Theistic Belief

Abstract

This chapter considers theistic belief, assessing its areas of change and continuity, both overall and across social and religious groups, and showing that the evidence is generally consistent across the sources and indicators used. Overall, belief in God and the personal salience of God have generally declined over time, as have orthodox expressions about God’s role and disposition. There has been some increase in self-identification as atheist. There are generally consistent differences in terms of which social and religious groups have been more likely to express theistic belief in British society. Finally, the chapter uses contemporary survey data to examine, in a multivariate context, the factors associated with theistic belief.