I have commented on this before and while the data are obvious, the opinions of many who are absolute in their claim to orthodoxy are prone to disagree. Orthodoxy is an inconsistent social phenomenon and is not some divinely revealed dictate of belief and so, orthodoxy is an uneven and fractious systemic understanding God in relation to human beings in different sub-groups of a prevailing culture. Orthodoxy is multiple and never some singular phenomenon as is clear from data collected in studies of fundamentalists and "conservative" Christians.
This is also true for the assertion that every younger generation is becoming more "liberal" on the way to secularism. While this was indeed something that H.R. Niebuhr argued, and while it seems to be theoretically intuitive, it is really much more difficult to predict.
It is significant that the conclusions from studies conducted at different times and those from comparing age groups within recent surveys are the same. In neither case, does it appear that young adults are less orthodox in their beliefs than they were in the past or than people are now who were young in the past. Nor is there evidence that people with nonorthodox beliefs have become more secular, at least in their views about the Bible (Wuthnow, 2007, p. 101).
Next time you hear someone saying that Christianity continues to become less orthodox, ask them what they mean and how they came to that conclusion. Someone gave them that assertion and it is false. Orthodoxy is far more flexible than orthodox Christians want to accept. What they do is build up a myth of orthodoxy in which they find maximal comfort and security. What they do not realize is that they have constructed one instance of orthodoxy that works for them, and perhaps not everyone else who would describe their beliefs as orthodox. So is it possible to have multiple strands of orthodoxy all working at the same time? I think the answer must be "yes" given that there is not now, nor has there ever been in the history of any religion one "orthodoxy" to which all the people consented willingly.
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