Offering Alternatives to Biblical Literalism May Be the Key to Increasing the Public's Acceptance of Evolution

Evolution acceptance is lower among religious than nonreligious individuals. One potential factor involves how Judeo-Christian individuals interpret the Bible. We administered a nationwide survey to investigate the relationship between religiosity, biblical interpretation, and evolution acceptance. We also surveyed undergraduate students in a biology course before and after they underwent a culturally competent module on evolution. We found that religiosity predicted a more literal interpretation of the Bible, and these factors negatively predicted evolution acceptance in both samples. After the module, biblical literalism in the classroom decreased, predicting an increase in evolution acceptance without any decrease in religiosity. While the nationwide relationship between religiosity and evolution acceptance is generally understood, this study more directly reaffirms that biblical literalism is linked to evolution rejection and takes an important step into investigating interventions. Offering alternatives to biblical literalism may help educators increase evolution acceptance without threatening student religiosity.