The popularity of Bible verse captions on instagram seems more prominent among young people than ever. But do these public declarations of faith translate into actual practice, or is this revival merely performative? Do we see swathes of young men flocking to the church of Jordan Peterson and Charlie Kirk, or is there more substance to these stats?
A recent YouGov poll showed as of August 6th 2025, 37 per cent of 18-24 year olds in Britain believe there is a God/ are Gods, a staggering increase from August 2022 in which only 19 per cent claimed to subscribe to theism.
However does this polling translate into religious practice? The Quiet Revival claim that the percentage of 18-24 year olds who say they attend church at least monthly has risen from 4 per cent in 2018 to 16 per cent in 2024. A particular increase in young men is notable from 4 per cent to 21 per cent reporting monthly church attendance.
Richy Thompson from Humanists UK points at the disparity between self reported attendance and recorded attendance. He suggests that perhaps the social desirability of church attendance means that young people are claiming to attend church when in reality they are not. Perhaps the instagram caption of Leviticus 19.18 is merely hollow virtue-signalling?
The idea that Jesus might be trendy appears novel to Gen Z, compared to the Millennial generation 42 per cent of which claim not to believe in any kind of God(s) or greater spiritual power. Why is this revival of theism, at least in terms of social desirability, occurring with the young men of our generation?
As with most popular held beliefs among younger generations, social media is a possible source. After the passing of political activist and Chrisitian Nationalist Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump praised the “army of young people” whom Kirk allegedly inspired.
This supposed “inspiration” takes the form of “regressive and misogynistic” rhetoric under the guise of piety, a viewpoint which targets young men who made up the majority of Kirk’s “disciples.” Though amongst these ardent followers are Kirk’s most ardent critics who also consist of young people, as seen in his debates against college students.
These influencers make up a “New Age” form of Christianity focused on scripture and traditionalism, adapting to a digitised audience. The Student spoke with a Scottish Student from a strongly Catholic area who has observed the growing popularity of New Age Spirituality.
“New Age Services I think are less boring for young people, it involves more pastor-congregation interaction and freedom of thought, the only people that I know who still go to traditional Catholic services do so out of cultural or familial expectations”
When asked if she feels the rise of Christian influencers has contributed to this trend she responded “A hundred percent, especially with Christianity taking more of a centre stage in social media and politics, being devout is becoming more popular”
This rise in theism amongst young people in the UK cannot be holistically attributed to the rise of right-wing Christian influencers. Humanists UK claims that “loneliness, isolation and anxiety” may be a contributing factor as to why young people are turning to religion.
The Student spoke with the Edinburgh Christian Union who claim “In a post-Covid society marked by isolation and loneliness, students are asking deeper questions about meaning, satisfaction, and hope — and the materialism of our culture just doesn’t answer those questions.”
Concerns around male loneliness are widely discussed in the media with the TV show Adolescence provoking conversations around how this loneliness can lead men down a violent right wing echo chamber.
Perhaps religion is forging an alternative solution to this loneliness; though of course there are intersections between these pipelines with figures such as Kirk and Peterson leading their congregation towards a utopia of female subordination.
Regardless if performative or truly pious, whether young men are moving towards the views of Kirk and Peterson or simply trying to form supportive communities, the rise of theism in young people is hugely anomalous and therefore worthy of discussion.
Read the Edinburgh Christian Union’s full statement here.
Illustration by Lydia Kempton @lydiak_arts