Young children judge that violations of ordinary, causal constraints are impossible. Yet children’s religious beliefs typically include the assumption that such violations can occur via divine agency in the form of miracles. We conducted two studies to examine this potential conflict. In Study 1, we invited 5- and 6-year-old Colombian children attending either a secular or a religious school to judge what is and is not possible. Children made their judgments either following a minimal prompt or following a reminder of God’s extraordinary powers. Irrespective of their education, and whether or not they had been reminded of God’s extraordinary powers, children systematically judged violations of ordinary, causal constraints to be impossible. In Study 2, we asked if more extensive reminders of God’s special powers would prompt religious children to say that the impossible can happen. Five- and 6-year-old Colombian children attending either a secular or a religious school were presented with narratives in which the protagonist desired an ordinarily impossible outcome. In half the stories, the protagonist prayed to God for the desired outcome. Irrespective of education and of whether the protagonist prayed, children systematically concluded that the desired outcome would not occur and justified that conclusion by reference to ordinary causal constraints. Nevertheless, in a minority of their replies children did assert that violations of ordinary causality are possible. Overall, irrespective of their religious education, young children judge that events rarely deviate from their natural course; only occasionally do they acknowledge exceptions.

幼儿判断违反普通的因果约束是不可能的。然而，儿童的宗教信仰通常包括这样的假设，即这种侵犯可以通过神迹以奇迹的形式发生。我们进行了两项研究来研究这种潜在的冲突。在研究1中，我们邀请了5岁和6岁的哥伦比亚儿童在世俗学校或宗教学校就读，以判断什么是可能的，什么是不可能的。孩子们只是在最小限度的提示下或在提醒了上帝非凡的能力后才做出了自己的判断。无论他们的教育程度如何，以及是否使他们想起了上帝的非凡力量，孩子们都系统地判断违反普通的因果约束是不可能的。在研究2中，我们问是否更广泛地提醒上帝特殊的能力会促使宗教儿童说不可能发生。在世俗或宗教学校就读的五岁和六岁哥伦比亚儿童被带给叙述者以主人公希望得到通常是不可能的结果的故事。在一半的故事中，主角向上帝祈祷了所期望的结果。无论受过何种教育，也不管主人公是否祈祷，孩子们都系统地得出结论，期望的结果将不会发生，并通过提及普通因果约束来证明这一结论是正确的。然而，在他们的一小部分答复中，孩子们确实断言可能违反常规因果关系。总体而言，无论他们接受何种宗教教育，年幼的孩子都认为事件很少偏离他们的自然路线；