Half of students in faith-based schools believe Jesus was God in human form

The Student Spiritual Life Survey (SSLS) run by NCLS Research explores 6 key themes, one of which is Religious or Spiritual Beliefs. In participating Australian Christian schools, high school students were invited to reflect on their beliefs about Jesus Christ.

Nearly half (49%) of high school students believe that Jesus Christ is God in human form. While one in five (20%) students do not know what they believe, around three in 10 in this snapshot hold other views about who Jesus is.  These other views include 16% who say Jesus is not God, but was a prophet or spiritual leader and 8% who say Jesus was a normal human being.  

While few historians would challenge the historicity of Jesus Christ, according to this snapshot from students in faith-based schools, some 7% believe that Jesus does not/did not exist.

This initial snapshot was taken based on some 14,461 students in 28 Christian schools who had completed the Student Spiritual Life Survey. Some schools have used the SSLS more than once, but this article uses results only from their most recent survey wave i.e. each student was only counted once. ​