Over half of Britons believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, according to new research published by Theos, the public theology think tank.

When much of the media would have you believe that Christianity is dead and buried, 57% of people questioned in the ComRes poll said they believe that Jesus was executed by crucifixion, buried and rose from the dead. Over half of those (30% of the total sample) accepting the traditional Christian belief in the bodily resurrection of Christ and the rest (27%) believing that Jesus rose in spirit form.

This widespread belief clearly informs people’s more general attitude to life after death. Over half of people said they believe in some kind of existence after death, although most of those (44% of the total) believe that ‘your spirit lives on after death’. Only 9% said they believe in a personal physical resurrection.

The Theos research also examined who people thought Jesus was. Two in five (40%) said they believe that Jesus was the son of God and nearly half (47%) that he was a holy prophet. When asked whether they thought Jesus was a good man and wise teacher, 66% of people agreed. Only 11% disagreed.

On the question of Easter’s significance today, 43% of the public believe that the Easter story is about Jesus dying for the sins of the world while only 26% think that the Easter story has no meaning today. Only 1% think the story shows that violence can only be defeated through violence.

The Rt. Rev Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham, said: ‘The results show a healthy number of people who do still believe in what the New Testament teaches both about Jesus and about their own ultimate future, but also a fair amount of predictable confusion about what “resurrection” itself actually is. ‘“Resurrection” isn’t a fancy way of saying “life after death”; it’s a way of talking about a further stage, life after “life after death”. What the survey does show, though, is that the great majority of people still clearly care about Jesus and regard him highly’. What are your views?