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TechnoratiWhile evolutionists like Richard Dawkins look down upon creationists with scorn, Bloom offers psychological understanding. As he sees it, "The real problem with natural selection is that it makes no intuitive sense." Bloom compares evolutionary theory to quantum physics, arguing that such ideas "will never feel right to us." As he explains: "When we see a complex structure, we see it as the product of beliefs and goals and desires. Our social mode of understanding leaves it difficult to make sense of it any other way. Our gut feeling is that a design requires a designer-a fact that is understandably exploited by those who argue against Darwin." Throughout his essay, Bloom argues that children are actually more religious than their parents-more inclined to belief in God, more likely to assume a Creator, and more trusting in the assurance that the soul exists and will survive death.
All this makes for fascinating reading. Paul Bloom stands out among his fellow evolutionists in terms of his basic understanding of how religious belief functions and why it is so pervasive-even in the postmodern age. He argues that belief in God is an "accidental by-product" of other evolutionary developments. For some reason (and Bloom goes so far as to suggest some of these reasons) human beings possess an ability to detect pattern and to infer a designer. Belief in a supernatural deity seems to be wired into the human species. Bloom resists the intellectual scorn and condescension of evolutionists like Dawkins. Instead, he soothingly assures us that belief in God is simply an accident of evolution-and an accident that has outlived its usefulness.
In the concluding section of his essay, Bloom argues that religion and science are implacable foes. He clearly wants the scientific to triumph over supernatural ideas, but he believes that this will come about when humans discover that their beliefs in the supernatural are simply by-products of the brain's evolution.
Paul Bloom's essay-and his intellectual project-represent a challenge to Christian thinking. His observations about infants and the near universality of belief in God serve as useful refutations of many trends in contemporary thought. If nothing else, his cogent observations along these lines will serve to refute the argument of the secularists.
Still, Christians know that Bloom's explanation is almost precisely wrong. There is a universal awareness of the divine, but this is not an accident of evolution but the gift of the Creator.
As John Calvin explained, "There is within the human mind, and indeed by natural instinct, an awareness of the divinity. This we take to be beyond controversy. To prevent anyone from taking refuge in the pretense of ignorance, God himself has implanted in all men a certain understanding of his divine majesty. Ever renewing its memory, he repeatedly sheds fresh drops." As Calvin further explained, "from the beginning of the world there has been no region, no city, in short, no household, that could do without religion, there lies in this a tacit confession of a sense of deity inscribed in the hearts of all."
Nevertheless, Calvin explained that the combination of ignorance and sin explains why some reject the existence of God altogether while multitudes of others worship idols or gods of their own invention. Continue »
