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Saturday 27 December 2008

It’s doubtful that a majority of the population during the American Founding were members of orthodox Trinitarian Churches, thought of themselves as “regenerate” or “born-again” and devoutly believed in orthodox Trinitarian doctrine. In “The Churching Of America, 1776-2005: Winners And Losers In Our Religious Economy,” authors Roger Finke and Rodney Stark, carefully following census data, documented that only 17% of the American population belonged to a church and more folks were taverns on Saturday nights than in churches on Sunday mornings. This data have been disputed and lack of orthodox religiosity is not the only explanation for such low church membership. However the notion that the Christian America apologists spout that huge majorities were evangelical/born-again/orthodox Trinitarian Christians is wishful thinking with little support in the historical record. Jonathan Rowe

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