A new survey has revealed one in ten Brits consider Easter eggs to be more important that the resurrection when it comes to Easter – and a quarter of respondents calling themselves Christian don’t believe in the resurrection at all.
The research by Whitestone Insight asked people to declare their religious beliefs, and then what they believed about Jesus’ resurrection, amongst other topics.
Of 2067 adults surveyed, 43 per cent believed Biblical accounts of the resurrection to be a myth. Of Christian respondents, 25 per cent agreed with the statement.
Only 36 per cent of Christian participants believed the Bible to be entirely accurate when it comes to the Easter story, and 36 per cent of believers did not think they had a thorough understanding of what Christianity claims about Jesus.
However, Andrew Hawkins from Whitestone Insight says it’s not all negative. Whilst 51 per cent of Brits don’t feel they have a grasp on the Gospel, a quarter of people – Christian or otherwise – believe the Biblical account of the resurrection to be entirely accurate.
In addition to this, a “colossal” proportion of people intend to visit church this Easter.
He said: “Around twice as many young people as older people say that they intend to attend a church service, either in-person or online, on Easter Day.
“That's around one in four young people, which is huge; that is just colossal.
“The encouragement I want to give to church leaders is some data that we found from this survey, and from other surveys, suggests there is an intense spiritual hunger - again, especially among young people - to be told to be told it straight.
“The figures are consistent that people would take Christianity more seriously - they would take the Gospel more seriously - if church leaders were clear about what they believe and why.
"So I want to encourage churches to be really bold, because the chances are if people are going to go to church on this Sunday, even if they're not regular churchgoers, and they're probably going not because they think they're going to get a Mini Egg after the service and a decent cup of coffee.
“They're going because they believe the claims of the New Testament about the resurrection to be accurate, and they want to hear more.”