Religious conversion and emotional stability

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John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." - Matthew 3:1-2 (NRSV)

Jesus Christ said: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." (John 14:27 ESV).

Jesus Christ also said: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:38-40 NRSV). In addition, the Bible says to be holy and zealous in good works and to not be lukewarm (Revelation 3:16).

As far as the New Testament, according to the Greek Orthodox Diocese of America:

“ The Greek term for repentance, metanoia, denotes a change of mind, a reorientation, a fundamental transforma­tion of outlook, of man's vision of the world and of himself, and a new way of loving others and God. In the words of a second-century text, The Shepherd of Hermas, it implies "great understanding," discernment. It involves, that is, not mere regret of past evil but a recognition by man of a dar­kened vision of his own condition, in which sin, by sepa­rating him from God, has reduced him to a divided, auto­nomous existence, depriving him of both his natural glory and freedom. "Repentance," says Basil the Great, "is salvation, but lack of understanding is the death of repentance."[1] ”

Repentance is primarily a change of the heart and mind,[2] or rather a change in the mind (Greek metanoia—meta "change" + noia "mind"); a personal metamorphosis. This is what repentance means in the context of salvation: Luke 13:1-5 "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Jesus is telling the people they need to change the way they think. In this context, a change of mind represents also a reversal of one's previous moral judgment, a repudiation of one's previous behavior.[2] There is a command to believe: "Repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15). How can anyone believe in Christ if they don't change their thinking? No one naturally sees themselves as a sinner; when you repent, you know and realize you're a sinner. You change from thinking "I'm a basically good person." to "I'm a sinner; I need Jesus." That is the third definition of repentance. "Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." John 5:14. "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." John 8:11. "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance" Matthew 3:8. (See Corporal and spiritual works of mercy.)

Repentance is a turning away, to cease. Example: Revelation 2:16 "Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth."

What research suggests about religious conversion and emotional stability

See also: Emotional stability and Emotional health and Christian's position in Christ and identity and Neuroticism and Anxiety

The Bible says to put one's trust in God and not in man (Jeremiah 17:5). A little over 100 times the Bible says to fear not (Or some variation of those words).[3]

"A bell curve, also known as a normal distribution, is a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that represents the distribution of data in statistics. Standard deviations measure the spread or dispersion of data points around the mean (average) of a normal distribution. In a normal distribution, roughly 68% of the data falls within one standard deviation of the mean, 95% within two standard deviations, and 99.7% within three standard deviations."[4]

A dove carrying an olive branch is a symbol of hope, peace, and renewal. The image appears in the Bible and in Christian art and iconography.

What research suggests about religious conversion and emotional stability:

“ Most personality traits are moderately stable across adulthood (correlations of ~0.6–0.8 across decades). Large shifts (over 1 SD) are rare, except in cases of major life events, trauma, or identity-transforming experiences.

Religious conversion—especially radical or sudden ones—can function as such an “identity quake.” But studies show that while religiousness is linked to lower neuroticism / higher emotional stability on average, the effect sizes are usually modest (0.2–0.4 SD), not massive leaps.

Case-level exceptions exist: for individuals whose conversion alleviates extreme anxiety, addiction, or despair, emotional stability could plausibly increase by 0.5–1.0 SD. But that is at the high end and not typical.

Longitudinal studies of converts often show short-term boosts in stability and well-being that may plateau, rather than continuous large gains.

Approximate range:

Typical radical conversion: +0.2 to +0.5 SD improvement in emotional stability.

Exceptional cases (transformative, life-saving conversions): up to +1 SD shift.

Beyond that, evidence is scarce; permanent changes larger than 1 SD are very rare in personality research.[5]

”

For more information, please see: Christian's position in Christ (Relates to the "Identity quake" mentioned above)

See also

References

  1. ↑ Repentance and Confession - Introduction, Greek Orthodox Diocese of America
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 David W. Gooding & John C. Lennox (2013 (1st Edition 1997)). "8.Repentance", Key Bible Concepts. The Myrtlefield Trust, 65–73. ISBN 978-1-874584-45-2. “The very first public announcement by Christ was this:...” 
  3. ↑ How many times does the Bible say not to fear?
  4. ↑ Normal bell curve and standard deviations
  5. ↑ How many standard deviation points does radical religious conversion make on emotional stability?
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