Since 2008, when I began compiling an annual list of important theology stories, Christianity has been receding across the West. And while many years include some glimmer of hope, generally the outlook has been dim. News journalism, with its bias toward negativity, could be to blame. A great recession and global pandemic didn’t help. Neither did the ubiquitous adoption of smartphones, which gave rise to an anxious generation. For the first time, 16 years later, it feels like something has shifted. This noticeable new mood is not always Christian, as we see in growing acceptance of assisted suicide and abortion. It’s not always concrete. And it’s not primarily political. It’s more like unexpected doors opening for Christian engagement and evangelism. Consider a few examples: Last year, I noted that October 7 was a turning point, as the “identity synthesis” lost its grip on a public that refused to justify terrorist attacks on Israel. By the end of 2024, even the University of Michigan had dropped its demands for diversity (DEI) statements from faculty, a practice that has weeded out many Christian academics. After years of relativism, the categories of good and evil returned. Morality snapped back to reality as we debate the proper course of action with Israel at war against Iran’s proxies in Gaza and elsewhere, Russia grinding down the defenses in Ukraine, rebels taking down Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria, and China threatening to instigate world war by invading Taiwan. Following years of feminist objections, J. K. Rowling broke the transgender spell as she defied a new hate-crime law in Scotland that would target orthodox Christians. Legacy and mainstream media, with their reflexive skepticism toward Christian beliefs, were strong enough to help push Joe Biden out of the presidential campaign after a disastrous summer debate. But they lost control of public discourse, replaced by podcasts reaching tens of millions by talking about everything from UFOs to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So far, surveys haven’t turned up any signs of younger generations flocking to church in, say, secular Sweden. And I don’t sense this trend is the major cause, or effect, of an election that once again elevated a president overwhelmingly supported by American evangelicals (and more ethnic minorities than any other Republican nominee in decades). It could be nothing more than a vibe, a slightly coherent sense that Christianity has become so transgressive in Western culture that it’s on the verge of cool for the first time since a similarly tumultuous period, the 1960s. All I know for sure is that the kind of rebellious, anti-institutional voices I expected to trash Christianity in 2008 now show openness to hearing and discussing and debating the gospel and its implications for life. I don’t know what the future holds. But 2024 brought many surprises, some of them welcome for the church. Regardless of how people receive Jesus, our calling remains the same: “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2). The gospel will never be accepted by all. But, if the Lord wills, it may be accepted by more these days, even as others continue in their hostility. Remember, “We are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life” (2 Cor. 2:15–16). The gospel will never be accepted by all. But, if the Lord wills, it may be accepted by more these days. Wherever the cultural winds are blowing, thanks to the Lord, we can be “steadfast, immovable” (1 Cor. 15:58). So don’t be anxious about the news as you read this annual retrospective, where I attempt to discern the top theology stories of the year. As always, I write from the vantage point of an American who subscribes to The Gospel Coalition’s confessional statement. Your list will differ, but together we give thanks whenever the gospel bears fruit and increases in the world (Col. 1:6). 10. Bible sales spike. American election anxiety and niche marketing can’t by themselves explain a 22 percent increase in Bible sales during 2024. Most encouraging, it’s not just long-time Christians adding more collector editions. It’s easier than ever for first-time buyers to encounter the Scriptures through podcasts with high-quality narrators. Also of note was the English Standard Version reaching #1 on the translation bestseller list in October. 9. Demographic collapse triggers national debate. It’s not news that fertility is declining rapidly in almost every country around the world. But in 2024, this civilizational collapse—the greatest demographic shift since the bubonic plague in the 1300s—finally became a widespread point of discussion. Vice president–elect JD Vance and his young family drew attention to ways parenting has become more difficult. But no one seems to know how to cure the modern malaise of individualism that inhibits marriage and child-rearing. The challenge for churches will be discipling larger single populations with theology that values singleness, from young to old, while still helping families cut against the grain of modern life. 8. Mainline decline heightens need for Global South leadership. The deadline to leave the United Methodist Church (UMC) was December 31, 2023. So in 2024, the cost was revealed for the mainline denomination joining others in affirming same-sex marriage. Nearly 8,000 UMC churches—26 percent of the total—left for the newly formed Global Methodist Church or closed. Heedless of further fracturing of the global Anglican Communion, archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby likewise abandoned his church’s orthodox stance on sexuality, shortly before he resigned for participating in a cover-up of sexual abuse. The Fourth Lausanne Congress, held this year in South Korea, facilitated more than 50 years of handoff from global church leaders mostly in the West to places such as East Africa, where birth rates continue to rise alongside more orthodox Christian faith. 7. Assisted suicide advances in the United Kingdom. It’s not yet certain if the United Kingdom will permit assisted suicide as some other European countries and American states already do. So far Parliament hasn’t been scared off by the growing popularity of the practice in Canada, where by 2022 more than 4 percent of deaths were aided by physicians. Much debate has focused on individual autonomy and the right to die. Journalist Andy Crouch cut through the misleading rhetoric: “You will have ‘the right to die’ for approximately 15 minutes before you start to feel ‘the obligation to die,’ which will be approximately 15 minutes before you are informed that (for the greater good, to be sure) you are ‘required to die.’” For the modern West, a bigger question is at stake: Why bother to live if humans are no different from other creatures? 6. Amid IVF backlash, GOP becomes pro-choice. Popular opposition to a surprising decision by the Alabama Supreme Court to consider embryos as children helped lead the GOP toward abandoning pro-life convictions, a likely outcome since the 2022 Dobbs decision. Anti-abortion activists salvaged a few restrictions in November amid a recent increase in surgical abortions and extremism from the Democratic Party. So far, Donald Trump has mostly evaded public criticism from pro-life groups, even as he changed the GOP platform and nominated the pro-choice Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services (a department with significant oversight on abortion practices and policies). Churches should prepare to counsel more women confused by why they can’t forgive themselves for abortions in their past. 5. Theological educators seek foothold amid overall slide in student enrollment. The looming demographic decline, along with lower Christian affiliation among millennials, has long spooked theological educators. Pressures related to race and sexuality in the last decade have further strained big-tent evangelical schools that depend on recruiting new students, often recommended by alumni. Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary recommitted to on-campus education thanks to proceeds from real estate sales. The president of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School resigned as school leaders recommitted to their affiliation with the Evangelical Free Church. Facing its own financial headwinds, Fuller Theological Seminary seems headed in the opposite direction as it reconsiders its previous sexuality standards. Fuller professor Christopher Hays joined his father, Richard (retired from Duke Divinity School), in authoring a book that suggests God has changed his mind. Meanwhile, ongoing enrollment growth can be found in Southern Baptist schools upholding historic orthodoxy. 4. Paris flaunts post-Christian buffet before Notre-Dame Cathedral reopens. Few events can still elicit truly viral engagement on fractured social media. The Paris Olympics gave us two. Algerian boxer Imane Khelif confused everyone on the way to a gold medal by dominating the undermanned female competition. And the opening ceremonies launched a million hot takes and even hotter rebuttals over the Last Supper parody, the latest sign of a decadent Western culture that can tear down the past but can’t generate a vision for the future. Mockery, though, at least indicates France cares about religion and hasn’t lost all its Christian memory. And if you’re apathetic and forgetful about religion, you probably don’t go to such great lengths to rebuild one of the best-known cathedrals in the world only five years after we thought Notre-Dame might disappear forever in the flames. 3. Cass Review tells the truth about transgender treatments. I asked a cultural commentator why the report led in the United Kingdom by Hilary Cass, “the largest review ever undertaken in the field of transgender health,” barely registered in the United States. Easy answer, turns out: because U.S. hospitals and doctors backed by the Biden administration make a lot of money on these so-called treatments, despite their ineffectiveness. This month, the U.S. Supreme Court took up a challenge to Tennessee’s ban on some procedures for minors and will rule in June. Expect court cases to mount as parents become more aware of dangers associated with gender transition and flee public schools where administrators and teachers conceal these irreversible treatments. Church leaders can help by studying and teaching theological anthropology. 2. Gen Z shows signs of spiritual revival. Around 2016, young women began taking more progressive views on subjects such as abortion, leaving churches and challenging them to bridge a growing gender divide. Then in 2024, for the first time since pollsters began asking, men identified as more religious than women. Or at least they did in Gen Z, where the church offers refuge from rampant gender confusion. Consider that more than 14,000 young adults signed up for Cross Con. Or hear the prominent Christian testimonies alongside mass baptisms on college campuses, and you can sense the rumblings of revival. Gen Z has borne the consequences of pandemic closures and therapy influencers, so it makes sense they’d also benefit from the church’s efforts to foster resilience through catechesis and spiritual formation. 1. Trump wins presidential election. With Donald Trump retaking the White House in November, “What if” questions abound considering how close he came to assassination in July. Has he been spared to do good? As with all other leaders, we pray he will not be a terror to good conduct but to bad (Rom. 13:3). The Lord prescribes that “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Tim. 2:1–2). Our theology of providence reminds us to thank God for the good he allows and the evil he restrains. And it tells us that God’s purposes—whether in blessing or judgment—aren’t always evident in the moment, or even in our lifetime.