Barrett - Born believers : the science of children’s religious belief

Praise for Born Believers

A must-read for anyone interested in knowing where and how spirituality develops in our life and our brain. A great combination of stories and information that will provide everyone with a new way of thinking about our beliefs.

ANDREW NEWBERG, M.D ., author of Why God Wont Go Away

Born Believers will challenge the antireligion camp with Barretts careful science. His analysis shows that infants have a natural inclination to believe in a supreme being, and that their subsequent beliefs cannot be explained as the sole result of indoctrination or brainwashing by heavy-handed adults. This book raises profound questions about the origins of theism and the place of religious belief in human affairs.

LARRY DOSSEY, M.D ., author of Healing Words and The Power of Premonitions

Dr. Barrett provides a provocative, compelling, tenderhearted analysis of what young children believe, why they believe it, and what the implications are for us as adults and parents. A timely response to the New Atheists who argue that religious belief is unnatural or that religious values are inappropriate to pass on to the next generation.

IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF , Chairman, Cordoba Initiative, and author of Moving the Mountain

For those of us adults who have wondered from where our certainty derives that there is a Divine Force embedded within the world and in our lives, Justin Barrett in Born Believers provides the well-documented answer. My research into the physical and biological wonders of lifes cosmic development cemented this belief for me, but the origins, the initial stirrings, had always eluded me. Barretts well-written book solved that quandary.

GERALD SCHROEDER, PH.D ., author of The Science of God and God According to God

A fascinating and readable account of why religious beliefs are perfectly normal and virtually universal. In an age of atheism, this book will challenge widespread assumptions that nonbelief is the default and that children must be indoctrinated to believe. Jam-packed with insight and wit, Born Believers should be required reading for all parents and for anyone else interested in the spiritual lives of children.

ROBERT A. EMMONS , professor of psychology, University of California, Davis, and past president, American Psychological Associations Division of the Psychology of Religion

I nfants have a lot to make sense of in the world: Why does the sun shine and night fall; why do some objects move in response to words, while others wont budge; who is it that looks over them and cares for them? How the developing brain grapples with these and other questions leads children, across cultures, to naturally develop a belief in a divine power of remarkably consistent traitsa god that is a powerful creator, knowing, immortal, and goodexplains noted developmental psychologist and anthropologist Justin L. Barrett in this enlightening and provocative book. In short, we are all born believers.

Belief begins in the brain. Under the sway of powerful internal and external influences, children understand their environments by imagining at least one creative and intelligent agent, a grand creator and controller that brings order and purpose to the world. Further, these beliefs in unseen super beings help organize childrens intuitions about morality and surprising life events, making life meaningful. Summarizing scientific experiments conducted with children across the globe, Professor Barrett illustrates the ways human beings have come to develop complex belief systems about Gods omniscience, the afterlife, and the immortality of deities. He shows how the science of childhood religiosity reveals, across humanity, a natural religion, the organization of those beliefs that humans gravitate to organically, and how it underlies all of the worlds major religions, uniting them under one common source.

For believers and nonbelievers alike, Barrett offers a compelling argument for the human instinct for religion, as he guides all parents in how to effectively encourage children in developing a healthy constellation of beliefs about the world around them.

JUSTIN L. BARRETT, PH.D., is the author of Why Would Anyone Believe in God? A research associate at Oxfords Centre for Anthropology and Mind, Dr. Barrett lives in Pasadena, California, with his family and directs the Thrive Center for Human Development at Fuller Seminary.

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COPYRIGHT 2012 SIMON & SCHUSTER

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Copyright 2012 by Justin Barrett, Ph.D.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Free Press Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

First Free Press hardcover edition March 2012

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Barrett, Justin L.

Born believers: the science of childrens religious belief / Justin L. Barrett

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. FaithPsychology. 2. God. 3. Child psychology. 4. Children

Religious life. 5. Psychology, Religious. I. Title.

BF723.G63B37 2012

200.1'9dc23 2011039581

ISBN 978-1-4391-9654-0

ISBN 978-1-4391-9657-1 (ebook)

To Skylar and Sierra

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

T HIS BOOK HAS BEEN several years in the making with the assistance of many friends and colleagues to whom I am sincerely grateful. I thank Rita Astuti, Lisa Barrett, Pam Barrett, Jesse Bering, Pascal Boyer, Kelly Clark, Emma Cohen, Miguel Farias, Paul Harris, Laura Hewitt, Carl Johnson, Deb Kelemen, Bob McCauley, Michael Murray, Josef Perner, Jeff Schloss, Richard Sosis, Henry Wellman, and Harvey Whitehouse for feedback, suggestions, discussions, and anecdotes that have proven valuable. I am indebted, too, to my collaborators on various experiments described here, particularly Emma Burdett, Amanda Driesenga, Frank Keil, Nicola Knight, Amanda Johnson, Roxanne Newman, and Rebekah Richert. My agent, Esmond Harmsworth, provided sage advice at many turns and helped considerably in improving the manuscript. Sherry Barrett, Emma Burdett, and Tenelle Porter soldiered through earlier, rougher versions of the book and helped me avoid terrible pitfalls. (If I have managed to step in some, the blame is mine and not theirs.) Donna Loffredo and the Free Press/Simon & Schuster staff were very supportive and constructive. Finally, I thank Jean-Luc Jucker for his invaluable assistance in manuscript preparation. I fear I have overlooked other critical players here and beg their forgiveness, assuring them that I am grateful for their contributions as well. The John Templeton Foundation supported this research. Thank you for taking the time to read.