Do People Believe in God?
By Jack Redmond
Church Mobilization and Online Campus Pastor at Christ Church
Many people believe many things. This isn’t ground-breaking news, but let’s look at popular categories of belief systems. Broad groupings include: theistic (believe there is a God), polytheistic (believe in multiple gods), agnostic (believe there is a God but God is unknowable) and atheistic (believe there is no God or gods). Many other belief systems exist, including those that are “syncretistic,” where people pick and choose different beliefs and join them together to create their own personal belief system. Think of a buffet, but with a smorgasbord of ideas relating to faith.
Does every single person on Earth believe in God?
Simply stated: No. There are definitely individuals and groups of people who are atheistic, meaning they reject the belief in the existence of God. But even amongst atheists, many believe in a “higher power or spiritual force,” which technically means these self-proclaimed atheists are actually agnostics. Additionally, many atheists are highly intellectual people with strong emotions against organized religion and how it has been used throughout history to rationalize different atrocities, prejudices, etc. Others shudder at the reality of arrogant, judgmental, unthinking people engaging in religious activities without living the principles of love and servanthood towards others. In this case, I would not classify this subclass of atheists as “anti-God” but as “anti-hypocrite.”
Do all “people” or “people groups” believe in God?
The answer to that question is pretty close to a “yes.” When you look historically at people groups, ethnicities, tribes, countries, etc., you’ll find a wide range of belief systems. A universal thread, however, is a belief in God, gods, or some type of “higher power.” Whether it’s people following the Bible, Koran, Hindu Vedas, carving totem poles, Roman and Greek gods, or other rituals, sacrifices or prayers, almost all people groups throughout history practice some type of religion or worship of deity.
The point so far is not to argue a specific faith or the biblical belief of a monotheistic God as Creator and Sovereign God, rather, it’s simply to establish that religion and spiritual beliefs have been the norm over time, across multitudes of ethnic groups worldwide. To take another step to look at how this is explained in the Bible, check out this post: Why Do People Believe in God?
