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Research

Is Christianity dying out?

Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme

Research Summary

There is growing evidence that Western societies are becoming less religious, though a ‘core’ of religious believers remains. But to what extent are remaining Protestants more religious than before, and compared with remaining Catholics? Analyzing survey data from 1985 to 2012 in the US, Canada, and Great Britain, the researcher finds that, in most cases, Protestant affiliation has declined more significantly than Catholic affiliation. Yet, individuals who declare themselves as belonging to a Protestant denomination have higher rates of regular service attendance, prayer, and Christian beliefs than those previously. They have also surpassed these same rates among Catholics in both the US and Canada and are on track to do so in Britain in the coming years. The research is of interest and use to RE teachers who teach about contemporary Christianity or deal with pupils’ questions about the ‘dying out’ of Christianity or religion – it provides data that show how complex the issue is.

Researcher

Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme

Research Institution

University of Waterloo, Canada

What is this about?

Within the general trend (backed by evidence) that Western societies are becoming less religious:

  • To what extent are those who remain Protestant more religious than before?
  • To what extent are those who remain Protestant more religious than those who remain Catholic?
  • What answers are suggested to these questions by data collected in the USA, Canada and Britain?

What was done?

Large national annual data sets from 1985 to 2012 were analysed: the 1985–2012 American (US GSS) and Canadian General Social Surveys (CAN GSS) as well as the British Social Attitudes Surveys (BSA). These provide indications of levels of religious belief and practice.

Main findings and outputs

  • Numbers of people identifying as Protestant have declined more than those identifying as Catholic: e.g. a decline of 28.8% among Protestants in Great Britain, compared with 17.9% among Catholics over 1985–2012.
  • Those remaining Protestant have seen an increase in levels of church attendance and prayer, especially compared to remaining Catholics.
  • Fewer remain affiliated to Protestantism, but those who do are more practising. Consider Quebec: In 1965, 90% of this Canadian province’s residents identified themselves as Catholics and 87% attended mass at least once a week; in 2012, 77% still identified with Catholicism, but only 12% declared that they attended mass at least once a week; 47% declared that they never attended religious services.
  • Something makes non-practising Catholics hold on to their religious identities, in ties that remain for a long period. However, fewer parents attending church and bring children to mass, so this may not last.
  • Regarding beliefs, however, increasing levels of believing are found amongst those who remain Protestant or Catholic. Levels of Christian beliefs have increased among both religious groups in the USA and Great Britain between 1991 and 2008 (beliefs in God, in life after death, in Heaven, in Hell, and in miracles).
  • Traditional thinking which sees Catholics as more religious as Protestants should be re-considered. General religious decline is changing the picture: in the UK, religious believers are a diverse minority (just under 50% in 2009), differing from the majority who are removed from religion.

Relevance to RE

There are different ways in which this research is relevant to RE pedagogy. Firstly, in dealing directly with the issues – when teaching courses or lessons about Christianity in the contemporary world – teachers may wish to use the data as content. If so, colleagued would be well advised to read the original article in its entirety, as only ‘headline findings’ have been presented here and the original data set and analysis are extremely rich and interesting. Secondly, the data open up questions about the nature of religion and Christianity that could be explored with pupils: why might people hang on to their religious identities even if belief and practice have faded? What does it mean to be religious (might this mean different things)? Why might those who continue to believe and practice do so more strenuously, as a minority in society? Finally, if the researcher is right to suggest that the gap between the non-religious majority and the religious minority is increasing, teachers ought to assume less background knowledge about religion within the majority, even less readiness to engage. Explanation may need to begin from further back and bridges to understanding built more patiently.

Generalisability and potential limitations

The data are characterised by high levels of generalisability and reliability (large sets, finding common trends in different countries and distinct trends over time).

Find out more

Protestant and Catholic Distinctions in Secularization, Journal of Contemporary Religion 31.2 pages 165-180 (published online 6 May 2016), 10.1080/13537903.2016.1152660

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13537903.2016.1152660

 

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