Are We Entering a Post-Christian Era? Religious Belief and Attendance in America, 1957-1968.

In recent years some scholars of religion have observed that religious belief in the United States is so declining rapidly that a post-Christian era seems both inevitable and imminent. Survey data for national samples of Americans suggest, however, that there has been no appreciable decline in levels of religious belief in recent years and that the generational factor does not play as crucial a role as has been thought. Analysis of Gallup data shows that between 1957 and 1968 levels of belief in two basic Christian tenets (belief in an afterlife and belief in the devil) remained about the same. At the same time, however, there was a marked decline in the proportion of Americans expressing uncertainty regarding these beliefs, and an increase in the proportions openly espousing disbelief. It is our contention that past researchers have failed to distinguish between decline in belief and increase in disbelief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]