EDITORIAL NOTE: From the AT Archive; Nov/Dec 1994

To make wise decisions, it is helpful to have accurate facts. The survey reported in this article was the first systematic assessment of what Adventist scientists actually think about a crucial aspect of theology. This survey continues to exert significant influence.

Adventist Today recently asked the Center for Health Research, Loma Linda University, to conduct a survey of the views on life’s origins held by members of science faculties at Adventist colleges and universities in North America. The accompanying graph shows their responses.

We mailed 200 questionnaires to teachers identified from the Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook and from telephoning the colleges, and promised to keep answers confidential. The response rate was 60.5 percent, or 121 respondents, considered good for this type of survey. Of those returning a completed survey, 83.5 percent held a doctoral degree; 35.5 percent said their area of specialization was the life sciences, 37.2 percent the physical sciences, and 9.1 percent some other area.

Of those giving their age, the mean was 50.2 years, with the youngest being 31 and the oldest 79. Of the 112 who reported their gender, 8 percent were female and 92 percent were male.

It was interesting to note that younger respondents—under 50—tended to be more conservative than older ones. Those who had not attended Adventist schools and also did not have Adventist parents appeared, overall, to be slightly more traditional than others. Some attendance at Adventist schools, as a factor by itself, did not seem to make much difference, nor did having an Adventist parent, as a single factor.

In each area, some respondents omitted an answer or indicated they had no opinion. As to area of academic specialization, 18.2 percent declined to answer; 7.4 percent did not indicate their gender. As to origins of non-human life, 9.9 percent had no opinion. On origins of human life, only 2.5 percent had no opinion. Only 1.7 percent indicated no opinion about the nature of the Bible, and as to views about the flood and the fossil record, 5 percent had no opinion.

The results of our survey show fairly close agreement on the nature of the Bible, but significant variation in views on the other topics. Perhaps the biblical account of so momentous an event as creation is purposefully brief, allowing us the freedom to struggle over a universal reality. We might all be surprised when someday we hear the details explained by The One who was there.