Modern Iceland
About 283,000 Icelanders (89.3% of the population) are members of Christian congregations, of which most (251.331 people or 79.1%) are members of the Church of Iceland. According to a 2004 survey 69.3% of the total population claimed to be "religious", whereas 19.1 per cent said they were "not religious" and 11.6 per cent were unable to state whether or not they were religious. Of those who said they were religious, 76.3 per cent said that they were Christian, while 22.4 per cent said that they "believed in their own way".
As in the other Nordic countries, church attendance is relatively low; only 10% of Icelanders go to church once a month or more frequently, 43% say that they never attend church and 15.9% say they attend church once a year.
When asked to select a statement that best represented their opinion, 39.4% of Icelanders said they believe in the existence of a benevolent god to whom one can pray; 19.2% said that God must exist or else life would be meaningless; 19.7% said that it is impossible to know whether or not God exists; 26.2% said that no god exists; 9.45% said that God created the universe and presided over it; and 9.7% said that none of the aforementioned statements represented their opinion.
Read more about this topic: Religion In Iceland
Famous quotes containing the word modern:
“To the modern spirit nothing is, or can be rightly known, except relatively and under conditions.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)