How to Bring About the Collapse of Christianity In Four Easy Steps

Contrary to what you may have assumed, it is not the purpose of this provocatively-titled book to furnish a manual for the collapse of Christianity. It is rather an observation as to what has already begun to occur and will reach its consummate phase should the church refuse to receive the warning. I compare the structure of Christianity to an ancient building supported by four columns. Those columns represent the elements of the Christian belief system advanced by the church. They are specifically, "theological clarity," "ecclesiastical unity," "personal authenticity," and "spiritual exclusivity." The great nemesis of the church is what I identify as "cultural Christianity," that is, the secular form of Christianity which rejects Christ's radical countercultural message and substitutes in place of the bona fide columns their antitheses, namely, "theological vacuity," "denominational diversity," "nominal identity," and "secular inclusivity." Once the cultural-Christian reconstruction is complete, Christianity is bound to collapse. Fifty years ago the theologian Francis Schaeffer began to sound the death knell when he observed that America had already become "a post-Christian nation." Since that time things have only gotten worse. It is my prayer that this book will serve to recall the American church-as well as the church throughout the world-to its Christ-mandated mission and message. Only when the church has learned to distinguish and distance itself from cultural Christianity by becoming the church again will it be enabled to refortify its columns and avert the prospective collapse of Christianity.