Does a person's personality play a role in the teachings that person adopts as part of his/her belief system? For example:
If I tend to be bit more structured, organized, clean and tidy, will I be more inclined to emphasize the role of law in the life of a justified person?
If I tend to be less structured, more relational and spontaneous, will I be more inclined to emphasize the role of grace in the life of the justified person?
I believe there is such a thing as "truth." My question is not whether "truth" exists, but rather the process we use to feel as though we've found it.
I find that personality structures almost everything about our experiences and our interpretation of those experiences: life is both experienced and mediated.
This is one of the reasons that when depressed people enter therapy, one of the things they often work on is their interpretation habits -- how they read situations and what they extrapolate from events. So understanding is not always about active choice; often it's also about how one sees, perceives, and processes.
It's interesting to look at the journals/personal writings of Augustine, Luther, Wesley, Kierkegaard, and contemporary theologians like Moltmann and Volf. When they tell their own stories as individuals, it becomes much clearer how both personality and trauma influence theology and other efforts to describe the world and the ineffable. I can see this in my own life as well.
When you look at the histories of the Hebrews and later the Jews, there are similar relationships at work there too. I'd say some of their links between event, perception, and interpretation have come down to us in our popular readings of biblical stories.
I am wondering about your association of "grace" with "less structure." I don't know that it implies less structure or order, though it may imply order expressed in a different way.
I find that personality structures almost everything about our experiences and our interpretation of those experiences: life is both experienced and mediated.
This is one of the reasons that when depressed people enter therapy, one of the things they often work on is their interpretation habits -- how they read situations and what they extrapolate from events. So understanding is not always about active choice; often it's also about how one sees, perceives, and processes.
It's interesting to look at the journals/personal writings of Augustine, Luther, Wesley, Kierkegaard, and contemporary theologians like Moltmann and Volf. When they tell their own stories as individuals, it becomes much clearer how both personality and trauma influence theology and other efforts to describe the world and the ineffable. I can see this in my own life as well.
When you look at the histories of the Hebrews and later the Jews, there are similar relationships at work there too. I'd say some of their links between event, perception, and interpretation have come down to us in our popular readings of biblical stories.
I am wondering about your association of "grace" with "less structure." I don't know that it implies less structure or order, though it may imply order expressed in a different way.
Do you think grace reduces structure?
Not necessarily. I've simply been observing things for the past few years and trying to process the things I'm seeing. Definitely have not reached any firm conclusions.
Does a person's personality play a role in the teachings that person adopts as part of his/her belief system? For example:
If I tend to be bit more structured, organized, clean and tidy, will I be more inclined to emphasize the role of law in the life of a justified person?
If I tend to be less structured, more relational and spontaneous, will I be more inclined to emphasize the role of grace in the life of the justified person?
I believe there is such a thing as "truth." My question is not whether "truth" exists, but rather the process we use to feel as though we've found it.
BFA[/quote]
Well personality is a funny thing. It has to do with how much a person is willing to obtain the truth. Both types you mentioned don't necessarily hold to the structures you presented above. A very tidy and structured person can be inclined to emphasize grace while the other structure can emphasize law. Culture has much to do with it more so than personality. And what I mean by culture is the development or improvement of the mind by education or training. We all know that the behaviors and belief characteristic of people help shape the mind. But its that extra education or improvement upon what culture has taught us that will help us to find or feel as though we have found absolute truth.
-b
Last edited by believehim; 25th September 2009 at 12:33 PM.
Well personality is a funny thing. It has to do with how much a person is willing to obtain the truth. Both types you mentioned don't necessarily hold to the structures you presented above. A very tidy and structured person can be inclined to emphasize grace while the other structure can emphasize law. Culture has much to do with it more so than personality. And what I mean by culture is the development or improvement of the mind by education or training. We all know that the behaviors and belief characteristic of people help shape the mind. But its that extra education or improvement upon what culture has taught us that will help us to find or feel as though we have found absolute truth.
What is absolute truth?
Is the person who feels as though he has found absolute truth in a better position than the person who feels as though he has misunderstood?
Should finding absolute truth be one of our life goals?
Not necessarily. I've simply been observing things for the past few years and trying to process the things I'm seeing. Definitely have not reached any firm conclusions.
What sorts of things will influence your belief system?
Life experience plays a big part – to take an extreme example, I will see things differently from a Palestinian jihadist. He will feel a strong sense of injustice. His version of “the truth” makes a great deal of sense to him, even though it may clash with my version, and may even offend me. But who am I to say that what he feels is not truth?
Even in more routine situations, people know what they have seen and experienced and they will compare what happened to what their religion taught them to expect. If there is a strong mismatch, this can make them start thinking about quite how much of “the truth” they really knew.
It also depends which other belief systems a person has (and hasn’t) been exposed to. Having met many wise, good, kind people of many religions (and of no religion, too) I cannot honestly say that I have a better understanding of “the truth” than they have, just because of my own religious background. But one has to be exposed to these alternative belief systems in order to start thinking along those lines.
Most importantly, it has to occur to you that you are actually allowed to think for yourself. That first step is the biggest barrier. You then have to develop the confidence that you can rely on your own interpretations. You can simply accept what you’ve been taught, or you can look beyond it. Mentally, it’s probably easier to stay within the comfort zone. If you just learn the clichéd answers to the stock questions you won’t need to think, so much as memorise. Conditioning runs deep, and for obvious reasons religions can use it to discourage independent thought – the religion risks losing its control over a person once they think for themselves. Some people will allow this to happen, while others won’t, and this is the point where the debate about personality starts….
I have no doubt whatsoever that "the truth" exists, but I think it comes in many forms and this is what complicates the debate. It is not "the truth" so much as "a truth". I will see it differently from a Buddhist, for example. Our truths are equally valid, they just come from different perspectives. You could use the Bible to compare versions of the truth, but that's only going to get you anywhere in absolute terms if there is universal acceptance of the Bible as being permanently infallible. In world terms that is very much a minority view.
You will have concluded from my post that I am not your conventional Adventist. But I think it has explained the process that led me to this stance.
Does a person's personality play a role in the teachings that person adopts as part of his/her belief system? For example:
If I tend to be bit more structured, organized, clean and tidy, will I be more inclined to emphasize the role of law in the life of a justified person?
If I tend to be less structured, more relational and spontaneous, will I be more inclined to emphasize the role of grace in the life of the justified person?
I believe there is such a thing as "truth." My question is not whether "truth" exists, but rather the process we use to feel as though we've found it.
BFA
Christlikeness is what we are trying to attain. He is the way, the truth, and the life. We must have the mind of Christ, renew our minds with the washing of the word. Get rid of the stinking thinking. Maybe I have a different approach, but should we go toward philosophy or Christ?
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