Church - Europes beliefs about God polled
Worth looking over, but be aware the author of the article jumps around from categories in his review of the stats. For instance (and not suprisingly, he focuses on Germany)

Faith is regarded as a matter for the individual. 61 percent of all Germans say that churches do not have any decisive say in matters of faith.

Previously, the article states that 77% of east germans and 22% of west germans profess a belief that God does not exist. (Other current figures list around 26% who are not theistic)

So essentially, a little less than half of all believers feel that faith is a matter for the individual...


It seems most likely the author does not completely understand religious beliefs

. The belief in God does not necessarily mean that Germans regard him as a personal being. For 83 percent of all believers God is present in nature, 75 percent regard him as their creator and 70 percent describe him as an ever-present source in their life.

Neither of these figures mean that God is not regarded as a personal being.

All in all though, some interesting stats.
- posted by Alan Grey @ Thursday, March 03, 2005