I was thinking today about the I.Q. test. I've never formally taken the test, although I have taken several online versions that all came up with roughly the same results. My husband took the test as a child, and then again as an adult. His intelligence quotient is much higher than mine. I can attest to his intellectual superiority because as I have lived with him over the past 21+ years, I have seen that his capacity to learn is definitely greater than mine. He has the ability to remember details, and put them all together in a way that I haven't yet mastered. He has a greater capacity for thinking deeply about things, and a greater capacity for understanding what he has learned.
In past years, I learned that scientists have begun to consider a new type of intelligence. They have forumlated the idea of and emotional intelligence. This type of intelligence rings true in my brain, and I feel that my emotional I.Q. is much higher than my husband's. He is a kind and patient person, but he has a lower capacity for understanding relationships or emotions. What may be judged as insensitivity by others, is just a lack of E.Q. on his part.
I do believe that both I.Q. and E.Q. can be strengthened. I have seen that as I have taken classes, my ability to learn has improved, and my capacity for thinking has improved. I don't know that I could increase it by leaps and bounds, but I do think my intelligence has been heightened through learning.
Today I was thinking about how science views religion. It is becoming increasingly unpolitically correct to be religious. Science looks at the hard facts. Science wants proof. Science only can accept what can be reasonably proven. In addition, it is becoming more and more difficult for religious people to keep their faith under the scrutiny of their college professors. The Bible isn't hard core proof of God's existence, or even of the creation of the world. There are some other records that substantiate that a person named Jesus existed, but there is no scientific proof that He was the son of God.
As I thought about these issues, it occurred to me that there could be what is considered a third kind of intelligence. I propose that there is such a thing as Spiritual Intelligence. For those who have had spiritual experiences, there is no doubt that there is a God, or that the Bible is true. In the same way that Emotional intelligence can't quite be quantified by science, Spiritual intelligence can't either. But for those who have had specific answers to prayers, and unmistakable spiritual experiences, Spiritual intelligence is a very real occurrence. Just because science hasn't been able to prove the existence of a God, or of spiritual experiences, doesn't mean they don't exist. It only means that science is limited in it's ability. Even scientists will admit that some things can't be absolutely proven, so we move forward according to hypotheses.
The problem with increasing spiritual intelligence is that it requires faith. Those who "slack off" in their pursuit of spirituality, will lose the ground they have gained in the same way that someone who stops working out loses muscle tone. Those who are spiritually weak find it hard to even begin a spiritual journey. Many can't adjust their mind to accept that some things can be true, even if they can't be proven by science.
The problem with relying solely upon science to believe in a thing is that science is limited. As God has said, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:9 How does an omnipotent, omniscient being explain to lowly mortals how the world was created? He explains it in simple terms, and waits for the day when the mortals are in a position in the hereafters to give the specifics in a way they can understand. In addition, all of us "Star Trek" fans understand the meaning of the "prime directive". God can't give us too many details about some things, or it would cheat us of the opportunity to develop and learn them for ourselves.
While science has it's place, and should be studied by us all to help us to understand this world of ours, we cannot discount things that can't as yet be proven. We also can't assume that science has all of the answers. Science cannot be our religion, for spirituality and science are different kinds of intelligence. Those who can be spiritual in their pursuit of knowledge allow God the opportunity to inspire and direct them in to all truth.
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"Today I was thinking about how science views religion. It is becoming increasingly unpolitically correct to be religious. Science looks at the hard facts. Science wants proof. Science only can accept what can be reasonably proven."
Actually, I don't think that there has been any change in the attitude of science towards religion in more than 200 years. Or I should say in the attitude of those intellectuals who have proclaimed themselves to be the spokesmen for science. It was 1793 in France when a lady was dressed up as the Goddess of Reason, paraded into the Cathedral of Notre Dame by dignitaries, clergy and others, and worshiped to make fun of Christ.
Every generation of students is taught that we are compelled to give up religion due to scientific discoveries of the last decade - and this has been going on for more than 200 years.
In my eyes, the more archaeology discovers, it just confirms the bible. But I do believe in the EQ and SQ. Some people are very sensitive to both of those.
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