In the previous post from Stuart Murray’s book I emphasised the work of the radical reformers, the Anabaptists. But despite their sterling work Christendom was pretty much untouched by the upheaval of the 16^th century. However, in chapter 7 Murray suggests that the ‘seeds of destruction had been sown’ in that period (page 178). He identifies four factors that have led to the slow death of Christendom since then.

1. Because so called Christian states were engaged in warfare with each other, people became very disillusioned with the church. A number of lengthy wars between mini-Christendoms were fought during the 17^th and 18^th centuries in Europe. Added to that were the world wars of the 20^th century and the atrocious violence used against the Jews by ‘Christian’ Germany.

2. During the Enlightenment scientific explanations about the world were offered to counter religious ones and reason became more powerful than revelation. In time this brought about an intolerance of religious ideas and institutions. The church’s general response was to refuse to accept many of these new ideas and to deny their truth but such a conservative reaction in its turn created even more antagonism towards the church.

3. As a result of scientific enquiry the industrial revolution was born which led to urbanisation. This had a massive effect on religion as the traditional handing down of ‘truth’ through the generations was disrupted as family life was uprooted. Church life flowed with agricultural life and was slow to adapt to the new urban patterns.

4. In the 20^th century post-modernism came onto the scene. In modernism, science suggested an alternative truth to religion but post-modernism questions all forms of truth. It was particularly threatening to Christendom and its captivity to a set of received wisdoms.

Since the 1960s the church system has almost totally collapsed. We often blame the cultural shifts of the period for that, but Murray suggests that the foundations of Christendom were already seriously shaken in the previous 400 years. He also sees that the Christian faith itself – because it is so tied up with Christendom – is also under threat in the west. He says, ‘We face the challenge of rediscovering Christianity without the Christendom framework’ (184).