November 2015
Featured in this insight: Charity & not-for-profit, Culture, heritage & leisure, Electricity, Financial services
40 per cent don’t believe Jesus was real, survey finds: A culture survey on behalf of the Church of England has suggested that 40 per cent of people do not believe that Jesus was real, with 25 per cent of those aged between 18 and 34 believing that he was a fictional or mythical character.
The survey of 4,000 people also revealed that 43 per cent of English people did believe in the resurrection of Christ, however, many of them did not believe that it happened exactly as how the Bible suggests.
The survey also revealed that 57 per cent of the sample described themselves as Christian, although, less than 10 per cent said that they attend church.
The survey findings are set to be discusses at the next General Synod this month.
A number of academics think that Jesus was a real person who lived in Galilee more than 2,000 years ago; however, details about his life are widely debated.
The survey was conducted as part of a greater research project which explored both practicing Christians and the wider population.
Within the wider survey, the Christians were the largest group of respondents, closely followed by atheists (12 per cent), agnostics (9 per cent), Muslims (3 per cent), Hindus (2 per cent) and Jews (2 per cent).
The survey revealed that English Christians are more likely than the average adult in England to have a career in the education sector, or in a professional role. However, they were found to be less likely to hold a position in the financial services or insurance sectors.
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