There are now more Catholics attending church in Britain than Anglicans. Meanwhile nontraditional Christian groups are growing in numbers and influence in the United Kingdom. But are all these various brands within Christendom truly based on the teachings of the Judeo-Christian Bible?
by John Ross Schroeder
In the 16th century, King Henry VIII broke away from the Roman Catholic
Church over divorcing Catherine of Aragon, and his subsequent marriage to
Anne Boleyn. The Church of England began shortly afterward, and it grew
in numbers for a very long time.
Fast forward to 2007. In mid February of last year came the astonishing prediction that "Roman Catholicism is set to become the dominant religion in Britain for the first time since the [Protestant] Reformation because of massive migration from Catholic countries across the world" (The Times, Feb. 15, 2007).
Then in late December we saw the headline "Britain: A Catholic Country" (The Sunday Telegraph, Dec. 23, 2007). Former Prime Minister Tony Blair is among the more recent converts.
Traditional Christianity in decline
Yet attendance figures of both these Christian faiths continue to drop (the Anglican by a greater degree) as they have for several decades. Another Sunday Telegraph feature article stated that "attendances are falling at traditional churches" (Dec. 23, 2007). The number of Christian clergy in most denominations has also declined rather sharply in recent times.
But in spite of the aggressive campaigns of militant atheists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, "the percentage of people identifying themselves as atheists remains low at around eight per cent" (Britain in 2008). Another 10 percent consider themselves agnostics. Others merely say that they are not religious. Nonetheless, about 72 percent of the British population still identifies itself as Christian.
A "fuzzy fidelity"
Yet what we are apparently seeing is a sort of "fuzzy fidelity" among the "fuzzy faithful." These are the terms used by Professor David Voas of the Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research in Manchester, England. He talks about a "fuzzy fidelity, an attitude of uncommitted but real interest in God and spiritual matters. Its adherents include half the population of Britain and similar proportions in other European countries.
