Spiritual Blindness: Why Intelligent People Miss God
Some of the most intelligent people in history have been atheists or skeptics. Not because of evidence, but because of blindness.
This isn’t an insult. It’s a diagnosis. And it’s biblical.
Scripture speaks repeatedly of spiritual blindness—a condition where someone is unable to perceive spiritual truth, not because of lacking intelligence, but because of a different kind of blindness altogether. Jesus Himself said: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. (Mt 13:13)”
It’s possible to be brilliant and spiritually blind simultaneously.
The Nature of Spiritual Blindness
Spiritual blindness isn’t intellectual. A talented physicist can be spiritually blind. A gifted logician can miss the clearest spiritual truth.
Why? Because spiritual perception requires more than intellectual prowess. It requires the Spirit of God.
The apostle Paul describes another source of spiritual blindness: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel. (2Cor 4:4)”
Notice, in addition to the inherent spiritual blindness that comes from original sin at birth, the blindness can also be active, not passive. It’s inflicted by an enemy (Satan) who benefits from humans remaining separated from God. And it often preys on something specific in human nature: our prideful desire to be our own god.
Spiritual blindness isn’t a lack of evidence. It’s the inability to see despite evidence.
How Spiritual Blindness Disguises Itself
Spiritual blindness often masquerades as intellectual honesty. It says:
- “I just follow evidence and reason, not faith.”
- “I can’t believe something without proof.”
- “Science has explained away the need for God.”
But here’s what’s hidden in these statements: A decision about what kinds of evidence count.
The atheist requires empirical, repeatable, measurable proof of the existence of God. But then accepts the Big Bang (which cannot be repeated) or abiogenesis (which has never been observed) on far less evidence than they require regarding God’s existence.
The skeptic demands logical consistency from Christianity while remaining blind to the logical inconsistencies in materialism—a worldview that insists mindless matter somehow generated mind, reason, and meaning.
Is there a free will limitation?
The Great Contest reviews the doctrine of original sin, and it is concluded that all post-Fall humans are depraved (e.g. Rom 3:23, Mk 7:21-23, Jer 17:9) and unable to perceive spiritual truth. Based on this, we can reformulate our question concerning free will limitation with greater specificity, “Can post-Fall humans freely choose to follow God?”
The original work to find the answer to this question was done by two contemporary theologians in the 4th century, Pelagius (354 – 418 AD) and Augustine (354 – 430 AD). There is extensive literature concerning the interaction between man’s free will and God’s sovereignty, and we can learn essential facts about the salvation process by studying this 4th century contest. What made this a contest was the widely differing views of the two contestants. The teachings of Pelagius on the topic of free will were eventually labelled as heresy.
Augustine’s Correct Understanding on Free Will
The book shows that Augustine’s understanding concerning redemption by the grace of God, and not man’s free choice, is fully supported by Scripture, and is observed in practice. Augustine’s three central doctrines, which fully addressed the Pelagian heresy, can be unfolded as follows:
(1) In the Neutral State, Adam and Eve were in union with God, lived in obedience to God, had childlike innocence, and were free to choose good, but with the ability to sin.
(2) After the fall, people are born in Original Sin, live as slaves to sin, are spiritually blind, their relationship with God is broken, and they live in the dominion of death.
(3) Redemption is by grace, it requires a spiritual unblinding, leads to true freedom of choice, makes man a slave of righteousness (free from the bondage of sin), and ensures eternal life after physical death in this world.
What are the Ramifications of Free Will Limitation?
The contest between Pelagius and Augustine over the doctrine of free will has important ramifications for us today. It was definitively established that although we have free will in choosing inconsequential things like breakfast foods or what clothing to wear, in the Depraved State we do not have the free will to choose to accept Jesus as our savior. In the all-important area of salvation, Augustine has clearly established that there is a free will limitation. Spiritual unblinding that leads to salvation can only occur as a result of the movement of the Holy Spirit. When true Christians are sharing the Gospel with unbelievers, it is essential that we be prepared by praying that God would move on the heart of the unbeliever. It is helpful to maintain awareness that unsaved people are spiritually blind, so rejection of the Gospel will likely occur until God’s timing is right and His Spirit moves in the person’s inner being.
