Britain's Religious Demise

The results of the 2011 census were published recently and show that in the 10 years since the last census in England and Wales, 13 percent fewer people claim to be Christians. Fewer than three in five people (59 percent) still declare their commitment to traditional Christian beliefs.

Why?

Could it be that Islam is drawing Christians into its orbit? Not really. Although 40,000 Britons have converted to Islam in the last ten years (see Mail Online, 5 January, 2011) that is a small number compared to the seven million English and Welsh who have opted out of religious belief altogether during the same period. The fact is, many people have simply given up on religion completely—and now declare themselves to be atheists or agnostics.

The exposure of paedophilia within the priesthood has caused many to become disillusioned with the Church. And although this scourge has been found primarily within the Roman Catholic clergy, Protestants have not escaped the disillusionment of the general population either. These churches have lost out because of their acceptance of practising homosexual ministers and the approval of same-sex marriages.

A study conducted over the past ten years by the Henry Jackson Society revealed the decline of the Anglican Church as the country’s main religious voice (Daily Telegraph, December 30, 2012). The census figures reveal that in ten years, profession of Christianity fell by a whopping one in eight people in England and Wales. This contributed to the rise of the “no religion” adherent status, from 14 percent in 2001 to 25 percent of the population ten years later.

An interesting observation by the Society was that although Muslims represent only 5 percent of the population, their spokesmen were responsible for 31 percent of religious comment. The Muslim Council of Britain made 410 official statements in 2012 as opposed to only 393 by the Anglican Church’s leader, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Catholics (only 5 million in the UK) tend to focus on pro-life issues along with strong statements against same-sex marriage. The Anglican Church however, seems to ignore these issues in favour of statements about social injustice, poverty, foreign policy and overseas aid.

The result is that some conservative Anglican priests have made a shift to become Catholic priests. The Pope has accommodated them by allowing them to continue as married priests and hasn’t required them to take vows of celibacy. In January 2011, seven Anglican priests, along with 300 parishioners, “crossed the Tiber” to become adherents to Rome. A year later another 200 worshippers and 20 clergy followed suit. Their complaint against the Church of England was mainly against the ordination of women.

Secularisation

The secularisation of Britain began nearly 100 years ago during and after World War I. People could not understand how a “loving God” could allow the slaughter of 19,000 British soldiers in just one day as the Battle of the Somme began. Millions of British and Empire soldiers, plus French, Russian, German, Italian and Austrians, were to die in the war. Afterwards, a religious wasteland spread across Europe, leaving a population virtually devoid of religion. World War II added to the demise of Christianity, and post-war materialism and secularism have almost brought the death knell to religion in Britain and Europe.

The decline of religion is not unique to Britain and Europe. The United States of America is also experiencing a contraction of religious belief and worship. This once great bastion of religious freedom is taking a beating from secular zealots in the judiciary and other institutions of influence. According to the National Secular Society’s Journal (October 2012), a Public Religious Research Institute survey of 3,000 U.S. citizens reveals that 19 percent are religiously unaffiliated.

The Journal says that in Ireland, there are four times more people stating they have “no religion” since a similar poll in 1991. A similar trend can be found in Catholic France. The overall number of Catholics who never go to Mass has risen from 26 percent in 1961 to 58 percent today. Christianity is under attack throughout the Western world—amongst both the Catholics and Protestants.

Where is all of this heading?

It is heading to a society that will be ill-equipped to face what is prophesied to come upon the whole world in the next few years.

The Bible Reveals What Is Coming

What does the Bible foretell? Jesus Christ tells us that, “then will be great tribulation [extreme stress and trials], such has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21). No, we do not know exactly which of today’s many crises will ignite the final fuse to bring an end to times of affluence and plenty. It could be any number of things—global diseases or a financial meltdown, for example, or a natural disaster of unprecedented proportion, or political instability in one of the “big” countries, which could precipitate a nuclear world war.

In concert with all of this will be the appearance on the world stage of a man the Bible calls a false prophet. Masquerading as a very holy man, occupying the highest religious position in the world but a charlatan of the highest order, this personage will deceive and dupe the whole world into believing he is “God”!

Revelation explains, “He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth” (13:13–14). Verse 16 continues, “He causes all both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads.” What is that mark? Some mistakenly think it is a microchip or a bar code; in fact, the hand and forehead symbolize that this mark will be a matter of what people do and what they think. They will choose a way of worship that rejects the true God, and instead places allegiance upon the false prophet, through whose intrigue and deceit the whole world will worship him as a god. A spiritually ignorant world will be swept away with religious hysteria without any awareness of what the Bible reveals about this evil man and his cohorts.

But you, dear reader, are different. You are coming to know more and more about the differences of what is proclaimed as religion and what is actually true religion. You are able to discern between the true Christianity of the Bible and the “Christianity” that has been manufactured by those who have mixed pagan traditions with the Bible. It is a syncretism of ideas that are like oil and water. They simply do not mix.

Are you ready to seek the true God of the Bible, the true Jesus Christ and the true religion? If so, you only have a finite time to do so. Time is getting short and the false religion is waiting in the wings to be thrust onto an unsuspecting world.

It is time to take stock of your life and request your copy of Satan’s Counterfeit Christianity. You will be very glad you did.