“In all countries surveyed ‘creationism’ is a minority position.” That statement is part of a summary of the results of a study of individuals from seven different countries regarding what they believe about evolution. Of course, we aren’t surprised that creation is a minority position—after all, naturalistic evolution is taught as fact in public schools and pushed through media, museums, and more, and secularism is on the rise, particularly among young people. But what you might find surprising is that I would have a hard time answering the survey questions regarding creation!
How Did God Create?
Now, why would that be? Well, because the authors of this study don’t really understand what creationists believe. Consider the options for one of the questions on the survey:
Which of the following statements come closest to your view about the origin and development of life on Earth?
- Humans and other living things were created by God and have always existed in their current form.
- Humans and other living things evolved over time, in a process guided by God.
- Humans and other living things evolved over time as a result of natural selection, in which God had no part.
- I have another view of the origin of the species and development of life on earth, which was not included in the list.
- Don’t know/I do not have a view on the origin of the species and the development of life on earth.
Obviously, these study authors would expect a creationist like me to select option 1—but that’s not what I believe! I can fully agree with the first half—“Humans and other living things were created by God”—but I can’t agree with the last half, because the living things God made have not always existed in their current form. Now, what do I mean by that?
Well, Genesis 1 tells us God created living things “according to their kinds.” With that starting point, we don’t expect one kind of creature to turn into another kind, and therefore (as well as for many other reasons!) we can and must reject biological evolution. But while one kind won’t turn into another kind, there is variety within a kind because of the genetic diversity in DNA.
Just think about dogs for a moment—there are Great Danes, German shepherds, French bulldogs, dachshunds, poodles, and more. There is incredible variety within the dog kind, and yet, dogs remain dogs—they don’t change into anything else! This variety is the result of the genetic diversity/variation God put into the dog kind (family Canidae) at the very beginning. This genetic diversity allows creatures to adapt to a changing world (and allows humans to selectively breed new varieties).
This means God didn’t create German shepherds and poodles at the beginning! Rather, he created the dog kind with the genetic diversity that made those varieties possible, thanks to artificial selection from humans. There’s also been many mutations over time that result in various problems for the highly bred dogs.
There’s a lot of misinformation out there about what we actually believe as most evolutionists have never read any of our literature!
Yes, there’s a lot of misinformation out there about what we actually believe as most evolutionists have never read any of our literature!
Survey Says
So how did respondents answer this survey? Well, here in the US, 24% chose option 1, 29% believe God directed evolution, 27% opted for naturalistic evolution, 9% had a different view, and 12% didn’t know. The number of those who chose creation is actually quite high—nearly 1 in 4—especially when compared to other countries, such as the UK and Canada where only 12% answered that way.
I’m thankful the number of creationists was so high in the US—I believe it’s a testament to the work the Lord is doing through ministries like Answers in Genesis and the impact of the plethora of resources we’ve produced, our teaching outreach ministry, and our two attractions. But it’s sad to see the high number of theistic evolutionists (those who believe God guided the evolutionary process). Evolution and God’s Word are utterly incompatible, and the acceptance of evolutionary ideas by much of the church has led to an erosion of biblical authority and contributed to a mass exodus of young people from the church. We pray that those among that 29% who are born again will come to recognize their compromise on God’s Word and will repent and believe what God has said . . . from the very first verse!
They Just Can’t Swallow All of Evolution
Another interesting aspect of the study was that, while over 70% of individuals from all seven countries confidently answered that “evolutionary processes can explain how all organisms, including humans, have developed and continue to develop,” far fewer individuals believe “evolutionary processes can explain the existence of human consciousness.” Even if these people believe in evolution, they intuitively know there’s something different about mankind that naturalistic processes can’t explain. We’re not like the animals—we’re different! And that can’t be explained by random chance processes over millions of years. Really, it’s the knowledge of the Creator written on their hearts and the truth that they’re made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) that sparks this doubt or uncertainty.
So What Do We Do?
We should be emboldened to continue to do the work that God has called us to do, reaching everyone we can with the message of the truth of God’s Word and the gospel.
When we see surveys like this, it’s easy to feel discouraged by the numbers of those who reject the truth of God’s Word in Genesis. But we shouldn’t be discouraged—we should be emboldened to continue to do the work that God has called us to do, reaching everyone we can with the message of the truth of God’s Word and the gospel. And remember, there are many more on the broad way than the narrow way, so it’s to be expected that only a minority will believe the truth. That’s why we continue to invest not only in our attractions and conferences (which reach millions each year, including many from outside of the US) but in our websites, our YouTube channels, and our international offices (Canada, UK, Latin America, and Australia) to reach as many as possible from as many places as possible with the message of the truth of God’s Word and the gospel. And we pray that the Lord will bless our efforts and use them to awaken the church to the need to stand boldly on the truth of God’s Word and to reach the lost with his gospel.
Get More Answers on Answers News
This item was discussed yesterday on Answers News with cohosts Dr. Tim Chaffey, Dr. Jennifer Rivera, and Jessica DeFord. Answers News is our weekly news program filmed live before a studio audience here at the Creation Museum, broadcast on our Answers in Genesis YouTube channel, and posted to Answers TV. We also covered the following topics:
- Does natural selection slow evolution?
- What really drives opposition to evolution?
- Has the search for ET been looking for the wrong thing?
- And more!
Watch the entire episode of Answers News for January 10, 2024.
Be sure to join us each Wednesday at 2 p.m. (ET) on YouTube or later that day on Answers TV for Answers News. You won’t want to miss this unique news program that gives science and culture news from a distinctly biblical and Christian perspective.
Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken
This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.
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