12AR17-41

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Apologia Report 17:41 (1,133)

November 28, 2012

Subject: Are reports of evangelical divorce rates exaggerated?

In this issue:

BIBLICAL RELIABILITY - "an ideal read for any high-school or college student" ... and just about anyone else

MARRIAGE - an "unintended effect" from exaggerating the negative in reports about Christian divorce rates?

NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS - "Comparing the Geographic Distributions and Growth of Mormons, Adventists, and Witnesses"

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BIBLICAL RELIABILITY

Is the Bible True ... Really?: A Dialogue on Skepticism, Evidence, and Truth, by Josh McDowell and Dave Sterrett [1] -- looks like we've been completely unaware of this book. Our thanks to the Apologetics Resource Center and reviewer R. Keith Loftin, who explains: "Though fictional, the book tells a true-to-life story. Nick, a freshman at Opal University, enrolls in a typical religious studies course. Having grown up in church and been active in his youth group, Nick is keen to stand up for his faith. As is sadly all too common, however, Nick's faith is intellectually shallow - he understands 'faith' to be blind belief. Upon being confronted with intellectual challenges (as well as other difficulties college freshmen face), Nick's faith quickly deteriorates.

"Dr. William Peterson, Nick's religious studies professor, wastes no time in undermining the reliability of the Bible. Peterson is the personification of the teaching of such well-known non-Christian scholars as Bart Ehrman and Elaine Pagels. ...

"Nick, infatuated with Dr. Peterson, enrolls in his religious textual criticism course the following term. All but persuaded of Christianity's origin within pagan mythology, Nick unexpectedly meets Jamal Washington, a doctoral student who works as Dr. Peterson's teaching assistant. Jamal, a seminary graduate with extensive training in textual criticism, turns out to be a committed Christian. The rest of the novella is largely Nick's intellectual struggle between Dr. Peterson's objections and Jamal's informed, careful responses. Jamal methodically refutes each of Nick's (which are really Dr. Peterson's) challenges to the Bible's trustworthiness. ...

"Though presented in a very accessible way, the responses given in defense of the Bible are of a high caliber. ... The interested reader will find helpful footnotes pointing to more thorough treatments of each objection at the end of the book.

"Is the Bible True ... Really? is an ideal read for any high-school or college student. Short (easily readable in one sitting), engaging, and well-written...." Areopagus Journal, 12:2 - 2012, pp40-41.

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MARRIAGE

"Bad News about the Good News" by Bradley R. E. Wright and Christina Zozula (University of Connecticut) and W. Bradford Wilcox (University of Virginia) -- from the abstract: "Many American Christians perceive that their faith is derided in public discourse. ... This article develops an alternative mechanism for the production and distribution of bad news about Christianity – from the leaders of Christianity themselves. Church leaders may deploy negative portrayals of the church, as 'failing,' in 'crisis,' or otherwise not living up to Christian standards, in order to motivate their followers. We term this strategic negative portrayal the 'Christian-failure narrative.' We develop this concept by examining in-depth one particular Christian failure narrative – the belief that Christians have inordinately high divorce rates. We compare popular perceptions of Christians' divorce rates versus actual rates found in sociological data."

The introduction begins: "In this article, we explore how Christians - especially Evangelical Christians - present themselves publicly. ...

"This narrative explains a paradox. Christians often perceive the media as biased against them, but actual studies of media coverage find mixed results. [R]egardless of the media's actual coverage of religion, Christians are overwhelmingly exposed, from their leaders and the media, to negative portrayals of their faith. ...

"Despite the existence of academic studies on the issue, the most frequently cited statistics by Christian leaders and commentators regarding Christian divorce rates come from the Barna Research Group." <www.barna.org> A 2004 Barna report "concluded: 'Although many Christian churches attempt to dissuade congregants from getting a divorce ... born again Christians have the same likelihood of divorce as do non-Christians.'

"To arrive at this conclusion, however, the Barna Group makes a series of methodological decisions that, whether intentional or not, produce findings in line with a Christian-failure narrative."

The authors conclude: "We found that supporters, critics, and the general populace embraced statistics portraying Christians as having high divorce rates. Even though more-scientific sources present statistics suggesting otherwise, the high Christian divorce rate described by Barna has become widely accepted. As a result, this particular construction of moral fear helps stigmatize Christians as immoral and hypocritical. ...

"As Christian teachers emphasize negative statistics to spur Christians into better Christian practices, this emphasis may have the unintended effect of demoralizing their audience" and encouraging those hostile to the faith, as the authors also explain. Journal of Religion & Society, 14:1 - 2012, n.p. <www.ow.ly/fyO7N>

POSTSCRIPT (May 15, 2016): Also note AR 15: 22 where Wright "doesn't spare evangelical polemicists such as Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel for their false exaggerations of evangelical shortcomings. His biggest target may be the pollster George Barna, whose surveys on Christianity have generated intense controversy." <www.goo.gl/oXUhTe>

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NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS

"Comparing the Geographic Distributions and Growth of Mormons, Adventists, and Witnesses" by Ronald Lawson and Ryan T. Cragun -- the abstract reports that these groups "have varied considerably in both their geographic spread - where they have developed a presence over time - and also in where they have been more successful numerically. The result is sharply differing profiles: [Seventh-day] Adventists are concentrated more in the developing world; [Jehovah's Witnesses] and Mormons are proportionately stronger in the developed world, but in different parts of it. Within countries, Witnesses and Mormons are more urban, while Adventists are more concentrated in rural regions; Adventists also tend to be poorer than Witnesses and especially practicing Mormons. The article explores why these differing patterns developed, expanding on a recently developed theoretical model by Cragun and Lawson [see AR 15:42] that religious growth depends on the synchronization of supply and demand and their corresponding components." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 51:2 -2012, pp115-25. <www.ow.ly/fyTf4>

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SOURCES: Monographs

1 - Is the Bible True ... Really?: A Dialogue on Skepticism, Evidence, and Truth, by Josh McDowell and Dave Sterrett (Moody, 2011, paperback, 144 pages) <www.ow.ly/fyQ2x>

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