Scottish Christian.com

Home > News > Scottish Christian News Monitor

Britons losing religious beliefs

Almost half of Britons doubt the existence of God or are confirmed atheists, research has found.

The think-tank, Theos, has found that most of those who say they are Christians do not practise their religion. And as the country's supermarkets fill up with chocolate eggs, it appears that many do not believe in the fundamentals of the Easter story.

The Church of Scotland claimed the sample north of the Border was too small to draw conclusions.

However, Fred Drummond, the Evangelical Alliance's national director for Scotland, said he thought it was "a fair reflection of the nation" and that society was becoming increasingly spiritual but not necessarily religious.

He said: "It's encouraging that churches are much more open to looking for some meaning to life, but not always equating that to Christian faith.

"It's a general discussion about spirituality and spiritual life, and it must be more than what we have at present, but it doesn't necessarily relate to a firm belief in religion."

Professor Larry Hurtado, of Glasgow University's school of divinity, said religion had gone through phases of popularity, with atheism common in the 17th century, followed by a major resurgence of faith in the 19th century.

"Now we seem to be heading back into another trough period," he said.

"Among the chattering classes, religion is passé, except for getting your kid done or getting a church when you want to get wedded, but in other areas of society you'll find fairly significant pockets of quite intensive religious faith and activity."

A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland said: "In reality twice as many Scots go to Church each weekend as go to the cinema, and five times as many as attend a football match."

He said that each week an average of 600,000 attended church, of whom 200,000 were Catholic.

Full story at The Scotsman.