Nearly everyone agrees that American Protestantism is in crisis. Once comprising a supermajority in the country that lasted for centuries, Protestants now count less than 40% of Americans as adherents. Many exiting Protestants are part of the nearly 30% of Americans—especially younger ones—who now identify with no religion (the “nones”). Explanations of declining American Protestant fortunes span a broad range in our contemporary moment, from a renewed version of the classic secularization thesis that religion goes private in scientific and pluralistic societies, to the increasing religious pluralism through immigration and the growth of non-Protestant religious communities, to a Charles Taylor-esque focus on the immanent frame and buffered selves, to sociologist Christian Smith’s most recent book on the obsolescence of religion starting essentially with the Millennial generation.
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