Intuitive and Explicit in Religious Thought

Abstract

It has been argued within the new cognitive science of religion that people's actual religious concepts and inferences differ from their explicitly held religious concepts and beliefs; the latter are too complex to be used in fast online reasoning. Natural intuitions thus tend to overwrite theological doctrine and to drive behavior. The cognitive science of religion has focused on this intuitive aspect of religion, ignoring theological thought. Here I try to outline a theoretical model on the basis of which it should be possible to explain the interaction of the intuitive and explicit processes in religious cognition.

Chapter 11. Measurement Issues in God Image Research and Practice

“…Future Directions 229 two levels can be in conflict, and empirical researchers need to investigate this possibility. There is a gradual recognition of the need to address this neglect within the study of religion, and several workers have made efforts to account for emotional beliefs in recent models of religious belief (Hall, 2003;Hill & Hood, 1999a;Watts, in press; see also Pyysiäinen, 2004). Indeed, this volume is an attempt to redress the balance specifically within the study of how people think about God.…”

Dalmatian Silvanus: A Cognitive Approach to Reinterpretation of the Reliefs Representing Silvanus from Roman Dalmatia

“…What cognitive theory teaches us is that such complex notions are not possible in linear cognition (Bargh and Chartrand 1999;Sun 2002;Pyysiäinen 2004), and certainly cannot be transmitted in this way (Thagard 2005;Schönpflug 2008;Padilla 2008). Even in the case when we have very extensive external repositories for religious thought that help us deal with highly developed abstract concepts -like the theological books of Christianity -those professed beliefs have very little to do with our actual beliefs: notable examples include the preference for a certain type of miracle and the temporality of God (Barrett 1999).…”

Scientific Approaches to the Philosophy of Religion

“…The clash in the common beliefs creates a sceptical itch, an awkward philosophical question, and the theologian aims to provide an intellectually satisfying answer. Indeed, Ilkka Pyysiäinen has proposed this as a model for how theology is created (Pyysiäinen, 2004).…”