Revival Times 2017 May 2017 | Page 26

viewpoint THERE IS A GOD , or THERE IS NO GOD THAT IS THE QUESTION: THEISM or ATHEISM tackling the giants: Influencing your world – Thought & Philosophy I Jonathan Gwilt has been KTLCC Finance Director for over 20 years. He finds engaging with the Giant of Thought and Philosophy exciting because so much hinges on our mindset and thinking. 26 Revival Times May 2017 n the 2011 Census, only 29,267 people declared themselves as ‘atheist’. When added to the 32,382 who said they were ‘agnostic’ and the 15,067 who responded as ‘humanist’ that’s less than 80,000 people, fewer than 1:750 of the population and less than 45% of those who responded with ‘Jedi Knight’. Compare this with the 33 million who responded as Christian. Yet today you could be excused for thinking that Britain is a secular, post-Christian nation because what atheists lack in number they make up for in their determination to shape the agenda in the academy, legislature and media. So what can we say about this seemingly modern phenomenon? Firstly, atheism is nothing new. As its etymology suggests, it is as old as the Greeks and is founded