A Revival?

24 July 2025  Matthew 13:10-17

“But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.”Matthew 13:16

In the early 2000s, shortly after 9/11, the so-called “New Atheism” gained a great deal of traction. Media superstars emerged, like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris, and their books – respectively, The God Delusion, God is Not Great and The End of Faith – became national best-sellers. The smartphone emerged around that time (2007) and these media superstars became internet heroes, wealthy and extremely influential – they commanded fees of $20,000 per lecture, sometimes much more – promising that the eclipse of faith would bring about a world more just, more peaceful, more enlightened, more wise and more free.

What has happened, of course, is just the opposite. Our politics have become debased and cynical, shouting has replaced conversation, cancellation has replaced argument, ideology has replaced wisdom, and a whole generation has disappeared behind their screens, then wondering why they are anxious, lonely and depressed. Jesus may have had a generation like this in mind when he quoted Isaiah, saying, “Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts and be converted, and I heal them” (Matthew 13:15).

There are, however, signs that this situation is turning around. The Bible Society of Great Britain published a report in the spring of 2025 indicating some surprising changes taking place among young people in England and Wales, especially men. Churchgoing Christians have increased by over 50% (8% to 12% of the total population, 3.7 million to 5.8 million people). The number of 18-24-year-olds attending church has increased by 400% (4% to 16% of the total in that age group), and more men than women in that age group are churchgoers. This growth in church attendance is not uniform across denominations – the growth skews towards Catholics and Pentecostals. The people deciding to return to church apparently are seeking “high demand” Christianity. Since 2018 there has also been a 50% increase in faith in God among 18-24-year-olds (28% to 42% of that age group). These increases are not limited to Britain. Easter 2025 in France witnessed over 10,000 catechumens uniting with the Catholic Church, an increase of 45% from 2024. Likewise in France, there has been a 160% increase in conversions to Catholicism, 2015-2025.

R.R. Reno has pointed out: “Today’s toxic world – one of lockdowns, antiracist and ‘decolonizing’ hysteria, social media cancellation, sour male-female relations, and impotent, cynical political leadership – was not created by Catholic priests and Pentecostal preachers. Throughout the west, the status quo has been constructed by secular progressives who deem Christianity a superannuated vestige of an oppressive past” (First Things, June/July 2025, p. 65). More young people, however, are beginning to find in Christian discipleship a better answer and a better future. Jesus may have had them in mind when he said, “Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it” (Matthew 13:16-17).

It is too soon to call this a religious revival – church membership numbers continue to decline, and young people as a group are still far more likely to be stuck in anxiety, loneliness and depression. But the evidence that some have recognized the ignoble and debasing failures of non-belief is at least some hope that a growing number of young adults are considering a religious revival.

May their tribe increase.