In this thought-provoking feature, retired pastor, Ebenezer Jones-Lartey reflects on the dramatic decline of Christianity across Europe — once the heartland of missionary activity, now a mission field in urgent need of renewal. He explores what this shift means for the Church today and how faith communities can respond with hope and purpose.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 14). The gospel of Christ is the good news of salvation. When Jesus described the gospel as “a witness unto all nations,” He was referring to the role of a witness in a courtroom. A credible witness assists both the prosecution and the defence in establishing the truth and confronting lies. Likewise, the gospel serves as a credible witness to all humanity, confirming a person’s acceptance or rejection of its message. Therefore, no one can claim ignorance for their choices.
The expression “the death of God in Europe” is a metaphor for the decline of Christianity on the continent. Europe, once a region for sending missionaries, has now become a mission field itself. To understand why Christianity has lost its impact, it is crucial to explore the causes of this decline. In this brief study, I identify three major historical events that, in my view, contributed significantly to the “death of God” in Europe: the Black Death, the Industrial Revolution, and the Renaissance. I will examine these causes and suggest a simple path toward the “resurrection” of faith in Europe.
The Black Death
The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe between 1346 and 1353. Originating in Asia, it spread through fleas on rats that infested trade ships. The movement of people and goods facilitated the plague’s rapid spread across the continent, resulting in the deaths of an estimated fifty million people.[i]
In England, the plague is said to have arrived on a ship that landed on the Dorset coast from Gascony, France, in June 1348. It spread swiftly across the country. At the time, the Church was the centre of community life – faith shaped conscience and inspired civic duty. Yet faith was severely tested when the plague struck. Many believed the plague was a disease and a punishment from God, leading to piety, prayer, and acts of penance such as self-flagellation[ii] to atone for their sins. The Church’s inability to stop the plague or provide adequate spiritual guidance led to criticism and disillusionment with the clergy. Unfortunately, the plague also fueled anti-Semitic sentiments, with the Jewish community being blamed for the outbreak of the epidemic.
The Black Death challenged traditional religious beliefs and practices, leading to significant changes in how people understood their relationship with God and the Church. The Church’s credibility suffered as priests proved powerless to stop the plague. Many abandoned their posts, leaving the faithful without spiritual guidance. This eroded trust in the Church and weakened its moral authority for generations. Between one-third and one-half of Europe’s population perished. In England alone, roughly two to three million died out of a population of six million. Villages were abandoned, cities emptied, and mass graves filled the landscape.
Historian Mellisa Snell (2025) notes that by June 1348, “nearly half of Europe had met the Black Death in one form or another.”[iii] The plague’s aftermath reshaped European society economically, socially, and religiously. Labour shortages empowered peasants and weakened feudalism. England’s Statute of Labourers (1351)[iv] tried to freeze wages, but it only fuelled resentment, culminating in uprisings such as the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381.
Culturally, the omnipresence of death birthed a new awareness of mortality reflected in art and literature. Works like Giovanni Boccaccio’s ‘Decameron’[v] depicted human suffering and resilience rather than purely religious themes, signalling a subtle shift toward secular thought. Ultimately, the Black Death redirected Europe’s mind from divine to earthly concerns; many even blamed God for allowing such suffering.
The Industrial Revolution (1760)
Four centuries later, Europe entered a new era of innovation. The Industrial Revolution transformation had a significant impact on religion, leading to various changes and responses. As industrialisation and urbanisation transformed societies, traditional religious practices and institutions faced challenges. Many people began to focus more on material progress and secular values.
Another critical point is that as people moved from rural areas to cities, their religious practices and affiliations changed. Urban environments fostered new forms of religiosity and social organisation. In response to the social and economic challenges of industrialisation, some Christians emphasised the importance of social justice, advocating for workers’ rights and social reform. Industrialisation brought people from different regions and backgrounds together, contributing to greater religious diversity in urban areas. The Industrial Revolution’s impact on religion was complex. It gave birth to various religious traditions that adapted and responded to the changing socio-economic and cultural landscape.
Migration into cities led to a decline in traditional religious practices, and institutions struggled to adapt. Prosperity came at a spiritual cost. Many began to believe that success no longer depended on divine providence but on human ingenuity. As Ruth Wienclaw (2021) observes, religious influence declines as societies industrialise.[vi] The Industrial Revolution, though a triumph of human achievement, subtly displaced faith with materialism and self-reliance.
The French Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment
Between 500 and 1799, religion was central to European art, music, and literature. Despite the Western Schism (1378-1417) and later the Reformation, the Catholic Church remained a powerful institution. The Catholic Church asserted her authority, inter alia, on tradition, original sin, and the veneration of saints at the Council of Trent.[vii] However, the French Revolution (1789-1799) delivered a critical blow.[viii] The Revolution elevated “reason” to the level of God, inspired by philosophers such as René Descartes,[ix] Thomas Hobbes, Baruch Spinoza,[x] and John Locke, who argued that people merely substituted faith for thought.[xi]
For nearly a millennium, the Catholic Church dominated socio-political life, owning vast lands and commanding loyalty from monarchs. The Church established its own power to anathemise anybody who challenged its authority. It also instructed the death of Berquin by strangulation in public[xii] and persecuted many Protestant reformers. But in 1798, Napoleon’s forces invaded Rome, imprisoned Pope Pius VI, and stripped the Church of its temporal power. France’s strict separation of Church and state was associated with skepticism or secularism. Influential thinkers like Voltaire, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir led the atheistic and agnostic fight against God. Blackwood’s Magazine (1870) records that when the Legislative Assembly declared “‘there is no God,’ people danced and sang with joy.”
The spread of Enlightenment ideas emphasising reason and science led to increased skepticism about religious authority. The application of critical methods to biblical study challenged traditional understanding of scripture. The Church’s influence on socio-political life waned as governments became more secular. These factors contributed to a decline in church attendance, changes in religious practice, and a significant shift in societal values. However, it is worth noting that Christianity in name only still had a significant presence in Europe during this time, and there were also various revival movements and efforts to revitalise faith. Universities and libraries grew, promoting secular thought and fairness in governance, but also widening the rift between faith and reason.
Conclusion
The “death of God” in Europe was not sudden. The Black Death contributed to eroding faith; the Industrial Revolution encouraged self-sufficiency; and the Enlightenment placed reason above faith. The Catholic Church’s preoccupation with power struggles and doctrinal disputes prevented it from engaging meaningfully with new intellectual movements. As a result, the gospel appeared irrelevant to Europe’s social and cultural life.
Yet this decline need not spell hopelessness. The great controversy between Christ and Satan – between truth and error – continues. As a Seventh-day Adventist, I remain hopeful. Christ has empowered His followers to proclaim the everlasting gospel (Revelation 14:6) with reason and conviction. Faith, based on substance ὑπόστασις – must be presented with clarity and logic.
God is not dead – He is alive. But He will not do for humanity what we can do for ourselves. Just as Nineveh repented, Europe too can experience revival. History shows that transformation begins when people encounter truth afresh. We must enter the intellectual arena and engage with governments, politicians and businesses about Christian values of honesty and integrity. We must pay attention to the use of relevant music to break through Europe’s intellectual barriers. Faith and reason need not be enemies; when combined, they can bring the light of Christ back to a continent in need of the gospel message and salvation.
[i] The Black Death en.wikipedia.org
[ii] “The Flagellants Attempt to Repel the Black Death, 1349”, EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2010)
[iii] Mellisa Snell (May 08, 2025) www.thought.com
[iv] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_Labourers_1351
[v] www.worldhistory.org
[vi] Wienclaw, Ruth A – Religion and Industrialisation www.ebsco.com
[vii] The Council of Trent 1545-1563
[viii] The French Revolution and the Catholic Church - www.historytoday.com
[ix] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
[x] Spinoza challenged the traditional view of God’s involvement in human affairs. He reasoned that God stands aloof in the affairs of humans.
[xi] Locke remarks that all sects make use of reason as far as they can. It is only when this fails them that they have recourse to faith and claim that what is revealed is above reason. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
[xii] “The French Revolution” The Great Controversy p. 156