Topic 3 Secularisation

What is secularisation?

decline of religion in society

Crockett estimate about church attendance in 1851?

1851, 40% or more of the adult population in Britain attended church on Sundays.

signs of religious decline in the UK?

falling church attendance, an older average age of churchgoers, fewer baptisms and church weddings, fewer traditional Christian beliefs, and greater religious diversity.

What did Wilson say happened to church attendance in England and Wales

church attendance fell from around 40% in the mid-19th century to around 10–15% by the 1960s.

By 2020, what percentage of adults attended church on Sundays?

about 4% of the adult population attended church on Sundays.

What has happened to bogus baptism?

has decreased.

What has happened to religious affiliation in Britain?

went from 1/3 to 1/5

Why has the number of Muslims increased?

immigration and higher birth rates.

How has the influence of religion as a social institution decreased?

state has taken over functions that the Church used to perform.

What happened to the number of clergy?

fell from around 45,000 to 34,000.

What happened to Sunday school attendance

Sunday school attendance declined from 1.6 million in 1960 to 0.8 million in 2013.

What happened to church weddings?

Church weddings declined from around 60% in 1971 to around 30% in 2021.

Linda Woodhead say about clergy?

lack of clergy in communities shows the reduced influence of churches.

What does Steve Bruce predict about the Church?

Bruce argues that if current trends continue, the Church may fold around 2030.

What is modernisation?

decline of traditional ways of life and their replacement with modern, urban and rational ways of living.

How does industrialisation cause secularisation?

Industrialisation breaks up small communities that were once held together by shared religious beliefs.

What is rationalisation?

process where rational, scientific thinking replaces religious thinking.

How did the Protestant Reformation change Christianity?

It created new Christian groups and weakened the authority of the Catholic Church.

How did Protestantism encourage disenchantment

It removed magical religious explanations and encouraged people to understand the world through rational thought.

What is disenchantment?

Disenchantment is the loss of magical and religious ways of thinking

What does Bruce mean by the technological worldview?

Bruce argues that people increasingly turn to science, technology and rational problem-solving to explain the world.

What is structural differentiation- Parsons

society becomes more complex and different institutions take over roles that religion once performed.

Bruce- privatisation

argues that religion has become confined to the private sphere of the home and family.

What does Berger argue about religious diversity?

sacred canopy → Protestant Reformation → weakened canopy → plausibiloty structure → crisis of credibility

How did Berger later criticise his own view

argued that diversity and choice can stimulate interest and participation in religion.

What two counter-trends does Bruce identify?

cultural defence and cultural transition.

cultural defence?

Cultural defence is when religion provides a focal point for defending ethnic or national identity.

cultural transition?

when religion provides support and community for ethnic groups moving into a new society.

criticism to secularisation theory

• spiritual shopping

• beliving without belonging

• converts/pilgrims

• cultural defence

• religious fundamentalism

• online religion

Herberg- internal secularisation

Religions adapt to modern society to avoid becoming outdated or irrelevant.

e.g of internal secularisation

In 2015, the Church of England voted to allow women bishops. → shows the Church adapting to modern values, especially gender equality.

What did Wilson find about American church attendance in 1962?

1962, around 45% of Americans said they attended church on Sundays.

Why did Wilson still see America as secular?

religion in America had become superficial, with people attending church for social reasons such as meeting friends.

What do opinion polls suggest about American church attendance?

Opinion polls suggest about 40% of Americans attend church.

What did Hadaway find about the 40% church attendance figure?

Hadaway found that the 40% figure did not match churches’ own attendance statistics, suggesting people exaggerated attendance.