Poll: Most Americans Reject Resurrection of the Body
The results of a recent poll interviewing more than a thousand adults show that most Americans do not believe in the resurrection of their bodies after death.
The results of a recent poll interviewing more than a thousand adults show that most Americans do not believe in the resurrection of their bodies after death.
Some 1,007 adults were interviewed by phone from Feb. 19 to Mar. 3 by the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University and asked the question, “Do you believe that, after you die, your physical body will be resurrected someday?” Results indicate that out of those interviewed only 36 percent replied “yes” to the question while 54 percent said they do not believe in the statement and 10 percent remained undecided.
Poll findings have dismayed some theologians including the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., while other Christian leaders have expressed surprise and curiosity.
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“I don’t know what to make of this,” said retired Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong, author of Resurrection: Myth or Reality, according to Scripps Howard News Service. “Maybe the old Greek idea of an immortal soul has taken over and the idea of a resurrected body has fallen into disrepute.”
Robert Wuthnow, director of the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University, displayed interest in the poll result saying that the findings may help in understanding America’s popular theology.
“This is definitely interesting. I haven’t seen a similar question asked before,” said Wuthnow. “In a way, though, it doesn’t surprise me. I can think of interpretations of the creeds that would suggest a spiritual resurrection rather than one of the physical body.”
According to the poll, 90 percent of Americans believe in God or a Supreme Being, with 65 percent indicating that they were “absolutely certain” that God exists. Seventy-two percent replied they believe in an afterlife with “some sort of consciousness” with 47 percent of being absolutely certain of this.
The poll also found that half of those who attend church recently said they believe they will undergo a physical resurrection compared to a quarter of those who have not attended service recently.
