Many religions today accommodate themselves to scientific knowledge, including the Copernican view and the theory of evolution.

Judged as of 2018-02-13. True: evidence shows that many major religions or denominations (for example the Catholic Church, mainline Protestant churches, Reform/Conservative Judaism, many Anglican and Buddhist bodies) formally accept or accommodate a heliocentric (Copernican) cosmology and the theory of evolution, through official statements, doctrine or widespread practice. Mostly true: many religions accommodate heliocentrism and most scientific knowledge, but accommodation of evolution is limited to a smaller set of major bodies, while the claim's general point ('many') still holds. Mixed: roughly as many major religions or denominations officially reject evolution or other core scientific findings as accept them, so 'many' is arguable. Mostly false: only a few marginal groups accommodate such knowledge while most major religions officially reject it, so a narrow fact is presented as general. False: evidence shows that religions generally do not accept the Copernican view or evolution.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 What Do Methodists, Lutherans, and Presbyterians Believe About Evolution? | Mainline Christian Mainline Christian · 8 October 2026

   “an acceptance of evolution is entirely compatible with an authentic and living Christian faith”

2. E2 MESSAGE TO THE PONTIFICAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: ON EVOLUTION Smithsonian Human Origins (text of Pope John Paul II message, delivered 22 October 1996) · 22 October 1996

   “some new findings lead us toward the recognition of evolution as more than an hypothesis.”

3. E3 Buddhist views on evolution - Wikipedia Wikipedia · 14 October 2025

   “Buddhism is generally accepting of scientific explanations for the origin and development of life and the universe, including modern scientific theories of evolution and cosmology.”

Pope John Paul II's 1996 message says new findings "lead us toward the recognition of evolution as more than an hypothesis" [E3], which indicates Catholic openness to evolution well before 2018. A source on mainline Protestant churches says accepting evolution is "entirely compatible" with Christian faith (E2), and an encyclopedia summary says Buddhism generally accepts scientific accounts of evolution and cosmology (E4). Together these show several major religious bodies accommodate evolution, which supports 'many'. However, only E4 touches on cosmology, and only in general terms. No item shows heliocentrism directly, and E2 is dated after 2018 without saying when the churches took their positions, so the verdict is mostly true rather than true.