by Rod D. Martin
December 4, 2018

There is a lie, frequently told by preachers and other Christians (however unintentionally), that “the divorce rate is the same inside and outside the church”.

While intended to convict, what this really says — to countless struggling spouses hoping to save a troubled family — that there’s no hope in the church, when if fact, that’s statistically ludicrously false.

I’ve shown you how that’s not true before. But here is a new Harvard study showing that religious practice (not mere affiliation, actual practice) reduces divorce rates by 50%. Which is exactly what I’ve shown you previously.

It’s important we get these things right. Self-deprecation is not real humility: all we’re doing when we indulge such lies is convincing those who might seek help in Christ and in His church that there’s no help to be had. We aren’t convicting the faithful with such preaching: we are deceiving and demoralizing those in need, and “it would be better to have a millstone hung around our necks and be tossed into the sea” than to cause one of those seeking souls to stumble.

See journal article and press release here.

— Religious Service Attendance originally appeared as a Facebook post by Rod D. Martin.