Theistic Evolution Gaining

Here is news that is welcomed by some Christians (like me) and is a harbinger of the imminent arrival of the (flavor du-jour) anti-Christ by others. A recent Gallup poll of US adults asked (as it does every year) the participants to select their view of human origins:

1. Human beings developed over millions of years, but God guided this process
2. Human beings developed over millions of years, but God had no part in this process
3. God created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years

The first view is known as theistic evolution. It is the idea that God used evolution as a secondary means, the same way he uses gravity. In its most common form it implies:

• The process was never outside God's control, i.e., the species homo sapiens was inevitable.
• It makes no predictions that differ from "traditional" atheistic evolution

The second view is the traditional entirely secular view of evolution (which again, makes no predictions nor proposes any experiments that differ from the theistic variety.)

The third view is the Young Earth Creationist view, which has always been the most popular in the US.

The results are illustrated in the chart below:

Against the backdrop of a steady rise of the atheistic view, the YEC and theistic views are tied at about 38%.

Make of it what you will.