ABSTRACT
However much some Christians may want to practise ‘the religion of Jesus’, it is not possible to roll back the clock and re-live the lifestyle of the first-century Church in early Palestine, even if we could be sure what it was like. A few restorationist groups have attempted to revive first-century Christianity, but even the Amish, who live in their own distinctive communities, and reject modern technology, drive around in vehicles (albeit horse-drawn ones) and wear clothes that would have been unrecognizable by Jesus’ first disciples. New issues, new scientific discoveries and new ideologies all exert their impact on the Christian faith and necessitate a response. In this final chapter we shall identify a few features of twenty-first-century society-most of which gained impetus in the second half of the previous century-which are most likely to change the face of the Christian faith.
