The most familiar religious story in America about how the world and mankind came to be is the Creation story and its immediate sequels in Genesis chapters 1-11. Yet few Americans realize that that story has a sound scientific basis.
The Gallup News Service tracked Americans’ positions on origins from 1982 to 2005. Typically Gallup would run its poll on this issue by asking this question:
Which of the following statements comes closest to your views on the origin and development of human beings? [ROTATE 1-3/3-1:]
- Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process.
- Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in this process.
- God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so.