Scientist to study origins of belief

LONDON -- The Pennsylvania-based John Templeton Foundation is funding research at Oxford University to determine if belief in a deity is instinctive or learned. The three-year project titled Empirical Expansion in Cognitive Science of Religion and Theology received a $4 million grant.

Justin Barrett of Oxford University's Center for Anthropology and Mind, and Roger Trigg of Oxford's Ian Ramsey Center for Science and Religion, will lead the investigation.

Barrett said developmental psychology has determined that faith in God is a universal human impulse, found in all cultures and grasped from a young age. The research team--which comprises "believers" and "nonbelievers"--will use a variety of methods to try to determine if faith in a deity is inherent to cultures worldwide and throughout human history.

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