Are people born with an innate idea of God or is it a learnt concept?

Are people born with an innate idea of God or is it a learnt concept?

The debate whether children are born into the world with a predisposed knowledge of God, or whether as humans we are merely born with a sense of curiosity which we replace with the divine, continues to be a struggling argument for the existence of God. This poses the question: despite theological claims, do we have reason to believe that we are born believers in God?

On the surface I was curious to know what people’s immediate responses would be to such an in-depth question. Through researching on the internet and asking people I know personally, I was astonished to find out that most of the replies I received disagreed with the idea that we could be born with an innate idea of God. Many of the reactions I received held the view that the concept of God was, and still is, merely passed down from parents, relatives, friends and society through each generation. I also found responses which stated that the human mind is naturally geared to try and work things out. However, when it is a struggle for us to find a convincing answer a god is a good enough explanation to fulfil the gap in such situations. Others purported that the answer lies within the human imagination, for if everyone was without knowledge where has any concept arisen from? However, is religion not a far reaching concept for someone to imagine out of nowhere? Or can we use the analogy of language; that like religion we are born without knowledge and so have to be taught in order to know?

Dr Justin Barrett, a senior researcher at the University of Oxford's Centre for Anthropology and Mind, claims that young people have a predisposition to believe in a supreme being because they assume that everything in the world was created with a purpose. He states that young children have faith even when they have not been taught about it by family or at school, and argues that even those raised alone on a desert island would come to believe in God. In one study conducted by Dr Barrett six and seven year olds were asked why the first bird existed, and replied "to make nice music" and "because it makes the world look nice". Another experiment on 12-month-old babies suggested that they were surprised by a film in which a rolling ball apparently created a neat stack of blocks from a disordered heap. Dr Barrett stated this as evidence that from an early age children understand the natural world is different from manmade objects. He added that this means children are more likely to believe in creationism rather than evolution, despite what they may be told by parents or teachers, claiming that "Children's normally and naturally developing minds make them prone to believe in divine creation and intelligent design. In contrast, evolution is unnatural for human minds; relatively difficult to believe."

The findings of Bruce Hood, professor of developmental psychology at Bristol University, similarly suggests that supernatural beliefs are hardwired into our brains from birth, and that religions are therefore tapping into a powerful psychological force that already exists. His work, supported by other researchers, suggests that people are programmed to receive a feeling of spirituality. Professor Hood believes research shows children have a natural, intuitive way of reasoning that leads them to all kinds of supernatural beliefs about how the world works.

These findings challenge atheists such as Richard Dawkins, who have long argued that religious beliefs result from poor education and childhood 'indoctrination'. However, supporters of the counter argument that everyone is born atheist and religion is learned, claim that we are born forgivably an ‘ignorant sort’ of which we couldn’t be anything more. Thus, the fact that we don’t visibly display knowledge of God isn’t, alone, very interesting since, when people call themselves atheists, they don’t usually mean to convey their ignorance. What is more interesting to talk about is the kind of beliefs that babies unaided by religion naturally form as their minds develop. Dr R. Elisabeth Cornwell, an evolutionary psychologist, who I came across while researching claims that we are born scientists. Dr Cornwall uses the example that when babies sit in their highchairs and throw stuff off they observe what their caregiver does. The caregiver will presumably pick the object up, which will delight the baby for they have received a response, so they will then drop the object again. However while doing this the baby’s observing that the object always falls, and so the baby is also testing gravity. Dr Cornwall states that babies start off with nothing, but then through our natural instincts start to test the world: ‘Then somehow adults send them off to school where we kill the little scientist within them.’ Dr Cornwall states that religion isn’t born within us; it is used as a way to close doors for young and curious minds to explore and to ask questions. This supports the view from the counter argument stance that, without submersion into religion as a child, we would most likely maintain the position of a person without knowledge of faith.   

As a whole there is no absolute answer, therefore making all claims merely speculations. It is up to us, as individuals, to decide subjectively what we believe. From researching and discussing such an in-depth topic myself, I have definitely opened my mind to new ideas, exploring the possibilities of other points of view.   

By D.J