Conversion to Christianity: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 01:26, 27 December 2023

Revision as of 22:58, 29 December 2023

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==Psychology==

While conversion is the most studied aspect of religion by psychologists of religion, there is little empirical data on the topic, and little change in method since William James' classic ''Varieties of Religious Experience'' in 1902. {{sfn|Scroggs|Douglas|1967|pp=204-206}} James Scroggs and William Douglas have written on seven current concerns in the psychology of conversion.

1) ''Definition''. Calling this the "oldest issue in the field", Scroggs and Douglas indicate psychologists ask whether conversion requires a sudden about-face or gradual change. There is no consensus.{{sfn|Scroggs|Douglas|1967|p=206}} The word connotes a sudden about-face, but psychologists are unwilling to let go of the possibility of gradual conversion.{{sfn|Scroggs|Douglas|1967|p=206}}

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Trauma and existential crisis can lead to conversion. For the already converted, trauma is also often associated with "beneficial changes in self-perception, relationships, and philosophy of life, and positive changes in the realm of existential, spiritual, or religious matters" according to a study by psychologists Rosemary de Castella and Janette Simmonds.{{sfn|Tedeschi|Park|Calhoun|1998|p=13}}{{sfn|de Castella|Simmonds|2012|loc=abstract}}

A 2011 study indicates conversion can take either an inward form, wherein religion becomes the primary guiding principle and goal of the convert's life, or it can take an outward form where religion mostly serves other purposes, such as political or economic goals, which are more important to that individual than religion. For those who experience inward conversion, lower levels of depression, anxiety and stress are associated, while higher levels are associated with those who practice outward conversion only. {{sfn|Bazmi|Khalil|2011|loc=abstract}}

4) ''Age''. Scroggs and Douglas say that early writers on the psychology of conversion were unanimous in regarding adolescence as the most probable age for conversion.{{sfn|Scroggs|Douglas|1967|p=210}}{{blockquote|In surveys of three churches, psychologist Robert Ferm found the average age of conversion to be 43, 46, and 41 years respectively.(Ferm, Robert, The Psychology of Christian Conversion. Westwood, N. J., Fleming Revell, I959,p. 218.) Converts made by Graham's first British campaign averaged in their middle twenties.{{sfn|Scroggs|Douglas|1967|p=211}} Jung emphasized mid to late thirties... Hiltner writes that conversion "is most important, most likely, and most cultivatable in the thirties, rather than being regarded primarily as an adolescent phenomenon".{{sfn|Scroggs|Douglas|1967|p=211}}}} Accordingly Ferm writes that, "It is probably fair to conclude from Erikson's theories that both the identity crisis in adolescence and the integrity crisis in the middle years constitute ripe moments for conversion".{{sfn|Scroggs|Douglas|1967|p=211}}

5) ''Conscious or unconscious''. How much of the conversion experience is brought on by conscious control, and how much by unconscious factors behind or even beyond an individual? {{sfn|Scroggs|Douglas|1967|p=211}} Forces beyond conscious control are cited by the majority of converts. "Most psychologists agree the role of unconscious factors is extensive and often decisive in conversion, and that a long period of subconscious incubation precedes sudden conversions" write Scroggs and Douglas.{{sfn|Scroggs|Douglas|1967|p=211}} Allport, Maslow, Rogers, and others stress the role of conscious decision.{{sfn|Scroggs|Douglas|1967|pp=211-212}}

6) ''Science-versus-religion''. Psychologists as social scientists tend to operate according to a nothing-but reductionism. Conversion must be described as a natural process. Theologians and others who accept the possibility of the supernatural, have tended to take a something-more, hands-off-the-sacred-preserve approach to studying conversion.{{sfn|Scroggs|Douglas|1967|p=213}} Different worldviews can bias interpretations. Scroggs and Douglas write that "No solution to this very difficult problem appears in the immediate purview", but they do suggest that acknowledging bias and incorporating both views in "not only interdisciplinary but interbias research is necessary".{{sfn|Scroggs|Douglas|1967|pp=213, 215}}

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== Neurology ==

Kelly Bulkeley in ''The Oxford Handbook of Religion Conversion'' has written that, as of 2014, no neuro-scientific research focused specifically on religious conversion has been done.{{sfn|Bulkeley|2014|p=240}} Nor is there a single consensus on how the brain/mind system works, and researchers take many different approaches. {{sfn|Bulkeley|2014|loc=Reading the Cognitive Neuroscience Literature}} There is controversy over the [[Mind–body problem|mind/body problem]], as well as whether the brain is simply modular (composed of separate parts), or if that is too limited an explanation for what Bulkeley calls the complex, "global, synthetic, whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts aspects of brain function".{{sfn|Bulkeley|2014|loc=Conceptual Polarities and Methodological Challenges in Cognitive Neuroscience}} There is disagreement over determinism vs. free will, the use of brain imaging, first-person reports of conversion, and the applications of quantum physics.{{sfn|Bulkeley|2014|loc=The Mind/Body Problem}}{{sfn|Bulkeley|2014|loc=The value of introspection}}

The phenomenon of conversion is based on the belief that humans have the ability to change the way they mentally perceive and experience the world. Research on the plasticity of the brain has shown that the brain's ability to create new neural pathways remains with us throughout our lives.{{sfn|Bulkeley|2014|loc=Brain Development}} Bulkeley writes that "Cognitive neuroscience in relation to religious conversions, where people undergo a basic reordering of the assumptions and expectations that frame their perceptions of the world, may lead to new evidence regarding the latent potential of brain/mind development".{{sfn|Bulkeley|2014|loc=Vision and Meditation}}