Survey Finds Frequent Church Attendance Does Not Prevent Antisemitic Views Among British Christians

A response article by researchers Dr. Motti Inbari and Dr. Kirill Bumin, published on Premier Christianity, examines a survey of British Christians on antisemitism. Their piece answers an earlier report, which claimed that one third of British Christians had endorsed antisemitic tropes, and an editorial suggesting that the problem may be confined to nominal believers. The authors say their data paints a more worrying picture.

The survey asked 2,000 British respondents who identified as practicing Christians or as having a Christian upbringing whether Jesus was Jewish. Of those surveyed, 52.5% agreed, 15.9% said no, and 31.6% said they did not know. Among respondents who attended church at least once a week, 65.4% agreed. Only about 30% of those who identified as Christians attended church at least weekly. The authors say that attendance corresponds with greater knowledge of basic biblical facts, but they argue that this knowledge does not automatically make churchgoers more favorable toward Jews in general.

The researchers found that active churchgoers held higher levels of agreement with antisemitic tropes than nominal Christians, defined in the study as those who rarely read the Bible or attend church. The authors suggest theological reasons for this, including the belief that the church has replaced Jews in God’s blessings and the belief that Jews are responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus.

Respondents were asked to react to twelve antisemitic tropes, including “Jews have too much control over global affairs,” “Jews talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust,” and “Jews have too much control over the British government.” Overall, 28.4% did not agree with any of the twelve. The share varied by attendance: 35.4% of those who never attend church agreed with none, compared with 23.2% of weekly attendees and 7.9% of daily attendees. The authors describe a linear relationship, in which a larger share of respondents agreed that one or more tropes were “probably true” at each step of greater church attendance.

The authors say opinions are shaped by many factors, some reducing antisemitism and others increasing it. They report that the positive effect of religiosity, measured by church attendance and Bible reading, was outweighed by two beliefs: that Jews crucified Jesus Christ, and that God’s covenant with the Jews has either ended or never existed. Holding both beliefs together increased the likelihood of antisemitism by 340%.

Based on these findings, the authors caution against assuming that encouraging more frequent church attendance will improve Christian-Jewish relations, since frequent attendance can reinforce different kinds of beliefs. They conclude that beliefs in the Abrahamic Covenant and in Jewish election, meaning that the Jewish people are “chosen” and have an eternal covenant with God, along with a more literalist reading of the Bible, matter more for positive views of the Jewish people than attendance does. They write that they hope the survey will serve as a “canary in the coal mine” and a catalyst for improving Christian education and uprooting harmful beliefs.

Source: Read the original report