Almost a third of Dutch nationals do not know why Christmas is celebrated, according to a new survey quoted by the Dutch ANP news agency.
A survey of 750 Dutch adults made public late on Wednesday showed that 26 per cent of respondents did not know which Biblical story was commemorated at Christmas. Six per cent named an event other that the birth of Jesus Christ.
The poll remarkably revealed that even Christians do not always know the origin of Christmas. Some 29 per cent of Protestants polled pointed to the wrong Biblical story, while 26 per cent of Roman Catholics did not think of the birth of Jesus.
Among the non-religious, 35 per cent could not say why Christmas was celebrated.
The poll was commissioned by Dutch Christian television broadcasting organisation NCRV.