Quarter of Christians in UK do not believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, – survey

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".

A fifth of non-religious people believe in life after death, the poll suggests.

The Church of England said it showed many people held religious beliefs. Exactly half of all people surveyed did not believe in the Resurrection at all.

17% of all people believe the Bible version word-for-word. 31% of Christians believe word-for-word the Bible version, rising to 57% among "active" Christians (those who go to a religious service at least once a month). 46% of people say they believe in some form of life after death and 46% do not. 20% of non-religious people say they believe in some form of life after death. 9% of non-religious people believe in the Resurrection, 1% of whom say they believe it literally.

Commenting for the Church of England, 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. 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", said the bishop.

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