Religion and the Decline of God
Edward Royle considers the rise of secular Britain
The Making of Post-Christian Britain, by Alan D. Gilbert
xv+ 173 pp. (Longman, London, 1980)
The decline of religion has been a marked feature of British society during the past hundred years: social and political life has lost its religious dimension; secularisation has proceeded apace in education, leisure, politics and persona morality. Even religion might be said to have been secularised when some theologians can proclaim the death of God. The consequences and significance of this development are almost too enormous to grasp. As T. S. Eliot wrote in his 'Choruses from The Rock':
But it seems that something has happened that has never happened before: though we know not just when, or why, or how, or where.
Men have left GOD not for other gods, they say, but for no god; and this has never happened before.
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