Social Identity Processes in the Development of Maximally Counterintuitive Theological Concepts: Consubstantiality and No-Self

This article argues that the historical development of both the Christian doctrine of the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father and the Buddhist doctrine of "no-self" can be understood in terms of the principle of "metacontrast," developed in the context of social identity theory. That is, each of these doctrines reflects an effort to establish intrareligious hegemony by maximizing the contrast with the dominant out-group, Judaism for the one, Brahmanism for the other. Moreover, both doctrines exemplify an important consequence of the metacontrast principle, namely, that the drive to maximize intergroup difference tends to produce extreme, maximally counterintuitive concepts. Recognizing the social identity processes behind the emergence of such counterintuitive theological concepts adds to our understanding of the phenomenon of "theological correctness" as discussed in the cognitive science of religion: that is, the notion that the religious concepts implicit in everyday thought and action often do not coincide with the official concepts of theological doctrine.