In God we trust? Understanding the revival of religion

This session is part of Battle of Ideas Berlin 2026.

Unlike in the United States, Germany is not experiencing a broad Christian awakening. There is no figure comparable to Charlie Kirk, and no leading candidate for high office who, like JD Vance, would publish a book centred on personal faith.

Yet subtle social changes are taking place.

The first is well known: classical, culturally rooted Christianity, represented by Germany’s two major state-recognised churches – the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) – continues to lose ground, with membership declining by hundreds of thousands every year.

The second, though less frequently discussed, is that the decline of the established churches has not been matched by a decline in religion itself. Some Christian communities, especially Orthodox and Free Churches, are experiencing something of a revival, while Islam has also continued to attract new adherents – not all of them through migration. Contrary to many predictions, Generation Z has not become a generation defined by an embrace of atheism.

What is driving this trend? The search for community in a society where many traditional social structures have broken down may explain part of it, but is it the whole story?

Some see these developments as part of a broader conservative backlash against secularism, led by prominent public figures such as Jordan Peterson and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, for whom Christianity forms part of a wider project to preserve Western civilization. Others say some young people are seeking to rebel against societies they perceive as ‘woke’ or too progressive by turning to conservative Christianity. A further argument is that religion provides personal orientation in an uncertain world, and that contemporary forms of Christian worship have acquired a distinctly therapeutic character, placing greater emphasis on introspection and personal development than on community or moral teaching.

What is driving the renewed interest in Christianity? Is this emerging Christianity different from its traditional forms? Is the revival primarily political, or are people searching for meaning? Are we witnessing a revival of faith, or merely cultural Christianity? And does the distinction matter?