Victorian Era Religion And Religious

Beliefs
Victorian age was an interesting time when old religious beliefs started getting
questioned due to progress made in science and technology. Let’s look at different
aspects of the belief system and how and why those started to change.

Christianity in the Victorian era

During the Victorian period, the people of England were very religious. There were
many who regularly visited the church or went to chapel on Sunday. The Victorians
belonging to the different strata of the society read the Bible very often. People were not
only very religious but also were god fearing.

Despite all this, the Victorian period suffered from a time when Christianity was
questioned. It was towards the end of the Victorian era when the foundations of the
well-organized religion that people followed in an extremely disciplined manner
received a severe blow.

Why did Victorian era beliefs start changing?

The changes brought about by the industrial revolution and the emergence of new
scientific ideologies played a crucial role in challenging the old religious beliefs and
superstitions which had a deep impact on the lives of the people for many years.
Science vs Religion debate in Victorian times
One of the reasons that attributed to the upset in religious beliefs was the fact that owing
to the industrial development in the country, the number of people who pursued
education increased. Also, the rise of industries provided for job opportunities for many
people who left their agricultural job and came to cities for work.

With the advent of technology, communication became easier and even travelling was
no longer an uphill task. These developments provided material comfort to the people
who slowly drifted away from religion and spirituality.
All these changes had a deep impact on the society as a whole. The Victorians before
the industrialization era did not even know that any life existed beyond their farming
occupation or as a matter of fact outside their small hamlets.

People had now starting prioritizing their work and wanted to be free from the kind of
lifestyle they had in small counties and ventured out to different cities in lead a better
life. After the industrial growth, there were hardly any people left who wanted to
become priests or ministers as most chose to do business and scientific work.

It was during this period that the Church lost its authority and power over the people
because of the new industrial and scientific developments. Scientific growth in England
during the Victorian period was a major reason why questions were raised against the
religious ideologies.

Charles Darwin’s work helped question the religious beliefs

One person responsible for shaking the religious beliefs was Charles Darwin, the
Victorian era Naturalist. Darwin in his book The Origin of the Species had propounded
the theory that man had evolved just like any other species and was not a separate
creature as was a common belief.

Darwin further said that man had evolved through the process of natural selection,
which was in response to the environment around him and his pursuit for pleasure. This
very argument put forth by Darwin shocked many as it challenged the very foundations
of their old beliefs which had been passed to them through generations.

This expedition of Darwin resulted in shifting of the focus of an ordinary person from
religion to more basic things. Charles Darwin’s book made people change their
perception towards religion. It was by virtue of this scientific progress that people were
gradually withdrawing from the traditional religious ideologies.

Victorian era religious teaching

However, despite religion taking a back-seat during the Victorian time, it was also a
period when some faithful ministers, missionaries, theologians and authors who kept the
Christian truths alive.

There were other believers of religion who dedicated their lives in travelling from one
country to another and spread their religious beliefs. Some authors using their writing as
a tool kept the religion alive. You can also read more about Victorian era religion
and morality and also about Victorian beliefs in the supernatural.