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A quarter of British Christians do not believe Jesus rose from the dead, says survey

A man supplicates himself at the Stone of Anointing, located where Christians believe Christ's body was washed and prepared for burial after being removed from the cross, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City May 16, 2014. | Reuters/Finbarr O'Reilly

A recent survey by ComRes has indicated that a quarter of British Christians do not believe that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was a real event.

The study commissioned by the BBC has revealed that just a third of all British Christians believed what the Bible says about the events word-for-word. However, the figure rose to 57 percent among "active" Christians or those who attend religious service at least once a month.

As many as 37 percent of Christians admitted that they never attend religious services. Only 20 percent said they attend once a week.

The report noted that nearly one in 10 people of no religion said they believe the Easter story, but it includes "some content that should not be taken literally."

Overall, exactly half of all people do not believe in the resurrection, while only 17 percent believe the Bible version word-for-word.

The survey, which was commissioned by BBC local radio for Palm Sunday, was conducted between Feb. 2 and Feb. 12 among 2,010 British adults by telephone.

An equal number of respondents are evenly split at 46 percent on whether or not there is life after death. Twenty percent of non-religious people said they believe in some form of afterlife. The survey cited heaven, hell, and reincarnation as examples of life after death. As many as 31 percent of Christians said they do not believe in the afterlife.

Women, at around 56 percent, were found to be more likely to believe in the afterlife compared to men at 36 percent.

Among the believers in the afterlife, 65 percent said they believe their souls would go to "another life" such as heaven or hell, while 32 percent believe they would be reincarnated.

Responding to the survey results, The Bishop of Manchester, the Right Reverend David Walker, said: "This important and welcome survey proves that many British people, despite not being regular churchgoers, hold core Christian beliefs."

"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," he added.

Alastair Lichten, the campaign officer at the National Secular Society, said that the findings were "not very surprising," given that many people identified as Christians for cultural reasons.

"People have every right to identify how they want, but I think this should just send a message. When people identify in a certain religious way that doesn't tell you anything about them. It doesn't tell you their position on theological issues or on social issues," Lichten remarked.