Certain books are key on campus, but does the Bible make the list? For some, denial of God is unthinkable. For sophomore Katie Adams the notion is natural.
"I believe in science and humanity rather than any higher power," Adams said. "I believe more in the natural order of the universe. The way things can be explained by science pretty much works for me."
A study conducted by the University of California stated the number of students with no religious affiliation rose from 13.6 percent in 1966 to 19.1 percent in 2006. While a 2004 self-reported survey shows Baker’s numbers fall below national averages, 2 percent of students consider themselves atheist or agnostic.
In high school Adams noticed a stark conflict between her Biblical belief and the subjects she studied. To her, Biblical scripture on the origin of the species and scientific interpretation differed greatly.
"I think I always questioned it, even when I was a kid," Adams said. "It just didn't quite make sense to me as I started to get older."
Adams' family is non-denominational Christian. She said her father borders on being a fundamentalist.
"He's the kind to believe that the world is 6,000 years old and men walked with dinosaurs," Adams said. "I guess that might have impacted my extreme break from religion."
Because of their beliefs, Adams family did not take her conversion to atheism well.
"They're pretty much afraid I'm going to go to hell," she said. "It's kind of strange; you tell your parents you're an atheist, and they start worrying for your immortal soul. They're so clouded by their beliefs, that they have a hard time sensing logic."
But Adams isn't concerned about the prospect of hell because accompanying her disbelief in God is the belief that the activity of the mind ceases after death.
"I don't know if I believe that there's anything after we die, that we're anything more than organisms who when we die that's it, and we just end," she said. "I don't know if I find any comfort in the idea that there's life after death anyway. It sounds very long and endless."
After being introduced to different religions, Adams' new perspective quickly spiraled into a clean separation from the church. She now puts her faith in the examinable power of science, rather than the unseen nature of the divine.
"Ultimately, logic won out, and I decided there couldn't really be one belief system that was absolutely right," she said. "They're all just made by man."
Freshman Eric Loux, also an atheist, said science wasn't the strongest force pushing him away from believing in God.
"I took biology in the ninth grade, and I wasn't immediately like, ‘Aw man, Darwin was right,’" he said. "For awhile, I was agnostic and then I just decided that I didn't think there was really any chance for a higher being."
Loux, a confirmed Lutheran, was raised in the church. Because his mother was leader of a youth group, he spent 10 years in Sunday school.
"When I was real young I just believed, and I was okay with that," Loux said. "As I got older, I figured if there was a real truth, there would be more unity among world religions."
Professor of Religion Georgy Wiley said despite the national increase of unaffiliated students, interest in religion at Baker has remained high.
"I've always found students willing to get into discussions about religious topics, and I've found that enrollment in my classes has been pretty steady," he said.
Wiley teaches religion courses on the New Testament and world religions. He believes today's society is a difficult place to foster belief.
"The culture that we live in emphasizes rationality, and thinking is influenced by the sciences," Wiley said. "It can seem like belief in the supernatural is a mistake. I think this is a hard culture to be religious in."
Though many tend to experience doubt—even Mother Teresa had her fair share. Most people are reluctant to extinguish belief entirely.
Senior Lesley Gillaspie has concluded there is just no way of knowing.
"I don't deny the existence of God. I don't say that the Christian religion is wrong, just as I don't say the Islamic religion is wrong," she said. "There is no proof to me that there is a God. There is also no proof to me that there is not a God."
Gillaspie's parents urged her to select her own spiritual path. She attended regular church services from about the fourth to the eighth grade.
"I read the Bible. I believed in God's word. I went to church camp, all that jazz," she said. "Getting older and getting further into my education, I started to see that things really don't match up."
After four years, Gillaspie stopped going to church because of the behavior of its members.
"The kids there were some of the nastiest, meanest kids that went to my high school and middle school," she said. "It didn't feel like a very 'Christianly' environment to be in."
After Gillaspie left, her pastor was arrested for embezzlement, further hammering in her disillusionment with the church.
"The church aspect just beat the idea of religion out of me," she said. "It just seemed so hypocritical."
Susan Emel, professor of mass media and communication, is an ordained minister and admitted that not everyone who attends church acts in ways that reflect the values espoused by the institution.
"I've had plenty of faith questions, like ‘Why is there evil and lots of doubting specifics in the Bible or behaviors of church people,’ and I just think that that's all really important to face," Emel said. "The problem with churches, the problem with organized religion is that they let people in. When you let people in, they bring with them all the foibles of humanity, the good and the bad."
Doubt can creep into anyone's heart. Minister to the University Ira DeSpain said his time as a student was a struggle.
"My time here at Baker was a time of real spiritual thinking for me," DeSpain said. "I had always grown up in the church, and I had always been around church things and church people. I didn't know if it was authentically God calling me or I was trying to make my parents happy."
Like a last name, religion ran in the family. Both DeSpain’s father and grandfather were ordained ministers. In order to be certain about his path, he separated from the ideology his parents had presented him and reexamined its value. He spent his time as an undergrad severed from the church activity he facilitates now. But after graduation, the call still summoned him, so he began to study ministry.
Doubt still inches its way back into his mind at times.
"There's been times of doubt, times of fear and questioning where my call is leading me," DeSpain said. "When I'm backed in a corner, when I don't see any way out, those are the times I doubt."
But not everyone hears the same call. Adams didn't hear one at all.
"You see so many people say that they can feel the presence of God, but I just never had that feeling," she said.
So why do nonreligious students select a private, religiously affiliated college?
Loux chose Baker because it was the best school in the area and it provided him with a scholarship, he said. Loux lives in Lawrence, and going to Baker saves him money on housing.
When Gillaspie selected Baker, she didn't even consider its Methodist affiliation.
"I was only looking at private institutions, so I knew there was an affiliation, but it didn't matter," she said. "The only thing that drew me in was the fact that it was a private liberal arts school."
Adams said she overlooked Baker's Methodist affiliation, selecting it because of its emphasis on academics.
"Baker was the only school in Kansas that I felt I could be comfortable at," she said. "I sort of dismissed the others because I felt like there wasn't a lot of freethinking or intellect. Baker seems pretty liberal compared to the others."
Adams said during Baker's recruitment process, religion wasn't a topic of concern.
"They never spoke to me about it," she said. "That's sort of the reason I chose Baker because it was so laid-back about religion. There's no pushing. I felt like at some other schools there was."
Just as Adams is comfortable with not believing in God, she is comfortable with her choice to come to Baker.
"Mostly, everyone is pretty laid-back about religion in general, and I like that," she said.