The God Gene and Human Pride

David Limbaugh presents an excellent rebuttal to the allegation--yes, I said allegation--that believers in God have a gene that determines that belief, or at least determines whether someone will believe in something or not. The geneticist claiming the find has the audacity to compare Jesus, who is God and man in One, to Muhammad and Buddha, both of whom were fallible men.

To Mr. Limbaugh's commentary I'd like to add this: The overwhelming weight of evidence suggests that God pre-determined who would choose to follow Him from before He laid the foundations of the earth. This is what I mean when I quote a certain fictitious road-gang warden, who says, "Some men just can't be reached." They can't be reached because God did not make them reachable. Indeed, Paul Newman as Cool Hand Luke illustrates the position of the unrepentant sinner better than any man had done before or has done since:

Well, that's Your answer, then. You're a Hardcase, just like me. Fair enough.

That's not entirely accurate, of course, but as an illustration of what non-repentance sounds like, it's pretty close.

All that to say this: I'm not ready now, nor do I think I ever will be ready, to run a genetic test on anyone to see whether he will receive the Gospel or not. Frankly, someone could have this gene and still choose to believe in Islam or Buddhism or New Age. That's hardly a specific test of regeneracy--and that's even assuming that it's perfectly sensitive, which it probably will not be (meaning that it will miss some Christians). Thus, David LImbaugh is more correct even than he might know: for anyone to claim that spirituality all boils down to genetic make-up is the height of arrogance. Sooner or later a Heavenly Throat will clear--and when it does, nobody will be able to miss That.