Whatever you think of Europe, it is likely that most people will agree that European culture and civilization are at a major crossroads, one which poses a significant problem for its future. What has happened in Europe, what is happening in Europe, and what will happen in Europe are passionate interests of mine, especially when we are talking about Christianity in the European context. You may recall my post a couple weeks ago which referenced some of the thought of Philip Jenkins, professor of history and religious studies at Penn State University. I noted that in an article discussing the future of Christianity in Europe he made the argument that

European Christianity is [not] nearing extinction. Rather, among the ruins of faith, European Christianity is adapting to a world in which its convinced adherents represent a small but vigorous minority.

Jenkins goes on to argue that these Christians, nurturing a much more authentic and grassroots faith, are the future of a Christianity that is poised to make a comeback. While I find Jenkins' argument to be persuasive and have given it considerable thought, it still seems to me that unless the number of those Christians increases significantly in short order, Europe had still better hold on for a very difficult ride in the near future.

There used to be a video that I posted here, no longer available on YouTube, which discussed some of the issues that Europe iss dealing with in relation to Christianity. There were some interesting points made, but there were also some generalities in European perceptions that are not necessarily true (one being the way Europeans express distate and concern over American religiosity). And, as always, this is only one side of the argument. People like Jenkins are not so convinced that the sounding of the death knell for European society is imminent. Interestingly, Rodney Stark, professor of sociology at Baylor University, had noted in the video that Europe owes everything to Christianity, a point which the philosopher, Jürgen Habermas, also maintains, as I stated in the previous post:

Christianity, and nothing else, is the ultimate foundation of liberty, conscience, human rights, and democracy, the benchmarks of Western civilization. To this day, we have no other options [than Christianity]. We continue to nourish ourselves from this source. Everything else is postmodern chatter.

I am interested to know what you think of this. A significant number of us in North America have European ancestry. If you are close to your heritage, like I am, then perhaps this is something you resonate more with. Another thing to consider is that European cultural trends tend to filter their way to North America over time. What does this mean for our future?