78 million American Christians accept evolution!

[jonperry]

Though a direct survey has not been conducted on this (to my knowledge), you can get a rough estimate by using the 2012 U.S. census, the Pew Research survey of religion from 2007, and the 2012 Gallop Poll on evolution.

U.S. 2012 Census: There are 313.9 Million Americans
https://www.google.com/publicdata/explo ... country:US

2007 Pew Research on religion: 78.4% of Americans are Christian
http://religions.pewforum.org/reports

2012 Gallop Poll: 32% of Americans believe "Humans Evolved with God guiding"
http://www.gallup.com/poll/21814/evolut ... esign.aspx

Put it all together and you get: 313.9 * .784 * .32 = 78.8 Million Christians who accept the theory of evolution.

Unfortunately, if these calculations are correct that also means the other 167 million still need some convincing. Looks like I have work to do

[steve]

The more important question is: How many evolutionists are Christians?

See you Friday!

[Singalphile]

Hi, jonperry.

I don't follow these evolution/creation discussions closely, so I'm not sure if these questions have been asked or covered, but I reckon you'll enjoy answering again anyway: What exactly are you trying to convince people of, and why do you think it matters?

I can understand that these are things that you just enjoy talking and thinking about as a "biology nerd". I myself am a scientist by degree and profession, but I currently have no interest in the evolution issue nor have my opinions about it ever had any practical consequence.

Thank you in advance for you thoughts!

[steve7150]

78.8 Million Christians who accept the theory of evolution.










Does this get them into heaven?

[jonperry]

What exactly are you trying to convince people of, and why do you think it matters?

Singalphile, There's a lot I could say about this but since I'm crunched for time at the moment, please read this page of my website: http://www.statedclearly.com/our-videos/

The more important question is: How many evolutionists are Christians?

Steve, I'm not sure how you define an "evolutionist" but I know that there are relatively few Christians in the field of biology. Some Christians claim this is because evolution makes people lose their faith but I think a much more realistic explanation is that Christians are taught to fear biology (and science in general) from Childhood by the Creationist movement. That's what happened to me. Even though I was deeply drawn to biology as a child it wasn't until after leaving the Mormon Church that I felt okay exploring it.

I am very happy to see groups like Biologos coming into existence. They help Christians find an intellectually honest balance between science and religion. They are beginning to undo the damage that years and years of Young Earth Creationist ranting has caused.

78.8 Million Christians who accept the theory of evolution.


Does this get them into heaven?

I figured I'd round down for margin of error. The pew research and Gallop Poll only looked at adults, the census looked at all Americans. I'd say most kids mirror their parents beliefs (at least in the early years) but I don't honestly know how consistently they do so.

As far as heaven goes, I don't know much about that sort of thing but if I were a god I'd be happy with people who carefully explore the world and try to figure out how it works.

[TrumanSmith]

RE: "The more important question is: How many evolutionists are Christians?"

Most biological scientists accept evolution, and most also believe in god(s). It is only with upper-tier scientists (Nobel prize winners, etc.) where most of them are unbelievers. That is according to polls on science and religion.

[john6809]

TrumanSmith wrote,

Most biological scientists accept evolution, and most also believe in god(s).

You have me a bit confused. In the other thread that you are involved in, you continually use quotes from Christian evolutionists to prove your case against creationism, and here you readily announce that most biological scientists accept evolution andthe existence of god(s). And yet, the title (and presumably the premise) of your book suggests that you have evidence that destroys Christianity. How do you accept the evidence given by a Christian evolutionist when you really think that God doesn't exist?

I am a mechanic by trade. If another mechanic honestly believed that the fuel that a machine uses doesn't actually get burnt, but is instead siphoned out on the ground as it moves around, I would not recommend that person to my friends as a reliable source of information about how machines work.

[TrumanSmith]

TrumanSmith wrote,

Most biological scientists accept evolution, and most also believe in god(s).

You have me a bit confused. In the other thread that you are involved in, you continually use quotes from Christian evolutionists to prove your case against creationism, and here you readily announce that most biological scientists accept evolution andthe existence of god(s). And yet, the title (and presumably the premise) of your book suggests that you have evidence that destroys Christianity. How do you accept the evidence given by a Christian evolutionist when you really think that God doesn't exist?

I am a mechanic by trade. If another mechanic honestly believed that the fuel that a machine uses doesn't actually get burnt, but is instead siphoned out on the ground as it moves around, I would not recommend that person to my friends as a reliable source of information about how machines work.

Yes, you do sound confused.

Many Christians accept evolution and are clueless about the impact upon theology. I tried to reconcile it and found it to be impossible. Most people don't think too deeply about ramifications of science on theology. People like Francis Collins would say the problem is for theologians to solve, and he's just a scientist. It is a way to avoid the ramifications.

[jriccitelli]

What if Mormonism had been taught as ‘truth’ in our public school systems and Universities for the past 50 years how many Mormons would there be?

I have collected a few elementary and high school science and biology textbooks from my era of school and they display the common ape to man ‘drawings’ and the ancestral family tree ‘drawings’ yet I have noted that in the texts no evidence is really given and surprisingly still they admit little real evidence can be given, yet no ‘alternative is given. All the while still devoted pages and pictures of Piltdown man, Peking man, Nebraska man, Java man and such. This is unbalanced and unsupported education based on less fact than Joseph Smith being a Prophet (evolution has been put in school textbooks, science books and TV shows, etc. for 50 years and presented as truth to every single American yet 'still' less than half believe it, what else has that record?).

Half of America voted for Barack Obama, and at least a third of Christians believed him when he said he was a Christian. I am not putting any faith in popular opinion.