dissertation

113
a “spiritual turn.” 131 When this development is taken into account, secularization on the
micro-level does not imply the disappearance of personal belief, but its transformation
toward more subjective 132 and diverse forms. 133 In the meantime, “the historic churches
– despite their continuing presence – are systematically losing their capacity to discipline
the religious thinking of large sections of the population, especially among the
young.” 134 Indeed, around the year 2000, the institutional churches of Europe were the
least influential they had been in many centuries. 135 “The churches are no longer able to
command the active allegiance of anything but a small minority of European people
(though passive allegiance remains high); nor are they able to direct the decision-making
process of European populations.” 136 In conclusion, sociological analyses confirm
the prevalent view within the EMC that there is a shift from a Christendom to a post-
Christendom mindset, particularly among the younger generations in Europe. In addition,
we see a progressive, though uneven, secularization of Europe on an institutional
level.
4.5.3 Religious Transformation in the Netherlands
The general trends described above pertaining to Europe, 137 are also applicable to the
Netherlands. In this country, in fact, various kinds of Christendom have succeeded each
other – including the phase of the so-called ‘pillarization’ [verzuiling]. 138 The so-called
‘long 1960s’ (lasting from 1958 to 1974), however, brought about a profound rupture
in Christian institutions. In short, the Netherlands may be said to offer a premier example
of “the inexorable decline of Christendom, defined as a tight conglomerate of civilization,
territory and ideology.” 139
131
Cf. Dick Houtman and Stef Aupers, “The Spiritual Turn and the Decline of Tradition: The Spread of
Post-Christian Spirituality in 14 Western Countries, 1981-2000,” Journal for the Study of Religion 46, no. 3
(2007), 305-320.
132
This process is also to be noted within Dutch evangelicalism. See Johan H. Roeland, Selfation: Dutch
Evangelical Youth Between Subjectivization and Subjection (Amsterdam: Pallas Publications, 2009).
133
Cf. the interesting essays in Stef Aupers and Dick Houtman, eds., Religions of Modernity: Relocating the Sacred
to the Self and the Digital (Leiden: Brill, 2010).
134
Grace Davie, Europe: The Exceptional Case: Parameters of Faith in the Modern World (London: Darton, Longman
& Todd, 2002), 147. In another book Davie also states that religious illiteracy is widespread in modern
Europe amongst younger generations. “With this in mind, it seems entirely possible that the religious
memory of Europe – at least in its traditional form of a basic understanding of Christian teaching – might
simply cease to exist, except as a branch of specialist knowledge.” Davie, Religion in Modern Europe, 37.
135
Cf. Gerben Heitink, who speaks about “perhaps the most serious crisis in the history of the church in
Western Europe since its origin.” Gerben Heitink, Een kerk met karakter. Tijd voor heroriëntatie [A church
with character: Time for reorientation] (Kampen: Kok, 2007), 21.
136
Davie, Religion in Modern Europe, 38.
137
The short discussion remained on a general level. Differences between, e.g., Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox
regions, let alone those among the 27 countries in the European Union (that still excludes Iceland,
Liechtenstein, Norway, Russia, Switzerland, and Ukraine) are left out.
138
Peter van Rooden, “Long-Term Religious Developments in the Netherlands, c. 1750-2000,” in McLeod
and Ustorf, eds., The Decline of Christendom in Western Europe, 118.
139
Van Rooden, “Long-Term Religious Developments in the Netherlands,” 113.