I asked the internet polling organisation YouGov to carry out a survey in Britain. I wanted to find out not just how many of us believe in God but what we mean when we talk about belief.

At one end of the spectrum are Jews, Christians and Muslims who (mostly) have a pretty clear idea of what they mean. They are theists. They believe in one God who created everything and still gets involved in the world. He knows about every sparrow that falls. At the other end are atheists. They do not believe in a ‘supernatural’ god. Full stop.

Somewhere in the middle are deists, who believe God created everything and then said in effect, ‘That’s it. I’ve done my bit. Now let ’em get on with it.’

And then there are those who believe (if that’s the right word) in nature. They acknowledge a powerful force at work in the world but are more likely to sense it in a great oak tree than in the idea of a supernatural god. They may be spiritual or even mystical, but they are not religious. They are usually called pantheists. Within these categories there are endless variations.

That’s one of the reasons why it is pointless to ask: ‘Do you believe in God?’ The only sensible answer must be: ‘Depends what you mean by God.’ So, for the purpose of the YouGov survey, I framed the first question in more specific terms. Here’s the result – with all the figures representing a percentage of the 2,200 people who took part.

Which of these comes closest to your belief?

· I believe in a personal God who created the world and hears my prayers 22

· I believe God created everything but then left us to get on with it 6

· I believe in ‘something’ but I’m not sure what 26

· I would like to believe and I envy those who do but cannot believe for myself 5

· I am an agnostic. I don’t think it is possible to know if there is a God or not 9

· I am an atheist. The whole notion of a supernatural God is nonsense 16