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Back The Last Christian
Chapters (58)
  1. Cover
  2. Other Books by This Author
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Prologue
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. 43
  51. 44
  52. 45
  53. 46
  54. 47
  55. 48
  56. 49
  57. 50
  58. Author’s Note

Anderson raised his hand. “But it seems like Christianity in America was thriving in the early part of the century. I mean, I’ve passed some huge buildings that seated tens of thousands of religionists back then.”

I nodded. “Yes, that’s true, but that movement—megachurches, they called them—was the beginning of the end, a last gasp of the Christian religion. Churches got larger in an attempt to appeal more to the masses. They adopted a new marketing strategy, using their gatherings to appeal to outsiders with popular entertainment and practical life helps. But getting back to our main point, that didn’t produce a lifestyle any more distinctive than before, so people ended up seeing through it. They decided that if they wanted to be entertained, they might as well stay home and watch their televisions. That, you may recall, used to constitute entertainment.”

The class laughed.

I accessed the time on the Grid. “Let’s leave it there for today. In our next class we’ll examine the flip side of today’s topic: the impact of Christianity’s demise on the American culture as a whole.”

I switched off my visiscreen. “Now, I’m very pleased to be able to spend the rest of today’s class time with our special guest, whom you met earlier. Abby—”

I glanced over at Abby’s seat.

She was gone.

19

I returned to my office. Abby was sitting in the chair, her helmet on.

She gave me an exasperated look. “I’m sorry. I tried to get back to your classroom, and I ended up on a beach instead.”

“You what?” I stepped over and looked at the helmet. “Oh. The Grid setting on this thing has been changed. Here.” I reset it to my classroom. “This will get you there.” I stepped back. “How was the beach?”

Her eyes grew wide. “Unbelievable. I’ve never been to a beach before.”

“You never…Well, that’s something you’ll have to do here, isn’t it?”

She smiled. “That would be lovely.”

We returned to the class. I pulled a chair up front for Abby to sit on, then turned to the class. “Okay, a slight delay, but everything’s fine now. I’ll begin with a few questions of my own to better acquaint you with Abby, then we’ll get to your questions.”

I asked Abby to explain when and why her family went to Papua New Guinea, how they were cut off from outside contact, what work they had done there, and what had happened to precipitate her coming to the States. Talking about her life in the village, she was poised and confident, and I couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to tour the New Guinea interior with Abby as a guide.