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The Veritas Forum
Does Belief Need a Reality Check? | Sean McDowell & Matthew Vess
Nov 30, 2023
32:48
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Psychology professor Matthew Vess and Apologetics professor Sean McDowell discuss the role of belief and faith in achieving goals, the claims of Christianity, the nature of faith in relation to evidence, the development of culture as a solution to the question of death, and the role of Islam and Christianity in coping with death.
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Quick takeaways
- Beliefs provide a sense of meaning and coping mechanism for mortality, regardless of their objective truth.
- Faith involves trust and reasons to believe, not solely scientific verifiability, and beliefs worth dying for may not always be scientifically testable.
Deep dives
The Function of Beliefs and Coping with Mortality
Beliefs play an important role in helping humans cope with the awareness of their own mortality. This psychological function is present across different cultures and belief systems. Symbolic immortality projects, such as religion or leaving a lasting legacy, provide a sense of meaning and offer explanations for the afterlife. From a psychological standpoint, the function of beliefs does not depend on whether they are objectively true or not. People defend beliefs that give their lives meaning and become more willing to die for those beliefs when reminded of mortality, regardless of religious affiliation. The data suggests that the need to feel that one's beliefs are valid is a common psychological need, independent of the specific content of those beliefs.
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