American Clergy on Evolution and Creationism

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2010

Publication Title

Review of Religious Research

Volume

51

Issue

3

First page number:

277

Last page number:

287

Abstract

Beliefs about evolution and the teaching of creationism among Evangelical Protestant, Mainline Protestant, and Roman Catholic clergy are compared. We hypothesize that Evangelical ministers will be less supportive of evolution than either Mainline clergy or Catholic priests, and that the attitudinal correlates of beliefs about evolution will be similar for all three groups. We also hypothesize that support for teaching creationism will be more pronounced among Evangelical ministers, but that the sources of such support will be similar across religious groups. All hypotheses were confirmed, except that beliefs in the inerrancy of the Bible, or concerning beliefs about evolution, are not related to support for teaching creationism among Catholic priests.

Keywords

Catholic Church; Clergy; Creationism; Creationism--Study and teaching; Evangelicalism; Evolution (Biology); Evolution (Biology)--Study and teaching

Disciplines

Biblical Studies | Catholic Studies | Evolution | Political Science | Religion | Sociology

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.

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