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32 APR-MAY 2024 | DENVER CATHOLIC T here's no sugarcoating the situation facing the Church today: Christianit y is on the decline. The rise of the "nones" — those who are unaffiliated with any religion — is rapidly displacing the number of Chris- tians in societ y, both in America and around the world. It seems trite at this point to once more lament the end of Christendom, but there really is no better way to describe the world that the Church is trying to navigate through today: Christendom is dead, and we are living in a new apostolic age. In 2020, the Universit y of Mary published the book From Christen- dom to Apostolic Mission, which pro- posed this very premise and offered strategies for Christians to not only keep the faith in these challenging times, but to carry on the mission of going out and making disciples of all nations, as Jesus himself commanded. This book sparked a national conversation that has served as a guiding post for the mis- sion of the church today, not least here in the Archdiocese of Denver, where this book has been fundamen- tal in the move from maintenance to mission. With From Christendom to Apos- tolic Mission, an extensive survey of the modern-day landscape that the Church is navigating through was laid out, but the question remained: What exactly are the modes of thinking and ideologies that the Church is up against today? And more importantly, what are those beliefs that are displacing belief in Christianit y? This question has been answered in the sequel to From Christendom to Apostolic Mission, fit- tingly titled The Religion of the Day. The title of the book is derived from a sermon St. John Henry Newman gave with the same name, where he said: "In every age of Chris- tianit y, since it was first preached, there has been what may be called a religion of the world, which so far imitates the one true religion, as to deceive the unstable and unwary." As the title of both the great cardinal 's sermon and the book suggests, it is impossible for humans to be devoid of all religion. "Nones" cannot truly be "nones"; try as they may to deny all religious belief, and whether they realize it or not, they still think and operate according to deeply held religious convictions of the secular world's making. This religion, the authors of The Religion of the Day assert, is best defined as a form of neo-Gnosticism that they refer to as "pro- gressive religion." Gnosticism is a collection of beliefs that has assumed several forms throughout history, but in this context, the simplest way to describe it is a set of religious beliefs that find their origin and practice in the finiteness of man and not the divine infinite- ness of God. To use a more mainstream term, this progressive religion is synonymous with the so-called "woke religion." The tenets of progressive religion are many, but at its core is an unwillingness to look inward at one's own heart as the root of the world's problems and instead blame the world's problems on oppres- sive structures of human existence — in other words, everything and everyone else in the proverbial "out there" are the reason our world is so broken, and the only way to enact change is through constant revolution. This worldview stands in stark contrast with the Christian, biblical worldview, which expresses almost exactly the opposite: It is not through man-made revolution but divine revelation that we find our proper place in the cosmos. Our world is broken because the human heart has become broken through the crushing weight of sin. It is impossible for us to achieve our own salvation, which is why God sent his son Jesus Christ to atone for this brokenness and restore us to right relationship with him. The very fabrics of realit y are con- tingent upon this truth; to deny this truth is to deny realit y. One can see, then, why the pro- gressive religion is so consumed with re-creat- ing realit y according to their worldview. They seek to bend truth to their own whims and not the other way around. Far be it from the disci- ples of progressivism to admit that they might just have it wrong — no, because under their worldview, truth is relative and comes in many disparate and divergent forms. Notice how in the progressive religion, there is no semblance of accountabilit y or refusing to admit one's own faults or shortcomings. This is but one convenience of adhering to this system of belief; repentance is entirely unnecessary because there is no clear definition bet ween right and wrong. This absence of difference and lack of distinction accurately characterizes much of what the progressive religion believes. From Christendom to Apostolic Mission and The Religion of the Day are available to purchase from the University of Mary.