There is a belief that some will argue that we are all born believing in God.  I wonder…

Dr. Justin Barett is a researcher at a university in Oxford and according to him; children have faith before being influenced by believing parents or being taught it in school.  He goes as far to say that even if they were raised alone on a desert island, they still would come to believe in God.  He states that children have a predisposition to know that the world has definite purpose and “that some kind of intelligent being is behind that purpose.”

Others, of course, also express the belief that humans are intuitive and “hardwired” to believe in the supernatural even when they are brought up in families that do not embrace faith in God.  (That presents itself as an oxymoron to me; if you are born a believer as a child then how can one grow up to be an atheist?)  Some express a belief in the “God spot,” a notion that says there is a certain region in the brain that is responsible for our spirituality.

If every child is born with the propensity to be attracted to God, why are not all believers?  How can those that believe we are “hardwired” from birth to believe in God explain the atrocities that go on in this world?  How do they explain how two young men come to a country that freely embraced them, purposely kill and maim its citizens, and still think they were born believing in God?  The ideology and violence they courted is not consistent thinking and behavior that comes from anyone who is a believer.  This is clearly learned behavior.  Bombs that rip through communities in Israel and elsewhere, planes that fly into occupied buildings and other acts of barbarity are evil through and through.

I actually put up pray for these two men; how horrific their actions were and I pity their souls.

God does not force us to believe.  Jesus is plain in John 3:3 when He says that “… unless you are born again you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” 

Katie Altobellis 

A while back, we put out an article in response to a claim made by a writer who said that because of advances in science, professionals in that field were now able to duplicate some of Jesus’ miracles.  Now one year later, the subject of miracles has come up again. 

Recently, a viewer emailed a TV evangelist questioning why the USA doesn't experience the same miracles Africans do, i.e., the dead being raised and blind eyes opening.  The viewer expressed that perhaps America was "too far gone" to be on the receiving end of miracles.  The response the TV host gave was, "People overseas didn't go to Ivy League schools.”He went on to say, "we know about all these things (evolution) that say God is not real."  He further noted that because people overseas are simple and humble, if you tell them God will deliver a miracle, they would get one because they believe.  This response naturally caused backlash and ridicule because people took him calling others simple and poorly educated as being the only way anyone would receive a miracle.

Going or not going to an Ivy League school has nothing to do with whether someone will receive a miracle (or anything else) from God; we know that is a no-brainer.  Where he was correct but failed to get across well was when he said they received because they were humble and had the faith to believe.

When we look back on the miracles Jesus performed, He most often told them they received because of their faith.  We do not know that all were poor; but we do know they humbled themselves before the Lord and He rewarded their belief and trust in Him.  And since God never changes, His miracles will never cease. 

Is America too far gone to still receive?  I will never give up on my country but I believe what God says in Genesis 6:3 when he says, My Spirit will not strive with man forever...”

Katie Altobellis