What makes people continue to believe?

[Gawen]

So what makes people continue to believe?

There are, obviously, 'believing' Biblical scholars that are not idiots. Some of them are very well aware of the arguments for and against the existence of God. Some of them write books, others teach. But how can they still remain a believer despite knowing that the arguments they present are weak at best?  Many people have come to understand that the "Old" Testament does not predict that Jesus would be the messiah. Many people understand that all of the current "prophecies" about Jesus are taken out of context. Effectively that Jesus is nowhere near being any sort of Jewish messiah. Yet they are still Christians.

Why?

Utilitarianism perhaps?
Ego?
Need? Religions have succeeded because they fulfill certain common emotional and psychological needs. We can't underestimate 'needs'. One of the most common bias to be found with religion is, confirmation bias and it is a need to favour information that confirms their preconceptions. Most people seem to have no idea what confirmation bias is and that they are completely wrapped up in it. Among those theists that are aware of confirmation bias, you find that they are still engaged in it. Being self-aware of a psychological bias can make it easier to overcome it, but it is difficult and fairly rare.

Self preservation?
That is certainly a need. Peter Kreeft, for example, seems pretty fond of Pascal's Wager, though he recognizes it's more of an impetus to self-preservation than to genuine faith. And he certainly recognizes it offers no proof of the kind that we atheists or believers of other religions are interested in. Yet, he pushes this argument despite its shortcomings, or weaknesses.

How about 'want'?
http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/hauled-aboard.htm
From childhood, he believes because those around him (Calvinists) believe. Then...

One afternoon I knelt alone in my room and prayed God would decide for me, for I am good at thinking but bad at acting, like Hamlet. Unexpectedly, I seemed to sense my heroes Augustine and Aquinas and thousands of other saints and sages calling out to me from the great ark, "Come aboard! We are really here. We still live. Join us. Here is the Body of Christ." I said Yes. My intellect and feelings had long been conquered; the will is the last to surrender.

He had longings (want) for the Catholic faith for some time and then, God assures him that he's doing the right thing to join the Catholic church. He dropped his rationalism at the curb and actually went with his feelings...a 'want' to join a different church.

What people want will often demolish any obstruction placed before them. When people are being sold on a faith, they are not given all the arguments for and against it to consider before hand. I would wager most people would put up a thorough analysis when buying a car before they analyse a religion.

Just because someone is intelligent, like Kreeft, doesn't mean the person is rational...all the time. Even those of us that are aware of how susceptible our brains are to irrational beliefs still fall to the powers and pressures of normal mundane life that lead us to hold irrational beliefs. This however, when knowing what to look for, can easily be overcome. Why do preachers rail so hard against reason? They know it is the enemy of faith.

Faith, it seems, is driven by the heart, not the head and once the heart finds it's home, all the issues of the head can be addressed so long as the head is kept subservient to the heart. One may have knowledge of all the arguments against a faith, but there is something beyond reason that is the deciding factor. If you ask a liberal theist if he believes Noah got two of every animal on a boat for a year during a global flood, you'll get a roll of the eyes and a lecture on how they are not a fundamentalist with naive beliefs. Yet, if you ask if the resurrection was a mythical story, you will be chided for rejecting a historical fact.

To me, it's the same as believing in the Loch Ness Monster as a child, becoming an expert in Scottish inland marine life, knowing the monster has never been shown to exist, and yet still believing in it.

[periwinklefish]

:0

[Gawen]

I have no tribe!  My dad continues to go to church.  He doesn't believe a lot of the bible and is currently working to try and reconcile science and religion with his preacher.  After reading this post, I'm more comfortable with letting it rest....  Thanks for the free family therapy!

Who was this directed to?

[periwinklefish]

Maybe my response seems confusing b/c I was responding to four pages of replies.  
Maybe it just seems confusing b/c I had a slight fever....
Sorry about that