Cognitive Science of Religion

CSUN is going to be the first in the nation to offer this course (from what I was told) & I seriously can’t wait. Our Religious Studies department has been interviewing several candidates including Jason Slone, Chair of the American Academy of Religion and author of Theological Incorrectness: Why Religious People Believe What They Shouldn’t. Sloane gave his lecture during my Teachings of Jesus class but honestly my mind was totally blown away by another candidate. 

If you’re unsure as to what cognitive science of religion really is here’s a little description I found.

Cognitive science of religion (CSR) brings theories from the cognitive sciences to bear on why religious thought and action is so common in humans and why religious phenomena take on the features that they do. The field is characterized by a piecemeal approach, explanatory non-exclusivism, and methodological pluralism. Topics receiving consideration include how ordinary cognitive structures inform and constrain the transmission of religious ideas, why people believe in gods, why religious rituals and prayers tend to have the forms that they do, why afterlife beliefs are so common, and how human memory systems influence socio-political features in religious systems. CSR is often associated with evolutionary science and anti-religious rhetoric but neither is intrinsic nor necessary to the field.