Paradigm Slaves

It is amazing how critical one’s prevailing paradigm is. If your paradigm is the Augustinian view of eternal judgment, then all Bible passages will be filtered through that mindset. It is not easy to make a transition in paradigm. What has dominated our thinking all our lives is ingrained in us, and the grooves run deep. We are not even aware how powerfully it governs our whole thinking. Only through a committed and determined effort are we enabled to overcome it. This can only come with God’s help. I pray He works it out in your life as He is doing it in mine. Here is some food for thought. Craig Nohin of “Student of the Word Ministries” writes:

A new article written by Dr. Drew Westen of Emory University has concluded a long researched subject on human perception and decision making... Dr. Westen’s research concludes that when people draw conclusions about particular events, they are not just weighing the facts. “Without knowing it, they are also weighing what they would feel if they came to one conclusion or another, and they often come to the conclusion that would make them feel better, no matter what the facts are.” Dr. Westen found that knowing an individual’s predisposition proved to be a perfect predictor of their ultimate decision 84 percent of the time, which suggests that no amount of facts would change their original position. His findings also suggest why, regardless of whether we’re talking about our diets, exercise routines, political disposition, religious indoctrination or strategies to compete in business, most of us refuse to change until a full-blown crisis hits. Our need to process information in a way that provides maximum emotional comfort convinced Dr. Westen that the facts made virtually no difference in predicting what the vast majority of individuals will decide to do or think. This characteristic is the inspiration of the old line, “Don’t confuse me with the facts. My mind is made up!”

From Hope beyond Hell by Gerry Beauchemin