Religion on the Brain (Part II)

I said yesterday that I’d do a post about this article on Friday. Unfortunately, I thought today was like Wednesday or something, and that I had a bit more time. Apparently not. As I’m undoubtedly a very noble, good and modest person, however, my conscience compels me to stay true to my word and blog about it today. So here we go (this is a long post, so be warned!).

Way back in Religion on the Brain (Part I), I tried to counter the claim that Christianity is simply the result of an increase in the personality trait known as Self Transcendence (ST). Hopefully I did a decentish job. A few days ago, however, I came across an article which asks another interesting question, and I’d quite like to go through it with you lot. Please comment with your opinions! So, the question is this: Why do atheists, on average, have higher intelligence than theists?

Now the first thing to say is this. I’m not going to counter the fact itself, because a) I believe it’s well documented already, and b) I’m not a psychologist and have no results to back up the opposite view. Another thing I’m not going to do is list ‘clever Christians’. There are some, definitely, but notable exceptions to a rule definitely doesn’t mean the general trend is wrong. That would be way too dismissive.

Right, so on to the real point. The article focuses on a paper (which, I confess, I haven’t read) by Satoshi Kanazawa which answers the question above like this: atheists are more intelligent because intelligence itself arose as a way to ‘deal with evolutionarily novel situations’. Because of this, intelligence allows us to ‘throw off’ our evolved instincts, like religion, presumably, and approach problems in a different way (I strongly recommend reading the article for yourself. I’m not too good at summaries and I don’t want to misrepresent it!). But is this the only explanation? Is the answer to this ‘intelligence divide’ that Christians are stuck in some evolutionary ditch? I don’t think so.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” ^{[Isaiah 29:14]}

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 1: 18-31 (emphasis mine)

You know what, we could probably leave it there. This passage pretty much answers the question directly! It seems for the first century church the same pattern arose as today: the majority of them weren’t wise or clever by human standards. The ‘wise man’, ‘scholar’, and ‘philosopher of [the] age’ had all (it seems) rejected Jesus’ claims. So, according to the Bible, what is the reason for this trend?  Why are atheists (on average) more intelligent than theists? ‘God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.’ The Bible says it works out this way because that’s how God wants it. He is pleased to use the ‘lowly and despised’ things of the world to bring about his plan. Why? Because that’s the way God rolls. He is the sort of God who turns things on their heads, who doesn’t look at the impressive physical or mental state of a human, but looks at their heart. He is the sort of God that loves using our weaknesses and limitations to show his strength. He is the sort of God that doesn’t set a minimum IQ for coming to him, but wants everyone to be saved. On average it’s true that atheists are more intelligent that Christians. But should this surprise us? No. The Bible says exactly the same thing.

We could leave it there. But whilst the Bible solves the spiritual and the theological problems brilliantly, it doesn’t answer the physical ‘why?’ Why, in 2010, do intelligent people feel a belief in God is not for them? Like I said, I’m not a psychologist, but here’s a few ideas that I came up with:

• In the modern day world, there is a trend for intelligent adults to equate ‘rational’ and ‘natural’. By definition, then, religion is placed firmly in the ‘irrational’ category. Take the article I linked to: ‘…all this does is explain why some intelligent people hold irrational beliefs.’ For a young, intelligent, nominal Christian, this pre-existing pressure alone could be enough to turn them away.
• Intelligent people like to know how stuff works. That drive for learning is part of what makes them intelligent in the first place. But the Bible unequivocally says that ‘the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom’. We will never know everything. We will never come close. This idea could also push people towards a more naturalistic view of the world. This dissuasion is a shame, because (for me, anyway) it seems much more exciting to be plumbing a well of infinite knowledge than one which will come to an end!
• The Bible says ‘it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God’, and perhaps it also isn’t easy for an intelligent person. There seems to be a tendency for people who have a lot to fully rely on it, above and beyond anything else, and this is a massive ‘stumbling block’ to anyone’s potential belief in God. Christianity doesn’t call you to give up your intelligence, but it does call you to rely on God, not you. This is hard.

So once again, the link between Religion and Psychology proves an interesting and delightful subject to explore. Well, I quite enjoyed it at any rate. Religious beliefs are linked to intelligence, yes, but does that mean Christianity is simply a religion for the uneducated? No, not necessarily, and I hope I’ve (at least) half-decently explained why I think that’s the case!

Right, that’s me back to posting amusing comics and witty anecdotes for a while. That was way too much hassle!

[EDIT: There was another paragraph here about how this post could make it seem that 'intellectual suicide' is the default position of  Christianity, but it was basically just a repeat of the fifth paragraph of this post, so I cut it. Some of the comments below were written before it was cut, though, so I thought I'd add this disclaimer!]