Why belief in God is not wishful thinking

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” – C. S. Lewis

One of the most common things you will hear today is that people believe in God because they need Him. The idea is simple. Life is hard. People feel afraid, lonely, or uncertain, so they invent God as a kind of emotional support system. According to this view, belief in God is not about truth at all. It is about comfort. God becomes a psychological crutch for people who cannot face reality on their own.

You hear this idea everywhere. It shows up in comment sections, short videos, and even classrooms. Someone might say, “Religion helps people cope, but that doesn’t mean it’s true.” At first, that sounds reasonable. But it quietly assumes something important without ever proving it.

At first glance, that idea can sound convincing. After all, many people do turn to God during hard moments. People pray when they are scared. People seek faith when someone they love is dying. People cry out to God when life feels overwhelming. But here is the important question most people never stop to ask. Does the fact that something brings comfort mean it is not true?

“If your god never disagrees with you, you might just be worshiping an idealized version of yourself.” – Timothy Keller

Hunger does not prove food is imaginary. Thirst does not mean water was invented by the human mind. The desire for love does not mean love is a fantasy. In the same way, the desire for meaning, purpose, and hope does not automatically mean God is made up. In fact, the existence of a deep human longing may point to something real that can actually fulfill it. Just as our bodies point beyond themselves to food and water, our inner longings may point beyond ourselves to something greater.

The psychological crutch argument also assumes something else. It assumes that believing in God makes life easier. But when you actually look at Christianity honestly, that assumption begins to fall apart. Jesus never promised comfort as the goal of faith. He spoke about sacrifice, humility, forgiveness, self denial, and carrying a cross.

Following Christ often complicates life rather than simplifying it. Forgiving someone who hurt you is harder than holding a grudge. Telling the truth can cost friendships. Choosing integrity can make you feel isolated. If Christianity were invented to make life easier, it is strange that it repeatedly calls people to do what is harder instead of what feels good.

The earliest Christians understood this. They were not offered power, wealth, or popularity. Many were rejected by their families, mocked by society, and persecuted by the Roman world. They did not believe because it made life comfortable. They believed because they were convinced it was true.

If Christianity were invented simply to make people feel better, it is strange that its central message includes repentance, moral responsibility, and accountability before a holy God. A made up religion designed for comfort would tell us we are already fine just as we are. Christianity does the opposite. It tells us that we are broken and in need of grace. That is not the kind of message people naturally invent to soothe themselves.

“Faith is not a leap in the dark; it is the commitment of the whole person to the light that has been given.” – John Stott

Another problem with the crutch argument is that it confuses motive with truth. Even if someone believed in God because they were hurting, that would not make God false. A person may want a doctor to exist when they are sick, but that does not mean doctors are imaginary. Wanting something to be true does not make it false, and wanting something not to be true does not make it false either. Truth is not determined by what we prefer emotionally.

You can see this in everyday life. A student may desperately want a test answer to be right, but reality does not change because of hope or fear. In the same way, God’s existence does not depend on whether belief feels comforting or uncomfortable.

There is also something rarely mentioned in these conversations. If belief in God is a psychological crutch, then disbelief can be one as well. Some people reject God not because of evidence, but because the idea of moral accountability feels uncomfortable. A world without God offers freedom from judgment, responsibility, and ultimate meaning. That can feel emotionally appealing too.

For some, disbelief is not about logic at all. It is about relief. If there is no God, then no one ultimately answers for how they live. That emotional pull deserves the same scrutiny often aimed at faith.

Christian faith does not ask people to stop thinking. It invites them to think deeply. The Bible repeatedly encourages reflection, reasoning, and understanding. Jesus told His followers to love God not only with heart and soul, but with mind. Christianity does not claim that emotions are bad, but it also does not ground belief in emotion alone. It points to history, testimony, transformation, and reasoned belief.

At the center of Christianity is not a feeling, but a claim about reality. The claim that Jesus lived. That He was crucified. That the tomb was empty. That His followers believed they saw Him alive again. These claims invite investigation. They do not depend on someone being emotionally weak or strong. They depend on whether they are true.

Many of those earliest witnesses maintained their testimony even when it cost them everything. They gained no power or safety from it. What they gained was suffering. That does not prove they were right, but it strongly challenges the idea that their belief was invented for comfort.

Belief in God can bring comfort, but comfort is not its foundation. Many things that are true are uncomfortable. Growth is uncomfortable. Honesty is uncomfortable. Love is often uncomfortable. The question is not whether belief in God helps people cope. The real question is whether God exists regardless of how we feel about Him.

If God is real, then believing in Him is not wishful thinking. It is responding to reality. And if God is not real, then no amount of comfort would make Him so. Christianity stands or falls not on psychology, but on truth.

That is why the most honest question is not “Does belief help people?” but “Is it true?” And that is a question worth taking seriously.

“Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.” – G. K. Chesterton

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Table Talk

What do you think people mean when they say belief in God is a psychological crutch?
Can something be comforting and still be true?
Why do you think Christianity often asks people to do hard things rather than easy ones?
Do you think disbelief can ever be emotionally motivated?
If Christianity is true, how might that challenge the way you live right now?

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Further Reading Suggestions:

C S Lewis, Mere Christianity
John Lennox, Can Science Explain Everything?
Timothy Keller, The Reason for God