Theists, Not Christians

Conspicuous now, throughout the U. S. and England, is a craze-- questions and answers. This is being applied by the International Advertising Association with the purpose of finding out what various groups of people believe about religion. Last week, 1,000 hearty Dartmouth College undergraduates, who brave the Hanover (N. H.) winter with the aid of supplies from Canada, answered the following questionnaire in the following manner:

1. Do you believe in God? Yes, 763; no, 188; undecided, 69.

2. Do you believe in immortality? Yes, 380; no, 548; undecided, 92.

3. Do you believe in prayer as a means of personal relationship with God? Yes, 423; no, 527; undecided, 70.

4. Do you believe that Jesus was divine as no other man was divine? Yes, 330; no, 638; undecided, 52.

5. Do you regard the Bible as inspired in a sense that no other literature could be said to be inspired? Yes, 245; no, 731; undecided, 44.

6. Are you an active member of any church? Yes, 455; no, 578; undecided, 7.

7. Do you regularly attend any religious services? Yes, 326; no, 679; undecided, 15.

8. Were you brought up in a religious home? Yes, 828; no, 185; undecided, 7.

9. Do you think that religion in some form is a necessary element of life for the individual and the community? Yes, 858; no, 132; undecided, 30.

Recapitulation. It is significant that a majority of these Dartmouth students seem to believe in God as a necessary sociological force, while at the same time rejecting the major tenets of Christianity, Contrasts:

Yes No

Belief in God 763 188

Belief in divine Jesus 330 638

Religion necessary 858 132

Active church member 455 578

Since all Christian bodies from Roman Catholic to Holy Rollers (except the small Unitarian sect) hold that Jesus was divine, it appears that only about 30% of Dartmouth is Christian. Something over 40% are non-Christian theists, and the balance are either agnostics or atheists. All this, of course, on the assumption that Dartmouth students are keen enough to know what they are. The fact that 455 said they are active church members while only 330 subscribe to the distinguishing tenet of Christianity indicates that the boys are not sure what they are,

Other Colleges. Among the 100 colleges and universities, with students totaling 36,000, to which were submitted these nine questions, Dartmouth stood forth as the least orthodox. In the grand total for the quiz, 87% of all answers were found to be "Yes." Such colleges as Providence, Pacific Union, Converse, Bridgewater, Carthage, Millsaps, Woffard, Shorter, Wheaton voted higher than 97% orthodox. But, such universities as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Columbia, Pennsylvania, Brown, Chicago, Illinois, California, Stanford were not questioned by the International Advertising Association. Of the women's colleges, Wellesley was least orthodox with a vote of 75% affirmative; but Smith, Vassar, Bryn Mawr and Barnard were not asked. Affirmative votes included, of course, theists as well as Christians.