Christchurch Parish News, July 2018
A new report reveals striking insights into the range of different beliefs within any UK church. What does this mean for us?
On any given Sunday, there are on average about 350 people in total worshipping at the Priory, St. George’s and St. John’s. Would you be surprised if it were shown to be the case that more than one third of those of who come to worship—that’s about 130 people— ‘do not believe in God as described in the Bible but do believe there is some other higher power or spiritual force in the universe’? If the recent research published by the Pew Research Center in May 2018 is accurate, then this could well be the case.
The report is entitled ‘Being Christian in Western Europe’. It’s freely available online and makes for fascinating reading. The Pew Research Center has a great track record for all sorts of analysis, normally focussing on North America. But on this occasion they’ve turned their attention to Western Europe and asked a host of detailed questions, ones that normally don’t get asked, especially in our more reserved part of the world.
To take the example I began with, which you can find in Section 4 of the report, it turns out that people who go to church regularly don’t all believe in God in the way God is described in the Bible. The question is simple: ‘Which of these statements comes closer to your own views?’ There are four options to choose from: (1) “I believe in God as described in the Bible”; (2) “I DO NOT believe in God as described in the Bible, but I do believe there is some other higher power or spiritual force in the universe”; (3) “Other/Both/Neither/ Depends”; and (4) “Don’t know”’.
Obviously, there’s huge scope here but when someone answers (2)—and remember, this person has already by this stage of the questionnaire self-identified as Christian and a regular churchgoer (meaning they go to church at least once a month, so not just at Christmas or Easter)—he or she is saying that the way the Bible reveals God in the story of Israel and Jesus is not how they understand things.
To know that there are a few people who think this in any given congregation would come as no great surprise. But in the UK, amongst church-going Christians, the research shows that this figure is 37%! In other Western European countries, the figure is much higher. For example, in Denmark it is 47%. The median average for Western Europe as a whole for this particular question, is 32%. It’s very thought provoking—not least for someone who leads a Bible study and frequently writes about the Scriptures!
Let’s step back a moment. The research divides people into four groups: 1) ‘Church-attending Christians’— these are people who self-identify as Christians and who worship frequently (at least once a month; 2) ‘Non- practising Christians’, those who self-identify as Christians but who worship in a church infrequently— Christmas and Easter, the occasional wedding or baptism; 3) ‘Religiously unaffiliated’, those who do not self-identify as Christian; and 4) ‘Other Religion / don’t know’.
To summarise the findings to this particular question: among ‘Church-going Christians’, 57% do ‘believe in God as described in the Bible’, whereas 37% ‘do not believe in God as described in the Bible, but do believe there is some other higher power or spiritual force in the universe’.
Among ‘Non-practising Christians’, 32% do ‘believe in God as described in the Bible’, whereas 42% ‘do not believe in God as described in the Bible, but do believe there is some other higher power or spiritual force in the universe’. To be clear, this group doesn’t comprise those of other religions. It’s just those who self-identify as Christian.
So amongst those who don’t ‘believe in God as described in the Bible but do believe there is some other higher power or spiritual force in the universe’, there’s only a 5% difference between ‘Church-going Christians’ (37%) and ‘Non-practising Christians’ (42%).
What to make of this particular finding? The key thing that strikes me is that this research shows that under the surface there is a much fuzzier boundary between Christians who worship frequently and those who only come along only maybe once or twice a year. The picture the research paints is much more complex.
It is not one where those who do worship frequently are therefore totally orthodox in all their beliefs. After all, not believing in God as described in the Bible is hardly an orthodox position! And yet, if the research is accurate, it is the case that 37% of those who self-identify as Christians and do worship frequently, do in fact hold a plurality of alternative, non-Biblical beliefs about God.
In other words, it’s not black and white. Quite the contrary, the research shows that many who don’t come along to church frequently, do indeed understand God as described in the Bible. They just choose not to come to church all that often! In fact, it’s as significant a percentage: 32%. That’s as nearly as significant a percentage, 37%, as those Church-attending Christians who don’t believe in God as described in the Bible.
This suggests what many of us know to be the case anyway—namely, that there’s a huge variety of reasons other than basic beliefs about God for becoming part of a worshipping community like the Priory, St. George’s, or St. John’s.
To take the Priory as an example, it might be a love of the choral tradition that has brought someone into the church community. A person’s faith may have changed over the years and become less traditional in some senses, but their love of the music remains and they value it highly.
Equally, it may be the music that has absorbed them from the moment they first heard it and whilst not yet entirely convinced by some of the beliefs about God articulated in the liturgy, several years have gone by and they find themselves thinking of themselves quite clearly, in a way that wasn’t the case before, as Christian—albeit as a Christian that doesn’t believe in God as described in the Bible.
Alternatively, it could be because of a love of the Priory building itself, its magnificent architecture and a deep desire to see it preserved and handed on to the next generation in good condition, that someone becomes part of the community.
There are many other possible reasons. But the key thing is that it’s not just the doctrinal beliefs that bring people to become part of the worshipping community. As such, it’s only to be expected if people bring their different, non-orthodox beliefs with them. Even if they do then proceed to keep these beliefs under wraps.
The research would suggest that we should expect such a plurality of beliefs to be the case both within the active worshipping community and amongst those who are less frequent in attendance.
Given that there is this plurality within the church, rather than it be written out of the story, better instead to acknowledge its reality and explore what the Holy Spirit is up to. For example, to know that within this community there is this plurality of ways of understanding God may offer those on the edges of the church the very encouragement they need: namely, that they don’t actually need to sign up to every doctrine before they start to come along more frequently and gently slip into the rhythm of more regular worship (what’s called ‘belonging before believing’).
The plurality both within and beyond the church suggests that we actually have a very fuzzy, highly porous border rather than a clearly delineated hard and fast one. This is in keeping with the fact that we don’t have a membership list or a statement of faith that has to be signed before joining, for there is no ‘joining’! It’s one of the key ways that we are a parish church, for a specific area, where everyone is always welcome and there is space for all.
Naturally, there can be some uneasiness when acknowledging that there is such a variety both within and beyond the church amongst those who identify as Christians. After all, if the percentages were switched round, and it came to be that the majority of church-attending Christians ceased to believe in God as described in the Bible, it would be reasonable to expect the practices of the church to change over time. Would the minority that still did believe in God as described in the Bible (revealed, as the tradition would say) actually stick around? Would the Bible continue to be read in our acts of gathered worship? And if it wasn’t, in what way would this really be less an act of Christian worship, than a liturgical husk shaped by an inherited but no longer subscribed to set of beliefs?
But that’s a rather negative scenario. The more hopeful way of looking at this is to say, yes, there are these pluralities of belief but that’s only to be expected. What’s essential is that we are all on a journey, or a pilgrimage as it used to be said. And our journey is into Christ, for He is our centre.
If you find yourself reading this article thinking, ‘I certainly believe in God as described in the Bible. How could anyone describe themselves as Christian who didn’t?’, then think back to your own journey of faith. Have you always known God the way you do now? Have you always felt as close to the Lord as you do now? Hopefully, over the years of your discipleship, the Spirit has brought you closer to Christ.
Maybe, however, even though you do believe in God as described in the Bible, at the moment you’re feeling somewhat removed from God, not as close as you used to feel. Again, this is all perfectly normal (and if this is the case for you right now, be reassured that as St Augustine says, God is always closer to us than we are to ourselves, no matter how we might feel).
But we do experience differing degrees of proximity to God and there is movement and change in the degree of proximity that we feel over time.
On the other hand, those of us who don’t believe in God as described in the Bible but who do identify as Christians, may look on those who do believe in the biblical God with quiet bafflement. But in reality we are are simply at different stages of the journey, one that from start to finish is in God’s hands.
Our routes may be different but our destination in Christ is the same. And it’s a journey that we learn to make together.
I do recommend you take a look at the report by the Pew Research Foundation. I’ve just focussed on one single question out of the many that it features. It really does make for a striking read, especially as it’s not just facts and figures. There’s also lot of qualitative research that’s come from focus groups that have been conducted throughout all the participant countries, where you can read various revealing short interviews and anecdotes from Christians across Western Europe as well as the UK. As you read it, try asking yourself the same questions that were asked of the respondents. And if you’re feeling bold, ask your neighbour in church, too. Or even your neighbours outside church. The answers just might surprise you.
(Pew Research Center, May 29, 2018, ‘Being Christian in Western Europe’ can be downloaded as a PDF.)