How Cognitive Dissonance Explains Christianity

The New Testament talks about the "kingdom of God" as if it was in some sense already established, despite all appearances to the contrary. Most Jewish groups in that period didn't talk like that. So what accounts for this strange and surprising feature of early Christian belief? Enter: Cognitive Dissonance Theory.

Chapters

0:00 - Intro
0:08 - The Problem of Realized Eschatology
3:37 - An Inadequate Explanation
6:25 - Cognitive Dissonance and Prophetic Failure
9:59 - Great Disappointment or Partial Fulfillment?
16:57 - Dissonance and the Kingdom
26:30 - Conclusion

[DarthCalculus]

At a Christian school where I used to work, one of the founding members was diagnosed with cancer. There was some sort of agreed upon spiritual sense that she would be healed (a prophecy? I don't remember how they characterized it).

When she died, all the staff gathered together and her widower described some sort of "spiritual exchange" in which she passed along her promised healing as a blessing to the school.

I knew it was weird but I was green and I kept my mouth shut. Years later, I thought it was creepy and cultish. Listening to your explanation of cognitive dissonance, I've relived all of it and it gives me shudders.

[JinKee]

i had a deconversion experience in 2010. shit hurt yo. if i could go back to cognative dissonance i would, but the pain from believing an absurdity was greater than the pain of walking away

[PhoenixF]

Reminds me of the Qanon crowd constantly moving their goalposts as well

[MythVisionPodcast]

This is gold! Thank you for such an excellent presentation 👏 👍 🙌 😊

[pamarks]

The comments to this video are a great example of confirmation bias. The video really provides no compelling reason to reach the conclusions you do. It's just an exercise in constructing alternative explanations. Which I'm fine with, but that's different from arguing for that explanation.

I want to note something really important for this video that a lot of the commenters are missing: cognitive dissonance is a normal part of human psychology, it arises every day, and fuels all inquiry, scientific or otherwise. Everyone has it, and we all resolve congitive dissonance through revising our beliefs in some way. Just because someone or some group resolves cognitive dissonance doesn't mean anything. The question is whether they did so rationally or irrationally, cynically and in a self serving way, or truthfully. This video really doesn't make that clear.

You can analyze almost anything along the lines of cognitive dissonance or other irrational, cognitive dysfunctions. You can reduce every motivation to something cynical. The question is whether that's a good explanation, whether this is really what's going on or not. For instance, cognitive dissonance and rationalization follows the broader pattern of belief adjustment that all humans engage in. Any time we have any sort of unexpected experience, we integrate it into our beliefs by modifying the structure of our previous beliefs to remove tension. This is just how the human mind works, both when it's functioning rationally or irrationally. Any particular instance of adjusting our beliefs can be interpreted under the lens of rationalizing away cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is itself simply tension. The question is this: is the way we relieve this dissonance rational, or irrational? You can't just say "oh look they're relieving cognitive dissonance by modifying their beliefs" and conclude anything profound from that. Cognitive dissonance and belief modification is the starting point of all inquiry. You can draw parallels between any act of synthesizing and the crazy spiritualization of the Millerites!

You should probably ask more clear questions, like:

(1) Did Jesus Himself, prior to his death, really teach that the disciples were misunderstanding him? Or is this a later revision/invention to make sense of failed prophecy?
(2) Did the OT source material have a specific, well defined messianic vision? Or were there multiple readings even prior to the 1st c? You assume that the early Christians had to "reinterpret" certain OT passages, and impose new order on them to make sense of their failed prophecies, all part of a process of spiritualization. But that assumes they needed to do this, that the way they read their texts were like how the Millerites read theirs.
(3) Did the disciples really believe they had scene Jesus resurrected? That they had spoken with him in person, etc? This would suggest against a mere spiritualizing process of relieving cognitive dissonance.
(4) That is, did the early Christians have gold reasons to resolve their cognitive dissonance in the ways they did, or did they do so irrationally?

Tldr: you can't just say "oh they were resolving cognitive dissonance" and infer anything more profound from that alone. You jump from giving a possible explanation to saying that it is THE explanation.

[thomasmann]

not a Christian, but here's something we should consider: not only is the response to coginitive dissonance helpful, it's actually pretty rational. If you use a tool to achieve a goal, and you fail, would it be more reasonable to assume that the tool is faulty or the goal is unreachable?
If you calculated the movements of the planets and moons and you predicted the exact date of a solar eclipse, but at that day the eclipse doesn't happen, should you rather believe your calculations were wrong, or that math is wrong or that solar eclipses don't exist?
The answer is obvious. And by no means is that to say that God exists and we just misinterpreted everything so far. The truth is, we don't know. and we might never. But I think it's important to point out that the same things that explain Christian beliefs also explain the entire enlightenment and scientific pursuits of the 19th century.

[jannetteberends]

After seeing this video, I watched a video about MAGA people talking about January 6. One of the comments mentioned cognitive dissonance. And it looks like it is.

[adamnascent]

Matthew, I don't know how long it took you to produce this video, but it is incredible. It's accessible, jammed packed, full of relevant citation, and IMO clearly outlines the killshot for my own faith (articulated way better than I ever could). Well done! I appreciate the closing line: it really is the best explanation for the triumph and tragedy of Christian faith.

[janicestevenson]

This video on how belief can be strengthened when it encounters evidence to the contrary is helpful in understanding how people cling to belief systems from the past that ignore today's reality.
If belief allowed for facing the present-day realities instead of being a shield to protect one from reality, it would give the faithful something to stand on--a firmer foundation.
In the writings of Marshall Vian Summers, facing conflict is a way to deepen one's experience of Knowledge. "Use conflict today to remind yourself that there is only Knowledge and the need for Knowledge. Using this approach gives you a way to see beyond the complexities that confuse people at the outset. This will enable you to see into the deeper nature of the human predicament and your own predicament... You are sent to serve the world. To do this, you must recognize conflict...Learning how to clear the mind and to quiet the mind can sometimes seem to be a great effort because the captivation has already occurred... And though the current may be strong, you must pull yourself ashore." (MVS, Steps to Knowledge Continuation Training)
Recognizing conflict as a part of the human condition and something to be faced strengthens us if we use it to deepen our understanding and our desire for Knowledge.

[learningisfun]

Great video. I was riveted by your arguments. Well done! I’ve always known that the early Christians adopted different beliefs about Jesus after he was killed. But you have put this into a whole new universe for me: cognitive dissonance. Your arguments are thorough, sound, and so well explained. It must have taken a very long time to make this video but I, for one, really appreciate it. You have a new subscriber.

[hadara]

"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful."
~Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[petermolnar]

As a christian believer I find your videos extremly interesting. It has a real intellectual benefit to think and talk about how Christianity itself fits into the general "laws" of how human psyche works. I personally don't think that demystification derogates faith's relevancy in one's life, but even more: you can't live even your christian life in a vacuum where results of everyday science count no more. I see in the comment section, that mostly ex-believers or non-believers leave comments. Let's have one more from the other side :) So well done, and keep posting such videos!

[apreviousseagle]

There's a simple reason why religious people don't give up their beliefs, no matter what: The alternative offers nothing of value.
All atheists can offer you is "yeah there's no God, nothing supernatural, and when you die you just disappear". Not exactly an offering of great value there.

[tomwilley]

WOW. I had just discovered the notion of cognitive dissonance a few days ago in one youtube video and then encountered this masterpiece, a complete reconciliation of the psychological with the spiritual for me. I am reminded of my college freshman class in old testament by Rabbi Cain over 50 years ago when as a naive Christian convert I encountered the pragmatism of interpretation that Rabbi Cain offered. I remember calling him on my dormitory pay phone in an existential quandary and asking him "Who was Jesus?" And him answering "A radical Jewish activist."

[jeffholland]

- I have been an atheist for about 5 years. Roughly 2 years ago, it hurt to hear my dad speak of his disbelief that "he got old." I was witness in the 90's, upon visiting my parent's church, to the strong belief by that group that the second coming was happening any day. It was clearly shown, through scripture compared to current events, how they knew this was true. 28 years later . . . My dad is still a believer, I am not.

[spectreskeptic]

Clear and concise application of cogdis...well done. The scary reality is that it leaves apocalyptic believers in a permanent state of expectation and renewed fervor to further evangelize and indoctrinate as they actively pursue the fulfillment of updated prophecy.

[trina]

Found your channel from the collab with Mythvision! So happy I did. This is a gem.

[big]

This video left me with more questions than answers. As a Christian, I find this video intellectually dishonest. I am not sure you have read the New Testament wholly, and if you have, I don't think you have studied it. In my studies and personal experience, wanting to be a good person, doing the right thing, acting like you have a purpose for life, that your intention is good and just, and straying away from that would be wrong. But that is being an intellectual hypocrite, cognitive dissonance, as the worldview of not believing in God directly contradicts that worldview. I was an atheist until I started thinking about my worldview and the values I held dear; they did not align with how I acted.
Furthermore, in the NT, Jesus constantly corrects and educates his disciples as they had expectations of what they thought Jesus came to do. I feel again that you're being intellectually dishonest here. If you read those chapters and the books within their context and not cherry-pick like you seem to be doing at 17:25, you would not come to the same conclusion you had. Along that same notion around 22:28, you fail to elucidate how you came to those conclusions about Jeremiah. You state Jeremiah "speaks of an inward regeneration that will accompany the outward restoration of Israel" Nowhere is that said or implied within the context of Jeremiah. And again, you failed to understand Hebrews 9:15. That is not a prophecy; Paul is stating how the new covenant came to be through Christ Jesus; it lines up perfectly with what was said in Jeremiah if you read the actual source material wholly and in context. You fail again to elucidate your claim or how you got to that notion.
You're explanation of Psalm 110, Hebrews 8:1, and 1 Corinthians 15:25 leave much to be desired as well; it starts to be very palpable. You are cherry-picking and or not reading in context. You have to be able to let the author use comparison amongst other literary tools; Paul says what he does in Hebrews as to attribute Jesus to the Father in the Godhead, being on the same level, and the line from Psalm 110 does that very well. 1 Corinthians 15:25 uses Psalm 110 to compare the end times in revelations; it's intellectually dishonest, and you're putting things in there that ought not to be due to ignorance of the context or not thoroughly studying it. It could also be your presupposition of what or who you think God is.
God's victory is not outstanding; this is where the thinking comes into play. God was, is, and always will be. God is outside of space-time and thus can see what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen concerning how we perceive time. You have essentially put your understanding and presuppositions into and onto God, projecting things into the text and on to God that did not get said and do not happen as we know it, respectfully.
The last thing I want to touch on is the disciples and Paul. One of the most significant pieces of evidence for the resurrection of Christ is the disciples. You and many others have stated that they were dismayed, depressed, or traumatized following Christ's crucifixion. Their worldview and belief system got essentially shattered, leaving them to either double down or flat-out lie to keep their beliefs or worldview. That notion hits a significant problem when you study the life of the disciples, faced with death at the hands of the roman empire by saying Christ is Lord he has risen or live and say Ceaser is Lord, they all chose death. You need not look too far back in history to see that people are not willing to give up too much comfort to go along with what they know is a lie, I.E., watergate. People will die for a lie if they believe it, but not for what they know is, without a doubt, a lie, and they died some horrific deaths. Paul was a vigorous prosecutor of Christians in his early life, killing them and hunting them down; for someone to change that drastically and become a poster boy for Christianity is not typical.
And you said it yourself, Jewish people did not believe this, and the millions of accounts of the conversions of Jewish people within a few hundred years is evidence of itself; they had the intellectual honesty to think about the source material and study it.

[wolframstahl]

Thank you, Youtube algorithm, for delivering this to my recommendations! Keep doing that, this deserves a ton more than 10k views!

[TrisjensChronicles]

Turning that bug into a feature!!
And necessity is the mother of invention!! I love it.

I’m loving this video, keep them coming. I learned of you from the MythVision Video you recently did.