As Christians prepare to celebrate Easter, a general belief in the basics of Christianity remains strong in the United States.

A Rasmussen Reports holiday survey found that 80% believe the person known as Jesus Christ actually walked the earth. Only 8% disagree. The national telephone survey also found that three-quarters of American adults (75%) believe the central reason for the Easter celebration—that Jesus rose from the dead. A similar number (76%) think Jesus Christ was the son of God who came to earth to die for our sins.

Only 13% don’t believe in the resurrection of Christ and 14% don’t believe that Jesus was the Son of God.

These numbers are little changed from a year ago, despite several very public challenges to Christianity including the DaVinici code movie and claims that the tomb of Christ’s family had been found. Only 9% believed the DaVinci Code while most Americans (54%) believe the Bible is literally true. Belief in the Bible varies significantly by state and region.

A little over a third (37%) of adults consider Easter to be one of the nation’s most important holidays, compared to 12% who say it’s the least important. Forty-two percent (42%) say the holiday is somewhere in between. However, among Evangelical Christians, 63% rank Easter as one of our nation’s most important holidays. Overall, Christmas, the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving top the list of most important holidays.

As far as tradition goes, 62% will attend a church service to celebrate Easter this year. Three-out-of-four (74%) Americans will have a family meal and 45% will host an Easter egg hunt this year. Married Americans are more likely to partake in Easter festivities than non-married Americans.

Twenty percent (20%) say they are Evangelical Christians. Another 48% claim they belong to other Christian affiliations.

When it comes to religious participation, the country is split roughly in thirds. Thirty-three percent (33%) say they attend some form of religious service at least once a week. Thirty-percent (30%) rarely or never attend. Thirty-three percent (33%) are somewhere in between.

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