Is England Still a Christian Country? The Evidence

Will England Become a “Once Christian” Country? What History, the Census and the Church Tell Us

A short commentary by James Macpherson, republished on The Daily Declaration, asks a question that would have sounded absurd a generation ago: how long before we stop saying England is a Christian country and start saying it was one?

He points to the Middle East and North Africa, regions where Christianity once shaped whole civilisations and where today it’s a small minority. His warning is that Western nations treat history as something that happens to other people, and that Britain’s Christian heritage could one day become a memory.

It’s a provocative argument, and it deserves a careful response. This post looks at what the history actually shows, what the latest figures say about religion in England, why a widely quoted “quiet revival” report was retracted this year, where the comparison works and where it doesn’t, and what the Bible says about the fate of churches and nations.

The Argument in Brief

Macpherson’s piece makes a few simple points:

• Places such as Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Sudan and Iraq were once centres of Christianity, and are now overwhelmingly Muslim. He cites figures of roughly 87 to 99 per cent Muslim populations across those countries today.
• That change happened over centuries through conquest, conversion, migration, demographic shifts, persecution and political upheaval, and nothing guarantees it can’t happen elsewhere.
• England was once unmistakably Christian, with a calendar, institutions, cathedrals, a coronation and a history saturated with the faith. Yet church attendance has collapsed, belief has receded, other religions have grown, and a growing share of the population has no religion.
• He doesn’t claim England is about to become a Muslim country, but asks what will be said when “once a Christian country” becomes the standard description.

What Actually Happened in the Middle East and North Africa

The history behind the comparison is real, and it’s worth knowing in more detail.

In the first centuries after Christ, the faith spread across the eastern Mediterranean, Egypt, North Africa and Asia Minor. These regions produced some of the church’s greatest thinkers, including Athanasius in Alexandria, Tertullian and Cyprian in Carthage, and Augustine in Hippo. The seven churches addressed in the book of Revelation were in what is now Turkey.

From the seventh century onwards, Arab Muslim armies conquered much of this region. The change in religion, however, took a long time. Most historians describe a slow process lasting centuries, with Christian communities remaining large in places like Egypt and Syria for generations. Contributing factors included:

• Legal and economic incentives. Non-Muslims could live under protection, but with restrictions and an extra tax, which created pressure to convert over time.
• Social change. Intermarriage, migration, language change and the prestige of the ruling culture all played a role.
• Periods of persecution and political upheaval, including violence against Christian communities at various points.
• Church divisions. Historians note that theological disputes and rivalries among Christian groups weakened their ability to hold together.

Today, Christian minorities survive in many of these countries, including Egypt’s Coptic community, which is one of the largest in the Middle East. In several places, though, they have shrunk sharply because of emigration, conflict and persecution. Iraq is a stark example, where the Christian population has fallen dramatically over recent decades.

The point to hold on to is that Christianity in these regions didn’t vanish overnight. It declined slowly, under pressure, and often while the church was divided and spiritually weak.

What the Numbers Say About England Today

The latest comprehensive data comes from the 2021 census of England and Wales:

• Christian: 46.2 per cent (27.5 million), down from 59.3 per cent in 2011 and 71.7 per cent in 2001. It was the first census in which fewer than half identified as Christian.
• No religion: 37.2 per cent (22.2 million), up from 25.2 per cent in 2011.
• Muslim: 6.5 per cent (3.9 million), up from 4.9 per cent in 2011.
• Hindu: 1.7 per cent (about 1 million).
• Wales is more secularised than England, with 46.5 per cent reporting no religion.
• Christianity was still the largest single religious group in both England and Wales.

Three things stand out. First, the Christian share is falling fast. Second, the biggest winner by far is “no religion”, not another faith. And third, Britain’s Muslim population is growing but remains a small minority. Projections suggest it will continue to grow, though forecasts vary, and demographic projections are famously unreliable over long periods.

The census also records self-identification, not practice. Many who tick “Christian” rarely or never attend church, while regular churchgoers are a much smaller group. That gap between identity and practice is a major part of the story.

The “Quiet Revival” That Wasn’t (Yet)

Any discussion of Christianity in Britain now has to deal with the “Quiet Revival.” In April 2025, the Bible Society published a report based on a YouGov survey of more than 13,000 people. It claimed church attendance had risen sharply since 2018, especially among young men, and many Christians celebrated it as evidence of renewal.

On 26 March 2026, the Bible Society retracted the report. YouGov told it that the 2024 survey sample was faulty, because key quality-control systems had not been activated, and that it contained responses identified as fraudulent. YouGov apologised, took responsibility, and said it would run the survey again. The Bible Society said it had reported the data accurately as supplied.

The Humanists UK, several academics and other polls had questioned the findings earlier, and some churches had pointed out that no sign of mass new attendance was visible in their own figures.

Supporters of the revival idea say the wider picture still shows increased interest among young adults, citing greater Bible sales, more adult baptisms and confirmations, and increased attendance at evangelism courses. Critics respond that increased Bible sales aren’t the same as more Christians. Both sides agree that more reliable data is needed.

This episode is a useful caution for Christians. Whether we’re tempted to despair or to celebrate, we should base our conclusions on evidence, and be willing to correct them.

Where the Comparison Works, and Where It Doesn’t

Macpherson himself says history doesn’t work like a spreadsheet. That’s wise, because the Middle East parallel has important limits.

Where it works:

• Christian heritage doesn’t preserve itself. Buildings, institutions and traditions can survive long after living faith has faded.
• Societies can change in their religious character more than people expect, and often more slowly than anyone notices.
• Christian communities that are divided, nominal or inward-looking are vulnerable.

Where it’s weaker:

• The mechanism is different. The historical shift in the Middle East happened under conquest and a legal system that favoured one religion. Britain has legal protection for freedom of religion and belief.
• The main trend is secularisation. England’s biggest religious shift is toward no religion, a pattern more like that of much of Western Europe than of the early medieval Middle East.
• The scale and speed are very different. A growth from 4.9 to 6.5 per cent in a decade is significant, but it’s a long way from the situation in the historical examples.
• Religious change among individuals is not inevitable. People convert in both directions, and the future depends on choices, not just numbers.

So a more accurate way to put the question might be: what makes a country’s Christian faith last, and what makes it fade?

What the Bible Says About Churches and Nations

The Bible offers a sobering lens here.

In Revelation 2:5, Jesus warns the church in Ephesus that he will remove its lampstand unless it repents and returns to its first love. Ephesus is in modern Turkey. The warning shows that a church can lose its place even while it is busy and orthodox on paper. The same book commends Smyrna and Philadelphia, which were small and faithful.

At the same time, Jesus promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against his church (Matthew 16:18). That promise is about the church universal, not any single nation. The faith has moved across the world throughout history, from Jerusalem to Antioch, to Rome, Britain, and now to growing communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In many UK cities, churches with migrant congregations are among the most vibrant.

Other relevant passages include:

• Deuteronomy 6:6–7, which commands parents to teach God’s words to their children at home and on the road. Faith survives through generations by being passed on.
• Psalm 127:1, which says that unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain.
• John 18:36, in which Jesus says his kingdom is not of this world. A Christian country is never the same as the kingdom of God.
• 2 Timothy 4:3–4, which warns of a time when people won’t tolerate sound teaching and will gather teachers to suit their own desires.

The consistent message is that God’s purposes don’t depend on any nation, and that every generation must decide whether to follow him.

Our Take

Here’s where we’d like to add some commentary.

1. A Christian heritage isn’t the same as Christian faith.

England’s cathedrals, coronation, calendar and many of its laws and charities carry a Christian inheritance. But heritage is borrowed capital. Without living faith in homes and churches, it gradually runs down. The real question isn’t whether the buildings remain, but whether people still know and love Jesus.

2. Be careful not to turn a warning into fear of our neighbours.

Most British Muslims, like most Christians, are ordinary people trying to raise families and live well. Describing Islam’s growth as a threat in itself risks sliding into suspicion of entire communities. History does show that religious demographics change, but Christians are called to love their neighbours (Mark 12:31), to welcome the stranger, and to share the gospel with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15). Religious liberty for everyone is also a Christian principle, and it protects Christians too.

3. The larger competitor isn’t another religion, it’s indifference.

The census suggests the greatest change in England is people drifting away from any faith at all. That calls for a different response than defence. It calls for good news told clearly, lived credibly and offered patiently to people who’ve never heard it properly.

4. Be honest about the church’s own part.

Ephesus was warned about its own love growing cold, not about an enemy outside. If the church in Britain has declined, some of the cause lies within: nominalism, division, scandals, and the loss of confidence in the Bible. Facing this honestly is better than blaming outside forces.

5. Stick to the evidence, in both directions.

The Quiet Revival retraction is a reminder that wishful thinking can mislead us as much as pessimism can. The best response is to gather solid data, measure real discipleship and keep working.

6. Rebuild through the ordinary things.

Faith is passed on through families, local churches, schools, friendships and acts of service. Revival, if it comes, is unlikely to arrive through politics or culture wars. It’s more likely to grow from prayer, preaching, hospitality and a visibly different way of life.

The Other Side of the Argument

In fairness, here’s how people who see this differently might respond:

• Secular voices argue that a decline in religious identification isn’t a loss at all, but reflects people making their own choices in a free society, and that Britain’s moral life no longer depends on a single faith.
• Some historians caution against using medieval Middle Eastern history as a template for modern Europe, since the circumstances, institutions and technologies are so different.
• Some Christians say decline can purify the church by removing nominal believers and leaving a smaller, more committed community, and that the true measure of the church isn’t national status.
• Others point to growth areas, such as immigrant churches, Pentecostal and charismatic congregations, student ministries, and renewed interest among some young adults, and argue the story is more mixed than a simple decline narrative.
• Some Muslim and interfaith voices would say that presenting religious change as a zero-sum contest ignores the contribution many Muslims make to British life, including shared concerns about family, faith and community.
• Church leaders have also warned against revival stories being used to promote forms of Christian nationalism, which they say is at odds with Christ’s message.

A thoughtful reader can take each of these seriously and still care deeply about the future of the faith in Britain.

What Christians Can Do

• Pray for the church in Britain, and for believers there who are working faithfully in difficult places.
• Disciple the next generation. Invest in children’s and youth ministry, family faith practices and good Bible teaching.
• Welcome people. Make church a place where newcomers, including migrants and seekers, find real hospitality.
• Engage with neighbours of other faiths with respect, curiosity and honesty about what we believe.
• Check the data before sharing alarming or encouraging claims.
• Support persecuted Christians around the world, whose situation is the real continuation of the history Macpherson describes.

Questions to Reflect On

• If someone described my own country as “once Christian,” what would I want to be true of my church?
• Where is my own faith more heritage than living reality?
• Am I more tempted to fear, or to apathy, when I read stories like this?
• How well do I know my neighbours of other faiths, and what would it look like to love them well?
• What would it take for faith to be passed on in my own family?

A Short Prayer

Lord, you are the Lord of history, and no nation or empire stands outside your hand. We pray for the churches of Britain and for every country where your people live. Where faith has grown cold, rekindle it. Where believers suffer, strengthen them. Give us honesty to see our own failures, courage to speak the gospel, and love for every neighbour. Let your church be a lampstand that shines, whatever the age. Amen.