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January 10th, 2012
04:18 PM ET
Survey: U.S. Protestant pastors reject evolution, split on Earth's ageBy Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor America’s Protestant pastors overwhelmingly reject the theory of evolution and are evenly split on whether the earth is 6,000 years old, according to a survey released Monday by the Southern Baptist Convention. When asked if “God used evolution to create people," 73% of pastors disagreed - 64% said they strongly disagreed - compared to 12% who said they agree. Asked whether the earth is approximately 6,000 years old, 46% agreed, compared to 43% who disagreed. A movement called Young Earth creationism promotes the 6,000-year-old figure, arguing that it is rooted in the Bible. Scientists say the earth is about 4.5 billion years old. The Southern Baptist Convention survey, which queried 1,000 American Protestant pastors, also found that 74% believe the biblical Adam and Eve were literal people. “Recently discussions have pointed to doubts about a literal Adam and Eve, the age of the earth and other origin issues," said Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, a division of the Southern Baptist Convention, in a report on LifeWay’s site. “But Protestant pastors are overwhelmingly Creationists and believe in a literal Adam and Eve.” The phone survey was conducted in May 2011, sampling ministers from randomly selected Protestant churches. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percent, LifeWay said. A 2010 Gallup poll found that 40% of Americans believe God created humans in their present form, versus 54% who said humans developed over millions of years. soundoff (6,504 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Well, 10 in 10 pastors are either delusional or downright dishonest, so why is this surprising to anyone?
10/10 pastors believe mythology is fact.
I suppose the world and everything in it created itself out of nothing. You would have to be a complete imbecile to believe that !
So by your argument, something has to come from something else and the universe could not have always existed in some form or other, so God must have created the universe and everything in it. But wait, where did God come from? Oh yah, I forgot, he's magic.
"where did God come from? Oh yah, I forgot, he's magic"
I'm going to Detroit an sit around and wait for a car to build itself. Then I'm going to drive home with a big sign on the back that says "MY CAR WAS CREATED BY EVOLUTION".
Please don't call me insane, I believe that things can be built out of nothing.
Zoft, the theory of evolution tries to explain the complexity and diversity of living organisms, not inanimate objetcs. I hope this wasn't your attempt at a serious argument by analogy?
Ok Jason
I'm a lowly amoeba, I'm going to fuse my atom cells with this other lowly amoeba in the hope that we can become a horse or maybe a cow. Don't ask me how I got this idea, after all I'm just a lowly amoeba.
zoft,
Seriously? Most evolution isn't conscious. What part of 'millions of generations' don't you understand?
I'm going to close my eyes and stamp my feet until everyone agrees the earth is only 6000 years..
Facts have no place in our religious beliefs!
You really can write? very impressive!
Let's make it clear to those religious people. Change happens. Things improve. That is evolution. Sometimes things don't improve either. The fact that the Catholics finally agreed that the Earth actually goes around the Sun....Improvement...Evolution in thought. The fact that Islam thinks that dying in heaven will get you exactly 72 virgins??? That's not an improvement...That is having to teach 72 virgins how to do something right. That takes too much time. That is not evolution...that is religion stupidity. So there is some everywhere with religion stupidity.
hey-is that your grandpa on that coffee mug?
I guess the Atom Bomb, global warming, weapons of mass destruction, Hitler, slavery, serial killers, child molesters etc etc is all evolution ? Man might have gained a little knowledge but emotionally he is a s stupid and moraly corrupt, if even more so now than he was 2500 years ago. That's why the bible is so popular.
The bible is of course, foolishness to those that are perishing. Whether or not you believe in God, has nothing to do with whether or not God actually exists. Your creator has endowed you with the free will to follow him or to reject him. Those of you that reject God, do so because you dont want to be accountable to a holy God. However, deep down inside you know God exists, but it is your pride, your stubbornness, your desire to live in any manner you deem reasonable, that keeps you from accepting Christ into your life. Generally speaking, those of you who reject the Bible as the word of God, have done so without actually reading it. All tounges will confess, and all knees will bow, that Jesus is Lord. The Bible doesnt say that "some" tounges will confess, and "some" knees will bow............... dont wait until its too late to give your heart to Christ.............................
Nope.
You know these atheist dunces are still evolving from apes! 😉
Pass
I can assure you I do NOT know that god exists. Your god could settle things very quickly by showing himself. Where is he? What's he afraid of?
Shut up Tebow!
There are soooo many things wrong with what you said it's hard to start. Are you willing to reply, or are you going to run away? If you are willing, several people will jump in to start the discussions.
The Bible might be foolishness to you and to the ignorant, but how do you explain Saint Bernadette of Lourdes. She died and was buried, but when her body was exhumed years later it was perfectly preserved. No she was not mumified, It was not magic or a trick, there is proof ! This is more proof to me, than a bunch of creature-bones found in Africa.
AMEN.
Actually she was mummified – but either way, why would you accept a secondhand (at best) account from history as being stronger evidence than actual physical evidence?
"Actually she was mummified"
This is the type of mumbo jumbo scientist keep throwing at us. Pleae don't die in your condition the devil got enough recruits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Soubirous
Paradoxical reasoning alert!
1. The Bible is the word of God.
2. It says so in the Bible.
3. Therefore, the Bible is the word of God.
Can you spot the logical fallacy? It relies on its own unproven statement — "The Bible is the word of God" — then uses the Bible to prove the accuracy of the statement. You can use an equally invalid argument to claim the "truth" of any statement.
1. Harry Potter is a real live boy wizard who attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
2. It says so in every one of the Harry Potter books.
3. Therefore, Harry Potter is a real live boy wizard who attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
You as an individual have chosen to believe the Bible is the word of God and are ready to quote the same Bible ad nauseam to prove your belief is correct. Logical fallacy.
You just said..."(my) creator has endowed (me) with the free will to follow him or to reject him. Those of you that reject God, do so because you dont want to be accountable to a holy God." ... 🙂 No! I don't buy make-believe is all. It is what it is, and have no doubt we live in a world where human ignorance is a common trait. I mean...Science isn't making things up in order to refute religion, so, it's up to individuals to use thoughts rationally, which makes the bible simply...a book, with no evidence to prove otherwise.
zoft,
Pasted from that page:
[A doctor who examined the body noted, "The body is practically mummified, covered with patches of mildew and quite a notable layer of salts, which appear to be calcium salts]. The body was mummified. Regardless, all you're working off of are reports, not physical, tested evidence. This is incredibly weak evidence. There is literally more evidence of Bigfoot.
MNWriter, apparently you did not read the entire story you just cherry picked the parts that sounded so scientific and so intelligent and decided to post that leaving the rest out. This is nothing new.
zoft,
You mean the parts where 'church elders' claimed things that had no evidence backing them and were just religious declarations (and not, by the way, from Scripture but just the opinions of humans)? Yes, I did ignore those. why would I think that an opinion based on predetermined religious assumptions was valid to determine the cause of the current state of a decomposing corpse?
This is a national embarrassment.
I've got underwear older than the Earth then.
God created evolution? It's funny how religious people are constantly revising their position! There's not much left, except to say that god created life two billions years ago and let it roll. Not exactly the watchful, fatherly figure that has a plan for you and I.
I wonder what Jesus would say about Evolution ?
Jesus was a stoner. He liked to "annoint himself" with oil saturated with marijuana. Talking about an overdose. Enough to speak in tongues! Like French and Spanish!
Zoft, Jesus would probably say, "let it be".
"Jesus was a stoner. He liked to "annoint himself" with oil saturated with marijuana."
Look who is talking about fairy tales, this is an outright lie !
Just like evolution and outright lie from a man who studied to be a minister but dropped out and became angry at god because of the death of his wife. A man who later reconciled himself to god on his death bed. That man was Charles Darwin.
Show me someone who believes in creationist theory and I will show you someone who is either uneducated or has never critically thought for themselves.
Show me somebody that does not beleive in creationism and will show you an arrogant fool who will be weeping at his death bed because he does not know where he is going.
'He' knows exactly where 'he' will be going. 'He' will cease to exist. 'His' body will burn or decompose, and 'he' will only be a memory for those who knew him. Where will 'you' be going?
I guess you believe the earth and life on it just magically apepared one day out of nothing? Sounds like you are the one believing in a fairy tale. Everything in my house was created by someone, nothing just makes itself. Why is it hard for you to realize that the earth and life upon it is the most amazing creation you know, it was designed by an intelligent creator. You can't shake some watch parts in a box for a trillion years and ever expect it to turn into a watch, that's insane thinking....that's what evolution says....statistically IMPOSSIBLE. I don't care how many millions of years you shake that box of parts, never to be a watch. Now compare say the human hand to a watch in complexity, you think that is possible? lol.
Hey, just look at Jeff and you've found one!
Current theory would suggest that the Earth was formed from interstellar particles left from previous supernovas. The stars that produced those supernovae were likely created after matter appeared and condenced into clouds after the 'big bang'. What happened to cause the big bang? There is no consensus on that as yet as there isn't really alot of available data. As far as spontaneously making complex things from simple components, the key feature you are dismissing is that a complex organism was not created in a single step. It was likely a simple nucleic acid that coded for a membrane. Things gradually got more complicated from there. And yes, it is an extremely unlikely event. As far as something always coming from something else... where did your God come from? Oh yah, I forgot. The rule you state doesn't apply to him since he's magic.
zoft,
So you know where you're going? You've already prejudged yourself and found yourself worthy of heaven? My my, that's like twelve sins right there...
I once had a big discussion with Mormons. One brought up that God is out there in space. I asked why is he there and not everywhere. Mormon said his Holy Spirit does all the work. Ok. So God is out in space. Is he an Alien??? Which planet is he on??? What dimension is he in??? If he isn't in this one...then he isn't here "watching' us. He must have his angels reporting to him??? in the other Dimension (heaven). Is this Universe so bad he made that he left to another place we can't find him. These are things the religious folks have a hard time explaining, because it is all "blind faith". Like the sun goes around the Earth in 1400 A.D.
I belive religion is a psychological drug. It's a way for people to leave the real world and go into their own where it's all good and wonderful.
So why don't you move to Russia or China with the communist ?
Who is most likely to think they will live happily ever after they die in a magic place where only good things happen:
(a) A seven year-old girl who has just read Cinderella;
(b) a ten year-old boy who has just read Harry Potter;
(c) an evangelical Christian who has just read that collection of Bronze Age mythology we call the “Bible”; or
(d) all of the above?
d) all of the above
Heaven is not this dreary/dull violent place we call earth
As I understand it, Bronze Age Semitic tribes of the Levant didn't believe in an afterlife. It didn't seem to figure much for the Israelites, either, who came later. The afterlife rose to prominence during the Judaic period, under the influence of Zoroastrianism, as a result of the Persian exile. It was through Judaism that Zoroastrian ideas about angels and the afterlife came into Christianity. But all of this was well after the Bronze Age. Still, though, I get your point.
To put things in perspective, the Old Testament is considered the history and cosmology (system of beliefs) of but one tribe of people—the Jews. But how many thousands or tens of thousands of tribes have lived on this planet? Among those many thousands of tribes have been thousands of belief systems, cosmologies and histories each containing their own stories, prophets, prophecies, wise men, visionaries, allegories, and "truths." Yet, billions of people in this day and age hold up the record of the Jewish people (The Bible) as the only source of "truth" on this planet. That's absurd!
Yes, most of the tribal histories and cosmologies and words from the "wise ones" have not been preserved because most of them were oral traditions handed down in spoken word which have since vanished with the tribes who owned them.
But to base one's entire life on the words of one small group of people living thousands of years ago is a bit like betting one's entire life on one number of a roulette wheel—except this roulette wheel has thousands of numbers.
Who is most likely to think the world began 6,000 years ago with one man, one woman and a talking snake:
(a) illiterate tribesmen from Yemen who have never had the benefit of even a fifth grade education
(b) Homeless people who have never read a science book
(c) About 65% of Christians; or
(d) All of the above?
Why the swipe of the homeless? And for the record the majority of Christians are in denominations that do not reject evolution or the scientific understanding of the age of the Earth and the universe.
I wonder if they are retarded or if they think they are expected to believe that earth is 6000 years old.
Mankind has very little history dating back but a few thousand years....what makes you think the earth is more than 6,000 years? Your opinion? That's so dumb, unless you have some proof saying otherwise your guess of 8 million years is just as valid as mine believing 6,000 years.
Great, blind leading the blind.
"God used evolution to create people?" CROFL. They are correct in saying no. Evolution has absolutely nothing to do with God, and everything to do with science. This poll is like asking oil executives if green energy will ever be more popular than fossil fuels. Of course they are going to say no.
You think man has really evolved ? Ancient Egyptians use to think they were the chosen race with all the technological advances that were way ahead of their time, but look at Egypt now. They barely have a goverment now. in modern times the british colonized them and no technologica advances have come out of that country. We all have our time in the sun then we return to where we came. Who controls this not evolution but God. Look at the famous Incas and their technology, civilizations have come and gone this is nothing new.
@zoft: evolution of humans and the rise and fall of governments are completely different. if you don't acknowledge evolution then explain to me: 1) neanderthals frozen on mountains 2) countless numbers of sites of cro-magnon man's tools, pottery, animal bones are being found?
This tell me 7 out of 10 pastors are uneducated buffoons.
You're giving them far too much credit.
The idea that any intelligent person could believe the Earth is only 6,000 years old is frightening. Hopefully none of the Republican Presidential candidates are in that group.
They are all in that group, and most of their followers as well.
Perry appointed multiple young earth creationists to the Texas board of education. It's not entirely clear if Perry himself is a young earther, but he's obviously sympathetic.
....They all do...
Unfortunately, they all have to pretend to be to get the votes from their base. I doubt any of them are stupid enough to believe it... well, Santorum is iffy...
Who said anything about intelligent?
I'll bet you one thing they AIN'T doin': they aren't in attendance at the "reverend" Wright's so-called church, hearing anti-American rants. That is one thing I'm just purty darned sure of.
Critical information is missing from this story (and every other story that I could find about this poll) – who were the Protestant pastors who responded to the poll? Were they representative of the mix of Protestant pastors? Perhaps conservative, fundamentalist pastors were over-represented in the sample (given that this was a Baptist sponsored poll). If that is the case, that would probably skew the results towards pastors not believing in evolution. Or perhaps this poll was representative of the mix of Protestant pastors. The point is, we don't know from reading this article – therefore we can't validly reach the conclusion that "America’s Protestant pastors overwhelmingly reject the theory of evolution and are evenly split on whether the earth is 6,000 years old" – not from this data.
Excellent point, Doc.
Are you really surprised by the results? Willful ignorance is the only way religion survives and it's the only way these charlatans get paid.
Religion, the ultimate ponzi scheme
Your broad strokes fail to explain those in this study who do not reject evolution, who share that stance with denominations representing majority of Christians worldwide.
Evolution is a fairy tale for adults who do not want to believe in God. It violates several laws of science ( not theory). Scientific laws have never been observed to be broken. Evolution would have to violate biogenesis (life only comes from life), Thermodynamics and cause and effect. The idea that the earth is an open system to the sun and powers evolution is not credible. The ionizing radiation would destroy any complex molecules that might form and there is no engine or blueprint to harness the energy. All the so called evidences for evolution have very well thought out rebutals. Do your research and don't believe in a system that sets its on rules. A very new and interesting evidence for a young earth is the increasing discoveries of soft tissue and original protein in supposedly 65 million year old bones. Repeated lab results show such material can only survive a few 10s of thousnads of years at most. Could go on and on.
You are a moron.
Yes, six days and a magic talking devil-snake makes so much more sense. By the way, your level of scientific knowledge is that of a fifth grader.
So much ignorance in such a little post. Biogenesis is not a scientific law. It does not violate any law of thermodynamics because the Earth is not a closed system. Even you know this or you would not have done your radiation whine. And, there are no lab experiments that show that soft tissue, if protected from oxygen and moisture, cannot survive millions of years. Sorry to burst your ignorance bubble.
Bwahahahahaha!
You try to use science to disprove science, in order to get people to believe in the myth god? Thanks for the laugh!!! By the way scrotum, next time you get "science facts" to post here, don't pull them off of a christian website. Get them from legitimate sources.
Please point to peer reviewed scientific papers showing that these are mainstreem ideas. Otherwise, write one, submit it and lets see what happens.
Wow, talk about brainwashed.
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Your points have been refuted a thousand times.
Stop regurgitating junk science taught from The Creation Museum, your church and that website CARM. Do your own research. Take some biology, chemistry and anthropology classes.
LOL...wow, please, never reproduce!
It appears the believer in fairy tales is you, not scientists. Nothing you said has any bearing on evolution of higher species. Pseudo-science is not valid and that is what you are using, false assumptions to prove a false conclusion.
I suggest that you write this up as a paper and send it to Science for peer review!
I just love it when religious whacks try to pretend they understand science. Evolution violates thermodynamics? Totally unrelated fields, but a hilarious statement! And "biogenesis" does not have the status of being a scientific law – unlike the laws of gravity, for example – it's just an unsubstantiated belief, not science. And evolution follows cause and effect perfectly, even if DS is too clueless to understand the obvious.
Nice faceplant, DS. Yu iz uh siantist.
You are a moron. You gave no idea what you're talking about.
Laws of science? Such things do not exist. Science is the art of theorizing. There are no absolute proofs.
People like DS make one post under their name and run away without being an adult and attempting to answer any follow-up questions. Go hide in a cave. If your not scared, why don't you come back?
The problem with trying to use science to disprove science is YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! Which you clear don't. Anything who knows the first thing about evolution and the laws of physics know that they're not in contradiction. The only way you make the argument that they are is to LIE. And that's something Chistianists and Islamists are very good at.
DS-your point is lost on these dunces, never mind, they will eventually evolve into human-they are still apes! 😉
geeez, christians are so stooooopid. I wish they'd all die poste haste, fly up to heaven and leave the rest of us alone in peace on earth because it will never happen as long as they are alive.
Evolution is a fairy tale for adults who do not want to believe in God. ...Wrong. Belief in a deity is the easy way out.
It violates several laws of science ( not theory). .... Wrong. There are NO "Laws of Science".
Scientific laws have never been observed to be broken. .... Wrong. The THEORY that nothing can go faster than the speed of light may have just recently been observed.
Evolution would have to violate biogenesis (life only comes from life)... Wrong. There is no such law.
Thermodynamics ... no such law.
Cause and effect. ...no such law.
The idea that the earth is an open system to the sun and powers evolution is not credible. The ionizing radiation would destroy any complex molecules that might form and there is no engine or blueprint to harness the energy. ... Wrong. Not if life began in the ocean, the ionizing radiation could not reach it.
All the so called evidences for evolution have very well thought out rebutals.... Wrong. Thay have ALL been debunked. Name one.
A very new and interesting evidence for a young earth is the increasing discoveries of soft tissue and original protein in supposedly 65 million year old bones. Repeated lab results show such material can only survive a few 10s of thousands of years at most. Wrong. Prove it.
Could go on and on. Please do. You have said nothing credible yet.
Except for the little problem of the fact that WE SEE IT HAPPENING EVERY DAY! There are plenty of animals who, when isolated from others of the same species, being to develop new traits based on their environment and natural selection. The thing that makes this possible? Genetic mutation. It doesn't violate any "laws of science" and is plainly observable. It's only a step away from denying the existence of gravity.
Matt-very true, u observe evolution everyday not only in plants and animals but also humans. Go look for a picture of you when you were 2 and compare to how you have evolved over the years! You are very smart. 😉
Timmy-Prove evolution, do you have fossil records to prove man evolved? Talk after you have proved evolution.
There is literally a mountain of evidence to support evolution. Offer evidence that the Earth is 6000 years old (hint: don't quote the Bible).
KeithR,
Look up hominid evolution charts – you can see a chain of hundreds of skeleton and fossils connecting very neatly from previous creatures to modern humans. Hundreds. You can always say "Well I want another one" but we aren't obligated to abide by your arbitrary and self-defeating standards of evidence.
"Look up hominid evolution charts –"
You mean to tell me that evolution created Dinosaurs, then decided to wipe them off the map, then evolution created giant mamals, then they were wiped off the face of the earth, then came normal sized mamals like we have today. From those mamals came apes from those apes came ape-like creatures, from those ape-like creatures came Neanderthals, and from the Neanderthals came modern man. Now why did it take evolution millions of years to create modern man ? If evolution was able to create dinosaurs and lizards and saber-tooth tigers right off the bat, why did it take evolution millions and millions of years to create modern man ?
zoft,
It took evolution over 3 billion years to 'create' dinosaurs. There weren't 'giant mammals' after them – actually, our ancestors that survived the cataclysm 65 million years ago were small and rodent-like. We didn't evolve from Neanderthals at all – they were our genetic cousins, not our predecessors. Saber-toothed tigers actually existed not that long ago, similar to the other big cats. You really need to learn more about evolution before you try to argue against it – you have absolutely no conception of the time frames involved.
So you were there 65 million years ago or are you just theorizing ...
So many morons, so little time....
So lets see your proof that there is a god....