Another generation” has arisen that neither knows the Lord personally, nor even knows about their great Christian heritage and what God has done in, with and through Europe. What Alexander Solzenitzen said of Russia on the eve of the Communist takeover/Revolution in Russia in 1917 can be said of most of Europe today in 2006: “THEY FORGOT GOD!”
http://www.reformationsa.org/articles/Reform%20or%20islam.htm
I have just returned from a whirlwind visit to France with my daughter’s choir. Three years ago I accompanied this group to Austria, touring Salzburg and Vienna. Europe holds a special place in my heart because my mom is a full-blooded Norwegian who left her beloved country behind when she married my dad, who is American.
As an evangelical Christian, I marveled at the enormous cathedrals I saw in Europe on each trip. Sadly, the towering spires which are supposed to draw one closer to God have failed miserably. These architectural masterpieces that often took centuries to complete are mere skeletons of a religious system that has crumbled, although the buildings remain. Christianity is now but a remnant in Europe.
Last Easter, the Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna warned that Christianity in Europe is dying out. Christoph Cardinal Schönborn said at St. Stephen's Cathedral on Easter Sunday, ‘The time of Christianity in Europe is coming to an end. A Christianity, which achieved such great things like this cathedral or the wonderful music we will hear today.’”
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/apr/09041410.html
Naill Ferguson, a professor of history at Harvard University, wrote an interesting op-ed piece entitled: "A Faith Vacuum Haunts Europe", which can be found at this link:
http://articles.latimes.com/2005/aug/01/opinion/oe-ferguson1?pg=1
Ferguson writes: "According to the Gallup Millennium Survey of religious attitudes, barely 20% of West Europeans attend church services at least once a week, compared with 47% of North Americans and 82% of West Africans. Fewer than half of West Europeans say God is a "very important" part of their lives, as against 83% of Americans and virtually all West Africans. And fully 15% of West Europeans deny that there is any kind of "spirit, God or life force" — seven times the American figure and 15 times the West African."
A Chicago Tribune reporter Tom Hundley provides some frightening statistics as he writes, “Christianity appears to be in a free fall, not only in France but throughout Europe. Eighty-eight percent of the French consider themselves Catholic, but only 5% attend church; 60% say they never or “practically never” attend."
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2767
What has gone so terribly wrong with Christianity in Europe, and this shocking trend occur in America? There are obviously more questions than answers, and we will attempt to explore this topic in tomorrow's post.
In the meantime, we leave you with images of the cathedrals of France. Unfortunately, some are now owned by the government and have been converted to museums or venues for musical performances. The great architects and stone masons who designed and constructed these massive places of worship would be heartbroken if they knew what has become of their mighty works of art to honor Almighty God.
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/bells-of-notre-dame-paris-france/1655469607
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/service-at-notre-dame-cathedral-paris-france/3310935682
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/the-bells-of-chartres-cathedral-in-france/2887459286
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/chartres-cathedral-panning-around/187280184
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/the-bells-of-strasburg-cathedral-in-france/965571160
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/cathedral-in-orleans/140129146
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/old-cathedral-in-fcamp-france/3286273882