One in four people who identify themselves as “Christians” in England say that they believe that the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ did not happen, according to a new poll. ComRes conducted the survey of 2,010 British adults by telephone for 10 days at the beginning of February, asking them a series questions about their beliefs on the Bible and Easter. BBC local radio commissioned the survey for Palm Sunday, measuring the responses of the “General Public,” “All Christians,” and “Active Christians,”

which refers to Christians who attend religious services at least once per month. When it comes to the specific event that Christians around the world will celebrate on Easter Sunday, Christ’s resurrection, half of the general public replied they do not believe that it happened, as did a quarter of people who identified as Christians. Seventeen percent of all respondents believed that the resurrection occurred exactly as it is described in the Bible, while 31 percent of Christian respondents and 57 percent of active Christians agreed. MORE