Good without God: For the first time in recorded history, atheists outnumber theists in Norway.

A new study finds that for the first time ever, the majority of Norwegians do not believe in God.

The study, conducted annually by the Norwegian Monitor/Ipsos Norway, found that among 4,000 participants, 39 percent said they do not believe in God, while 37 percent said they do, and 23 percent said they were undecided.

The Local reports the survey marks the first time that non-believers outnumber the religious. Two years ago, the number of believers and non-believers was equal. When the question was first asked in 1985, a full 50 percent said they believed in God while just 20 percent did not.

Jan-Paul Brekke of Ipsos Norway, who led the survey, said the question did not define who ‘God’ is, noting:

It could be the Christian god, an independent god or one from other faiths. But since we started asking the question 30 years ago, the percentage of those who said they aren’t sure has been about the same.

Brekke added that while the survey took a sampling of multiple faiths, it primarily questioned western religions, like Christianity:

There are quite a few immigrants included [in the survey] but the majority of them come from Western religious traditions.

Church Militant reports Norway embraced Catholicism in the 10th century and held on to the faith until the Protestant Revolution in the 16th century, when Lutheranism took hold. Lutheranism was the state religion until 2012, when it was abolished as the state religion.

On a related note, Norway was recently determined to be one of the world’s happiest countries in a new report released by the World Happiness Index.

Perhaps more significant, the report also found that the world’s happiest countries are also the world’s least religious countries.

Bottom line: Norway is good without God.