What Does Britain Believe?

A recent opinion survey suggests that a majority of people in Britain today believe in heaven. Of the 2060 people interviewed, 55% believe in heaven, while 70% believe in the human soul. If that seems encouraging, then you should know that 39% believe in ghosts and 27% believe in reincarnation – that human beings come back to this world after they die, but probably in some other form such as an animal. A further 22% of those questioned believe in astrology or horoscopes and 15% believe in fortune telling or using Tarot cards.

The findings show a definite increase in superstition when compared to the response to similar questions in 1951. Then only 10% of those interviewed said they believed in ghosts and just 2% thought they had seen one. And only 7% said they believed in predicting the future by cards and 6% by the stars.

There is no doubt it is natural for human beings to have some religious beliefs. But religion can be of no real use to anyone unless it is true. And it is God Himself who must reveal to us what is true in religion – what we can safely believe. This is what He has done in the Bible. But during the years since 1951, people in Britain have become even more determined to ignore the Bible. In doing so, they have rejected a revelation from God – they have rejected what could help them understand the spiritual side of life. And God has largely left them to themselves, as they try to live completely without Him and His help. Yet it is difficult to live without religion altogether, which is why people drift into such superstitious practices as reading horoscopes and tarot cards.

The idea of heaven is, of course, not a superstitious belief; God has revealed it in the Holy Scriptures. But one would expect that if more than half of the population of Britain really believed that there was a heaven to be gained or lost, they would be seriously asking the question: How can I get there? They would be searching the Bible looking for instruction; they would be crying out for preaching which would point them in the right direction. But obviously very few are searching the Bible and very few are crying out for biblical preaching. Almost no one seems to care about these things. Do you?

A large majority of people believe that they have a soul, but very few are concerned about its welfare. They do not take the fact of sin seriously; they do not consider that every sin is an offence against a holy God. So they do not even begin to seek to be reconciled to Him. They do not think about the urgency of finding salvation, before death comes – perhaps very suddenly. They do not recognise the glory of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, coming into the world to work out salvation for sinners. Do you?

It is not enough to be religious – to have some religious beliefs, and even to be involved in some form of religious worship. What the people of Britain need, and other countries too, is to turn from their sins to God through faith in Jesus Christ. That is what we need as individuals. May God have mercy on us! And on all the people of Britain, and of the whole world!

KDM