their literal interpretation of every scripture.
I believe more and more people aren't afraid to question what they've learned.
When I was 13 for example, I denounced Christianity and I was a Wiccan for a few years before I converted back. This was probably the best thing I ever did.
From a different point of view, I saw how so many Christians were pushy and how cruel they could be towards others of different faiths. How so many times they tried to convert me back like it was their job or something.
Today, I am a Christian. I support gay marriage. I am pro-choice. I believe in evolution and that the earth is 4.6 billion years old. It just makes sense. I accept other people for their choices, I forgive them when they mess up, and I help when I can.
The reason so many young people (I'm 18 btw) are drifting because so many things in the Bible really aren't scientifically plausible. So when they realize that the stories are taken literally by so many people, they have a hard time believing it. I believe we should take the stories for the message they teach (help the needy, don't kill, etc) rather than word for word this is what happened. None of us were there so no one can prove that this was actual history.
alot of young people leave the church as the church they go to dosent offer somethn thry are looken for i mean our church like so many new things a chess team for one but some churchs are like so set in there ways that the young people just dont want to be there any more
churchs need to wise up smell the coffee as the sayen goes more young kids need gudience thease days and some where safe to go
another thing i want to say if some one turned up who was wiccan would u turn them away the kids of today want answers they dont take they want to know why they want to ask questions that many pastors etc dont want or dont know how to answer
i was wiccan but i came back to god praise god
kels
fantastic post by the way
I do not believe the origins issue is what drives young people away from church. That may be what some say, but it goes deeper than that.
Young people have picked up the message from the church that the church is only relevant as long as it meets their needs or entertains them. So, when the church stops serving this function, it is dispensible. Also, many churches are too busy trying to be so relevant to society that it has become too much like society. Even the church rejects its position as the city on a hill, because, at least in the U.S., the church has supported the view that the U.S. is the city on the hill. So, everyone, even the church, is a part of the new religion, the American Civil Religion. The church is irrelevant in this new religion.
Of course, there are many factors involved, from very personal experience of abuses to broad cultural changes. I agree with what others have said so far about young people asking more/different questions and not getting solid answers. I look forward to seeing what others suggest.
Statistics say that a child with a mother who attends church every week has a 20% chance of staying with the church
A child with a father who attends church every week has a 80% chance of staying with the church
With all due respect to Mr. Ham, I doubt the solution is as simple as all that. The fact is that the church in general is full of problems--hypocrisy, neo-pharisaism, spiritual abuse, legalism, dubious doctrines, over-reliance on theology, etc. etc.-- and the more you go to Sunday School, the more you're likely to see of these. Thus the more likely you are to abandon the bugaboo you've come to think of as "Christianity." It's not-- Christianity is about following Jesus, end of sentence--but the real thing is becoming precious hard to find, even-- dare I say especially?-- in church. We're overdue for a revival!
@Pass_the_Aura@xanga - Amen, sir.
I'm 19 and haven't attended church for months. Even when I was younger, my parents usually had to make me go. I wasn't trying to rebel, I just wanted to sleep.
I think Ham's findings are woefully narrow. He's always had a 6-day Creation agenda, so he's obviously going to try to support that. I like Ken Ham (I've met him), but I don't agree with his conclusion. In college, I came to the realization that Christianity is based on faith in Jesus, not the "right" view of creation. That was very freeing for me, because I finally felt like I could accept Evolution without sacrificing my faith. I feel that my faith is stronger now because of it.
The reason I don't go to church has nothing to do with my views on creation. It has more to do with the hypocrisy and cliques I see in my former youth group. Also, I've always found services hard to sit through.
I'm still a Christian and I try to go to church every once in a while, but I think Ham is oversimplifying the problem.
Is his solution to put all kids in church sponsored schools, not let the dirty evolution thoughts cross their minds? How exactly is he going to prove that the earth being 10k years old has any basis in reality? I would think that churches adapting with the times could only be helpful in keeping children in the religion.
Now, this is only my opinion, but the more the church tries to defend that the Bible is exactly and completely and literally true from Genesis through Revelation the more young people will turn away from it. Well, all except the ones that have been thoroughly indoctrinated. I guess it all depends what the core of Christianity (if there is such a thing) wants: to be inclusive, or exclusive. Because plenty of Christians identify themselves as such and can still accept evolution, are they then not "real" Christians? Maybe the OP wanted to spark a discussion, but the initial evaluation of the "problem" is laughable. So, have fun, Mr Ham, see how far becoming even more legalistic and rigid gets you.
The reason why so many are leaving is because Evangelical Christianity as it is now practiced lacks depth. Instead of teaching kids a deeper way to relate to God (ie silent prayer and meditation) and a more coherent understanding of scripture kids go through more that the church really has no way to deal w/. It feels like the current church is loosing a battle against being relevant and that's also because kids are not experiencing deeper levels of love through the church. I believe that as we love the world will be loved and come to Jesus, that model is not always as clear in most churches.
p
Yes & No-- I don't think that "origins" are the secret sacred key to becoming the perfect and faithful Christian-- I think what Ken Ham is driving at (in part) is the integrity of the scriptures. More and more people have rejected what the scriptures say and left for some other form of teaching. Questionng is good and it is healthy for any Christian to do-- but the Truth is often rejected during this process because it does not "make sense" to the human intelect. God indeed chose the "foolish" things of this world to humble the arrogant "wise-men" of each time. When the scriptures were opened up to individual interpretation (as far as "I want it to say this") that is when the great falling away started.
I think it just so happens to coincide that the "creation" issue centers around the debate of interpreting the scriptures at face value verses "relative to whatever I want them to say". lol
@Pass_the_Aura@xanga - I completely agree
What
ken ham is doing is faulty logic. Like for example "All drug users
drink milk, there fore if you drink milk you will have a higher chance
of doing drugs."
There are a plethora of reasons why young people
are leaving the church- To say it's because of evolution is just plain
silly. What about the poeple who believe in evolution but stay in the
church? It just doesn't make sense.
Please. Kids aren't leaving the church because of evolution. We're leaving the church because of the just plain bad doctrine we're taught. Also that we're taught to ignore our doubts (doubts are bad, after all!). So finally, everything adds up. Nothing makes sense, and since "to be a Christian means to push away all doubt", when we decide to question, many of us leave the church.
Evolution just gives us an excuse.
Coming from a youth in all honesty, I don't attend church since i find it all to be nonsense. Judemental people and nonsense.
SUNDAY IS FOR SLEEPING
<3
@Faithful_Spot@xanga - Good call.
My mother and sister-in-law had an all out fight about this very topic yesterday. My brother and sister-in-law do not go to church and my mom is concerned. My sister-in-law has every excuse in the book, but one of the biggest problems if that she never likes any of the pastors, leaders, or anyone else of authority within the church. She said that she believed there was a perfect church out there, but she isn't going to attend another church regularly until she finds it. How does that even track? I think it has to do with not wanting to have to be under any kind of authority and not wanting to get out of bed on Sunday morning. Church is unimportant to her and by extension, my brother. She sees no point in going to church.
It makes me sad to see so many people leaving, but I wouldn't blame evolution, secularists, or atheists. It is our fault if our kids leave. We should be blaming the church for not being relevant in our young people's lives.
@Tanya - What about if both parents go to church? Just curious...those are interesting statistics...and they contradict a good deal of psychology literature that states mothers have a larger influence than fathers on their kids' spiritual beliefs (this is not to say I think those stats are false, just intriguing) Where did you find those?
@Lil_Firefly_25@xanga - I agree for the most part, and at various points in my life I would have completely agreed. Just by way of Devil's advocate though, what ought we do with those passages that don't make sense or don't add up when compared to scientific theory (e.g. the fiery furnace, Samson's inhuman strength, stories of dragons, etc.)? Write them off as outdated? Then where do we draw the line, and why were they not outdated at the time? Assuming we take them as metaphors and try to extract their poetic meaning, then how do we distinguish between metaphorical passages and literal ones? Clearly, Revelations has a great deal of imagery in it, but how literal should we take the pattern of events? There's no formula or metric, per se, so how is it not a contradiction to argue for logic and reason without a systematic way of determining their scope in regards to the Bible?
Like I said, I agree with you more than I disagree with you, but I like employing the Socratic method.
@subSacred@xanga - Perhaps this is just my experience, but many youth are less--or even un--willing to tackle big questions, and they are often far less capable of doing so. I don't have any stats to back that statement up, just my experience, which is quite possibly skewed from location and perspective.
Your last paragraph, cynical as it was, was very true...and really sad when you think about it. If Christians claim to have the truth, then we should be able to challenge it, ask questions, and compare it to observation (i.e. science) and have it be validated, right? (Which, in my experience, it has been time and time again).
@Pass_the_Aura@xanga - As always, you are full of wisdom. Though just to add, if I may, to what you said, I feel like we're in a constant pendulum between too much theology and too little. Theology and doctrines are certainly a necessary part of Christianity (e.g. Apostle's Creed, infallibility/inerrency of scripture, etc.), but when we get caught up in it (Creation/Evolution debate, Predestination/Free-will, etc.) we lose focus of the main point (Following Jesus) and sidetracked by how many angels can fit on the head of a pin. So while I agree, we are overdue for a revival, I wouldn't be surprised that if and when it happens (which I think to some degree it's starting in the emergent church) we'll abandon a large portion of theology and doctrine, start following Jesus more, and then become so enthralled in "Just following Jesus, nothing more" that we'll over-correct, lose all foundation, and lose track of what it means to follow Jesus. Then we'll need another revival to send us back towards where we are now....and so on back and forth...ideally, we need to find a way to lessen the extremes and stop the pendulum from swinging so far out...but that's a whole different topic unto itself.
@Pass_the_Aura@xanga - Thanks, Eric. You saved me the trouble of writing an answer. Amen!
@x_Butterflies_and_Hurricanes_x@xanga - You may find that your world opens up a whole lot when you look more closely at science and learn that science is impossible without reference to God, that it was founded on a belief in a rational creator, and that what you think is science now is quite unscientific (that is based on blind faith and lacking in any logic.) Science and religion do, indeed, go hand-in-hand. You just need to do more reading.
@kipahni@xanga - I agree. I guess when you're a hammer, everything's a nail. So everything for Ken Ham is about creationism. I think the church has lost credibility because of its judgmentalism and legalism. Who wants that? I'd leave, too, if I didn't have anybody in the church I could respect. Thank heaven I found some smart, reasonable Christians when I was young, or I'd be out there, too.
As explained to my mother just the other day, I don't go to church because.....
1. I never feel like I learn anything I didn't already know (regardless of which church or which denomination I visit). I feel like the preaching is always on a grade school or jr high level and it bores me. And/or the preacher tends to just say the same thing over and over and over throughout his 30min-2hour sermon. And that one thing is generally "you are screwing up by doing *fill in the blank.*" Which is true, but hardly worth saying because I KNOW THAT ALREADY, and I'm trying to work on it, no thanks to you.
2. The people distract me from the real reason to be there. They talk about the people who worship too flamboyantly, or not enthusiastically enough. They judge everyone except themselves and their own family...and want to tell me all about it, no matter how many times I tell them I don't want to hear it. They sit behind me (or in front of me) and carry on a conversation through worship and/or the message.
I come hopeful and leave angry. I can't find any way to deal with this other than to not go.
As for Genesis: I do believe in a literal 6 days and a young earth, but I have no idea how long ago it happened, nor do I particularly care. The main point of Genesis (and the WHOLE Bible) is to tell us Who God is. Not to teach us history and certainly not to teach us science. It is wholly accurate, but leaves out far too much to be considered a textbook.
@sheepthatsblack@xanga - Thing is there is no formula to finding out which passages are true scientifically or which ones that could be factual history. We probably will never know, but I know different people respond differently to different passages and interpret them differently. To tell you the truth, I don't try to distinguish passages of the Bible; I just try and be a good person.
I used to never shut up about the Bible. I became a Christian as a very young child. I was baptized at 11. I
used to go door to door handing out tracts. I went to Christian
concerts. I used to attend an evangelical Christian school. My parents then opted out of that so they could strictly home school me with the gospel. I was discipled. It only ended when I went to college, and even then I continued going to a Southern Baptist church because my mom liked it.
Still, by 14 I was agnostic. Today, I'm a proud atheist.
Conflicts between the scientific method and faith gave me only one choice. I had to decide which was more believable. In the name of curiosity, I conducted thought-experiments with myself about what it'd be like if my faith was wrong. Slowly, I began to see religious faith as a tool used by those in power to exploit the unquestioning and the weak for their money and political support. Since I couldn't scientifically (eg, objectively) back up my own religion, I couldn't reject other major religions also based upon faith. I rejected faith entirely.
This is the way I left Christianity. The way I became an atheist was somewhat different. I suddenly realized one day I didn't actually link anything in my life to a higher power. I never prayed, I didn't believe in miracles, I didn't believe in luck or the paranormal; I was a functional atheist. When I read the arguments for atheism, I couldn't believe how I hadn't been calling myself an athiest the whole time. It made perfect sense to me. If someone created a universe because it's complex, then by that same logic, someone created that creator because it's more complex than the universe. If you say god doesn't have a creator, "oh, just because," then why not just do that with the original thing? Why do you have to tack on a creator to it before you'll marvel?
Besides, from an evolutionary point of view, god is extremely useful for a human. It allows mankind to be lazy and speculate about things it can't verify. Ken Ham hit it right on the nail, and if he proposes taking kids out of school I hope legislation goes in place to stop the people who listen to him. From personal experience, that sort of indoctrination is nearly impossible to even survive. I'm working on a double major and double minor in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Math, and Computer Science, and I couldn't be happier with the public school-taught science Ken Ham and his evangelical friends shun.