The Post-war Generation And The Establishment Of Religion by Jackson W Carroll

Author:Jackson W Carroll [Carroll, Jackson W]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, General, Sociology
ISBN: 9780429975578
Google: iQlQDwAAQBAJ
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Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2018-03-08T00:00:00+00:00

* For 1982, "Once a week or more."

Source: 1966 and 1979 (Goddijn et al. 1979:132); 1982 (Doom and Bommelje 1983:85).

The Erosion of Traditional Beliefs

Orthodoxy, as indicated by beliefs in a personal God, in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and in the hereafter, has decreased steadily in the Netherlands, at least since the 1960s. As can be seen in Table 6.3 it has declined for all three confessional groups. Declines for the Neo-Calvirtists, however, have been minimal. Their faith appears relatively unshaken during a period when Catholics fell away from orthodoxy significantly.

For Catholics, and to a lesser extent for the Netherlands Reformed, the major change over time in regard to God is from belief in a personal God to belief in a higher power. This increasing ambiguity of definition is also evident in regard to belief in Christ and, to a lesser extent, belief in the hereafter. It could mark a transitional phase between belief and unbelief. But it could also reveal a reformulation of traditional beliefs—e.g., the recent interest in so-called process theology among Catholics.

It is apparent that the churches have been losing members rather rapidly over the last decades. This applies especially to the Roman Catholic church. For the Netherlands Reformed church it is no more than a continuation of a longstanding trend. The Neo-Calvinists "lag behind" in this respect. Participation in church life has also decreased, again with the Neo-Calvinists least affected. In the area of orthodoxy, the trend is similar. The Neo-Calvinists are the most orthodox group while the Roman Catholics and the Netherlands Reformed are on the less orthodox side of the spectrum.

TABLE 6.3: Religious Beliefs, 1966 -1979

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