wfn.org | Churches do believe in resurrection of Jesus Christ - Survey

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

Embargoed: 0001Hrs, 2nd April 1999

A survey released today of local church leaders from across the 
UK has revealed that over 99 per cent believe that Jesus Christ was 
raised to life on the third day after his crucifixion, leaving an empty 
tomb. 

When those same churches were surveyed 12 months earlier, over 
a half reported growth in congregation size over the previous year.  
Just over a third had remained static and only 12 per cent had lost 
members.

Rev Joel Edwards, general director of the Evangelical Alliance, said 
he was not surprised by the results of the survey.  He said: "where 
churches present the truth of the Bible with relevance and clarity, 
the church grows." 

Although the survey shows evangelicals in Britain have a range of 
views on such matters as a literal seven-day creation, there was an 
overwhelming confidence in the Bible as God's Word and the fact 
that Jesus was physically raised from the dead.

He added: "the historical evidence for the physical rising of Christ 
from the dead on that first Easter Day is incredibly strong. So 
strong, in fact, that a former Master or the Rolls Lord Darling said 
that any intelligent jury would return a verdict concluding that the 
Resurrection did happen.

"There are more accounts detailing the life and resurrection of 
Jesus than works by Aristotle, Plato and Homer combined.  Only 
10 manuscripts refer to Julius Caesar setting foot in Britain, while 
more than 24,000 manuscripts confirm the biblical account of the 
live of Jesus.   

"Not only is there clear historic backing for Jesus life, death and 
resurrection, but this Easter millions of people in local churches 
and large gatherings will be living evidence that Jesus is alive and 
well by the dramatic and lasting changes in their own lives and 
values." 

ENDS

NOTES:

The Evangelical Alliance is the umbrella body that represents over 
one million Christians in 30 denominations. 3,000 local churches 
from the membership of the Evangelical Alliance were surveyed and 
848 responded. These include leaders within the Church of 
England, Baptist, Salvation Army, Methodist, Church of Scotland, 
Brethren and many new church denominations and streams such 
as Pioneer and Icthus.  An evangelical is someone who believes 
that Jesus is both God and man; that the Bible is the ultimate 
authority in all that it addresses; and that the traditional beliefs of 
the Church such as the physical resurrection of Jesus are true.  An 
evangelical owns a commitment to Christ as their personal saviour 
and a desire to live out that faith in the community.

For further information, contact: 

Gavin Drake, gdrake@eauk.org 
0171 207 2117 or + 44 171 207 2117 

or 

Jill Howard, jhoward@eauk.org 
0171-207 2116 or + 44 171 207 2116 

Evangelical Alliance UK, 
Whitefield House, 
186 Kennington Park Road, 
London, SE11  4BT 

http://www.eauk.org - General
http://www.eauk.org/press - News Releases