Can Someone Believe in God and Accept Evolution? Atheistic Perceptions of Evolution, Decrease Acceptance of Evolution

Most scientists agree that the theory of evolution is a foundational concept in understanding biology, yet it remains rejected by nearly half of the college student population (Barnes & Brownell, 2018). With religious students making up a large percentage of the student body on college campuses across the United States, it is important to consider how the way we teach evolution may impact religious students as they integrate the scientific view of evolution with their religious beliefs. One influential factor in religious student acceptance lies in the debate of whether you can believe in God and still accept evolution. A new study has shown that the ability of religious students to perceive evolution as agnostic – not being able to say whether there is or isn’t a God- rather than atheistic – saying there is no God- increased their comfort in learning and understanding evolution and also increased their acceptance of evolution.

Bridges and barriers to being both religious and accept evolution

People often assume that religious beliefs are in direct conflict with the theory of evolution. However, although a literal interpretation of the Bible is in conflict with evolution, there are many religious students and scientists in higher education who are not literalists and who have reconciled their religious beliefs with the theory of evolution.

Many religious leaders across church denominations have explicitly stated that their church doctrine is either neutral with respect to evolution (e.g. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) or supports evolution (e.g. the Catholic Church). People have been able to reconcile their religious beliefs with evolution in different ways. Some individuals support deistic evolution, which is the belief that God started the universe without a specific purpose in mind. Others support theistic evolution, which is the belief that God created life with a specific purpose and can interject to change the course of it (Yasri & Mancy, 2016). Both of these religious views support the idea of a common ancestor.

The impact of the atheistic perception of evolution

The bounded nature of science teaches that science can only prove or disprove scientific facts about the natural world, and so science is unable to prove or disprove the existence of supernatural theistic involvement in the origins of life. Evolution is therefore by definition agnostic and not atheistic, as atheistic evolution would imply that science has an ability to confirm there is no theistic creator or God (Nelson et al., 2019). However, a large number of both religious and nonreligious students in biology classrooms across America hold the perception that the theory of evolution is atheistic in nature and is thereby incompatible with any religious belief about God. When exploring what specific ideas students felt religious individuals would have to reject to support evolution, nearly half incorrectly reported one would have to completely reject that God exists or that God had anything to do with creation of life. For religious students in the classroom, this misguided atheistic perception of evolution carries hefty comfort costs in learning about, and ultimately accepting, evolution. For instance, religious students who perceive evolution as atheistic self-reported much lower acceptance of evolution in every measure (microevolution, macroevolution, and human evolution) than religious students who correctly perceived that evolution is agnostic. It is imperative therefore if instructors desire to increase the understanding of and acceptance of evolution in higher education, that they start addressing this atheistic misconception.

How can biology professors reduce conflict between religion and evolution?

Both this study and reports from past evolution instructors support that teaching the bounded nature of science, introducing evolution as agnostic, and explicitly denouncing that evolution is atheistic will serve to increase comfort in learning and acceptance of evolution among the many religious students in biology classrooms. While instructors may feel that presenting scientific facts is a one-size-fits-most approach to learning, evidence is emerging which supports that in order to maximize evolution learning potential, biology instructors must consider the religious identities of their students and the unique world views these students are reconciling in the learning environment. While it is not necessary or scientifically sound to change the theory of evolution to fit any religious theory, it is probable that non-literalist religious students can accept the theory of evolution when they understand they need not reject their religious identity altogether in order to accept this foundational biological theory.

How do biology professors’ personal views impact their classrooms?

Approximately 75% of biologists in the United States do not personally believe in a God and may themselves hold an atheistic view toward evolution. However, biology instructors cannot let their personal non-religious (or religious!) views affect the way they teach inside the public university classroom. Ignoring that many students are religious or trying to force them to choose science over religion only serves to hinder evolution education acceptance for religious students. Instead, instructors teaching evolution can focus on the bounded nature of science to decrease cultural conflict for the religious student in evolution classrooms. Science can tell us how things work, but it can’t tell us whether there is a God. For further recommendations for best instructional practices for culturally competent evolution teaching, instructors are also encouraged to familiarize themselves with ReCCEE, Religious Cultural Competence in Evolution Education found here (Barnes & Brownell, 2017).

References

• Barnes, M. E., & Brownell, S. E. (2017). A call to use cultural competence when teaching evolution to religious college students: Introducing Religious Cultural Competence in Evolution Education (ReCCEE). CBE—Life Sciences Education, 16(4), es4. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.17-04-0062
• Barnes, M. E., & Brownell, S. E. (2018). Experiences and practices of evolution instructors at Christian universities that can inform culturally competent evolution education. Science Education, 102(1), 36–59. https://doi .org/10.1002/sce.21317 
• Barnes, M. E., Dunlop, H. M., Sinatra, G. M., Hendrix, T. M., Zheng, Y., & Brownell, S. E. (2020). “Accepting Evolution Means You Can’t Believe in God”: Atheistic Perceptions of Evolution among College Biology Students. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 19(2), ar21. https://www.lifescied.org/doi/full/10.1187/cbe.19-05-0106
• Nelson, C. E., Scharmann, L. C., Beard, J., & Flammer, L. I. (2019). The nature of science as a foundation for fostering a better understanding of evolution. Evolution: Education and Outreach, 12(1), 6. https://doi.org/10.1186/ s12052-019-0100-7
• Yasri, P., & Mancy, R. (2016). Student positions on the relationship between evolution and creation: What kinds of changes occur and for what reasons? Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 53(3), 384–399. https:// doi.org/10.1002/tea.21302

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Post Author: 

Julie Roberts is an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Sara Brownell’s Biology Education Research Lab at Arizona State University. She is interested in exploring what impacts students studying biology and how we can improve their ability to learn. She is currently pursuing concurrent degrees in Biological Sciences and Psychology and plans to attend graduate school after graduation.