So said a poll conducted by Mori on behalf of the BBC recently.
According to this article on the BBC website:
Over 2,000 participants took part in the survey, and were asked what best described their view of the origin and development of life:
22% chose creationism
17% opted for intelligent design
48% selected evolution theory
and the rest did not know.
Whilst this raises the usual cries of ‘increase science education’ from those supporting the evolutionist view, it also gives the creationist pause for thought. When Christians engage with non-Christians on this issue, we often assume that the default position is that of the evolutionist. However, although there are very many vocal proponents of evolution, it would seem that this does not represent the typical view of the man on the street. So often we find ourselves on the defensive as Christians, but I want to encourage us to challenge the worldviews of those who would push a different viewpoint. Why do we always defend? Shouldn’t we be challenging those with different views too?
And for the specific issue in hand, perhaps we should not be so worried about the Biblical starting point for evangelism – namely that God is the Good Creator of the world and everything in it. Perhaps we should be taking more seriously the truth of Romans 1:20 that “since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”