Just over 28% of Australians doubt that Jesus rose from the dead, or are strongly sceptical of the claim.
But perhaps surprisingly, more than 43% of Australians believe that the resurrection of Jesus is either certain or possible, and a further 28% say they don't know.
This is one finding from a new survey of the spiritual beliefs of Australians, commissioned by the Centre for Public Christianity (CPX) and conducted by McCrindle Research.
The survey asked questions in three broad areas and commanded a sample size of 1000, with a spread across age brackets, gender, and all states and territories.
Some key findings include:
1. Nearly half of all Australians (44%) do not identify with an organised religion, although many of these (14%) still maintain spiritual beliefs.
2. With regard to the existence of various "spiritual" phenomena, Australians appear more open to the possibility of miracles, the existence of the soul, and the presence of a higher meaning/purpose in life. At the other end of the spectrum, stronger forms of scepticism were recorded for belief in ghosts and angels, although each of these categories still retained significant positive support.
3. On the topic of Jesus' resurrection 23.6% regard it as certain, while 19.7% are open to the possibility. 28.3% express agnosticism. In terms of scepticism 12.6% believe it is unlikely, while 15.8% are certain that Jesus did not rise from the dead.
4. Regarding Christian influence on a range of areas, the strongest perceptions of positive influence were related to the charity sector (70% positivity) and education (57% positivity). The strongest perceptions of negative influence were in the areas of politics (39% negativity) and the media (37% negativity).
"This data is both illuminating and intriguing," says the Executive Director of CPX, Simon Smart. "It indicates that while Australians are increasingly disconnected with institutional religion, they often remain open to spiritual belief of some kind. Even on the specific claim of Jesus' resurrection, people favour agnosticism ('I don't know') over scepticism ('it didn't happen'). Moreover, positive perceptions of Christianity strongly correlate with those spheres in which Christians are seen to be actively helping and contributing to the culture, whereas negative perceptions of Christianity seem to correlate with those spheres where Christians may appear more defensive and hostile."
