LONDON - 17 March 2008 - 430 words
New
survey claims over half UK believes in Resurrection
Over half of Britons believe Jesus rose from the dead, according
to new research published on Saturday by Theos, the public theology
think tank.
The publication of the research coincides with the launch of The
Passion, the BBC's new drama for Easter which begins this
Sunday. The series - which unusually deals in detail with Jesus'
resurrection.
57% of people questioned in the ComRes poll said they believe
that Jesus was executed by crucifixion, buried and rose from the
dead, with over half of those (30% of the total sample) accepting
the traditional Christian belief in the bodily resurrection of
Christ and the rest (27%) believing that Jesus rose in spirit
form.
This widespread belief clearly informs people's more general attitude
to life after death. Over half of people said they believe in
some kind of existence after death, although most of those (44%
of the total) believe that 'your spirit lives on after death'.
Only 9% said they believe in a personal physical resurrection.
The Theos research also examined who people thought Jesus was.
Two in five (40%) said they believe that Jesus was the son of
God and nearly half (47%) that he was a holy prophet. When asked
whether they thought Jesus was a good man and wise teacher, 66%
of people agreed. Only 11% disagreed.
Surprisingly, 13% of people claim that Jesus never existed, despite
the fact that respected historians unanimously agree that he did.
On the question of Easter's significance today, 43% of the public
believe that the Easter story is about Jesus dying for the sins
of the world while only 26% think that the Easter story has no
meaning today. Only 1% think the story shows that violence can
only be defeated through violence.
The opinions of atheists are especially interesting. 23% of respondents
identified themselves as such, but 14% of these think Easter was
about Jesus dying for the sins of the world, 12% believe he rose
again from the dead, and, remarkably, 7% think he was son of God.
Despite widely reported concerns about the impact of Dan Brown's
best selling novel, The Da Vinci Code, only 4% of people
said they subscribe to the idea that Jesus did not die but was
resuscitated by his disciples.
Commenting on the results of the research, Paul Woolley, Director
of Theos said: "The aim of this project was to examine people's
beliefs about the Easter story and the idea of resurrection. The
fact that over half of Britons believe that Jesus rose from the
dead is particularly striking and demonstrates that society is
not as 'secular' as we often imagine it to be.
"Britain is arguably becoming more polarised on issues of
religious faith given the exact split between people who do and
do not believe in life after death. The fact that younger people
are less clear about what they believe than older generations
reflects a more general rejection of the certainties of the past
amongst that age group, whether religious or atheistic.
"It is interesting that only 9% of all people and 42% of
church-going Christians believe in a personal physical resurrection
after death given the centrality of this belief in Christianity
since its conception. The belief that after death the soul escapes
to heaven is shaped by Plato rather than the Bible."
The Rt.Rev Tom Wright, Anglican Bishop of Durham, added: The results
show a healthy number of people who do still believe in what the
New Testament teaches both about Jesus and about their own ultimate
future, but also a fair amount of predictable confusion about
what 'resurrection' itself actually is.
"'Resurrection' isn't a fancy way of saying 'life after death';
it's a way of talking about a further stage, life after 'life
after death'. What the survey does show, though, is that
the great majority of people still clearly care about Jesus and
regard him highly. It would have been much more depressing if
most of them had said 'don't know, don't care'!"
Theos is a public theology think tank. It was launched in November
2006 with the support of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan
Williams, and the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal
Cormac Murphy-O'Connor.
For further information about Theos, visit www.theosthinktank.co.uk
© Independent Catholic News 2008
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