Actions speak louder than words
A study published in 2016 in Religion, Brain & Behavior, authored by Jonathan Lanman and Michael D. Buhrmester, Queen’s University in Belfast, found that high certainty in belief in God is a matter of role models.
The more that people were exposed to “credibility-enhancing displays,” or CREDs (actions), the higher their religiosity, the more likely they were a theist, and the more certain they were of God’s existence.
Examples of CREDs are; “To what extent did your caregiver(s) act fairly to others because their religion taught them so?” and “To what extent did your caregiver(s) live a religiously pure life?” In other words, actions resulting from their faith.
Over 300 people took a CRED assessment (actions) and also answered questions on 'religious emphases' (words) they had been exposed to e.g. how much their caregivers told them about sin and what the moral do’s and don’ts of religion are, and then finally questions on their current religious status.
People who reported being exposed to lots of CREDs were the most likely to believe in God with a high degree of certainty, and those exposed to few were the most certain about the opposite.
Researchers said, "When we put compared 'religious emphasis' (words - talking the talk) with CREDs (actions - walking the walk), the CREDs measure held all of the predictive power”
Biblical truth confirmed by science:
"What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well” —but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?" James 2v14-20 NLT
To quote John Wesley, “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.”
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Geoff Knott, 20/06/2017