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New Study: Science Proves Our Brains Recognize Existence of God

  • Veronica Neffinger

    Veronica Neffinger wrote her first poem at age seven and went on to study English in college, focusing on 18th century literature. When she is not listening to baseball games, enjoying the…

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  • Updated Feb 18, 2016

A new study has found that the human brain can still recognize God’s existence, even if an individual is not directly taught about God.

Charisma News reports that belief in the existence of God may be hardwired into our brains. A roundtable discussion on this topic is set to air on National Geographic.

Shaheen E. Lakhan, who holds several doctorate degrees, spoke about these new findings:

“Psychologists and anthropologists deemed that children left to their own devices would have some conception of God. Some attribute this to our innate sense of detecting patterns in the world (as to discern predators or prey in nature), while others propagate the notion of a 'supersense'—or a cognitive tendency to infer hidden forces in the world working for good or ill.”

Andrew Newberg, a researcher of “neurotheology,” reports that, in his studies, the brains of people who regularly prayed or meditated showed improved brain function.

“They had improvements of about 10 or 15 percent,” Newberg stated. “This is only after eight weeks at 12 minutes a day, so you can imagine what happens in people who are deeply religious and spiritual and are doing these practices for hours a day for years and years," he told NPR.  

Newberg has written a book about his research titled How God Changes Your Brain, Why We Believe What We Believe, and Why God Won’t Go Away.

Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com

Publication date: February 18, 2016