On Maintaining Plausibility: The Worldview of Evangelical College Students

Using data from over 2,000 students attending one of ten colleges ranging from secular-public to exclusively Christian, we investigate: 1) variation in Evangelical beliefs, 2) the relationship of Evangelical beliefs to other dimensions of the Evangelical worldview, and 3) the impact of college context on that worldview. While more Evangelical students are found at the more Evangelical campuses, the religious outlook of their counterparts at less Evangelical campuses appears not to be threatened but, indeed, may be stronger. The argument that the plausibility of minority religious viewpoints is relatively easily maintained is thus supported, though at the cost of adopting an admittedly defensive posture.