Posted on 10/23/2009 8:18:13 PM PDT by john in springfield
After spending time on some of the recent discussions here at FR about Young Earth Creationism (YEC) and other points of view (which I will call Old Earth Creationism (OEC) and Naturalistic Evolution), I found myself wondering: how many FReepers (and how many Americans) hold each particular view?
Obviously, there aren't any statistics on FReepers. But there are on Americans as a whole, and on certain groups of Americans.
The best general resource I've found so far on people's viewpoints is located here. I will summarize some of those here.
(Note: This page uses slightly different terms for a couple of these viewpoints, but as far as I can tell, they mean the same thing.)
About 45% accept the Young Earth Creationist viewpoint, about 37% accept the Old Earth Creationist viewpoint, and around 12% to 14% accept the Naturalistic Evolution viewpoint.
This has held fairly steady over the past 25 years or so. The percentage who believe in NE may have increased slightly, but overall, the numbers have held fairly steady.
A CBS News poll gave a bit different percentages: YEC 55%, OEC 27%, NE 13%.
Observations:
There are a lot of people who believe in young earth creationism, and there are also a lot of people who believe in old earth creationism as well.
The vast majority of Americans believe in God.
The majority of Americans believe in evolution.
The numbers change significantly among the college-educated:
YEC: 25%
OEC: 54%
NE: 17%
It is interesting to me that most - a full 54% - college-educated Americans accept the Old-Earth Creationist (or theistic evolutionist) view.
Note also the effect that a college education seems to have: With a few exceptions, people who go to college don't stop believing in God. However, quite a few do seem to shift from YEC to OEC.
This graph also means that an awful lot of people who don't go to college believe in YEC rather than in either OEC or NE.
Note that while this poll is nearly 20 years old, based on what we know from some other polls, overall beliefs do not seem to have changed greatly during this time.
YEC: 5%
OEC: 40%
NE: 55%
Note: The word "scientist" seems to be very vague in this poll, which apparently includes a lot of people with professional degrees in fields completely unrelated to biology, geology, etc.
In any event, a majority of "scientists" don't seem to believe that God was involved in the development of life on earth. It's not a very large majority, though. "Scientists" are divided as to whether God was involved. Most of those who think He was believe that this involvement included the process of evolution.
However, given that only 5% of "scientists" support YEC, the under-1% figure may well be true. I just don't know. Nor do I have access to the original 1987 Newsweek article to see exactly how they got their information.
If there's another poll or two out there on this, it might be interesting to know about.
A 2007 Harris Poll showed the following percentages of Christians who accept the theory of evolution:
Catholics: 43%
Protestants: 30%
"Born-Again Christians": 16%
Finally, a 2005 CBS Poll stated that a full two thirds (67%) of Americans believe that it's possible for one to believe both in God and in evolution.
How did Noah get the dinosaurs in the ark again? Some of those beasts were enormous.
The score would seem to indicate the Dolphins are the superior team.
______
That’s why they play both halves. Appearances can be deceiving.
I’m sorry—I thought that last silly post was from GGG and not you, cultmom. That’s OK, though, because you’re interchangeable.
People like GGG fancy themselves a latter day John Calvin. They preach that God created a divine puzzle, full of twists of phrases, double meanings and bizarre leaps of logic so that only the most clever among us can unlock the gates of heaven. They self validate their unique biblical perspective and condemn as heretics anyone who doesn't both believe as they do and honor them for being the chosen ones for figuring out the Divine puzzle.
We have all been accused of not being Christian and have suffered the demands of non sequitur questioning and have had to defend the lapses in their comprehension. If GGG and his posse are what Christianity is all about then Jesus got it wrong when He gave us the beatitudes.
The good news is that we can have discussions and explore the wonder that is God's word without ever having to address or respond to GGG's ilk.
Just type in keyword AIDS.
Oh please do give us your divine wisdom on this point.
Something I’m sure we’d all just love to hear.
“People like GGG fancy themselves a latter day John Calvin. They preach that God created a divine puzzle, full of twists of phrases, double meanings and bizarre leaps of logic so that only the most clever among us can unlock the gates of heaven.”
I agree. However, I believe that comparisons to Robert Tilton, Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, and Benny Hinn would be more apt.
Are you sure you didn’t mean “Benny Hill” ???
It appears you’re pretty concerned about what YOU are doing - ie, your own “righteousness” instead of Christ’s.
Christianity is different from other religions in that it’s not about what you “do”, it’s about what Christ has DONE.
That’s “justification”. Once for all. You (and I) are NOT righteous, but are counted as righteous because of Christ’s sacrifice.
Works, being the RESULTS of justification, are the “sanctification” process, where we become more and more like Him because “the old has gone” and we are a “new creation”.
Yes, some are going to see Christians as “arrogant” for believing that we have the only way. But, He said that the world really wouldn’t like us, His followers.
Luke 12:51
Do you suppose that I came to bring peace to the world? No, not peace, but division.
Nah, I like Benny Hill!
GGG, are you suggesting the above advice is a bad thing?
Well, you got one right anyway, Theresa had doubts, but not the others you mentioned. Thomas' only doubt was that the others had actually seen Christ.
Since the physical evidence overwhelmingly supports Young Earth Creation, why would a professing believer take the adversary's path? - Get a grip!
I already answered that question. See further down.
Truly amazing what a constant drubbing will do to an otherwise reasonably intelligent person!
With enough pressure, innocent people also confess to murder.
A big problem with the Gallup poll you posted is that only a minority even fully understand all the implications of ‘evolution’ and thus are just throwing an answer grabbed out of nowhere into the vast void.
Jesus died for us. If we repent and accept his atonement for our sins, that is what makes us a Christian, and nothing else. Then we are reconciled to God, not by our own works. Granted, we ought to do good works in thankfulness and as the Holy Spirit moves us in response, but so far as salvation goes it is all what God has done for us. So don't sweat whether you've been good enough because that is entirely beside the point. (John 3:16)
May God bless you and keep you. I encourage you to read His Word if you are not already doing so (the Gospels of Luke or John can be a good place to start), to delve into your relationship with Him more deeply.
Best wishes...
That is a good start. GGG and his band of merry men practice a "Slash & Burn" version of Christianity made popular by the intolerance and persecutions of the Protestant Inquisitions. That so little written record remains in English of the Protestant Inquisitions is a testimony to the aggressiveness and persistence of GGG's predecessors and role models. That there remains free thought is a testimony to the truth and the strength of God's Word.
So it's OK for a Christian to be arrogant? That's funny, because I was accused of arrogance here as though is were a bad thing.
Oh, and the link contains a wealth of my top posts over the last few days, so those desiring a Buck W. Greatest Hits collection should check it out!
I'm sorry--was that arrogant?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.