Theological Incorrectness: Why Religious People Believe What They Shouldn't

By D. Jason Slone

"Ask spiritual humans one query, and you will get 3 answers!"
Why do non secular humans think what they shouldn't--not what others imagine they will not think, yet issues that do not accord with their very own avowed non secular ideals? This enticing publication explores this difficult function of human behavior.
D. Jason Slone phrases this phenomenon "theological incorrectness." He demonstrates that it exists as the brain is outfitted it one of these means that it truly is typical for us to imagine divergent concepts at the same time. Human minds are nice at arising with cutting edge principles that aid them make experience of the realm, he says, yet these rules don't consistently jibe with authentic spiritual ideals. From this truth we derive the $64000 lesson that what we examine from our environment--religious principles, for example--does no longer inevitably reason us to act in methods in keeping with that knowledge.
Slone offers the newest discoveries from the cognitive technological know-how of faith and indicates how they assist us to appreciate precisely why it really is that non secular humans do and imagine issues that they should not. He then applies those insights to 3 case stories. First he appears to be like at why Theravada Buddhists profess that Buddha was once only a guy yet truly worship him as a god. Then he explores why the early Puritan Calvinists, who believed in predestination, acted as an alternative as though people had unfastened will by means of, for instance, engaging in witch-hunts and looking converts. eventually, he explains why either Christians and Buddhists think in success although the doctrines of Divine windfall and karma recommend there isn't any such thing.
In looking solutions to profound questions on why humans behave the way in which they do, this interesting publication sheds new gentle at the workings of the human brain and at the advanced courting among cognition and culture.

Show description

Preview of Theological Incorrectness: Why Religious People Believe What They Shouldn't PDF

Best Theology books

Original Sin: A Cultural History

Essayist and biographer Alan Jacobs introduces us to the area of unique sin, which he describes as not just a profound thought yet an important one. As G. okay. Chesterton explains, "Only with unique sin will we right away pity the beggar and mistrust the king. "Do we arrive during this international predisposed to evil?

The Phenomenon of Man

Visionary theologian and evolutionary theorist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin utilized his complete existence, his large mind, and his nice religious religion to construction a philosophy that may reconcile faith with the medical thought of evolution. during this undying ebook, which includes the quintessence of his proposal, Teilhard argues that simply as dwelling organisms sprung from inorganic subject and advanced into ever extra complicated considering beings, people are evolving towards an "omega point"—defined by way of Teilhard as a convergence with the Divine.

Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith

Velvet Elvis is the 1st ebook from Rob Bell, the recent York instances bestselling writer of affection Wins.  chosen as certainly one of 2011’s so much influential humans via Time journal, pastor Bell deals unique and refreshingly own views on what Christianity is really all approximately in Velvet Elvis.  a colourful voice for a brand new iteration of Christians—the such a lot recognizable Christian chief between younger adults—Rob Bell conjures up readers to take a clean examine conventional questions of religion.

The Conference of the Birds (Penguin Classics)

Composed within the 12th century in north-eastern Iran, Attar's nice mystical poem is without doubt one of the most important of all works of Persian literature. A marvellous, allegorical rendering of the Islamic doctrine of Sufism - an esoteric method fascinated about the quest for fact via God - it describes the results of the convention of the birds of the realm after they meet to start the quest for his or her perfect king, the Simorgh chicken.

Additional info for Theological Incorrectness: Why Religious People Believe What They Shouldn't

Show sample text content

2d Rev. Ed. J. Weinsheimer & D. G. Marshall (Trans. ). long island: Continuum Press. bibliography a hundred thirty five Gallup, G. G. , & Maser, J. D. (2001). replicate, reflect at the Wall, Who’s the main Theistic of all of them? magazine of Cognition and tradition, 1, 203–206. Geertz, C. (1960). the faith of Java. Chicago: college of Chicago Press. Geertz, C. (1968). Islam saw: non secular improvement in Morocco and Indonesia. Chicago: college of Chicago Press. Geertz, C. (1973). the translation of Cultures: chosen Essays. long island: uncomplicated Books. Geertz, C. (1983). neighborhood wisdom: additional Essays in Interpretative Anthropology. big apple: easy Books. Geertz, C. (2000). to be had mild: Anthropological Reflections on Philosophical issues. Princeton, NJ: Princeton collage Press. Gellner, E. (1992). Postmodernism, cause, and faith. London: Routledge Press. Gelman, S. A. (1988). improvement of Induction inside usual variety and Artifact different types. Cognitive Psychology, 20, 65–95. Gelman, S. A. , & Kremer, ok. E. (1991). knowing average reason: Children’s motives of the way gadgets and Their houses Originate. baby improvement, sixty two, 396–414. Gergely, G. , & Csibra, G. (1997). Teleological Teasoning in Infancy: The Infant’s Naı¨ve concept of Rational motion. A respond to Premack and Premack. Cognition, sixty three, 227–233. Gigerenzer, G. , Swijtink, Z. , Porter, T. , Daston, L. J. , Beatty, J. , & Krueger, L. (1989). The Empire of likelihood: How likelihood replaced technological know-how and way of life. Cambridge: Cambridge collage Press. Gilovich, T. , Vallone, R. , & Tversky, A. (1985). at the scorching Hand in Basketball: at the Misperception of Random Sequences. Cognitive Psychology, 17, 295–314. Gombrich, R. F. (1971). principle and perform: culture Buddhism within the Rural Highlands of Ceylon. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Gombrich, R. F. (1988). Theravada Buddhism: A Social background from historical Benares to trendy Colombo. long island: Routledge. Gombrich, R. F. , & Obeyesekere, G. (1988). Buddhism remodeled. Princeton, NJ: Princeton college Press. Gopnik, A. , & Meltzoff, A. (1997). phrases, concepts, and Theories. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Gopnik, A. , Meltzoff, A. , & Kuhl, P. (1999). The Scientist within the Crib: What Early studying Tells Us concerning the brain. manhattan: Perennial Books. Gopnik, A. , & Wellman, H. M. (1994). the speculation thought. In L. A. Hirschfield & S. Gelman (Eds. ), Mapping the brain: area Specificity in Cognition and tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge college Press. Gould, J. A. (Ed. ). (1995). vintage Philosophic Questions. eighth Ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice corridor. 136 bibliography Griffin, D. (1992). Animal Minds. Chicago: college of Chicago Press. Gross, R. M. (1993). Buddhism after Patriarchy: A Feminist historical past, research, and Reconstruction of Buddhism. Albany: kingdom collage of recent York Press. Gross, R. M. (1996). Feminism and faith: An advent. Boston: Beacon Press. Guthrie, S. (1980). A Cognitive thought of faith. present Anthropology, 21(2), 181–203. Guthrie, S. (1993). Faces within the Clouds: a brand new thought of faith. manhattan: Oxford collage Press. Guthrie, S. (1996). faith: what's It?

Download PDF sample

Rated 4.02 of 5 – based on 18 votes