The future of religion

“Shall the religious inherit the earth?” So asks Eric Kaufmann of Birkbeck College, London, in the lead article in the winter issue of Studies, which centres on the theme of ‘The future of religion’. Viewing the matter from a sociological and demographic perspective, Kaufmann argues that the rate of secularisation is slowing down – that Europe will be more religious in 2100 than it is today! Other contributors include Roger Trigg (freedom of conscience) and Peter Sutherland (European values and identity.) Also, in a reflection on essays regarding faith by novelist Marilynne Robinson, Ann Thurston diagnoses some of the conceptual shortfalls of the ‘new atheists’. She wonders if religion’s apologists haven’t erred in allowing scientific discourse to set the framework of the discussion. A more appropriate language, she believes, would be the metaphorical language of the poet, novelist or artist.