Creationism Promotes Students’ Mental Health

The Christian Creation Worldview,
but not Evolution, Has Beneficial
Effects on Students, including Hope

 

by Jerry Bergman, PhD

One question often posed to me is “If the evidence against evolution is so overwhelming, why is it so-widely accepted?” A main reason is that evolution is a required part of the curriculum from first grade to graduate school. And the courts have “permanently barred the [school] board from requiring teachers to denigrate or disparage the scientific theory of evolution.”[1]

Discouragement and disappointment with public schools has recently increased, not only because of the trend to indoctrinate students into the evolutionary worldview, but also because leftist ideology in general now pervades the public school curriculum. The subject of origins is a good example of indoctrination for the following reason: religion at its core is a worldview that tells us where we came from, our purpose in the here and now, and where we are going (our future).

Darwinism is also a worldview. The worldview of Darwinism gives answers to the same questions: where we came from (we evolved by natural selection of damage to the genes called mutations), our purpose in the here and now (to survive and pass on our genes to the next generation), and where we are going (when we die, we are dead and our body becomes feed for other life). In contrast, the Christian worldview answers the questions much differently: where we came from (we were created by God), our purpose in the here and now (to serve God and our fellow humans), and where we are going (for those who repent and believe his word, there is the hope of heaven).

The Kitzmiller Case

In a major court case in Dover, Pennsylvania in 2005,[2] Judge John E. Jones “issued his 139-page finding of fact and decision ruling that the Dover [school board] mandate requiring the statement [opposing evolution] to be read in class was unconstitutional. The [judge’s] ruling concluded that intelligent design is not science, and permanently barred the board from requiring teachers to denigrate or disparage the scientific theory of evolution.” [3] In other words, public school students are not allowed to hear information that “denigrates or disparages” evolutionary theory and, by extension, the evolutionary worldview.

Furthermore, the judge in this Kitzmiller v. Dover case claimed that the defendants (creationists on the school board) “make a bedrock assumption which is utterly false, namely that evolutionary theory is antithetical to a belief in the existence of God. Plaintiff’s scientific experts testified the theory of evolution …. overwhelmingly accepted by the scientific community, … in no way conflicts with, nor denies, the existence of a divine creator.”

Darwin Indoctrination Leaves Students Without Hope

As I have shown in one of my books, however, evolution is the doorway to atheism.[4] Acceptance of Darwinism destroys the foundation of Christianity and the Christian value of hope in spite of the judge’s claims to the contrary. The fact that Darwinism destroys the foundation of Christianity was explained by a leading atheist who published the following statement in an atheistic magazine:

Christians who regard the creation stories as myths or allegories are undermining the rest of Scripture. if there was no Adam, there was no fall; and if there was no fall there was no hell; and if there was no hell, there was no need of Jesus as Second Adam and Incarnate Savior, crucified and risen. As a result, the whole biblical system of salvation collapses.[5]

Before Darwin, the vast majority of naturalists and educators were creationists and most were theists. After Darwin, the majority of eminent scientists and intellectuals are now evolutionists and often atheists as well.[6] This is because evolution leads to atheism.[7] In fact, Darwin developed his theory of evolution specifically to murder God, or at least to destroy the reason people believe in God. Specifically the “number one reason people give for why they believe in God” is the evidence of design in creation. [8]

Charles Darwin University Reveals the Harm that Darwinism Causes!

One would expect that the hostility against creation, and often religion as well, would have negative effects on other positive aspects of religious faith. This is what has been found by a professor’s study at—of all places—Charles Darwin University (CDU) in Australia. The study, involving 1,080 students in two church-based schools, was directed by CDU Senior Lecturer in Education, Dr. Felicity McLure.

The concern was “the rising rates of mental illness among Australian kids, and a new study has found a values-driven education – often found in faith-based schools – is a step in the right direction” in lowering the rise of mental illness. [9]

One example which illustrates the general concern about mental health was the finding that, on average, one in every five Australian adolescents experience a clinical depressive episode by the end of high school.

The study used two instruments. One was designed to assess students’ perceptions of their school climate, including features that were unique to church-based schools, such as the Christian worldview. The study conclusions specifically mentioned “Christian,” “Christian worldview,” and “belief” some 48 times.

The other instrument was designed to assess students’ self-reports of their moral values and their hope for the future. A school’s climate is influenced by the worldview which reflects the values, attitudes, and beliefs that permeate the school, which, in turn, affects the pervading atmosphere experienced by the students.

A major finding was that the two Christian schools that teach primarily the Christian worldview give students hope. Specifically, the study concluded that

Hope for the future provides a protective factor against mental health disorders and contributes to students’ academic success and well-being. We investigated whether a school’s climate influenced students’ prosocial moral identity and hope for the future to understand better how church-based schools might improve these important outcomes.[10]

The researchers concluded that the Christian worldview gave students hope for the future and therefore reduces the hopelessness and depression often experienced by many students in high school.

Conclusion

As the study found, banning the Christian worldview and, instead, teaching the Darwinian worldview dogmatically, has a deleterious effect on the school atmosphere. Forbidding criticism of Darwinism, such as disallowing the denigration or disparagement of the evolutionary worldview will also likely have a negative effect on the lives of the students because students will not have a basic understanding of the harm caused by the acceptance of this worldview.

It is well-recognized that evolution is a religion, as shown by a leading pro-Darwin philosopher, Dr. Michael Ruse. According to the CDU study, the effect of this worldview on students has a clear negative effect on mental health. This “Darwin Effect” needs to be studied further.

References

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitzmiller_v._Dover_Area_School_District.

[2] Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, 400 F. Supp. 2d 707 (M.D. Pa. 2005).

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitzmiller_v._Dover_Area_School_ District. Emphasis added.

[4] Jerry Bergman, Evolution is the Doorway to Atheism, Leafcutter Press, Southworth WA, 2016.

[5] Mattill, A.J.. “Three Cheers for the Creationists,” Free Inquiry, pp. 17-18, Spring 1982.

[6] Bergman, Jerry, “Why orthodox Darwinism demands atheism,” Answers Research Journal 3:147-152. https://answersresearchjournal.org/orthodox-darwinism-demands-atheism/.

[7] Bergman, Jerry. “Does Evolution Lead to Atheism?,” Investigator 138: 46-49, 56, May 2011.

[8] Shermer, Michael, How We Believe: The Search for God in an Age of Science, Freeman, New York, NY, p. xiv.

[9] Charles Darwin University, How church-based schools are creating hope for the future,

https://www.cdu.edu.au/news/love-thy-neighbour-how-church-based-schools-are-creating-hope-future, 12 February 2025.

[10] Aldridge, J., and  F. McLure, Investigating the influence of the school climate of church‐based schools on students’ moral identity development and hope for the future, Learning Environments Research 27(3):971-993, September 2024.

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Dr. Jerry Bergman has taught biology, genetics, chemistry, biochemistry, anthropology, geology, and microbiology for over 40 years at several colleges and universities including Bowling Green State University, Medical College of Ohio where he was a research associate in experimental pathology, and The University of Toledo. He is a graduate of the Medical College of Ohio, Wayne State University in Detroit, the University of Toledo, and Bowling Green State University. He has over 1,900 publications in 14 languages and 40 books and monographs. His books and textbooks that include chapters that he authored are in over 1,800 college libraries in 27 countries. So far over 80,000 copies of the 60 books and monographs that he has authored or co-authored are in print. For more articles by Dr Bergman, see his Author Profile.