TheologicalStudies.org

(Lincoln, NE) Nearly 150 years after Charles Darwin wrote his landmark work, Origin of Species, most Americans still overwhelmingly reject the theory of evolution. This is the conclusion of three scientific polls done in the last year.

According to a November 2004 CBS poll, only 13% of Americans agreed with the statement, “Humans evolved, God did not guide the process.”

In contrast, 55% affirmed the statement, “God created humans in present form.” Twenty-seven percent took a middle position by affirming the statement, “Humans evolved, God guided the process.”

“This poll reveals a rejection of naturalistic evolution and its assertion that humans evolved from lower life forms by a purely naturalistic process,” says Michael J. Vlach, Ph.D., a professor of Philosophy and Religion at Southeast Community College in Lincoln, Nebraska.

A more recent Harris poll from June 2005 asked the question, “Do you think human beings developed from earlier species or not?” Fifty-four percent said humans beings “did not” evolve from earlier species. This is an eight-point swing from a similar 1994 poll in which 46% of Americans affirmed that humans did not evolve from earlier species.

When asked specifically how human beings came to exist, the Harris poll noted that 64% of Americans believed that human beings were “created directly by God.” Only 22% said that humans “evolved from earlier species.”

“What is significant about this Harris poll,” according to Vlach, “is that the theory of evolution may actually be losing ground among Americans. An eight-point swing is not huge but it does show that this theory may be losing influence.”

A March 2005 NBC poll asked the question, “Which do you think is more likely to actually be the explanation for the origin of human life on Earth: evolution or the biblical account of creation?" Fifty-seven percent said “Biblical account,” only 33% said “evolution.”

What can be drawn from these recent polls regarding evolution?

“In each of these polls a clear majority of Americans believe that humans were created directly by a divine power or God,” says Vlach. “This is especially significant since the theory of evolution is presented as fact in nearly every secular institution of higher learning.”