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Unlock This CourseThe lessons 'Reasons to Believe: First Cause, Design and Experience' and 'Agnosticism and Atheism: Reasons for Doubt and Unbelief' gave the general reasons for and against belief in God. This lesson is about what Christians say in reply.
Many Christians first believe because of the way they were brought up. The Bible tells parents to do this: 'Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it' (Proverbs 22:6). The Catholic Church calls parents the first teachers of their children in the faith.
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Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Methodist parents usually have their babies baptised. Parents and godparents promise to bring the child up in the faith. Baptist and Pentecostal churches hold a dedication instead, because they believe baptism should wait until a person can choose it.
Parents pray with their children, say grace (a short prayer of thanks) before meals and read Bible stories at bedtime. Talking to God becomes a normal part of the day.
The family goes to church on Sundays. Children join Sunday school and later a youth group, where they learn about Jesus with friends of their own age.
Christmas (the birth of Jesus) and Easter (his death and resurrection) come round every year. Nativity plays, carols and Easter services teach the story of Jesus.
In Catholic and Anglican churches the young person is later confirmed, often as a teenager. In churches that only baptise believers, they may ask to be baptised. Either way, the faith they were given becomes a faith they choose. The services themselves are studied in the lesson 'Baptism and Confirmation'.
Formation does not stop there. Adult Christians keep growing through worship, Bible study, prayer and serving others.
Remember, these arguments say the world needs a first cause and a designer. Christians say the Bible agrees: 'The heavens declare the glory of God' (Psalm 19:1). Paul wrote that God's power can be 'clearly seen' from what has been made (Romans 1:20). The Catholic Church teaches that human reason can know God exists by looking at the world. Some Protestants are more cautious. They say arguments can point towards God but only faith and revelation (God showing himself to people) bring a person to trust him.
The Bible says Saul hunted down the first Christians. On the road to Damascus a light from heaven flashed around him and he heard Jesus say, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?' (Acts 9:4). He was blind for three days, was baptised and became a Christian. He is better known as Paul, the great missionary. Not every experience is so dramatic. John Wesley, who founded the Methodist movement, wrote that in 1738 he felt his heart 'strangely warmed'. Many Christians say they meet God quietly, in prayer and worship.
Christians appeal to the Bible because 'All Scripture is God-breathed' (2 Timothy 3:16). Protestants treat the Bible as the highest authority. Catholics also trust the teaching of the Pope and bishops, and Orthodox Christians trust the Tradition handed down in the Church.
Christians believe people search for meaning because God made them to know him. Augustine prayed, 'our heart is restless until it rests in you.'
Many Christians say doubt is a normal part of faith. In Mark's Gospel a father says to Jesus, 'I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!' (Mark 9:24). The Bible tells Christians to give their reasons 'with gentleness and respect' (1 Peter 3:15).
Most Christians say science and faith answer different questions. Science explains how the universe works. Faith asks why it is here at all. Francis Collins, who led the Human Genome Project, is a Christian. Christians see medicine as a use of God-given minds. A minority of literalist Christians reject scientific ideas that seem to clash with the Bible, as the lesson 'Creation, Stewardship and Imago Dei' explained.
Christians reply that God wants trust, not forced belief. 'Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see' (Hebrews 11:1). John's Gospel says the disciple Thomas would not believe Jesus had risen until he saw him. Jesus said, 'blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed' (John 20:29). When prayer seems to go unanswered, Christians remember Jesus praying, 'not my will, but yours be done' (Luke 22:42).
Christians accept that suffering makes belief hard. They point to Jesus on the cross and say God shares human pain. Their full answers are in the lesson 'Evil, Suffering and Theodicy in Christianity'.
Christians differ here. Some stress Jesus' words, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me' (John 14:6), and say Christianity alone is fully true. The Catholic Church teaches that Jesus is the way to God, yet it 'rejects nothing that is true and holy' in other religions. Some liberal Christians see other faiths as real paths to God. None of them think disagreement between religions shows there is no God.
Christians believe it is never too late to find faith. This is why they practise evangelism. Many churches run the Alpha course, where anyone can explore Christianity and ask questions. The writer C. S. Lewis gave up the faith he was raised in, was an atheist as a young man and became a Christian again as an adult.
Do not write that all Christians believe only because of their parents: confirmation exists so that people choose for themselves, and many adults convert. Do not say Christians think the arguments prove God beyond doubt. Most see them as support for faith, not a replacement for it. Nurture is a child's upbringing; formation carries on for life.
Paper 1 style. (a) and (b) test AO1; (c) and (d) test AO1 and AO2.
(a) Identify three ways in which a child may be brought up in a religious faith. [3 marks]
(b) Choose one religion. Outline two ways in which this religion responds to reasons for not believing in God. [4 marks]
(c) Choose one religion. Explain why nurture is important in this religion. [6 marks]
(d) 'People only believe in God because of the way they were brought up.' Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks]
(a) 1. Praying together at home (1). 2. Being taken to a place of worship (1). 3. Celebrating religious festivals (1).
(b) Christianity. Christians say a lack of proof is not a reason to give up belief (1), because Hebrews teaches that faith is being sure of what we do not see (1). Christians say science does not replace God (1), because science explains how the universe works while faith explains why it exists (1).
(c) Christianity. Nurture is important because the Bible tells parents to do it. Proverbs says to start children off on the way they should go, so Christian parents see it as a duty to God.
It is also important because parents promise at an infant baptism or a dedication to bring the child up in the faith. Praying at home and reading Bible stories is how they keep that promise.
Nurture helps a child come to know God for themselves. Sunday school, youth groups and festivals such as Easter teach the story of Jesus, which means the young person understands the faith before choosing it at confirmation.
(d) Plan. For: most believers follow the religion of their family; Christian nurture (baptism, prayer at home, Sunday school) shapes a child before they can question it; atheists may say belief is simply a habit passed down by families.
Against: the word 'only' is too strong. Paul's beliefs were changed by a sudden experience on the road to Damascus, not by his upbringing, and C. S. Lewis came to faith from atheism; Christians also give reasons, such as the first cause and design arguments (Romans 1:20); confirmation asks people to choose for themselves; some people brought up as Christians stop believing, so upbringing does not fix belief.
Possible conclusion: pick a side. For example: I disagree. Upbringing is a strong influence, but conversion and people leaving the faith both show it is not the only one.
In part (d), attack the word 'only'. One clear example of someone whose belief changed as an adult, such as C. S. Lewis moving from atheism to Christianity, is enough to show the statement goes too far.