Abstract
We characterized the belief content of Christians and non-Christians in a highly secularized Western society, the Netherlands, at the end of the 20th century. Using data from a 1995 national survey (n = 1,646), we identified and measured three coherent, but distinct, sets of convictions that people may or may not subscribe to: a) orthodox, b) humanitarian, and c) science-inspired convictions. Next, we identified some groups of Christians and non-Christians who subscribed differently to these sets of convictions. In doing so, we showed that not all Christians are alike. The belief content of the members of different Dutch Christian Churches differs greatly from what the members of the other Churches and non-members believe. Even theologically irrelevant differences between Christians, like gender, age, and education, proved relevant for their belief content. We discuss implications for the secularization process in the Netherlands.
