In a country with so many elaborate churches, why do you think religion has lost its importance and does not appeal to people like it used to? Do you think this could happen to America in the future? Why or why not?
It is hard to see how a country with so many beautiful church structures and the cradle of the Reformation could have grown so cold with regards to their faith. Many people were so passionate about their faith that they were burned at the stake and died because they wanted to read their Bibles in their own homes. However, now I would say that religion has lost its much of its importance in Germany and all of Europe because the people are moving farther and farther away from God. Also, secular teaching for several generations that separate the secular and the sacred make it easier for people to put religion in a box they don’t have to think about unless they want or need to. Viewing churches just as architectural and artistic masterpieces without the acknowledgment that they were built that way as an act of worship also helps make religion very cold.
I also think people do not want to hear what the Bible says. I think this because many forms of government that are currently or have been prevalent in Germany and Europe as a whole have pushed forward humanism rather than a dependence on God as well as promoting atheism. Although a person can remain faithful to God in an atmosphere like this, it doesn’t take long for their children and grandchildren to wander from the faith, which I think has definitely happened here.
Also, people don’t want to read or listen to the BIble because it says clearly that many of the things that they think are politically correct or moral is not right. The Bible’s views are completely opposite of what many people think here in Germany. The Bible shows the people to be wrong in their actions and very few people want to be corrected. Europe has turned into a very secular society which does not value the Word of God which is very unfortunate because that’s where wisdom is. God’s Word says fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of God is understanding, that is lacking here and around the globe. Looking around at all the problems of the world, the wisdom and knowledge of God would be pretty welcome, but people don’t want any part of it.
The United States is already on this path of turning away from God and religion because what many people think is right, politically correct or fair really isn’t at all. Many openly promote what God calls abhorrent and the Bible has been so demeaned and disrespected it can’t be brought up as a standard of moral values. This opposition to the Word of God has obvious consequences and it doesn’t take to long to see what happens to a society that walks away from God. It is my prayer that the U.S. has some type of revival across the country so the hearts and minds of its citizens can have the blessings and peace associated with the promises God makes when His people live according to His ways.