LTRP Note: This 2004 UK article predicted that Christianity was going to be replaced by mystical spirituality. Today, five years later largely because of the spiritual formation movement, the Purpose Driven movement, and the emerging church, this is exactly what is taking place! The words of Karl Rahner are ringing true when he said the Christian of the future will be a mystic or he will be nothing at all. Are we witnessing the great falling away?
The Times
England
“Spirited away: why the end is nigh for religion”
Christianity will be eclipsed by spirituality in 30 years, startling new research predicts. Our correspondent reports on the collapse of traditional religion and the rise of mysticism.
Study after study appears to prove that people are increasingly losing faith in the Church and the Bible and turning instead to mysticism in guises ranging from astrology to reiki and holistic healing. The Government, significantly, said this week that older people should be offered t’ai chi classes on the NHS to promote their physical and mental wellbeing….
Twice as many people believe in a “spirit force” within than they do an Almighty God without, while a recent survey hailed a revival of the Age of Aquarius after finding that two thirds of 18 to 24-year-olds had more belief in their horoscopes than in the Bible. …
So what does meditation have that conventional worship does not? Neutrality, suggests Elizabeth Forder, who runs the centre. “We are not affiliated to any religion and there is no belief system imposed on anybody here,” she says. “I was brought up a Christian, but it held no real meaning for me. I would class myself as a universalist, believing that all religions offer the same end.”Click here to read this entire article.
