Modernism and the Death of Western Christianity
By: Bishop Stephen Introduction: A Civilization Losing Its Soul Across Europe and North America, once-grand cathedrals stand increasingly empty. Historic churches are converted into cafés, museums, apartments, and nightclubs. Denominations that once shaped entire civilizations now struggle to retain members, clergy, and even theological coherence. In many Western nations, Christianity is no longer the moral and spiritual center of public life but a fading cultural memory. The collapse has been so rapid that many now ask whether Western Christianity is dying altogether. While numerous factors contribute to this decline, secularism, materialism, technological distraction, and moral revolution, one underlying cause stands above the rest: modernism. By modernism, we mean not simply technological advancement or contemporary culture, but the theological and philosophical movement that sought to reshape Christianity according to the spirit of the modern age rather than calling the mo...