TY - JOUR
T1 - A neurocognitive model for analyzing end time narratives
T2 - The Book of Revelation 14-16 as a test case
AU - Høgenhaven, Jesper
AU - Bach, Melissa Sayyad
AU - Geertz, Armin W.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - In this article, we introduce a neurocognitive model as a useful analytical approach to a wide range of representations (written, oral, and/or visual) of a comprehensive and dramatic collapse of the world order (cosmic, social, and/or moral). We gather these variegated representations under the term End Time Narratives (ETN). The widespread reception of ETNs, and their popularity and variability across different periods and cultures, is evidence that these representations continually affect us and hold power over us. Prominent and well-known examples of ETNs are the Jewish and Christian apocalypses from antiquity, which have been widely influential through the centuries. This prevalence raises the question of why ETNs exercise such an influence. The reasons, we suggest, are based on the following hypotheses: (1) that the efficacy and attraction of ETNs can be traced to identifiable cognitive mechanisms, (2) that these underlying mechanisms are linked to certain emotional reactions activated by the particular structure and design of these narratives, and (3) ETNs – as cultural products – seem to be designed and structured to elicit cognitive and emotional responses through effects on the brain. To investigate the possible neurocognitive and psychological mechanisms that are simulated and enacted in recipients by ETNs, we apply the model through an “enactive reading” of a classical ETN, the Book of Revelation 14–16.
AB - In this article, we introduce a neurocognitive model as a useful analytical approach to a wide range of representations (written, oral, and/or visual) of a comprehensive and dramatic collapse of the world order (cosmic, social, and/or moral). We gather these variegated representations under the term End Time Narratives (ETN). The widespread reception of ETNs, and their popularity and variability across different periods and cultures, is evidence that these representations continually affect us and hold power over us. Prominent and well-known examples of ETNs are the Jewish and Christian apocalypses from antiquity, which have been widely influential through the centuries. This prevalence raises the question of why ETNs exercise such an influence. The reasons, we suggest, are based on the following hypotheses: (1) that the efficacy and attraction of ETNs can be traced to identifiable cognitive mechanisms, (2) that these underlying mechanisms are linked to certain emotional reactions activated by the particular structure and design of these narratives, and (3) ETNs – as cultural products – seem to be designed and structured to elicit cognitive and emotional responses through effects on the brain. To investigate the possible neurocognitive and psychological mechanisms that are simulated and enacted in recipients by ETNs, we apply the model through an “enactive reading” of a classical ETN, the Book of Revelation 14–16.
KW - apocalyptic literature
KW - end time narratives
KW - Biblical studies
KW - Book of Revelation
KW - cognitive science of religion
KW - biocultural approach
KW - 4E cognition
KW - neurocognition
KW - cognitive humanities
KW - cognitive historiography
KW - enactive reading
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85196846997&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1163/15685276-20240011
DO - 10.1163/15685276-20240011
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0029-5973
VL - 71
SP - 335
EP - 392
JO - Numen
JF - Numen
IS - 4
ER -