Theology Made Podcast

Why Every Generation Thinks the Church Is Dying


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Headline: The Church is dying. (At least, that’s what we’ve said since 100 AD.)

It feels like we are living through a unique collapse. Attendance is cratering, trust is fractured, and the cultural influence of the Church seems to be evaporating in real-time. But what if this isn’t the end? What if it’s a pattern?

In this episode, we take a long view of history, from the “atheist” accusations of the second century to the fall of Rome and the fractures of the Reformation. We explore how every generation mistakes the loss of familiarity for the death of faith.

We discuss:

The Augustine Option: How to stop confusing the City of Man with the City of God.

The Power Paradox: Why Christianity is often at its most corrupt when it is most powerful, and most alive when it is most marginal.

The Gift of Disentanglement: Why the current “deconstruction” might actually be a necessary stripping away of cultural baggage.

History suggests that the Church doesn’t survive because it is protected; it survives because it is resilient. Join us as we move past the panic of decline and ask the more uncomfortable, hopeful question: What is being stripped away so that something truer can remain?

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Theology Made PodcastBy Theology Made