The God Hypothesis

25 July 2026 

2 Corinthians 4:7-15  Feast of St. James, Apostle

“We too believe, and therefore we speak.” (2 Corinthians 4:13)  

The 40s and 50s A.D. were years of increasing Jewish nationalism, which finally boiled over in 66 A.D. in the First Jewish War against Rome. It was an absurdly quixotic war that the Jews had no hope in the world of winning. The Romans would have demiloshed them with one hand and both feet tied, and one blind eye. One of the reasons this hopeless nationalism increased in the 40s was the ambitious and cleverly pious king Herod Agrippa I. A grandson of Herod the Great, he was publicly extremely pious, and is believed to have encouraged Jewish nationalism enough to get credit for it from the people, but not enough to attract the attention of Rome. It was one of the reasons he had St. James killed. The growing Christian movement was unpopular among Jewish nationalists because Christians were believed to have too-cozy relations with Gentiles. When Herod saw that the Jews approved of his execution of James, he went after Peter as well, who only narrowly escaped (cf. Acts 12:1-18).

One of the reasons why St. Paul embarked on his first missionary journey so soon after the martyrdom of James (within 2-3 years) was that it was becoming clear to him, and the other Christians of Antioch, that trouble was coming, and the Church would need fresh fields for mission.

Fresh fields for evangelization are emerging all over – throughout Africa (which is already home to almost a billion Christians), Latin America, China (almost 100 million Christians), even Iran (about a million Christians) which has an emerging and energetic house-church movement going on, under the radar of their radical Muslim government.

Something like this pattern may be occurring in our own time. In 2016 The Royal Society of London hosted a conference called New Trends in Evolutionary Biology, Philosophical and Social Science Perspectives. The consensus among scientists today is that Neo-Darwinism is based on faulty math, and doesn’t explain enough; a new theory is necessary to explain the emergence and development of life. New theories of information are bending more and more toward God as a respectable explanation for the existence and order of the universe (see Stephen Meyer, The Return of the God Hypothesis). This is not good news for many secularized non-believers, and their hostility may be one of the reasons for increased radicalism in gender ideology and immigration, flirtation with communism, and recrusdescent anti-semitism. Not surprisingly, perhaps, in response to this trouble, fresh fields for evangelization are emerging all over – throughout Africa (which is already home to almost a billion Christians), Latin America, China (almost 100 million Christians), even Iran (about a million Christians) which has an emerging and energetic house-church movement going on, under the radar of their radical Muslim government. Some of this growth is occurring because existing churches around the world have committed resources and leadership to it. Most of it, however, is happening because there are serious believers in those places who see the need, and are answering it.

Christians in Antioch did not ask the apostles permission to send Paul and Barnabas on that first missionary journey, or the second, or the third. In our time, evangelization is not waiting around for official blessing either. To the surprise and delight of some, to the horror and rage of others, evangelization is bearing unexpected fruit in the United States. According to the New York Times, Bible sales have doubled since 2019, tripled since 2016 – 19 million copies were sold in 2025 alone. Figures for 2026 show an increase of 5% over the record year of 2025 year-to-date. Gen Z and Millennials (18-40-year olds), along with first-time buyers, are leading the buying, citing “digital fatigue,” and “soul care” as motivations. It’s happening because scientists are not the only ones bending toward God. Some churches, including Catholic parishes, are starting to get out in front of this.

St. James, you believed, and so you spoke. Your blood is the seed of the Church.

We believe, and so we speak. St. James, pray for us.