Orthodoxy seems to be enjoying a spectacular resurgence in Russia, but as in other historically Orthodox countries, such as Bulgaria, Belarus, Georgia, and Greece, their birthrate is way below replacement and their age structure shows significantly more people over 55 than under 15.
These Orthodox also do very little by way of missions outside of their national borders. The USA may be the exception here.
I would like to understand more about the factors relating to growth and die-off of the faith in nations and churches. I certainly don't have an attitude of rivalry. As a Catholic, I can sincerely say I rejoice in the survival and advance of Orthodox Christianity.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
Yes, but I think the reason for the lack of Orthodox mission work is that they have enough people to mission to in the former Soviet countries. It has grown, but it has a lot more room.
I think the age discrepancy will fix itself. It’s more of a general eastern-European problem than specifically an orthodox one. I’d hate to see the birthrate of Russian atheists. A good example is Georgia, where it was actually the Orthodox Church that saved the nation from demographic disaster, with the patriarch vowing to bless every baby personally from a family with more than 3 kids. And Russia is heading in the right direction, starting to close a lot of the abortion clinics in rural areas, ending T.V. advertising by clinics, etc.
I watched a video of the recent Orthodox ceremony where they plunge into freezing water, and the masses were quite young. Late teens, early twenties. And that’s not just a result of the nature of the activity. Old Russians are not squeamish about plunging into freezing cold water.
I think what will nourish the church in Russia is that it benefits from twin factors. The first is that the largest families of the future are going to be Orthodox which is being encouraged by the church itself. And the second factor is unlike Europe this is twinned with the children not being indoctrinated against Christianity at schools or in the media. They are in a culture where the high ranking people are mainly Christian and are very open about it.
If the growth continues, I can see initial mission efforts spreading into Kazakhstan, where Islam is weak. With the right timing, this could also coincide with initial mission efforts out of China. The thriving Christian base there believes their purpose is to mission through Central Asia and convert the Middle East. They’ll have to set China on a good course first, but they are eager to bring Christianity’s message to other nations.
I’m not nearly as fearful for Christianity as I am for our Constitutional Republic. Over history, Christianity has shown incredible resolve, but freedom has not.