If you don’t believe in the Resurrection, why even go to church?

A recent British survey conducted for Palm Sunday revealed that one out of four self-described Christians in the United Kingdom do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Christians in the U.K. are not considerably more believing of the Scriptures when it comes to the resurrection than the average Briton – or even those who claim no religious affiliation at all.

“Exactly half of all people surveyed did not believe in the resurrection at all,” announced BBC Radio. “However, almost one in 10 people of no religion say they do believe the Easter story, but it has ‘some content that should not be taken literally.’”

BBC commissioned the survey of 2,010 British adults that was conducted from February 2–12 by ComRes via telephone interviews, and the results give a clear indication that Great Britain has strayed from its Christian heritage and beliefs.

Post-Christian nation?

As Easter approaches, many find it hard to believe that the country where the King James Bible originated has turned its back on the most fundamental scriptural teachings.

“Just 17 percent of the general public believe word-for-word the Bible account of the Resurrection,” BBC.com reported. “Nine percent of non-religious people believe in the Resurrection, 1 percent of whom say they believe it literally.”

One of the biggest denominations in the U.K., the Church of England, indicated that the poll’s finding – that a fifth of non-religious Britons (21 percent) “believe in life after death” – demonstrates that many people within the country hold to religious beliefs. However, a majority of the British believe that heaven and hell are not a reality.

“Forty-six percent of people say they believe in some form of life after death and 46 percent do not … the remaining 8 percent say they do not know.” the survey results revealed by BBC informed. “Twenty percent of non-religious people say they believe in some form of life after death.”

It was also found that a significant percentage of Christians in the U.K. generally do not take the Bible literally.

“Thirty-one percent of Christians believe word-for-word the Bible version, rising to 57 percent among ‘active’ Christians – those who go to a religious service at least once a month,” the results show. “Three in 10 Christians surveyed (31 percent) said they did not believe in life after death.”

More women than men in the U.K. have a Christian worldview when it comes to life after death, and even though most Britons in general believe their soul will live on, many do not ascribe to the biblical teaching on the matter.

“The survey found women were more likely to believe in life after death than men – around 56 percent of women surveyed compared with 36 percent of men,” BBC announced. “Of those who did believe in life after death, two thirds of those surveyed (65 percent) said they thought their souls would go to ‘another life’ such as heaven or hell, while a third thought they would be reincarnated (32 percent).”

Even though disbelief in God’s Word is rife throughout Britain, the high percentages of Christians not attending church regularly – or not at all – is stunning.

“Almost two in five Christians surveyed say that they never attend religious services (37 percent),” BBC disclosed. “Just one fifth say they attend every week (20 percent).”

Also surprising is the fact that more adults from the younger generations attend Christian services than older believers.

“Two in five 18–24-year-old Christians (41 percent) surveyed and 25–34-year-old Christians (42 percent) say they attend a service at least once a month, compared with about a quarter of 45–54-year-olds (22 percent) and 55–64-year-olds (26 percent),” the British radio broadcast group pointed out.

Faith falling?

When asked about the results, Rev. Dr. Lorraine Cavanaugh – who is the acting general secretary of Modern Church, which teaches liberal Christian theology in the U.K. – contended that contemporary Christians should pick and choose what they want to believe.

“I think [people answering the survey] are being asked to believe in the way they might have been asked to believe when they were at Sunday school,” Cavanaugh insisted, according to BBC. “You’re talking about adults here. And an adult faith requires that it be constantly questioned, constantly re-interpreted, which incidentally is very much what Modern Church is actually about. Science, but also intellectual and philosophical thought has progressed. It has a trickle-down effect on just about everybody’s lives. So, to ask an adult to believe in the resurrection the way they did when they were at Sunday school simply won’t do and that’s true of much of the key elements of the Christian faith.”

The Church of England’s Bishop of Manchester, Rev. David Walker, said the results of the survey were uplifting.

“This important and welcome survey proves that many British people – despite not being regular churchgoers – hold core Christian beliefs,” Walker told BBC. “Alongside them, it finds surprisingly high levels of religious belief among those who follow no specific religion – often erroneously referred to as secularists or atheists. This demonstrates how important beliefs remain across our society, and hence the importance both of religious literacy and of religion having a prominent place in public discourse.”

Noting the divisions in the U.K. when it comes to spirituality, Professor Linda Woodhead of Lancaster University’s Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion, stresses that the survey goes to show that Christian beliefs on the island nation eroding.

“This polling confirms that Britain is now split down the middle between those who call themselves Christian and those who say no religion, but this is not a simple division between religious and secular,” Woodhead told the British radio station. “A significant proportion of Christians don’t believe in life after death, and a significant number of the non-religious do. Belief in a soul and an afterlife persists, including amongst young people, even though belief in the resurrection of Christ and the authority of the Church and the Bible are in decline.”

No longer a Christian country?

Just prior to taking the survey for Palm Sunday, ComRes conducted another poll asking 2,048 British adults whether they believe Britain is a Christian nation, and the results show that younger generations are influenced by those telling them that Christian beliefs no longer reign supreme on the island nation.

“Less than a third of millennials believe Britain is a Christian country, while more than 40 per cent say the UK has no specific religious identity,” Breitbart reported in January. “[U]nder a third of those aged 18 to 24 agreed that Britain was a Christian country. This marks a sharp difference from older generations, with nearly three quarters of over 65s saying British is in fact Christian, while 67 percent of people aged 55 to 64, and 58 percent of people aged 45 to 54 agree.”

Even though a significant proportion of Britons do not believe Great Britain ascribes to any particular religious belief, most believe it does, and most also see it as important for influential figures to be knowledgeable of religious beliefs.

“By contrast, 41 per cent of 18–24-year-olds believe Britain is a country with no specific religious identity – an opinion shared by just 20 per centof over 65s,” Breitbart’s Nick Hallett reported. “Nonetheless, over half of millennials still thought it was important for politicians and policymakers to have a good understanding of religion, and 54 percent thought understanding religion was important – regardless of whether you are personally religious.”

Non-religious outnumber Christians

It is also maintained that people in England and Wales who do not identify with any religion outnumber those who consider themselves Christian, according to a NatCen survey.

“The proportion of the population who identify in NatCen’s British Social Attitudes survey as having no religion, referred to as ‘nones,’ reached 48.5 percent in 2014, outnumbering the 43.8 percent who define themselves as Christian – Anglicans, Catholics and other denominations,” The Guardian reported last year. “In 2011, the BSA survey found 46 percent identified as having no religion. The 2011 census gave a much lower figure of 25 percent, but phrased the question differently.”

It was also announced that the proportion of the population that proclaims to be Anglican in England and Wales has halved since 1983.

“The proportion of the population who describe themselves as Anglican plunged from 44.5 in 1983 to 19 percent in 2014,” Guardian Religion Correspondent Harriet Sherwood explained. “Catholics made up 8.3 percent, other Christians 15.7 percent and non-Christian religions 7.7 percent.”

However, different areas of the U.K. found distinctly different results.

“London has the smallest proportion of people identifying as ‘nones,’ at an average of 40 percent, accounted for by the capital’s large minority ethnic population,” the religion correspondent added. “In contrast, 59.5 percent of people in Wales say they have no religion.”

Other key demographic distinctions were also noted.

“Half of all Christians in England and Wales are over the age of 55, although Catholics have a younger age profile,” Sherwood pointed out. “Of those describing themselves as Christian, 58.6 percent are women. More than nine in 10 Christians are white, which is slightly higher than in the general population. Far more Catholics (27.5 percent) than Anglicans (8.9 percent) attend church once a week or more.”

Each of the aforementioned surveys conducted in the U.K. show that the number of those ascribing to Christian beliefs is on a major downswing.