We Need to Do Better

BBC:

A quarter of people who describe themselves as Christians in Great Britain do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus, a survey commissioned by the BBC suggests.

However, almost one in 10 people of no religion say they do believe the Easter story, but it has “some content that should not be taken literally”.

A fifth of non-religious people believe in life after death, the poll suggests.

The Church of England said it showed many people held religious beliefs.

ComRes surveyed 2,010 British adults by telephone, between 2 and 12 February 2017. The research was commissioned by BBC local radio for Palm Sunday.

The survey suggested:

• 17% of all people believe the Bible version word-for-word

• 31% of Christians believe word-for-word the Bible version, rising to 57% among “active” Christians (those who go to a religious service at least once a month)

• Exactly half of all people surveyed did not believe in the resurrection at all

• 46% of people say they believe in some form of life after death and 46% do not

• 20% of non-religious people say they believe in some form of life after death

• 9% of non-religious people believe in the Resurrection, 1% of whom say they believe it literally

How often people go to church

Almost two in five Christians surveyed say that they never attend religious services (37%).

Just one fifth say they attend every week (20%).

However, younger Christians were more likely than older Christians to say they regularly attend religious services.
Two in five 18-24 year old Christians (41%) surveyed and 25-34 year old Christians (42%) say they attend a service at least once a month, compared with about a quarter of 45-54 year olds (22%) and 55-64 year olds (26%).