The Future of the Christian
Church and a Prediction
of its Interaction with
the New Church
Craig W. Bostock
T
he Writings tell us that the Last Judgment in 1757 marked the end of the
Christian Church as “the Lord’s Church” and ushered in the advent of
the “New Church.” We might expect that as a result of the Last Judgment the
Christian Church would decline in numbers and influence and eventually
fade from prominence. However, the Christian Church has maintained its
membership and actually grown in many parts of the world since the Last
Judgment.
This paper will explore this dynamic by considering the trends of
the Christian Church’s population, looking at the history of the churches
that preceded it, and considering what the Writings tell us on the subject.
Perhaps more importantly we will explore the possible interaction of the New
Church with the Christian Church to determine if the two are competitive or
complementary.
Previous Churches after their Last Judgments
In order to project the future of the Christian Church it is probably beneficial
to look at the fate of the previous Churches after their Last Judgments. The
first of the Lord’s Churches is the Most Ancient Church. As described in True
Christian Religion 11: “[I]n the earliest ages of the world revelation existed
everywhere,” thus the Most Ancient Church spread throughout the world.
This article was written for the Master of Arts in Religious Studies program in
Bryn Athyn College.
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