Is intelligence a factor in choices involving spiritual matters?

Question

On RS, atheists and Christians do daily warfare over who is the smartest.

Christianity is losing membership worldwide.

Atheism is stable percentage-wise.

But Islam's growing like a weed.

Christianity 30 CE The Bible 2,039 million 32% (dropping)
Islam 622 CE Qur'an & Hadith 1,226 million 19% (growing)

By the standards atheists and Christians have agreed to measure the validity of their beliefs, are Moslems the smartest of the three?

Answer 1

Every category has its dumb asses and its geniuses. It all averages out.

Answer 2

I just want to ask those first few guys who answered "education" as a reason.

The Christian world is declining in membership as the asker stated, yet they are far more educated than the Muslim world. So what's their excuse?

I think that it has to do with the fact that Islamics see science as part of a "Quest for truth". A real Muslim could explain it far better than I could, but they don't rule out every part of science that does not coincide with what they preach to their followers. For example, Christians rule out theorys that do not coincide with their teachings for this one and only reason:

"the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved."~ This echoes in Psalm 93:1, Psalm 96:10, and Chronicles 16:30. Basically it's an edict to cling to ignorance.

Now, in todays world very few people will argue that the earth orbits the sun. However it's clearly stated in Psalm 104:5, "[the LORD] set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved." Ecclesiastes 1:5 states that "the sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises." When Galileo Galilei stated that the sun would rise and set, but it was because the earth moved around the sun, it offended the church, and he was forced to recant that idea or fact charges of heracy (most heratics were often killed painfully). Today however, science has proven Galileo to be the one who was correct.

Another great example can be found in the idea of creation. Islam doesn't define our origin, yet Christianity does. This is also why Christians are not open to the idea of the "Big Bang" Theory. It's also why the rule out Darwin's "Theory of Evolution". To them, "The word of god can not be moved", thus they dislike these ideas, while Islamic people just consider them more ideas in their quest to find the ultimate truth.

I think the closed mindedness of Christianity is it's downfall.

Answer 3

It really doesn't have anything to do with ability to understand. But rather a matter of faith, or lack there of. The Bible speaks of a prophecy in the only prophetic book in the NT that the last days peoples hearts will grow cold. When Israel is declared a nation that generation will not pass away before the coming of the Lord.. 1947..Hmmm? Global warming...Hmmm? Christianity under attack...Hmmm? An increase of Knowledge like never before....Hmmm? God Pouring out his spirit upon all flesh....Hmmm? I really wonder if anyone out there can take a hint. Just as in the days of Noah so shall it be in the last days. Sin is reigning. Noah preached for 120 years be ready for the rains. Nobody listened. When the rain came the door was shut by God. That is also a metaphor for the present day. We have been preaching Christ return for so long. Will anyone hear? Hurry before the door is shut. When it is shut it is shut. All the pain and sorrow. Many drowning in their own sin. Look up, Look up. Our redemption draweth nigh, even at the door. WAKE UP WORLD!!!!

Answer 4

The intelligence is no wise nor stupid. The clarified heart dividing the different. If time is not existing, wishing is the starting point, the way of going will not an issue. The good or the bad is our standing points. If we classified 50/100 is middle, 51 will be good. The 50 is our standing point. If we move to 60/100, 51 will be the bad. In our world; everything you can find the good and the bad as per the use of the thing. Poison can be medicine as you know the use.

Answer 5

You're OWN FIGURES showed atheists at 2%, but you're leaving out the 'no religion' group, which includes agnostics, freethinkers and others who would qualify as atheists according, I suspect, to your standards. Those make the figure for non-believers 14%, and I doubt that's current.

I'm not aware of a war on R&S over who's the smartest. What happens is that someone like you occasionally pops up to declare that atheists are stupid - and occasionally the reverse.

I'm unable to understand how you interpret the responses to your last question as indicating that atheists or Christians use growth figures as a measure of intelligence. Are you sure you have what it takes to work with this data?

The references you were given clearly showed that lack of religious belief is strongly correlated with high intelligence.

CD

Answer 6

Intelligence is not really a factor among these three. It is actually the level of belief and faith, plus comfort. In moslems, the people are tied to their religion very tightly because they have to do daily rituals, mainly praying 5 times a day and such, and therefor they are totally convinced about their religion, and very hard to move. Christianity nowadays is a sad thing, because most christians nowadays are actually only christians coz their parents are, and their parents are too busy doing thier own things they forget to ensure their children are saved...

Am a christian, am not saying christianity is bad, just that the believers nowadays, some, are not really believers but just passed on religion

Answer 7

Faulty choices, are the result of using a faulty finite minds. Even the most brilliant, cannot make the correct choice spiritually. They are only the white washed sepulchers for a dead spirit. Soon they will both eternally die, both physically and spiritually, thus the second death.

You must be born again to discern the spiritual, all the rest is just one person trying to convince the other that their damned way is the better, more intelligent way go. It all ends at the same destination, so choose away with your smart self!

Answer 8

While there's a negative linear correlation between education and religious belief, there are still people with brilliant minds within the religions who believe them literally. It's very very weird. But it seems that the brighter people are, the more capable they are of rationalizing beliefs without evidence. The issue of believing things despite lack of evidence is largely emotional and fear based.

To make matters even, every IQ test should have a check box that says "I believe the bible or the Koran is the word of God". Checking this box should detract at least 30 IQ points.

Answer 9

Intelligence doesnt really have anything to do with determining what there is in the afterlife or who has the correct interpretation of the bible as it is proven impossible to generate any real truth to anyone's opinions. Atheists have theory's but they cannot prove them to be true, it's still possible for there to be a god though they consider it so unlikely that it's impossible. Religious people have a bunch of stuff they cannot 'prove' either.

And what's a Moslem?

Technically though, Agnostics are the smartest of all. We accept the fact that you cannot really prove anything and deem it pointless to even try. Which it is, and is correct with logic and truth behind our beliefs.

Answer 10

I really think we need to stop arguing over who is the smartest. I've seen people with PhDs who are atheist, Christian, and Muslim. I've also seen some wonderful moral people in all 3 areas. At the same time, I've seen high school drop outs and some of the worst of society involved in all 3 areas. Intelligence really is not the factor that determines everyone's choice in spiritual or lack of spiritual beliefs.

Answer 11

Intelligence is often a factor - but usually a fruitless one.

A spiritual path speak from the heart life and uses the language of dreams. The world of facts and logic does not relate well to this at all, and is not supposed to. That is why it is a matter of faith.

Why many of the world's religions are losing members is BECAUSE of logic and reason (in a round about sort of way). In this world or reason, even the most STAUNCH believer has lost their 'faith' and instead go about the business of trying to 'prove' their religion as right/fact/the one true faith.

Doing this reduces a relgion from the world of faith and the heart life by trying to bring it into the realm of logic and the head life.

Doing this reduces a religion to facts (right or wrong) and removes faith. It them becomes dry, stale, and useless.

Mythology is NOT a set of facts to be proven true OR disproven as false.