You only believe in God because you were raised in a Christian culture.
The Devotional Answer
The devotional answer is that the initial introduction to the Gospel often comes through cultural or family influence—God uses the people and places around us. However, the continuation and certainty of faith must be rooted in something deeper than just tradition: a personal, life-altering encounter with the living God.
If your faith is merely cultural, it is like a dry riverbed; it can be swept away by the first storm of doubt. True Christian faith is marked by a spiritual rebirth (Question 79), an indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Question 66), and a radical change in direction (Question 80). These internal transformations are the evidence that faith is not a matter of birthplace, but a matter of the heart being changed by God.
The Simple Answer
While it is true that culture, family, and geography often determine which religion we are first exposed to, these factors do not determine why we continue to believe.
The Christian faith is sustained by two factors that transcend cultural bias:
Objective Evidence: The historical reliability of the New Testament, the empty tomb, and the logical necessity of a Creator (Question 65).
Subjective Experience (The Internal Witness): The personal transformation and spiritual conviction brought by the Holy Spirit.
A Christian continues to believe because they have found the claims of Christ to be true and effective in their own lives, regardless of where they were born.
The Deeper Dive
The challenge of cultural conditioning is a valid philosophical point, but it confuses the origin of the belief with its validation.
1. The Test of Transformation
The strongest argument against faith being merely cultural is the reality of genuine conversion. If faith were just a tradition, it would produce comfortable conformity. Instead, the true Gospel often demands a radical break from cultural norms, family expectations, and personal desires.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" — 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
When a person born and raised in a Christian culture experiences a moral, emotional, and spiritual revolution—including overcoming addictions or finding meaning in suffering (Question 63)—this evidence of spiritual rebirth points to a divine power, not a social construct.
2. The Global Nature of Conversion
The same transformation is seen in individuals who convert to Christianity despite their hostile, non-Christian cultures. A person leaving a staunchly atheist family in China or an aggressively secular family in Europe demonstrates that conversion is often a counter-cultural choice, driven by a conviction of the Gospel's truth. This universality of conversion proves the message of Christ is not confined to one cultural stream.
3. The Logical Necessity
Furthermore, Christianity offers the most compelling and consistent answer to the world's biggest questions (Question 65):
Origin: Where did we come from? (A loving, powerful Creator.)
Meaning: Why are we here? (To know and glorify God.)
Morality: What is right and wrong? (A fixed moral law from God, Question 64.)
Destiny: Where are we going? (Redemption through Christ.)
These answers are rationally coherent, which is why many brilliant scientists and philosophers have become Christians later in life, proving belief is not reserved for the culturally conditioned.
God's Assurance
God assures you that your faith is not based on clever human argument or historical accident, but on the power of the Spirit and the truth of the Risen Christ.
"My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power." — 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 (NIV)
You are assured that the God who seeks you is the one who initiates the encounter, making your belief a response to His truth, not a result of your environment.
Your Takeaway Thought
Do not dismiss the cultural critique, but let it challenge you: Is my faith genuine conviction or comfortable tradition? Test your faith not by its origins, but by its fruit. If your belief is producing love, obedience, and hope (Question 79) in the face of life’s difficulties, it is evidence of a genuine, divine encounter that transcends mere cultural conditioning.
