Are there any deeply religious believers who are also recognised as intelligent?

Question

My studies and research shows that religious people are not exactly rocket scientists, they tend to be below average intelligence, and also have a tendency to be more violent than non-believers. In some cases, the more violent the person, the more religious they are. I suspect that the vast majority of religious people are well below average intelligence.

I wonder if trying to improve the intellectual standard of our global community, would help remove the various religions from our culture, and thereby improve happiness and peace for humanity.

Answer 1

John Harvard, the primary benefactor to the college that bears his name, was a Puritan preacher. He bequeathed his library to the college in Cambridge "To advance Learning and perpetuate it to Posterity; dreading to leave an illiterate Ministry to the Churches." He didn't want an uneducated clergy or laity. Hardly the example of "below average intelligence."

C.S. Lewis, an Oxford professor, was an agnostic for most of his early life. Came to Christ as an adult, and was a rather prolific writer of apologetics. Even today, his books are considered classics.

Josh McDowell, was another professor, who set out to debunk Christianity. After doing 700 hours of research, he concluded that the evidence demanded a verdict. He became a Christian, and then penned a book with the title, "Evidence that Demands a Verdict."

Simon Greenleaf was a lawyer, and a founder of the Harvard Law School. He set out to evaluate the biblical accounts hoping to refute their claims. After exhaustive research, he determined that the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ was overwhelming, and would stand scrutiny in a court of law.

None of these men could be considered as anything less than intelligent. And yet they claimed a rock solid faith in Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Besides, God isn't looking for people with worldly intelligence, because He says, "For the message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God's power to us who are being saved. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the intelligence of the intelligent I will reject." Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? God has turned the wisdom of the world into nonsense, hasn't he? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know God, God decided through the nonsense of our preaching to save those who believe." (I Corinthians 1:18-21)

I could go on to so many other intelligent people, either from antiquity or contemporary times. There are countless believers who are very intelligent, and also love their Lord. These are just a few examples to show you how incredibly biased your assumptions are.

Answer 2

Pope John Paul II was probably the most loved man of the last century and was very religious and very intelligent.

Pope Paul VI predicted over thirty years ago that abortion, murder, rape, and all manner of deviance would explode after contraception became widely available. Not many believed him at the time, but the numbers have sadly proved him right.

Pope Gregory the Great devised the Gregorian calendar that the whole world uses based on astronomical studies at the Vatican's observatory.

Gregor Mendel was a catholic monk who is known as the father of genetics.

Cappuccino (yum) was invented by Cappuccin Friars.

Just about every single president of the United States up to Bill Clinton were very religious men.

The list goes on for over two millenia for those who want to do the research.

How many intelligent atheists have there been in that same amount of time? The numbers don't even compare.

Answer 3

There are different kinds of religious people, those who are violent may have been the victims of manipulation and their controlled minds for their own or others' self interests. Well, why some people can just accept to be controlled, not necessarily because they are not intelligent, but their condition and environment make them blind spiritually. This is true even though outwardly they appear religious or wise.

While some scientists are religious because they can see the intertwine of science and God, as the more they understand nature, the more they marvel at God's creations. Just like Einsten said, "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." Yes,through science we get more understanding of ourselves, our nature, and even give more insights towards our religions.

But, some scientiests could also do harm if they manipulate their findings for their self-interests. In conclusion, happiness in this world does not depend on humans' intelligence, but it's the self-consciousness, and I believe through religions and experiences, humans can evolve and become better and better.

I have studied several major religions, and I think they actually complement each other. What I can suggest is instead of judging and blaming people for right and wrong, we should tolerate and support each other in times of troubles.

Answer 4

There are a large number of very religious people who are also very intelligent. Albert Einstein, Emmanuel Kant, Thomas Aquinas - their faith in God was all an important part of their lives. Dr. William Phillips won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his method of cooling and trapping atoms with laser light. Then there is George Lemaitre, who was a priest and came up with the Big Bang Theory.
Yes, the extreme fundamentalists that make up the Taliban, the Ku Klux Klan, Black Muslims, and other radical fundamentalist - they are extremely violent. Religion is one of the most explosive subjects, and more wars have been fought over it. Quite often, the followers of these groups are poor, with little or no education that will flock to these groups either because of false promisses (Allah will reward them - God wants them to kill non-believers), hatred of the status quo - or disillusion.

But I know a large number of well educated men and women where faith is an everyday part of their lives. They aren't always fundamentalists, but they see science as the method of explaining the world. They don't necessarily believe that the world is only a few thousand years old and that creationism is the method that man arrived. But they also have no problem accepting Evolution.

Answer 5

No they aren't any. Deeply religious people or weak minded and ignorant. They refuse to listen to facts about science and evolution. They mindlessly follow their religious leader because they do not have the will or mental capacity to think for themselves. By being religious they can use that as a cover to do violent and illegal things. Works the same in business, the biggest crooks are the most religious. Stop wondering about improving them because they don't want to helped. They are blissfully ignorant.

Answer 6

Jimmy Carter is the only example that comes to mind. And even then, he's no rocket scientist; he's just not stupid.

For really smart people who are also religious fanatics, look for MENSA members. There are plenty of religious whackjobs there. Probably more than in the general population; the problem with being really, really smart is that it's easier to justify your ideas even when you're wrong. Some smart people end up convincing themselves of rather absurd things.

Answer 7

I'd love to see your research... as a minister and psychologist... I think I'm a pretty smart guy... I think before this issue can be intelligently address, I'd like to review your research (or at the very least see your sources) in order to evaluate the validity of your claim.

Until that time, perhaps it would be prudent to review the fact that the majority of hospitals and private universities in this country were established by churches and other religious institutions...

I don't think religion in and of itself is what's causing the decreased happiness and peace you hope to restore... rather it is religious intolerance brought on by ignorgance that is the cause.

Answer 8

Famous Christians:

*C.S. Lewis - Oxford theologian/author (a former atheist who converted to Christianity)
*Thomas Aquinas - Theologian/philosopher
*Woodrow Wilson - President/Ph.D in political science
*J.R.R. Tolkien - Theologian/author
*Martin Luther King Jr. - Civil rights activist
*Bob Dylan - Singer
*Many more

You can't generalize people by assuming that religious folks are below average intelligence. Plus, you can't remove religion from culture as it sometimes IS a culture to some people.

And just because someone is religious doesn't mean that he or she is violent. Look at Buddhist monks for example.

Answer 9

Being religious doesnt mean being stupid unless u are already (WHICH I DO THINK)
i really wonder what kind of research have u been doing
its not prejudice but arab scientists that u may have not heard of
were religious(muslims )
many of them have made great discoveries that are the base of the new sciences
as i am muslim ihave to tell u zat our religion calls 4 work and discoveries ireally dont know what urs say
so stop saying things that u dont understand and know nothing about

Answer 10

Sounds like a Marxist comment to me. There are, in fact, a great many of us who are happily religious and also intelligent. Stephen Hawking is a Christian, for example. His whole life has revolved around science and yet he still finds time and room for faith. It is not faith that is causing our decline in intelligence and peace but rather human nature in itself. We are proud, selfish and lazy creatures (even the non-believers) and there is no real excuse for it and religion, if anything, has kept some form of order throughout the years. People are ignorant because they choose to be, not because of religion, dear.