by Bijam Omrani, Telegraph
Enough discussion of ecology, sexuality, and the Middle East. Young people want poetry and beauty
Anyone involved in the Church will confirm there seems to be a renewed interest in Christianity amongst the young. Even though the recent report by the Bible Society on the “quiet revival” that purported to quantify the growth of Christian adherence amongst the younger generations was found to be statistically unsound, many clergy still anecdotally report a striking increase in younger people joining their congregations.
Last year, the Church of England commissioned a new report from the think tank Theos to look at what was drawing 18 to 30-year-olds to it. It investigated those who had come to Christianity from lapsed or atheist English upbringings, and also from migrant backgrounds and other faiths. This report, compiled by the researcher Esmé Partridge, has just been very quietly released by the Church.
One can only think that the conspicuous lack of fanfare with which it has been published springs from an uncomfortable guilt. It is clear that the spiritual needs of the young, as articulated in the report, are in severe tension with the Church’s own direction.
One notable finding is that many of the young were prompted to start their journey towards Christianity by its literary and intellectual heritage.
Respondents described encounters with C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Dostoyevsky, and David Bentley Hart, the Orthodox theologian. One 28-year-old, who had not been to university, was engaged by his interest in J.R.R. Tolkien, when he came to understand the role that Christian thought played in The Lord of the Rings.