UK Study: "Spirituality" to Eclipse Christianity

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UK Study: "Spirituality" to Eclipse Christianity in 30 Years

 

 

UK Study: "Spirituality" to Eclipse Christianity in 30 Years

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7-1342587,00.html

 

UNITED KINGDOM, November 4, 2004: "Study after study appears to

prove

that people are increasingly losing faith in the Church and the

Bible

and turning instead to mysticism in guises ranging from astrology

to

reiki and holistic healing," begins this lengthy article. More and

more people describe themselves as "spiritual," fewer as "religious"

and, as they do so, they are turning away from the Christian Church

and looking inwards for the meaning of life. Twice as many people

believe in a "spirit force" within than they do an Almighty God

without, while a recent survey hailed a revival of the Age of

Aquarius after finding that two thirds of 18- to 24-year-olds had

more belief in their horoscopes than in the Bible.

 

Kendal, Cumbria, population 28,000, has been the subject of a

spiritual experiment by Linda Woodhead and Professor Paul Heelas,

both specialist in religion at Lancaster University. They chose the

town to measure the growth of the "holistic milieu" and the decline

of Christian congregational worship. Kendal mirrors the national

statistics with precision: 2,207 people in the town--7.9 percent of

the population--attend church on Sunday while 600--1.6 percent of

the

population of the town and environs--take part in some kind of

holistic activity. During the 1990's when the town's population grew

by 11.4 percent, participation in the "new spirituality" grew by 300

percent.

 

The conclusion of a new book written by Woodhead and Heelas, The

Spiritual Revolution, is dramatic: Christianity will be eclipsed by

spirituality in the country within the next 20 to 30 years.

 

Heelas says, "It's a shift away from (the idea of ) a hierarchical,

all-knowing institution and a move towards (having) the freedom to

grow and develop as a unique person rather than going to church and

being led. A lot of the comfort of religion is in postponement--a

better life after death. But belief in Heaven is collapsing, so

people believe it is more important to know themselves and make

themselves better people now." For the full article, click

on "source" above.