CNA Staff, Jun 19, 2025 / 14:02 pm
The man with the “highest reported IQ in the world” has gained attention worldwide after publicly proclaiming his Christianity on social media.
On June 17, South Korean scientist YoungHoon Kim, who claims he has an IQ of 276, the highest IQ ever recorded, posted on X: “As the world’s highest IQ record holder, I believe that Jesus Christ is God, the way and the truth and the life.”
His post received 14 million views and a quarter-million likes as of Thursday, June 19.
Kim, responding to the tremendous popularity of his original post, said in another X post on June 19 that he “will use this opportunity to lead many souls to God.”
“Amen. Christ is my logic,” Kim, 36, said in another response to a commenter on X.
According to Kim, his claim to being the world’s highest IQ record holder has been verified by organizations such as World Memory Championships, World Memory Sports Council (both of which Kim is affiliated with), the Giga Society, Mensa, and Official World Record (not affiliated with the Guinness Book of World records, which stopped recognizing the “Highest IQ” category in 1990, citing the unreliability of IQ tests for designating a single record holder).
However, some have questioned Kim’s credentials and claims, saying there are no accepted IQ evaluation protocols that allow for an IQ of 276 and that Kim is associated with several of the organizations that purportedly identified him as the “world’s smartest man,” even writing some of the IQ tests himself.
Kim stated in February on X: “God exists. 100%,” and recently suggested: “Our consciousness is not just brain activity. It may be quantum information — something that continues after death.”
The Catholic Church teaches that God’s existence can be known through reason alone, as stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 36): “God, the first principle and last end of all things, can be known with certainty from the created world by the natural light of human reason.”
This doctrine, rooted in Vatican Council I’s Dei Filius, emphasizes that human reason, by observing creation’s order, can ascertain God’s existence, affirming that “God … can be known with certitude by the natural light of human reason from created things.”
Kim is founder and CEO of NeuroStory, an organization dedicated to finding “AI-powered brain health solutions” and backed by the South Korean government.
He also founded the United Sigma Intelligence Association and is on the board of Lifeboat Foundation, which promotes scientific advancements while mitigating human risks from technologies like AI.
The story was updated on June 24, 2025, with added information regarding Kim’s claims as “world’s smartest man.”
