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Over half of Northerners believe Jesus rose from the dead
Over half of people in the North of England believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, according to new research published today by Theos, the public theology think tank.
52% of people from the North of England questioned in the ComRes poll said they believe that Jesus was executed by crucifixion, buried and rose from the dead, with nearly half of those (25% 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 Northerners said they believe in some kind of existence after death, although most of those (45% 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. More than two in five Northerners (44%) said they believe that Jesus was the son of God – a higher percentage than the national average of 40%. Half of Northerners (50%) said he was a holy prophet. When asked whether they thought Jesus was a good man and wise teacher, 69% of people agreed. Only 9% disagreed.
Surprisingly, 12% of Northerners claim that Jesus never existed, despite the fact that respected historians unanimously believe he did.
On the question of Easter’s significance today, 42% of Northerners believe that the Easter story is about Jesus dying for the sins of the world while only 23% think that the Easter story has no meaning today.
Despite widely reported concerns about the impact of Dan Brown’s best selling novel, The Da Vinci Code, only 6% of Northerners said they subscribe to the idea that Jesus did not die but was resuscitated by his disciples.
Dr Marijke Hoek, from the Evangelical Alliance in Manchester, said: “The fact that nearly half of those surveyed in the north of England believe that Jesus was the son of God is particularly striking and shows that society is not as disinterested in Christianity at Easter as we sometimes think it is.”
Northern England also contains the largest number of Christians who are not regular church goers. 43% of those surveyed were prepared to own themselves Christians, but did not feel the need to attend church on a regular basis.
Dr Hoek added: “It is encouraging that so many people call themselves Christians, but is a challenge to the established church to look for ways to bring these people into our Christian communities.”
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.”
The Rt. Rev Tom Wright, 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'!"
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Media Enquiries: Paul Woolley, Theos, 07980 473382
Ben Gilchrist, Manchester, 07525030495
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