Christian Historian May Have Experienced Life-Saving Miracle. Either Way, It’s Proof Of Something Greater

We hear a lot of doom and gloom in the news these days, but one of the greatest silver linings in recent memory is that young people appear to be returning to Christianity, particularly Catholicism, in droves.

Data has shown that young men are returning to Christianity, slowly but surely, and I have personally heard countless stories about young people, both men and women, returning to the Church or converting in recent years. Vice President J.D. Vance is even releasing a book about his own conversion to Catholicism. Signs are pointing toward a resurgence in Church-going. (RELATED: ‘I Make No Apologies’: JD Vance Spars With Christian Skeptic During Turning Point Event)

✝️🇺🇸 Record number of young people became Catholic at the Easter Vigil in the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, the US https://t.co/VDrEkMAw3l pic.twitter.com/FzXT62XePz

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) April 5, 2026

Several writers and historians have argued that Christianity never fully disappeared in American society and the West. It only took on a new form: liberal secular humanism, the belief system of many a Democrat, with its emphasis on equality, empathy, and human rights for all.

For example, it has been argued that “wokeness” is almost a secular offshoot of Christianity. In the wake of George Floyd’s death in 2020, I remember seeing liberals in my hometown literally kneeling and bowing their heads for Floyd on the town green as if he were a saint or religious icon. Although many of these people would hardly be described as Christian, they were engaging in religious behavior. “Everybody worships,” even the secular and atheist among us, so you’d better worship something that nourishes your soul.

Even WaPo sees it.

Great news!

Happy Easter. pic.twitter.com/e1zejHZwX6

— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) April 5, 2026

One of these writers is historian Tom Holland, whose bestselling book on the history of Christianity, “Dominion,” showed how Christian values are still massively influential in today’s society. Holland is also a recent convert. He was previously an atheist as a child and later an agnostic in adulthood, but he fully converted after suffering a cancer scare that he believes was cured by a miracle.

Holland’s brother connected him with a good doctor who specialized in his type of colon cancer, which certainly helped the prognosis. But Holland still thinks there may have been divine intervention that saved his life.

“It’s a coincidence, but I don’t want to 100 percent say it’s a coincidence,” he told CNN. “I like seeing the shimmering possibility of the supernatural. I love the idea of being in receipt of a Marian miracle.”

Whether he experienced a miracle is beside the point. Holland’s conversion story is still proof that humans crave mystery and authority. They crave wisdom and guidance from a higher power, especially in times of desperate need. Despite all the materialistic trappings of the modern world, they want to nourish their souls with the immaterial, with spirituality.

Liberal humanism, though influenced by Christianity as Holland argues, no longer provides these things. It feels empty, and something empty cannot give people solace in such a chaotic, turbulent world.

But Christianity does. So it’s no wonder young people are coming back to the Church. They need religion, even if they don’t realize it yet.