Proclaimer Blog
Religion heading for extinction say mathematicians
Well, they didn't say exactly that, but that's how the BBC news website is reporting it (you can read the report here). Not surprising – as it makes for a nice headline. But halfway down the report is the real interesting part.
"The idea is pretty simple," said Richard Wiener of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. "It posits that social groups that have more members are going to be more attractive to join, and it posits that social groups have a social status or utility."
Well, that is certainly a simple idea – essentially it seems that this is a rather posh way to say what we've always said "a crowd attracts a crowd." There is clearly some anthropoligical truth in that statement, truth that is echoed in the thrust, say, of Acts 2.42-47. And we shouldn't belittle it.
But theologically it is dangerously flawed. Genuine Christianity (as opposed to nominal) grows not through numbers attracting numbers for social cachet but by men and women and children believing the message. That faith comes from God himself and so church growth continually bucks trends and statistics. In countries where the gospel seemed dead, there are remarkable awakenings (e.g. China). Sometimes, great things start from just one man or woman (e.g. some of the great missionary pioneers) who even in their lifetime are dismal failures.
Thankfully, we don't need to be scared by such mathematical shenaningans. Even the smallest church can be used by God for extraordinary things and our glorious confidence is that the word of the Lord does not return void.
Try putting that into an equation.