What Is The Apologetic For Cognitive Dissonance?

[bluegreenearth]

From Wikipedia -

In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance occurs when a person holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values, or participates in an action that goes against one of these three, and experiences psychological stress because of that. According to this theory, when two actions or ideas are not psychologically consistent with each other, people do all in their power to change them until they become consistent. The discomfort is triggered by the person's belief clashing with new information perceived, wherein they try to find a way to resolve the contradiction to reduce their discomfort.

In A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance (1957), Leon Festinger proposed that human beings strive for internal psychological consistency to function mentally in the real world. A person who experiences internal inconsistency tends to become psychologically uncomfortable and is motivated to reduce the cognitive dissonance. They tend to make changes to justify the stressful behavior, either by adding new parts to the cognition causing the psychological dissonance or by avoiding circumstances and contradictory information likely to increase the magnitude of the cognitive dissonance.

Coping with the nuances of contradictory ideas or experiences is mentally stressful. It requires energy and effort to sit with those seemingly opposite things that all seem true. Festinger argued that some people would inevitably resolve dissonance by blindly believing whatever they wanted to believe.

According to Christian theology, God desires for people to make the freewill decision to believe he exists and be in a loving relationship with him. Once people freely choose to accept Christ as their one true Lord and savior, the Holy Spirit is claimed to descend upon them to reveal the truth of Christianity in such a way that it is undeniable. Consequently, we would expect cognitive dissonance to never occur in Christians if their sincere belief is true. Nevertheless, one of the primary functions of apologetics is help Christians suppress the cognitive dissonance they routinely experience.

Once the truth of Christianity is divinely revealed to people by the Holy Spirit, it should be impossible for these Christians to hold two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values. After all, their freewill choice to trust the word of God and acknowledge Jesus's sacrifice for their sins will have satisfied God's criteria for granting them the gift of salvation. As such, we expect there should be no theological purpose for God not to insulate his true Christian followers from experiencing cognitive dissonance now that he has assured their place in his kingdom.

At the very least, if Christianity is true, any secular beliefs that would seem to contradict Biblical beliefs should not be more compelling to a true Christian. However, the fact that Christians routinely experience cognitive dissonance demonstrates that the secular beliefs are often more persuasive than the Biblical beliefs they seem to contradict. Otherwise, we would expect an inability for those secular beliefs to routinely elicit experiences of cognitive dissonance in true Christians.

So, what are the apologetic arguments for why apologetics is needed to help true Christians suppress the cognitive dissonance they routinely experience given the aforementioned considerations? Why does apologetics not become obsolete after people become true Christians, but instead, it remains an essential tool for suppressing the cognitive dissonance they routinely experience?

[Overcomer]

bluegreenearth wrote:

one of the primary functions of apologetics is help Christians suppress the cognitive dissonance they routinely experience.

That's not why I study apologetics. I study to help other people understand what the Bible says, who Jesus is, what he did for humanity, why it's important to know him, how he gives life, etc., etc., etc. It has nothing to do with cognitive dissonance at all. It has everything to do with sharing the good news of Christ so everybody can be blessed by it. When people ask a question about this verse or that belief, I need to be able to help them with intelligent, thoughtful, valid answers to the best of my ability. That's why I engage in apologetics. It's putting the following instruction in practice:

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have (1 Peter 3:15).

And you imply that Christians are told NOT to question anything. That has never been my experience in any church that I have been in. I have always been encouraged to ask questions if I don't understand something and I encourage others to do the same. Getting closer to God involves studying and searching and growing in our understanding of him and his will. That doesn't happen automatically upon conversion. It's a process and it involves questioning things which, again, the Bible encourages us to do in this verse:

But test everything; hold fast what is good (1 Thess. 5:21).

bluegreenearth wrote:

Once the truth of Christianity is divinely revealed to people by the Holy Spirit, it should be impossible for these Christians to hold two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values.

Again, you are making a supposition that doesn't hold true and here's why:

When the Holy Spirit brings the dead spirit of a person to life and fills that person, that person becomes a baby Christian. Just as a baby that is newborn physically has to grow and learn and be educated, so, too, does the baby who is born spiritually. The Holy Spirit doesn't immediately give the new Christian ALL the knowledge of God about EVERY aspect of life. Christians have to grow in maturity. Paul makes note of Christians who are still drinking milk when, after all that time as believers, they should be meat-eaters. But they haven't applied themselves or learned anything so they're still baby Christians with much to learn. See 1 Cor. 3:2).

Secondly, just because we are born again, that doesn't wipe the slate of our minds and hearts clean of everything that came before. There are erroneous beliefs that have to be questioned and altered or replaced. Paul refers to that part of us as "the old man" who still clings to some of the world's beliefs and ways. See here:

https://bible.org/article/%E2%80%9Cold- ... 80%9D-paul

Bottom line: When it comes to cognitive dissonance, apologetics has nothing to do with suppressing it as you suggest. The Christian has to take a good look at all his or her beliefs, before and after conversion, and determine the validity and invalidity of them under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and grow in maturity. It's a lifelong process.

[bluegreenearth]

[Replying to post 2 by Overcomer]

Your personal motivations for practicing apologetics does not apply to every apologist or refute its regular application as a treatment for the cognitive dissonance routinely experienced by Christians. Furthermore, when "baby Christians" become "mature Christians," they continue to routinely experience cognitive dissonance. Whether Christians are told not to question or are encouraged to ask questions is irrelevant to this point. So, your response does not offer a logical explanation for why cognitive dissonance would remain a life-long problem for Christians if their theology about salvation is undeniably true. Indeed, apologetics can only "suppress" cognitive dissonance because the only way to truly "resolve" it would be to falsify the contradictory secular belief. If you are unable to logically refute my objections, then they must remain as a valid consideration to not be dismissed by mere subjective speculation.

[Charles]

According to Christian theology, God desires for people to make the freewill decision to believe he exists and be in a loving relationship with him. Once people freely choose to accept Christ as their one true Lord and savior, the Holy Spirit is claimed to descend upon them to reveal the truth of Christianity in such a way that it is undeniable. Consequently, we would expect cognitive dissonance to never occur in Christians if their sincere belief is true.

Well your premises are wrong, eh?

According to Christian theology, God desires for people to make the freewill decision - is not a universally accepted theological doctrine. Some believe that the time of our free will is over due to our having chosen to be sinful and will not be restored until we are brought back to our first free will decision to be HIS elect.

the Holy Spirit is claimed to descend upon them to reveal the truth of Christianity in such a way that it is undeniable. - after everyone had made their true free will decision for or against HIM, we all saw the proof of HIS deity plainy when HE showed us HIS divinity and power by creating the physical universe right before our eyes as per Job 38:7...while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? and Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 FOR EVEN THOUGH THEY KNEW GOD, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.. Many Christians believe that these verses mean we all know the truth so no one has any excuse for continuing in sin.

So because we know that sin distorts our reasoning and clouds our minds and memories and that our battle is in the Spirit, we have no trouble advocating for our own pov and leaving others to the Holy Spirit for guidance.

[bluegreenearth]

Well your premises are wrong, eh?

According to Christian theology, God desires for people to make the freewill decision - is not a universally accepted theological doctrine. Some believe that the time of our free will is over due to our having chosen to be sinful and will not be restored until we are brought back to our first free will decision to be HIS elect.

the Holy Spirit is claimed to descend upon them to reveal the truth of Christianity in such a way that it is undeniable. - after everyone had made their true free will decision for or against HIM, we all saw the proof of HIS deity plainy when HE showed us HIS divinity and power by creating the physical universe right before our eyes as per Job 38:7...while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? and Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 FOR EVEN THOUGH THEY KNEW GOD, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.. Many Christians believe that these verses mean we all know the truth so no one has any excuse for continuing in sin.

So becasue we know that sin distorts our reasoning and clouds our minds and memories and that our battle is in the Spirit, we have no trouble advocating for our own pov and leaving others to the Holy Spirit for guidance.

Where in your response is there an explanation for why the true Christian elect continue to routinely experience cognitive dissonance? I see no logical refutation to my objections in your post. If you cannot falsify my objections, then they must remain as considerations to not be dismissed by subjective interpretations.

[Zzyzx]

.

So because we know that sin distorts our reasoning and clouds our minds and memories and that our battle is in the Spirit . . .

No we don't know that. It is just a matter of opinion and religious dogma.

[Difflugia]

Once the truth of Christianity is divinely revealed to people by the Holy Spirit, it should be impossible for these Christians to hold two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values. After all, their freewill choice to trust the word of God and acknowledge Jesus's sacrifice for their sins will have satisfied God's criteria for granting them the gift of salvation. As such, we expect there should be no theological purpose for God not to insulate his true Christian followers from experiencing cognitive dissonance now that he has assured their place in his kingdom.

If we accept this line of reasoning (i.e. that cognitive dissonance from apparently anti-Christian knowledge is bad), then cognitive dissonance, at least as it applies to Christianity, must have appeared because of the Fall. Adam and Eve must not have suffered from cognitive dissonance in principle. Unfortunately, they lived in the very presence of God, so it's hard to find things in their experience that could even seem dissonant.

Anyway, it seems to me that cognitive dissonance would just be a part of the sinful nature that entered humanity as part of Adam's curse. That's typically the argument for other desires that seem innate like homosexuality, the reluctance to kill a sexually active daughter, or a taste for ham and cheese sandwiches. Cognitive dissonance would be the same kind of thing, it exists as part of our sinful nature and giving in to it is the sinful act. If one is a regenerate Christian and sees information that contradicts a religious truth, the obedient action is to allow the Christ within to control one's cognition and resist the urge to question the religious dogma that one knows to be true.

God doesn't test us with anything that we can't handle and "cognitive dissonance" is no different. Any "facts" that God allows to be in front of you, no matter how compelling, can be resisted by relinquishing your own control and putting Christ at the helm. Love for your daughter, the way that same-gendered person looks in those leather pants after two or five beers, and cognitive dissonance are all just manifestations of the same curse of Adam. None of them are God's fault and indeed God has offered us the only escape from sin through His Son, Jesus Christ. There is nothing new under the sun.

Seriously, though, your question offers a fascinating angle and I'd never thought of it quite that way.

[bjs]

According to Christian theology, God desires for people to make the freewill decision to believe he exists and be in a loving relationship with him. Once people freely choose to accept Christ as their one true Lord and savior, the Holy Spirit is claimed to descend upon them to reveal the truth of Christianity in such a way that it is undeniable.

This is not true, at least within orthodox Christianity. There is in fact a great deal of Christian literature about the continued need for the faith and the emotional struggles (which is different from cognitive dissonance) that Christians experience. Orthodox Christianity does not claim that receiving the Holy Spirit makes the truth of Christianity undeniable.

Nevertheless, one of the primary functions of apologetics is help Christians suppress the cognitive dissonance they routinely experience.

This is the more significant false statement of this tread. As Overcomer already hinted at, overcoming cognitive dissonance is not a function, primary or otherwise, of Christian apologetics. Rather, the primary function of Christian apologetics is to accurately explain Christian doctrine and to correct false statements or fallacious reasoning about Christianity.

Do you have evidence that “Christians routinely experience cognitive dissonance� despite the fact that Christian deny it?

[bluegreenearth]

Do you have evidence that “Christians routinely experience cognitive dissonance� despite the fact that Christian deny it?

Most of the intellectually honest Christians I converse with have disclosed to me that they routinely experience cognitive dissonance and consult apologists to help them suppress it.

[Thomas123]

The most obvious example of cognitive dissonance is the modern human rejection of the God concept. To maintain this psychological position despite our expanding cosmic knowledge requires a subjective obtuseness that must necessitate constant reinforcement and maintenance. Imho.