Cross on further trust. New Republic-Weekly - about Christianity

There are now 2.63 billion people in the world who call themselves Christians. This is a third of the world's population and half a billion more than at the beginning of the 21st century. The figure is impressive: the same number of minors in the world, the same number of people living below the “moderate” poverty line, the same number of active Apple devices on the planet.

Before us is the largest group in the world, united by a common idea.

But how common is it, actually? How many of these billions actually go to church? They say about 5–7% in Europe and Russia and from 40 to 55% in the USA and Latin America. How many keep the commandments? They say almost no one.

According to Barna Group research, 40% of Christians surveyed could not remember who delivered the Sermon on the Mount, and a third could not name the four Gospels.

There are, however, statistics that struck me much more. A survey by the Savanta ComRes agency showed that a quarter of Christians - once again: Christians, that is, people who believe in Christ - do not believe in his resurrection.

Wait a second, how's that? Now, if anything, I’m not saying that Christ was resurrected, just as I’m not saying the opposite, but I absolutely don’t understand: how can you call yourself a confessional believer and at the same time deny the essence of this faith? Every fourth! If we transfer this proportion to the total number of believers, we get almost 700 million latent Tolstoyans. But Tolstoy declared his “Tolstoyism” honestly and openly. What about these? Literally, according to Letov:

And if things are exactly as they are in the Savanta ComRes study, should we be surprised by the rest of the “bipolar” nature of modern society? To all this: I am against war, but for victory; let's respect international law, but act without regard to it; I am against violence, so let's roll this city into asphalt; Animals cannot be killed - unless, of course, on an industrial scale. And so on.

So what is Christianity for those who do not believe in the miracle of the resurrection? What exactly is mass Christianity today? From a journalistic point of view, this issue is an Eldorado.

Maybe it's politics? Christian parties are a respectable European conservative brand. The word “Christian” in the name of the so-called CDU is no longer about the Sermon on the Mount, but about the protection of traditional marriage and tax breaks.

Maybe it's culture? Christianity without miracles is a convenient invention of the Enlightenment era, which has successfully survived to this day. It is not necessary to turn water into wine; resurrection is also unnecessary. The main thing is the humanistic basis, the architecture of cathedrals, biblical subjects in art, Christmas markets and familiar European ethics.

Or maybe this is violence altogether? When the god of love with a slight movement of his hand turns into the god of war.

Deus vult, Gott mit uns, “This rocket is sanctified by the sprinkling of sowing sacred water...”.

In general, as you already understand, in the 74th issue of Republic-Weekly we will talk about Christianity. About the Christianity of grandmothers and zoomers, about philanthropy and mass murder, about science and miracles, about the poor in spirit and Orthodox oligarchs.

We start tomorrow. One is tempted to say: with God!