Britain’s Last Religious Revival?: Quantifying Belonging, Behaving, and Believing in the Long 1950s (Histories of the Sacred and Secular, 1700–2000)

Combining Historical And Social Scientific Insights And Approaches, This Is A Major Contribution To The Literature Of British Secularization, Particularly Its Chronology. The Book Examines The Claims By Callum Brown That The Late 1940s And Early 1950s In Britain Were A Period Of Religious Resurgence Prior To The Onset Of Revolutionary Secularization In The 1960s. These Claims Are Substantially Rejected On The Basis Of The First Systematic Analysis Of A Balanced Portfolio Of Quantitative Performance Measures, Published And Unpublished, For All Faith Traditions. They Subsume The Three Dimensions Of Belonging, Behaving, And Believing -- The Typology Increasingly Applied To The Study Of Religiosity. It Is Concluded That The Long 1950s Accord Better With A Gradualist Interpretation Of Religious Change In Modern Britain. An Up-to-date Historiographical And Bibliographical Review Is Also Offered. The Volume Will Appeal To Social Historians Of Modern Britain, Sociologists Of Religion, Clergy, And Church Growth Practitioners. --provided By Publisher. 1. Introduction -- Historiography -- Sources -- Defining The Decade -- 2. Belonging -- Affiliation -- Membership - General -- Membership - Anglican -- Membership - Catholic -- Membership - Free Church And Presbyterian -- Membership - Sunday Schools -- Membership - Other Religions -- 3. Behaving -- Church Attendance - Introduction -- Church Attendance - Church Data -- Church Attendance - Local Surveys -- Church Attendance - Opinion Polls -- Religious Broadcasting -- Rites Of Passage -- Private Religious Practices -- 4. Believing -- Orthodox Beliefs -- Heterodox Beliefs -- Attitudes To Religious Issues -- Religious Attitudes To Secular Issues -- 5. Conclusion -- Belonging -- Behaving -- Believing -- Summative Assessment. Clive D. Field. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover......Page 1 Half-Title......Page 2 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 List of Tables......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 Acknowledgements......Page 12 List of Abbreviations......Page 13 1 Introduction......Page 14 Historiography......Page 15 Sources......Page 19 Defining the decade......Page 21 2 Belonging......Page 29 Affiliation......Page 30 Membership – general......Page 35 Membership – Anglican......Page 38 Membership – Catholic......Page 39 Membership – Free Church and Presbyterian......Page 42 Membership – Sunday schools......Page 48 Membership – other religions......Page 51 3 Behaving......Page 61 Church attendance – church data......Page 62 Church attendance – local surveys......Page 64 Church attendance – opinion polls......Page 67 Religious broadcasting......Page 71 Rites of passage......Page 74 Private religious practices......Page 77 4 Believing......Page 87 Orthodox beliefs......Page 88 Heterodox beliefs......Page 90 Attitudes to religious issues......Page 92 Religious attitudes to secular issues......Page 98 5 Conclusion......Page 111 Belonging......Page 112 Behaving......Page 114 Believing......Page 118 Summative assessment......Page 120 Bibliography......Page 126 Index......Page 148 This is a major contribution to scholarly debates on the chronology and nature of secularization in modern Britain. Combining historical and social scientific insights, it analyses a range of statistical evidence for the 'long 1950s', testing (and largely rejecting) Callum Brown's claims that there was a religious resurgence during this period.