Only 12% of adults in Britain have a detailed knowledge of the Christmas story, according to new research published today by Theos, the public theology think tank.
In the ComRes poll over 1000 adults were asked questions about the Christmas story as narrated in the Christian Bible.
The findings reveal that when it comes to the classic elements of the story, such as the appearance of an angel to Mary or where Jesus was born, the vast majority of people, 73% in each case, know the story.
However, that number falls considerably when people are asked slightly more difficult questions. 48% of people know that John the Baptist was Jesus’ cousin but only 22% that Jesus, Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt to escape Herod’s massacre of the innocents.
The knowledge of the Christmas story varies with age. The youngest people questioned (aged 18-24) know least, with only 7% knowing the correct answers to all the questions asked. Middle aged people (aged 55-64) know most - 18% answering all questions correctly.
In terms of the geographical spread, the Midlands comes out as the most biblically literate part of Britain, followed by Wales and the South West, the South East and Northern England respectively. Scotland is at the bottom of the table with the lowest average number of correct answers given.
The knowledge of the Christmas story fluctuates with belief. Unsurprisingly, Christian churchgoers know the story best with 36% answering all questions correctly, compared with only 5% of atheists.
Commenting on the results of the survey, Paul Woolley, Director of Theos, said:
"These findings provide us with a good snapshot of our national relationship with Christianity.
"They show that the Christmas story, in its classic formulation is still very much in our cultural blood stream, as indeed is the Christian story as a whole.
"However, when you probe in any depth, you discover that our knowledge and understanding is rather more shaky.
"The fact that younger people are the least knowledgeable about the Christmas story may reflect a decline in the telling of Bible stories in schools and the popularity of Nativity plays.
"No-one seriously thinks that being a Christian or a member of the established Church is the same thing as being British today. But, at the same time, if we are serious about social cohesion we can't afford to ignore the stories that have bound us together as a culture for a thousand years.
"Attempts to down-play the Christmas story in order to help social cohesion are likely to be counterproductive."
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ComRes interviewed 1015 GB adults by telephone between 7 and 8 November 2007. Data were weighed to be representative demographically of all GB adults. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.
Although some claim that James could also have been Jesus' cousin, James does not feature in the Christmas story, according to the Christian Bible, on which this research is based, and so was not deemed to be a correct answer.
To read the results of the research in full, click here.
