The Bible continues to be the main source for explaining the existence of people on Earth for over 4 in every 10 Americans, a new public survey says.

According to the annual Values and Beliefs survey conducted by international market analyst Gallup Inc., 42 percent of the United States populace believes God created modern humans about 10,000 years ago, a view that's held fast over the last three decades.

On the other hand, the new study found half of all Americans believe humans evolved, with the guidance of a divine being. However, the percentage who say God was not involved is rising.

The number of Americans who say the creationist explanation of life is closest to their viewpoint has varied little, between 40 and 47 percent, since Gallup begin asking the question in 1982.

As such, there's little statistical reason to assume any sustained drop in those who pick creationism over evolution any time soon, a company news release said.

Meanwhile, the percentage of Americans who follow the secularist explanation that humans evolved over time, without the intervention of a deity, has doubled since 1999.

The Gallup data show religiousness tends to significantly affect those who profess a belief in creationism; indeed, the percentage of Americans who accept the creationist view ranges from 69 percent among those who attend religious services weekly to 23 percent of those who seldom or never attend.

The level of education also holds great sway over such attitudes, with belief in the creationist perspective dropping from 57 percent of Americans with no more than a high school education to 27 percent among those with a college degree.

Accordingly, people with college degrees are more likely to choose one of the evolutionary explanations.

Seventy-nine percent of Americans reported being very or somewhat familiar with the evolution idea, while 19 percent admitted to not being familiar with it.

Fewer Americans today said they had a familiarity with "creationism," than did seven years ago. In 2007, 86 percent said they were familiar with the Biblical story, with 50 percent who said they were very familiar with it.

Now, with 76 percent saying they were are familiar with creationism, just 38 percent described themselves as very familiar.

Bottom line, even though the adherence to the creationist view has not changed very much over time, actual familiarity with the term "creationism" has diminished substantially.

Results of the Gallup Values and Beliefs survey are based on telephone interviews conducted May 8-11, 2014, with a random sample of 1,028 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.