Religion, Belief and Spirituality in Old Age: How They Change

Abstract

Do people become more religious as they move into old age? We see differences between older and younger adults in religiousness; how much are these due to processes of ageing, and how much to differences between age cohorts? When people from different age groups speak about their religious and spiritual lives, do we see cohort contrasts related to their having different historical experiences? Is there a “retirement surge” in religiosity? There is an uncertain assumption, encouraged by biographies, biopics, fictional literature and accounts of the great and the good, that as they faced death their certainty about the love of God, their place in the world beyond and the warming prospect of meeting their loved ones in heaven, remains strong. As McConnell and Lang (2001) put it in their book Heaven: A history , ‘The expectation of being re-united with family and friends in heaven is so prevalent throughout Christian history that it is not surprising that contemporaries see it as the “natural” notion of life everlasting’ (p.xiv). Theological writings continue to cite extensive Biblical and Quranic references to heaven and the life beyond ‘if you have faith’. Everlasting life in all the world religions is conditional, on the one hand, on having lived a good and faithful life and on the other the boundless mercy and forgiveness of God. So being among the faithful and the observant (within or beyond a worshipping community) is a known prerequisite. In this chapter the focus is on if, and in what ways, current older people continue to practice religious belief; how they have re-formulated those beliefs as they have lived their lives and how those that have left religion behind feel about life and death. Many writings on these topics are informed by examining writings about religion and belief from a personal, theological or psychoanalytic basis. Others draw on findings from small interpretive studies. Comparatively few have used findings from large-scale investigations, which enable a more cultural and population based analysis. Here we are able to draw upon 35 years of repeated enquiries which examine the lives of individuals and families as they have aged. The latest of these lifespan studies has focused on the significance of belief to older people and how religion is transmitted across generations. The wider body of findings are reported in Bengtson, Putney and Harris (2013).