A recent survey has suggested just under three quarters of UK Christians believe in the existence of hell while almost two thirds say their church rarely or never teaches about the topic.
The study, conducted by Christian Research panel Resonate surveyed over 5,000 Christians across the UK and found 74 percent believed hell existed while 10 per cent did not, and a further 16 per cent said they were uncertain.
The report also revealed that 15 percent believed the topic of hell was of little relevance to modern day life.
Author Matt Adcock, who commissioned the study ahead of the launch of his new book Complete Darkness told Premier he was surprised by the findings.
“I thought hell perhaps was even less of an issue for people now. It seems like a very harsh doctrine,” he said.
Adcock who is in the ten per cent that doesn’t believe in hell, went on to say that he thought teaching on the subject was becoming out-of-date and less “favourable” within the Church.
“People want to believe in heaven and a positive God of love that’s gonna love you forever. I think it’s a harder doctrine to say, you know, you’ll be judged and accountable for everything you’ve done on Earth.
“I think churches are adapting their message to attract people who have a more liberal mindset,” he added.
The study also revealed that the number of people who believed in hell varied greatly to the number of people who believed in heaven, particularly within the Methodist Church.
Adcock says there is a mystery around the concept of hell which makes it more difficult to understand and suggested more teaching on the subject was needed.
“There’s only 15 verses in the Bible that actually mention hell whereas there are hundreds that mentioned heaven.
“We don’t have a detailed roadmap about it – it’s an ongoing kind of fascination for humanity.
“Those who are training to go into ministry want to know what to say – they want to know how to address these topics and I think it’s one that’s not going to go away.”
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