Majority in U.K. believe Jesus actually lived, doubt his divine power

Research on Christian's perception and understanding of Jesus and evangelism in the United Kingdom has been published bythe Church of England, the Evangelical Alliance and HOPE. 

A special task force of the Barna Group was commissioned to research Christian adults in the U. K. on Jesus and the frequency of discussing the topic faith among themselves as well as to non-Christians.

According to The Barna Group, the vast majority of adults in the U.K. believe Jesus was a real person but challenge his divine power. 61% or 6 out of 10 adults attested that Jesus was a real person who actually lived while only about 1 in 5 adults or 22% believe Jesus is a fictional or a mythical character from a book. Even though the majority of adults in the U.K. believes Jesus was a historical person, 29% believe Jesus was a prophet or spiritual leader, but not God.

World Religion News reported different ethnic communities have different views and believe Jesus was a real person but are divided as to whether or not he is God. 

When asked about the resurrection of Jesus, not quite half (44%) believed the event actually occurred. 17% believe the resurrection happened exactly as described in the Bible, while a quarter believe the bible story, but said some parts should not be taken literally.

Most Non-Christians attested that they know many people who practice Christianity, most being friends or family members. 61% of non-Christians enjoy spending time with Christians. Non-Christians also attributed positive qualities to most Christians they know. The most positive perceptions are Christians being friendly (64%), caring (52%) and good-humored (46%).

Even though non-Christians have a generally positive perception of Christians, they don't always share enthusiasm on the concept of Christianity when evangelized.

More than half of UK adults have had a conversation with Christians about Jesus. 2 in every 5 non-Christians say evangelism made them happy about not being a Christian. Whenever Christians in the U.K. share a conversation about Jesus, non-Christians often have mixed reactions.

The majority of Christians surveyed still believe they have a responsibility to evangelize and live according to Christian values.