Years ago El Jefe and I attended a Sunday School class led by a popular teacher who often found inspiration for his lessons from The Wall Street Journal. I've done that myself several times on this blog and I'm going to do it again now. So gather round, gentle readers, for today's lesson from WSJ.
Here's the story--Our Brains Strive To See Only the Good, Leading Some to God.
It reports the findings of a psychological study which concluded that "belief in God is compelled by the way our brains work." Our brains always seek to find a way to put a positive spin on negative events our circumstances, the scientists explained. The brain seeks "the most rewarding view of events". This explains the tendency to ascribe disasters to the hand of God or death or other tragedies to God's will, according to the story.
Professor Daniel Gilbert of Harvard University stated that "belief in God is compelled by the way our brains work." The story says that Prof. Gilbert asked a religious colleague how he felt to about the conclusion that people misattribute the products of their own minds to acts of God. The reply was that it was okay because "God doesn't want us to confuse our miracles with his."
Is there a "God-producing brain quirk" hard-wired into each of us? Mankind's eternal search in every age and place for transcendent meaning and answers to the meaning of life suggests the answer. If God created us to desire a relationship with him and know him, it would not be surprising if our brains were created in that way.
Remember the story in Acts about Paul preaching at the altar of the unknown God in Athens? Paul explained to the Athenians that this altar represented their longing for knowledge of the one true God -- "For in him we live and move and have our being, as some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring' "Acts 17: 28. While Paul wasn't using scientific language here, I think he would have agreed that God specifically created mankind with the ability to believe in Him.
I think that this WSJ article doesn't tend to disprove the existence of God (which was the conclusion of the scientists who did the study described), in fact it offers support for it. Prof. Gilbert would no doubt respond that this is just another example of my mind searching for the most rewarding interpretation from my point of view.
I like my conclusion better.
Here's the story--Our Brains Strive To See Only the Good, Leading Some to God.
It reports the findings of a psychological study which concluded that "belief in God is compelled by the way our brains work." Our brains always seek to find a way to put a positive spin on negative events our circumstances, the scientists explained. The brain seeks "the most rewarding view of events". This explains the tendency to ascribe disasters to the hand of God or death or other tragedies to God's will, according to the story.
Professor Daniel Gilbert of Harvard University stated that "belief in God is compelled by the way our brains work." The story says that Prof. Gilbert asked a religious colleague how he felt to about the conclusion that people misattribute the products of their own minds to acts of God. The reply was that it was okay because "God doesn't want us to confuse our miracles with his."
Is there a "God-producing brain quirk" hard-wired into each of us? Mankind's eternal search in every age and place for transcendent meaning and answers to the meaning of life suggests the answer. If God created us to desire a relationship with him and know him, it would not be surprising if our brains were created in that way.
Remember the story in Acts about Paul preaching at the altar of the unknown God in Athens? Paul explained to the Athenians that this altar represented their longing for knowledge of the one true God -- "For in him we live and move and have our being, as some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring' "Acts 17: 28. While Paul wasn't using scientific language here, I think he would have agreed that God specifically created mankind with the ability to believe in Him.
I think that this WSJ article doesn't tend to disprove the existence of God (which was the conclusion of the scientists who did the study described), in fact it offers support for it. Prof. Gilbert would no doubt respond that this is just another example of my mind searching for the most rewarding interpretation from my point of view.
I like my conclusion better.
1 comment:
It's like that optical illusion thing that's either a candlestick or two faces in profile looking at one another. It's SO obvious to us what that study means! Same data, different conclusions.
I am reading an excerpt from Calvin's Institutes tomorrow for Reformation Sunday and he is talking about how we are wired to contemplate God. Didn't use those words but basically said the same thing.
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