(July 22, 2023 at 12:54 pm)Angrboda Wrote: Half of Africa is Christian, the other half Muslim. If you can make a compelling argument out of that, I'd be pleasantly surprised. Instead you seem to be simply engaged in cherry picking the hits and ignoring the misses.
Yes, Africa was predominantly polytheistic not long ago. Today, it is mostly monotheistic, from the mostly Christian South to the mostly Muslim North. As for an argument, I'm just looking at demographic trends, the same as Atheists do, when they say, Religion in the West, at least in some places, is declining. That may be true in certain countries, but not in Africa, neither in the world as a whole, which is getting more Religious, not less. See this Guardian Article: "If you think religion belongs to the past and we live in a new age of reason, you need to check out the facts: 84% of the world’s population identifies with a religious group. Members of this demographic are generally younger and produce more children than those who have no religious affiliation, so the world is getting more religious, not less – although there are significant geographical variations." https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/au...ppens-next
If Demography is Destiny, Atheism is doomed, lol.
But speaking of that demographic change in Africa, where Christianity is now greater than 50% of the Continent, follow how it happened, and you might see it couldn't have happened without Miracles accompanying the preaching of the Gospel. Some 1 MN people gave their lives to Christ at one single Reinhard Bonnke Crusade. They did that only because they experienced Miracles shortly before trusting in Christ. Miracles happen. That is reality. That's how Christianity spreads. The extraordinary effect requires an extraordinary cause. St. Thomas Aquinas and St. John Chrysostom, at an earlier time, make a similar argument, for how Christianity grew so large so quickly, starting with but 12 Poor Apostles who had nothing to bring that about except Teaching and Miracles. That they did, and Millions soon became Christian. The extra-ordinary effect of an extra-ordinary cause, in that case, the Resurrection of Christ, and the Miracles of His Apostles. In this case, the Miracles Christ still works today for those who seek Him or are open to His Truth. Africans are devoutly seeking Christ, while some in other parts of the world are not. Hence, they receive such Great Favors from His Goodness as Powerful Miracles, which is what helped 1 Million Souls come to Christ at one Single Crusade; and there have been many such. One can hardly grow from 10 MN to 700 MN in a short time through naturalistic causes; otherwise, let Atheists try the same, lol.
