As I reported recently, The Bible Society have now acknowledged that their “Quiet Revival” report was based on faulty data from You Gov. It is important to be clear that the responsibility for the failure lies squarely with You Gov. However, I think there are lessons still to be learnt in terms of how we engage with data and evidence. With respect to that, I thought it would be helpful to look at the revised “Quiet Revival” report. My intention is to have a look at each of the new headlines.
The first claim is “The culture’s changing – from footballers to philosophers, believers are talking openly about their Christian faith.” In the detailed report, The Bible Society go on to acknowledge that sportsmen of all faiths including Muslims have spoken openly about their faith. They then share how
“In music, award-winning mainstream British artists such as Stormzy have been vocal about their faith, while others such as Dave and RAYE are comfortable wrestling with faith on the record. Across social media, reality stars and influencers like Matilda-June Draper and Roman Hackett have been public about their conversions and baptisms. Beyond the mainstream, it appears to be potentially even more evident in some underground subcultures of British rap – contrasting with decades of British youth music scenes, which were largely void of faith.
In public life they reference politicians, the popular historian Tom Holland and even Richard Dawkins as expressing support for “cultural Christianity” though that in no way amounts to living faith in Christ. Holland of course famously wrote the book “Dominion” to describe the history of Christian civilisation in the West and argued in it that Christianity culturally underpins the West.
It is notable that aspects of this supposed cultural turning point that might not quite fit the image are whitewashed out of the picture. Why for example doesn’t the report explicitly document the protest marches of last Autumn, Unite the Kingdom with its chants of “Christ is King” and its clergy on the platform or UKIP’s “march with Jesus” rallies? The report talks about politicians wanting to engage with Christianity but fails to mention that this is frequently from the new, right wing insurgent parties including Reform, Restore and Advance seeking a cultural and sometimes ethno-cultural identity and seeing Christianity as helping to serve that purpose.
Do these kinds of examples not fit the narrative? You see, it has been those on the right, the so called Christian Nationalists who have been making much this last year of a quiet revival turning into a messy revival. Indeed, as a minimum, we need to consider the connection between a search for cultural and social identity with signs of interest in Christian religion from young white men. I write as someone who has been quite vocal in critiquing Christian Nationalism. I still believe that there is a phenomenon that needs to be considered, understood and engaged with.
My overall reaction though is that this was an unfortunate claim to lead with because it does rather look like clutching at straws and risks encouraging scepticism towards later claims in the report. You see, there are two things to consider here. First that there is nothing new about artists, sportsmen and public figures having an interest in Christian faith, openly converting and speaking publicly. Some of those figures in the popular music world may have lost their “coolness” others have not. The music scene has long included cross over artists from Christian/Gospel music too. Consider notable figures from Cliff Richard to Bono who have in different ways engaged with faith questions.
In the sports world again, there has actually been a long tradition of sportsmen and women being seen to pray and thank God for success. There have also been many examples of believers, sharing their faith and seeking to be a good witness on and off the field. My own hometown team Bradford City have had at least two evangelical Christians willing to speak for Jesus, Ces Podd and Wayne Jacobs. The literary world has included the likes of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkein of course.
The second thing to point out is that many of the names currently being highlighted come from non-white communities, those communities where there tends to be a continuing public expression of Christian faith. This is notable when the footballers referenced are often overseas players.
In terms of the overall culture, has there been change? Is it more acceptable to be a Christian in academia? Is education being influenced by Christian beliefs and values? What about public debate on the big ethical issues? In the past year we have seen an extension to abortion passed through both houses of parliament and the assisted dying bill pass through the Commons.
I am not convinced that there has been a sea-change in the culture. It is great to hear of celebrities and public figures who have found faith or had some encounter with Christianity. That however does not count as a culture shift. The good news is that the Gospel is not dependent on the mood of the prevailing culture.
Faithroots 