Part 3: How concepts of God have developed:
God's shrinking role. God's survival. Conclusions.

Five hundred years ago, supernatural beings played a major role in the world. For example:

With the advent of such major scientific advances as Newton's laws of physics, the germ theory of disease, Darwin's theory of evolution, Einstein's laws of relativity, critical analysis of the Bible, archaeological discoveries in Palestine, etc., these gaps started to fill up. Academic Michael D. Goulder boldly observed: "God no longer has any work to do." Bishop Spong notes that "The theistic god is becoming irrelevant with no real purpose. Theistic power has become impotent...Theism is dying." ₇

We have seen an accelerating march towards secularism for the past few decades. Friedrich Nietsche proclaimed the death of the theistic God in the 19th century. Some radical theologians picked up the theme in the 1960s. It is finally being accepted by large numbers of people. Spong suggests that as people abandon their belief in a personal, protective God, that the anxiety experienced by our ancient ancestors is returning. He notes increasing addiction to caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, other addictive drugs, anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medication. He also notes an increase in the suicide rate, mass murders, and road rage as byproducts as a death in belief of a theistic God. Polls regularly show that about 40% of American adults say they attend religious services weekly; data from Canada is about half that. These same polls show that that attendance is dropping. A particlarly ominous sign is that on the order of 60% of older teenagers and young adults abandon their religious affiliation. _3,4

The actual situation is more serious for the future of religion. People tend to lie when asked motherhood-type questions by pollsters. In reality, actual nose counting reveals that only about 20% of American adults and 10% of Canadian adults regularly attend a church, mosque, synagogue, temple or other religious service weekly. Meanwhile the NOTAS -- those who accept None Of The Above religionS are steadily increasing in numbers.

Can God survive in a postmodern, post-Darwinian world?

Atheism is one possible choice for people who have abandoned belief in a theistic God. Atheists have no belief in the existence of a supernatural deity.  According to American Atheists, 9% of adults in the U.S. no longer have a belief in God. ₅ According to an Ipsos-Reid poll released on 2000-APR-21, about 14% of Canadian adults are Atheists;  ₆

Agnosticism is another option. The same Ipsos-Reid poll found that 2% of Canadian adults are Agnostics. A City University of New York found that the percentage of Agnostics in the U.S. ranged from 0.0% in Delaware and Louisiana, to 3% in Kentucky. Other national surveys have put the percentage between 0.7 and 5%

Bishop Spong argues that there is another response to the loss in belief in a personal theistic God. He suggests that belief in a non-theistic God can continue -- a God with the following descriptions:

He admits that Christianity might not be able to make the transition from a theistic to a non-theistic God. It might be destroyed by the changes required.

Conclusions:

References used:

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