Religion in Finland Religion in Finland Finland is a predominantly Christian nation where some 73% of the 5.5 million overall population follow Christianity; the vast majority being members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (Protestant), 26.3% are atheists, having no religious belief at all, and 1.6% follow other religions like Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, folk religion etc. There are presently two National churches (as opposed to State churches): the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (Protestant), which is the primary state religion representing 70.9% of the population by the end of 2017, and the Finnish Orthodox Church, to which about 1.1 % of
Sociology of religion on individual salvation and conscience. Durkheim's definition of religion, from "Elementary Forms", is as follows: "A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden – beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them." This is a functional definition of religion, meaning that it explains what religion "does" in social life: essentially, it unites societies. Durkheim defined religion as a clear distinction between the sacred and the profane, in effect this can be paralleled with the