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“The Faith Society”? Quantifying Religious Belonging in E dwardian B ritain, 1901–1914
Author(s) -
Field Clive D.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of religious history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.117
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 1467-9809
pISSN - 0022-4227
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9809.12003
Subject(s) - secularization , faith , scrutiny , attendance , church attendance , religious studies , quarter (canadian coin) , sociology , religious pluralism , pluralism (philosophy) , history , law , political science , theology , philosophy , epistemology , religiosity , archaeology
Historians disagree about how the E dwardian era fits into the jigsaw of secularisation in B ritain. Was it a time of religious crisis ( K eith R obbins, H ugh M c L eod) or a faith society ( C allum B rown)? This article subjects the debate to quantitative scrutiny by examining the available statistics of church attendance and church membership/affiliation for 1901–1914. A mixed picture is reported, with elements of sacralisation and secularisation co‐existing. Although churchgoing was already in relative and absolute decline, one‐quarter of adults (disproportionately women) still worshipped on any given S unday and two‐fifths at least monthly. Moreover, hardly anybody failed to be reached by a rite of passage conducted on religious premises. Only 1 per cent professed no faith and just over one‐half had some reasonably regular and meaningful relationship with organised religion in terms of church membership or adherence. For children, perhaps nine‐tenths attended S unday school, however briefly.