Go here to listen to the full length version of Episode Four of my discussion of John Allen’s The Future Church.

In this episode we look at the influence of Islam on the Catholic Church in the 21st century. I was not much interested in this chapter at first, and you may be rather unconcerned or uninterested in Islam, but there are some very interesting angles on Allen’s take. Apart from anything else, this episode includes a brief overview or introduction to contemporary Islam without getting in too deeply.

One of the things I found most interesting was contemplating what might unfold in this century as the next generations of Muslim immigrants settle in Europe and the West. When Catholic immigrants came to the USA, for example, they kept their religion and culture for two or three or four generations, but eventually those links dissolved. Will the same thing happen to Muslim immigrants?

We tend to see Islam as monolithic and demanding and receiving total loyalty, but in fact, there are just as many (proportionally) secular Muslims as there are secular and non practicing Catholics.

This and other issues are discussed in the podcast.

The full length version is here for Donor Subscribers. Go here to listen to the first three episodes: Introduction, World Church and Evangelical Catholicism.

The free, abridged version will be published at BreadBox media tomorrow.

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