Old Testament Scholars Face Reality

On a blog I follow there’s an interesting article by Jaco Gericke about the issue of cognitive dissonance and its effect on Old Testament scholars. According to Gericke, most Old Testament scholars begin their studies with scant knowledge of the views of critical scholars and atheists. What they know is based primarily on stereotypes, secondary sources, and straw men. The majority of these scholars consider themselves Christians committed to realism in their study of God. When faced with the fatal flaws in their belief system, Gericke states they experience cognitive dissonance with sometimes serious consequences (mental illness or suicide in rare cases). His article reminded me of a post of mine on this topic, Cognitive Dissonance and the Religious Mind.

Gericke’s full article:

“The Collapse of Realism, Cognitive Dissonance and the ‘Died-Again’ Christian Syndrome”

Empathy, a perspective

Empathy is basically defined as being able to see life from someone else’s perspective. On an individual level, empathy is present when one person learns to let go of ideas about what’s “positive” for another person, and allows for self-direction by the other person.

For instance, in substance abuse counseling, I think my clients have to want to make a change, to stop shooting heroin for instance, to start working toward that goal.

Reposting of “Cognitive Dissonance & the Religious Mind”

Ann made some revisions to her old post, Cognitive Dissonance & the Religious Mind, and I think it is worth reading again. The concept of cognitive dissonance does a great job of explaining how Christians can simultaneously hold onto rational and irrational beliefs.

If No God Exists, Then Why Do So Many Believe in One?

There are numerous theories as to why people believe things that are irrational or that have absolutely no evidence to support them. A brief explanation of this phenomena, that has its roots in evolutionary psychology, is found in the introduction to Michael Shermer’s book Why People Believe Weird Things. He begins by discussing the ideas of cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, and then uses this as a starting point to describe his own theory.

Cognitive Dissonance and the Religious Mind

Cognitive scientists generally agree the human mind does not naturally base its beliefs on evidence, but that people can actively work on overcoming this human tendency toward irrationality. During a process of changing long held ideas or belief systems, people usually experience what is referred to as cognitive dissonance. An uncomfortable feeling, arousal, or stress resulting from holding contradictory ideas or beliefs.