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2.03 MB
Extraction Summary
17
People
6
Organizations
2
Locations
0
Events
2
Relationships
3
Quotes
Document Information
Type:
Academic text / book page (included in house oversight file)
File Size:
2.03 MB
Summary
This document is page 118 of an academic text, stamped with a House Oversight Committee identifier (HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_021364). It discusses the psychological trade-offs of different theologies, specifically focusing on 'renewalist Christianity' and the cognitive effort required to maintain a relationship with a personal, invisible God. The page includes citations for various academic works on religion, anthropology, and psychology (hypnosis and dissociation), with the most recent citation dated 2010. There is no direct mention of Jeffrey Epstein or his associates on this specific page.
People (17)
| Name | Role | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Scott Atran | Scholar |
Cited in references regarding a theological perspective.
|
| Justin Barrett | Scholar |
Cited in references regarding a theological perspective.
|
| Pascal Boyer | Scholar |
Cited in references regarding a theological perspective.
|
| Stewart Guthrie | Scholar |
Cited in references regarding a theological perspective.
|
| Harvey Whitehouse | Scholar |
Cited in references regarding a theological perspective.
|
| D. Miller | Author |
Author of 'Reinventing American Protestantism' (1997).
|
| R. Wuthnow | Author |
Author of 'After heaven: spirituality in America since the 1950s' (1998).
|
| H. Spiegel | Author |
Co-author of 'Trance and treatment' (2004).
|
| D. Spiegel | Author |
Co-author of 'Trance and treatment' (2004).
|
| R. Seligman | Author |
Co-author of article in Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry (2008).
|
| L. Kirmayer | Author |
Co-author of article in Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry (2008).
|
| L. Butler | Author |
Author of article in Psychiatric Clinics of North America (2006).
|
| T. Luhrmann | Author/Researcher |
Lead author of 'The absorption hypothesis' (2010). Likely the author of the main text.
|
| H. Nusbaum | Author |
Co-author of 'The absorption hypothesis' (2010).
|
| R. Thisted | Author |
Co-author of 'The absorption hypothesis' (2010).
|
| A. Tellegen | Author |
Co-author of article in Journal of Abnormal Psychology (1974).
|
| G. Atkinson | Author |
Co-author of article in Journal of Abnormal Psychology (1974).
|
Organizations (6)
| Name | Type | Context |
|---|---|---|
| University of California Press | ||
| University of California | ||
| Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life | ||
| Pew Foundation | ||
| Basic Books | ||
| House Oversight Committee |
Relationships (2)
Cited together in footnote 4 for 2010 work.
Cited together in footnote 4 for 2010 work.
Key Quotes (3)
"All theologies have trade-offs. This one offers an intensely personal and person-like God."Source
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Quote #1
"Faiths which manage God differently—less personal, more present in the everyday natural world—make fewer demands on their followers’ attentional habits."Source
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Quote #2
"Paradoxically, it may be that this high-maintenance, effortful God appeals to many modern people... precisely because the work demanded makes the God feel more real in a world in which disbelief is such a real social option."Source
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Quote #3
Full Extracted Text
Complete text extracted from the document (2,643 characters)
Page | 118
companion. They may be more capable
of responding to God emotionally.
of responding to God emotionally.
All theologies have trade-offs.
This one offers an intensely personal and
person-like God. He can comfort, like a
friend, and respond directly, like a
friend. He can be like a real social
relationship for those who make the
effort to experience him in this way. But
because that social relationship lacks so
many features of actual human
sociality—no visible body, no
responsive face, no spoken voice—such
a theology demands a great deal of effort
from those who follow it. They must
constantly work with their attention,
reinterpreting the ordinary and natural
into the presence of the extra-ordinary
and super-natural. Faiths which manage
God differently—less personal, more
present in the everyday natural world—
make fewer demands on their followers’
attentional habits. But it may be,
perhaps, that such a God may be easier
to take for granted. Paradoxically, it may
be that this high-maintenance, effortful
God appeals to many modern people
(as many as a quarter of all Americans,
according to a recent Pew study)
precisely because the work demanded
makes the God feel more real in a world
in which disbelief is such a real social
option.
This one offers an intensely personal and
person-like God. He can comfort, like a
friend, and respond directly, like a
friend. He can be like a real social
relationship for those who make the
effort to experience him in this way. But
because that social relationship lacks so
many features of actual human
sociality—no visible body, no
responsive face, no spoken voice—such
a theology demands a great deal of effort
from those who follow it. They must
constantly work with their attention,
reinterpreting the ordinary and natural
into the presence of the extra-ordinary
and super-natural. Faiths which manage
God differently—less personal, more
present in the everyday natural world—
make fewer demands on their followers’
attentional habits. But it may be,
perhaps, that such a God may be easier
to take for granted. Paradoxically, it may
be that this high-maintenance, effortful
God appeals to many modern people
(as many as a quarter of all Americans,
according to a recent Pew study)
precisely because the work demanded
makes the God feel more real in a world
in which disbelief is such a real social
option.
References
¹ Scholars who contribute to this
perspective include Scott Atran, Justin
Barrett, Pascal Boyer, Stewart Guthrie,
and Harvey Whitehouse.
perspective include Scott Atran, Justin
Barrett, Pascal Boyer, Stewart Guthrie,
and Harvey Whitehouse.
² These churches have been described by
Miller, D. 1997. Reinventing American
Protestantism. Berkeley: University of
California; see also Wuthnow, R. 1998.
After heaven: spirituality in America
since the 1950s. Berkeley: University of
California Press. A survey by the Pew
Miller, D. 1997. Reinventing American
Protestantism. Berkeley: University of
California; see also Wuthnow, R. 1998.
After heaven: spirituality in America
since the 1950s. Berkeley: University of
California Press. A survey by the Pew
Foundation 2006 (Pew, 2006, Spirit and
Power: Ten nation survey. Pew Forum
on Religion and Public Life) found that
23% of all Americans belong to a
loosely similar style of “renewalist
Christianity.”
Power: Ten nation survey. Pew Forum
on Religion and Public Life) found that
23% of all Americans belong to a
loosely similar style of “renewalist
Christianity.”
³ Good summaries of work on hypnosis
and dissociation, with some reference to
absorption, can be found in Spiegel, H.
and D. Spiegel. 2004[1978], Trance and
treatment. New York: Basic Books;
Seligman, R. and L. Kirmayer. 2008,
“Dissociative experience and cultural
neuroscience.” Culture, Medicine and
Psychiatry 32(1): 31-64; and Butler, L.
2006, “Normative dissociation.”
Psychiatric Clinics of North America.
29: 45-62.
and dissociation, with some reference to
absorption, can be found in Spiegel, H.
and D. Spiegel. 2004[1978], Trance and
treatment. New York: Basic Books;
Seligman, R. and L. Kirmayer. 2008,
“Dissociative experience and cultural
neuroscience.” Culture, Medicine and
Psychiatry 32(1): 31-64; and Butler, L.
2006, “Normative dissociation.”
Psychiatric Clinics of North America.
29: 45-62.
⁴The empirical work is presented in
Luhrmann, T., H. Nusbaum and R.
Thisted. 2010. “The absorption
hypothesis.” American Anthropologist.
March; cf. Tellegen, A. and G. Atkinson.
1974, “Openness to absorption and self
altering experiences (“absorption”), a
trait related to hypnotic susceptibility.”
Journal of Abnormal Psychology 83:
268-277
Luhrmann, T., H. Nusbaum and R.
Thisted. 2010. “The absorption
hypothesis.” American Anthropologist.
March; cf. Tellegen, A. and G. Atkinson.
1974, “Openness to absorption and self
altering experiences (“absorption”), a
trait related to hypnotic susceptibility.”
Journal of Abnormal Psychology 83:
268-277
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_021364
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