Cognitive Science of Religion and the Cognitive Consequences of Sin

Abstract

This paper explores the relation between evolutionary explanations of religious belief and a core idea in both classical Christian theology and (among other philosophical streams of thought) Reformed Epistemology, namely that humans have fallen into sin. In particular, it challenges the claim made by De Cruz and De Smedt (2012) that ‘(.) in the light of current evolutionary and cognitive theories, the Reformed epistemological view of NES [the noetic effects of sin] is in need of revision.’ Three possible solutions to this conundrum are examined, two of which are shown to be plausible.