The “Elite” and God: and the Church and the Elite

Half of elite scientists are “religious”, and another fifth consider themselves “spiritual”, according to a recent study.

The US survey, which is based on 1,700 scientists, suggests that Richard Dawkins’ famous claim that elite scientists are atheists is also a rather false claim.

That’s the first interesting point made in an article about the study in today’s Guardian.

And Nick Spencer goes on to make a couple more really thought-provoking observations:

• Here's something helpful for conversations with people who see “what scientists say” as the ultimate authority for everything:

  “Our conviction that scientists, elite or otherwise, are somehow better qualified to discern the nature of reality is dubious.

  “Elite scientists undoubtedly know vastly more about their subject than other people. But to imagine that that makes them somehow better qualified to adjudicate on big-picture questions is like saying because I know my home town like the back of my hand, I am well-equipped to lecture on European geography.”

• And here's something I found deeply challenging:

  “Christ often remarked on the inability of the educated elite of his time to get what he was about.

  “There is a long-standing theme within Christian thought that sees the Christian message as having a particular appeal to the underclass, not only those socially and politically alienated, but also those the intellectually and educationally excluded.”

My question is: is that true of Bible-teaching churches today in the UK? Does the way we run our churches, and the style of our teaching, have “a particular appeal to the underclass”, both in social and educational terms? Or does it tend to have more of a “particular appeal” to middle-class, university-educated “elites”?

What do you think?