Many Brits confused over Christ birth story narrative

LONDON, Dec. 21 (UPI) —

One in 10 young British people said "Father Christmas" was a Biblical figure mentioned in Gospel accounts of Jesus Christ’s birth, a survey finds.

The survey found young people, ages 18 to 24, were generally more ignorant of the Bible’s actual Christ birth story, though large numbers of people confused basic portions of the Gospel.

For instance, about 7 percent of respondents said there was a Christmas tree mentioned in the Bible despite their widespread appearance not coming until Britain’s Victorian era, the Daily Telegraph reported.

One-third of the 2,000 respondents said the Bible specifies Dec. 25 as the day Christ was born. And perhaps confusing the Gospel for the lyrics of "Away in a Manger," one-quarter of respondents said baby Jesus did not cry when he was born.

The survey was conducted by the firm ConRes. Its margin of error and other details were not reported.