In this chapter we intend to approach religious conversion from the perspective of cognitive and social psychology, describing those mechanisms and mental processes at the basis of a socially and culturally complex behavior such as that of religious conversion. As a model of conversion we will mainly refer to some pericopes and sayings drawn from the Gospels. Such a choice, besides being suggested by the methodical necessity of limiting the investigative field to the controllable space of an essay, takes into account the fact that the term “conversion,” as it is understood in the ordinary language of English speakers and of European languages in general, derives its semantic characterization first of all from these sources. The chosen textual reference has, therefore, a paradigmatic relevance from a historical-cultural point of view.
A Cognitive Psychology Perspective on Religious Conversion as Told in the Gospels
FEDERICI, Stefano
;
2009
Abstract
In this chapter we intend to approach religious conversion from the perspective of cognitive and social psychology, describing those mechanisms and mental processes at the basis of a socially and culturally complex behavior such as that of religious conversion. As a model of conversion we will mainly refer to some pericopes and sayings drawn from the Gospels. Such a choice, besides being suggested by the methodical necessity of limiting the investigative field to the controllable space of an essay, takes into account the fact that the term “conversion,” as it is understood in the ordinary language of English speakers and of European languages in general, derives its semantic characterization first of all from these sources. The chosen textual reference has, therefore, a paradigmatic relevance from a historical-cultural point of view.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
