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Americans Divided on "Lost Tomb of Jesus" Documentary

Flemington, NJ, February 28, 2007 — According to a new national study of 860 Americans, 43%, are not sure about claims made by a writer of a new documentary regarding the discovery of the tomb of Jesus.

The study was conducted by mediacurves.com, a service of HCD Research, during  February 27-28, to obtain Americans’ views on a video clip in which the writer of the documentary, “The Lost Tomb of Jesus,” claims that in all probability the tomb of Jesus has been found. The video clip was part of an interview to promote the James Cameron-directed documentary that will air Sunday night on the Discovery Channel.

Responders, who represented a cross section of religions, were asked their level of belief regarding the following statement: “To what extent do you believe that Jesus was raised bodily from the dead?”  They were then asked to view a video clip of an interview with the journalist, Simcha Jacobovic, who worked with director James Cameron on the documentary.

Among the findings:

• 43% of responders indicated that they “do not know” if claims made in the video are true.  Methodists were most unsure with 58% reporting they “do not know”.

• Among all responders, 14% decreased their intensity of the belief that Jesus was raised bodily from the dead after viewing the video clip, and 5% increased their intensity of belief after viewing the video clip.

• Among religious affiliation, after viewing the video, Catholics were somewhat more likely to decrease their intensity of belief that Jesus was raised bodily from the dead than other Christians.  20% of Catholics reported a decrease in intensity compared to 18% “other Protestants”, 12% Baptists and 3% Evangelicals.

To view detailed results of the study go to: www.mediacurves.com  The Media Curves web site provides the media and general public with a venue to view Americans’ perceptions of popular and controversial media events and advertisements.
 
HCD Research specializes in conducting communications research for the pharmaceutical, food and beverage, financial and entertainment industries, among others. Headquartered in Flemington, NJ, the company's services include traditional and web-based communications research.  For additional information on HCD Research, access the company’s web site at www.hcdi.net or call HCD Research at 908-788-9393. 

Editors/Reporters: For more information on the study, or to speak with Glenn Kessler, managing partner, HCD Research, please contact Vince McGourty, HCD Research, at (908) 483-9121 or (vince.mcgourty@hcdi.net).