Don’t you wanna know?
Last issue, we told you a little about the survey that the Christian Union did during last term. Well, the results of our survey are in, and we figured we’d share them with you!
The first question we asked was: “How important is the spiritual dimension in your life?” (on a numbered scale). 18% of respondents answered ‘Very’, a whopping 25% were in the middle (ie neutral) and only 12% said that the Spiritual Dimension didn’t affect their lives at all. Clearly then, the CU is arguably an important part of university life.
Our second question was a bit of a tricky one: “What do you think is the meaning of life?” Our top answers were: Love and friendships (55%), having a good time (44%) and worshipping God (18%). Other options included making money, job satisfaction and saving the environment.
We then asked people what their views on the Bible were. 30% of people think it serves as a moral code, while 27% believe it is God’s message to everyone; 17% think it is just a myth or fable and 10% believed it was no longer relevant. The percentage of people who think it is unreliable was the same as those who did not!
Our next question was: “What is your view of Jesus?” Many people thought he was a good man and a moral teacher (60%), while only 21% believed he was the Son of God. 7% took him to be a political figure only, and 22% thought he was a prophet of sorts. 3% thought he was deluded or insane.
As well as the questions outlined here, we also asked “If you could ask God one question, what would you ask him?” Questions students offered themselves included: “What do you [God] look like?”, “Explain the Big Bang”, “Why do people suffer?”, “What is the purpose of life?” and “Have I been a good person?”.
So, ‘Don’t you wanna know’ the answers to some of these questions? I mean, who is God exactly? Can science and faith co-exist? Is there a purpose to life?
From the 15th to the 19th February the CU will be looking to answer these and other questions, based on the things that students here in Portsmouth have asked us, in our events week, “Don’t you Wanna Know?”
Each day of the week, there will be a Lunchbar exploring a different question and most evenings there will be a chilled out event (bring and share meal, chillout cafe with games consoles, etc, and a pub quiz), with a short talk to get you thinking. Friday is the best opportunity to get your questions out there, via text in the afternoon (with donuts also on offer) and a question panel available at the Union in the evening. Keep an eye out for the words ‘Don’t you Wanna Know?’ on posters to see more details of the week around campus, find us on Facebook, or visit upsu.net/dontyouwannaknow.
For more details email dontyouwannaknow@upsu.net.
