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Pastor Jay's Blog

Why do the Smartest People Reject Christianity?

 

Recently, Dr. Michael Kruger, the Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary, gave a great answer to this question.  His answer, put in a nutshell, is that these incredibly smart people are applying all of their intellect within a certain paradigm or worldview.  They have not evaluated all of the evidence and found Christianity wanting.  Instead, they have heart-commitments to their own autonomy, the idols that go with it, and the world view that allows to continue.  They are not neutral when they come to the evidence. They will receive the evidence that supports their worldview, and find work-arounds for the evidence that doesn’t.  When the Bible speaks of slavery to sin, this includes a slavery of intellect that will only see what supports what a person loves, and will use his intellectual power to protect the sin he loves.  You can see that short video answer here

That kind of answer, which works from presupposition and worldview, is probably the best and most fundamental answer to the question.  It reaches the deepest heart issues and explains why people do.   However, there are a couple other reasons that may fill out the explanation for why so many smart people reject Christianity.  I have no doubt Dr. Kruger knows these things as well. 

First, let’s remember that we live in a world system that is hostile to God and to his truth.  That means Christians should not expect an equitable treatment in the world.  The most painful way this often happens is in the job market.  When a society holds Christianity in contempt, such as many Islamic nations, the members of that society will find it is not in their immediate best interest to extend the same treatment to Christians as to others.  That means Christians don’t get the good jobs, the best projects or the most respected positions.  It doesn’t matter if Christians are qualified or not.  An employer either doesn’t want good things for Christians or they don’t want the bad reputation that comes from being equitable to Christians.  Now apply this to the intellectual realm of academics, professorships and scientific journals.  It may surprise many people, even Christians, to know that there are extremely smart, highly credentialed, highly qualified scientists, doctors and professors who are committed Christians with a biblical worldview.  But because we live in a world system opposed to God and Biblical truth, those extremely smart Christians do not get the platform that their secular counterparts get.  But they are out there, and they are doing great work.  Christians do not have to check their brains at the door to do science or academic research.  Contrary to public opinion, it is not the smartest people who reject Christianity; many of the smartest people also fully embrace Christ.  But our anti-god world system sets forth its best people while subverting anyone in opposition. 

One last thing to point out is that those smart secular people with powerful intellects are regularly shown to hold amazingly stupid and contradictory ideas.  I am not saying they are not smart.  They truly do have amazing intellectual horsepower.  But sin makes smart people do stupid things.  The Bible calls it foolishness.  They love sin and so they embrace ideas and practices which will not work in God’s world.  1 Corinthians 1:20 says, “Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?”  This is an important verse for Christians to remember.  When smart people try to live apart from God in God’s world, it simply will not work.  They will be able to rattle off periodic charts, theoretical algorithms and boast in authoring scholarly tomes, but they will still hold blatantly contradictory ideas.  A professor will spew the idea that there is no such thing as absolute truth, while railing against anyone who would oppose his (absolute) truth claim.  The evolutionist will assert the Darwinian progression of one species to another, that humans are really just animals with bigger brains, and yet treat his daughter completely different than the mouse in his attic.  The materialist will laugh at the simpletons who go to church and who worship the invisible God, but will work hard to understand the (immaterial, invisible) logic of his latest argument.  

The reality is, when people reject God they not only are enslaved to sin but they are also enslaved to darkness.  They will not see their own contradictions.  Their smarts cannot overpower their hearts.  However, Christians are redeemed from this darkness, have new hearts and can see all things in light of God’s truth.  This doesn’t mean Christians are always right in matters of science and research, but it does mean they are right about what science and research are, and the true nature of all things as created by God and for God.  They may not always have the fastest intellectual car, but they are on the right road headed in the right direction.