A ”˜sharp decline’ in religious belief has seen the number of people who consider themselves Christian drop to half.
According to a new academic study, an increasing majority are described as the ”˜fuzzy faithful’ who have only a vague belief in God. These do not belong to a particular denomination or attend services.
Nearly 4,500 people were questioned for the 2008 British Social Attitudes survey, which revealed 37 per cent of Britons do not believe in God ”“ compared to 35 per cent who do.
But, but – the Church of England has such superb leadership! How can this be??
From 4,500 to 60 million Britons is quite a breathtaking extrapolation – I would call it a sample rather than a survey. One is probably better off with the periodic Census figures.
In the 2001 Census 71.6% of the population identified as Christian [Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist].
– From the CIA World Factbook:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uk.html
That is not to say that there is not a trend, but this sample is an invitation to look more closely at the issue rather than a definitive result.
Is England really so different from the U.S.? In 2008 it was reported that 90 % of Americans believe in God (in a higher being at least). The book “God is Back” is fascinating on the religious differences between Americans and Europeans and attributes the more positive religious climate here to our freedom from an established church.
http://www.pewtrusts.org/news_room_detail.aspx?id=40668
I think that what we may be seeing here is, paradoxically, a shift from indifference to seriousness. Let me explain: the problem with established churches is that they become a ‘default setting’ ie people name them as ‘their’ church rather as if being Church of England, Church of Scotland, Church of Sweden etc were a birthright rather than an affirmation of faith in Jesus Christ and the historic teachings of the Church. With the social changes that have come over the UK in the last 30 years, the establishment has come to seem almost meaningless. Thus people of little or no faith are prepared to say that they are not Christian, rather than say ‘C of E’. The upside is that when people say they are Christian they are more likely to know what it means, and it is likely to mean a great deal to them. A few decades ago the question ‘Are you a Christian?’ would have baffled my fellow citizens, since they were CofE/CoS etc and what did Christian have to do with it? Now the answer is more likely to be an unambiguous yes – or no.
Did I read that right? 35% believe in God while 50% claim to be Christian? Hmmm, interesting.
Peace,
-ms
pageantmaster: but most people read that census question as asking what cultural group they belonged to – Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, etc. It didn’t ask about belief.
Terry Tee (#4)
I think you make the point very succinctly.
Even if formal disestablishment may a decade or two off, practical disestablishment has been under way since at least 1919 (when the creation of the Church Assembly signaled that internal church affairs would no longer be a matter for debate in the House of Commons – the 1928 Prayer Book excepted).
Both William Temple and Michael Ramsey tried to find new ways to define establishment; both failed. Rowan Williams – whatever else one may think of him – has never ‘believed’ in establishment in that way.