The church will certainly be smaller as all the trends point that way but I'm interested to know why you think it will be more knowledgeable - knowledgeable of what, exactly? - and why it will "probably" have more influence.
OK, as scholarship improves and as we obtain a larger and larger number of older and older documents that the Biblical documents can be compared with (the Dead Sea Scrolls are only one example), so we get a greater understanding of the Bible - and often of the way in which its contents have been abused by the rich and powerful in order to control the masses. We also discover ways in which ancient Jewish thought differed from the way the Jewish leaders of Jesus' times were teaching - for instance the idea that the first 11 chapters of Genesis is no more historical treatment of the early days of earth than the Lord of the Rings.
As for how it will have more influence than the Church today, one only has to look at how change has occurred down the centuries. Small groups of determined and vocal people have impacted dramatically on society throughout history, both recent and not so recent.
Regarding the numbers, whilst the last 90-odd years have seen a proportionate decline in church attendance, there are a couple of complications about this. That decline is based on the figures that existed pre-1st World War. What we don't know is what the figures were a further 90 years before that - when church attendance was compulsory, and even chapel (ie non-conformist) attendance was largely regarded as non-attendance by the authorities.
More importantly, is the figure of believers (as opposed to attendees). We are often told that mid-20th century censuses gave a figure of about 75% of the population who claimed allegiance to the term 'Christian', and that that figure has dropped year on year ever since.
As far as I'm aware, the British Social Attitudes Survey started in 1983 so whilst that gives a pretty good indication of what has happened in that 30+ years since, there is no such data to tell us whether the starting point was a high/low in the first place. We do have some indication that, in South Wales at least, the numbers of believers at the turn of the 20th century was comparatively small (was that common across the rest of the UK?)
We have no way of deciding whether there had been a static proportion of the population as believers (as opposed to attendees) for several centuries followed by a steadly decline through the 20th century as some would like to suggest, or whether the numbers have fluctuated over a period of 2 to 4 generations over those same centuries.
I think that it is probably far too early to claim that Christianity, or religion as a whole, is on its way out permanently. We could yet be told by future scientific research that having a religious belief is a natural human instinct and that those who feel that they can do without one are somehow 'damaged'. Who knows.
