Shadows in the New Testament

Cognitive Approaches to Early Christian Literature

Authors

  • Paul Robertson University of New Hampshire

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jch.35292

Keywords:

Shadows, Cognitive Science of Religion, early Christian literature, New Testament

Abstract

This article treats the roughly half dozen instances of shadows in the Christian New Testament using evolutionary-cognitive approaches and understandings. This literary-historical data set generally conforms to predictions from cognitive science in two ways. First, shadows stimulate cognitive interest due to their evolutionary ties to predation and humans as both prey species and hunter. Second, shadows fortify the status of supernatural agents due to shadows’ uncertain and shifting boundaries, which lend themselves to agency attribution. Additional discussion theorizes shadows as a type of object particularly related to religious beliefs, due to shadows’ particular set of characteristics that differ from standard folk ontologies. This unique typology is shared with certain other objects likewise possessing outsize presence in religious history such as clouds, flame, and smoke.

Author Biography

  • Paul Robertson, University of New Hampshire

    Paul Robertson is Lecturer in Classics & Humanities at the University of New Hampshire, where he specializes in ancient Mediterranean thought and the theory of religion. His books (2016, 2019) and articles focus on the intersection of thought systems and critical methods in the study of religion.

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Published

2019-10-14

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Robertson, P. (2019). Shadows in the New Testament: Cognitive Approaches to Early Christian Literature. Journal of Cognitive Historiography, 4(2), 199-222. https://doi.org/10.1558/jch.35292