Approximately what percentage of recognized scientists DO NOT believe in Creation?

Answer 1

Answer The first thing is to decide what is meant be "recognized scientists" - eminent scientists, less eminent scientists who do perform pure research, or persons with advanced science degrees but perform little or no pure research. If reliable data on belief in creation within the scientific community is not available, we could start by establishing how many scientists believe in a personal god, because the number who literally believe in creation must be somewhat smaller than this.

• In 1998, a study by Larson and Witham appeared on the leading journal Nature ("Leading scientists still reject God"), showing that of the American scientists who had been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, only about 7 percent believein a personal god. Religious believers form about 40 percent of the less eminent scientists in America.
• A study in Britain, undertaken by R. Elisabeth Cornwell and Michael Stirrat, involved sending a questionnaire to all 1,074 Fellows of the Royal Society who possessed an email address, offering several propositions and asking the scientists to rank their beliefs on that point from 1 to 7. About 23 percent responded and preliminary results indicate that, of these, 3.3 percent agreed strongly (chose 7) and 78.8 percent disagreed strongly (chose 1) that a personal god exists. A total of 12 Fellows chose 6 or 7 to indicate that they were believers, while 213 Fellows chose 1 or 2 to indicate that they were nonbelievers.

So, in the United States, an undefined majority of scientists do not believe in God. In Britain, 86 percent of eminent scientists do not believe in God. Since some respondents were apparently agnostic (in Britain chose 3,4 or 5) and some who believe in God probably do not believe in creation, the total proportion who do not believe in creation must be somewhat higher than 86 percent.