01: Providence is a new quarterly magazine seeking to rehabilitate and reinvigorate evangelical engagement involvement in foreign policy. Published by the Institute for Religion and Democracy, the magazine has a distinct neoconservative orientation, arguing that evangelicals and other Christians have fallen into either isolationism or pacifism. The lead article illustrates the very different evangelical situation […]
Featured Story: A note from the editor…
With this issue, Religion Watch marks its 30th year of publication. This issue also reports some important changes for the newsletter. We are now an open source publication; in other words, RW is free. Newsletters, more than any other type of publication, have moved gradually from a subscription-based model to an open-access one, mainly because […]
After 30 years—how have we done?
For the 30th anniversary of Religion Watch, we thought it might be interesting to turn our analysis on RW itself; how well have we done in monitoring trends in religion? While we have been hesitant to make forecasts into the far future, trends, by their very nature, should have some shelf-life. As we follow them, […]
Near-death experiences shared and divisive
It might not be too unexpected to find that the next expression of the New Age movement expanding among aging baby boomers is near-death spirituality and practice, but more surprising is that its one-time strong evangelical supporters are increasingly divided about the phenomenon, according to two studies. At the recent meeting of the American Academy […]
Online churches report growth and continuing innovation
Churches involved in online ministries, or completely online with little physical presence, are showing continued expansion and experimentation with new technology, reports the evangelical magazine Ministries Today (November/December). Although the article does not provide a count of online churches, two of the pioneers of these ministries, Bobby Gruenewald of Life.Church, and Nathan Clark of Northland, […]
Current Research: December 2015
01:The use of personal computers and mobile technology to read the Bible may lead to a tradeoff of positive and negative effects, including increased reading, but also a sense of loss in the Bible’s uniqueness and new problems in interpretation of the text, according to a survey of digital use of the scriptures in the […]
Aggressive secularism targeted by French Catholic bishops
There is a trend in France pushing for a shift from the secular state toward the secularization of French society stated Archbishop Georges Pontier (Marseille), current president of the French Catholic Bishops’ Conference, in La Croix (Dec. 4). French historian Philippe Portier concurs in an article in the same newspaper (Nov. 25) and fears that […]
Findings & Footnotes: December 2015
01: There has been a steady stream of recent books on atheism and secularism in less than a year. They range from studies of the broader phenomenon of secularism to more specific examinations of atheist groups, movements and practices (including RW’s editor and co-author Christopher Smith’s Atheist Awakening). American Secularism (NYU Press, $27), by Joseph […]
Featured Story: Rise of the ‘nones’ driven by technology — or is it family values?
As the rates of the non-affiliated (or “nones”) grow, researchers have been busy seeking the source of this disenchantment with religious institutions and why it seems most prevalent among young people. In a paper presented at the recent meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR) in Newport Beach, Calif., Paul McClure […]
Muslim conversions to Christianity growing, facing identity dilemmas
A “global census” of Muslims who have become Christians estimates that the largest numbers are found in Asia, followed by Africa and North America, and totaling nearly 10 million. The census was conducted by Duane Alexander Miller and Patrick Johnstone and is published in the current issue of The Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion […]
