Does The World Believe In God?

Is Belief In God Doomed?

Are Atheists Taking Over The World?

What Parts Of The World Are Most Vulnerable To Losing Faith In God?

 

Context

Work on this website began in 2017.  What you see is the third generation of content attempting to do two things: 1.) prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that God exists and 2.) do so with scientific facts from experts that are easy to understand and digest.

The original content was sparked by insights from Dr. Douglas Axe’s Undeniable; How Biology Confirms Our Intuition That Life Is Designed, and Antony Flew’s There Is a God: How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind.  Dr. Axe’s work is cited here beginning with this article: Proof That God Created The Protein.   Flew’s is cited in this article: You’re In Good Company.

The mission of this website gained new and supercharged importance and focus in 2018 when the Pew Research Center published a report on the state of Christianity in Western Europe containing what became a widely publicized headline:

“Just 27 percent of adults in Western Europe believe in the God described in the Bible“

The media coverage of that shocking headline created quite a stir.  But, of course, there’s more to the story.  And, of course, there’s the rest of the world to consider.

Combining God of the Bible with another “higher power” that shares the characteristics of God leads to a conclusion that, in reality, 65% of Western Europeans believe in God.  But, as you can see, the Christian angle of the research is obvious.  Perhaps this is warranted considering a majority of Europeans consider themselves Christian as shown in this table:

This is a geographic view of that same point:

What does all this say about the aggregate belief in God in Western Europe?  The low percentage of “other” religions in Western Europe (e.g., Buddhism) allows us to group the “General Population” numbers shown in the first table and state that, on average, at least 65% of the population in Western Europe believe in God.  This conclusion generally aligns with percentages shown in the second table above.  You can see the country-specific breakdown for the belief in God here.

However, the important implication from this data is that one in three Western Europeans doesn’t believe in God.  This is quite troubling!

As a result, it’s never been more important to promote websites and content such as that presented throughout this website.  Popular media and other flawed sources corrupt people with propaganda and hyperbole.  It’s important that everyone has a chance to review the facts proving God’s existence so they can make up their own minds.

 

Belief In God Is Much Stronger In Eastern and Central Europe

A significant majority of people in Eastern and Central Europe believe in God – far higher than those in Western Europe.  Here are results from a Pew Research Center 2017 study, “Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe”:

For reference, here’s the religious affiliation across those countries:

The Czech Republic is an interesting outlier in both figures considering its proximity to other countries with significantly higher percentages.

You can see the full research report from the Pew Research Center here.

 

Belief In God Is Strong In The US But The Trend Is Not So Good

80% of people in the US believe in God with an additional 9% believing in a “higher power/spiritual force” that might resemble a belief in God.  Here’s the breakdown from another Pew Research Center 2018 Study, “When Americans Say They Believe in God, What Do They Mean?“

80% is significantly more than in Western Europe but generally less that the percentage found in many central and eastern European countries.  However, that level of belief is falling.  Here’s some trend info from Pew Research’s study “Religious Landscape Study: Belief In God“:

As you can see, those who specifically don’t believe in God has risen from 5% in 2007, to 9% in 2014 to 10% in 2017.  A troubling trend.  Perhaps the material in this website can help stop this trend as well as provide support for those who believe but have doubts.

You can see the full Pew reports here and here, respectively.

 

Belief in God Is Strong In Other Parts Of The World

Research focusing specifically on belief in God is less available for other countries around the world.  However, we can use solid research into parallel topics as a very good proxy.  In 2015, the Pew Research Center published this content documenting the importance of religion in people’s lives:

As you can see, respondents in many African, Asian and the Middle Eastern countries rely heavily on their religions.  Most people in those countries are either Christian or Muslim so this represents a good proxy for belief in God and can be compared to US and European data.  Some Latin American countries are also strong here.

The US is a clear outlier, as noted in the title of the graph, but so is China.  Perhaps different religious views and/or decades of religious persecution have had an impact there.  You can read the full report here.

 

This is another interesting perspective on the forecast for religions as predicted by the Pew Research Center in 2015:

Here’s some tabular data if you’re interested in the forecast numbers:

You can read the full report here

 

Atheism Remains Small But The Trend Is Not Good

Finally, let’s take a look at the opposite end of the spectrum.  As noted above, 10% of the US population doesn’t believe in God.  However, in a 2018/2019 Pew Research Center survey, only 4% of respondents labeled themselves as atheist, up from 2% in 2009, while 5% identified themselves as agnostic.  The difference being atheists explicitly don’t believe in God nor any other divine being whereas agnostics neither believe nor disbelieve in a god; the concept of God is generally not relevant to them at all.

You can read the full report here.

That same report also includes these insights about US atheists:

In the U.S., atheists are mostly men and are relatively young, according to the 2014 Religious Landscape Study. About seven-in-ten U.S. atheists are men (68%). The median age for atheists is 34, compared with 46 for all U.S. adults. Atheists also are more likely to be white (78% vs. 66% of the general public) and highly educated: About four-in-ten atheists (43%) have a college degree, compared with 27% of the general public. Self-identified atheists also tend to be aligned with the Democratic Party and with political liberalism.

 

Here’s a view of European atheists from the same Pew Research Center report”:

Note the high percentages in the Western Nordic countries, France, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands and especially the Czech Republic – as expected and aligned with the findings above.

A couple of key conclusions from this material on atheism are:

• There’s a troubling trend of increasing atheism in the US
• High levels of atheism in some Western European countries likely indicate a similar trend

As a result, it’s never been more important to promote websites and content such as that presented throughout this website.  Popular media and other flawed sources corrupt people with propaganda and hyperbole.  It’s important that everyone has a chance to review the facts proving God’s existence so they can make up their own minds.

You can start reviewing those facts here: https://thesearchforgod.org

Conclusion

• Faith in God is strong in most countries throughout the World except China and some in Western Europe
  • According to the Pew Research Center, faith in God is primarily based in Christianity and Islam but also includes the Hindu definition
• However, there’s a troubling trend of growth of atheism and agnosticism – especially among young, white, educated men
• It’s never been more important to promote websites and content such as that presented here – throughout this website
  • The content here should alleviate doubts and concerns and provide comfort that your faith in God is based on tangible facts
  • Popular media and other flawed sources corrupt others with propaganda and hyperbole.  It’s important that everyone has a chance to review the facts proving God’s existence so they can make up their own minds
• Get the facts proving God exists, God created the universe and God created life starting here: https://thesearchforgod.org