From the Pastor’s Study
Confirmational Bias October 27, 2021
Last evening Thomas used a phrase I had not heard before: confirmational bias. I had to ask him to explain what he meant, and this is how I understand it. Confirmational bias occurs when someone holds a strong opinion and then finds facts and figures to confirm their opinion and refuses to listen to anything that might contradict their position. For example, when I was a youngster, my father had International tractors, and it was my strong opinion that International tractors were the best. I refused to be swayed in my opinion, and even when someone presented the case that tractors with green paint had a lot of good attributes and might even be a better tractor, I chose not to believe them. Even when the International company was bought out by the company that owned the Case tractor brand, I used that as ammunition in my argument, saying that those who know anything about tractors only buy the best. This morning I did an Internet search on the best tractors of the 1980s, and I discovered that green tractors were at the head of the list, but, I blinded myself to those websites, saying that they probably were unreliable and therefore not credible. Confirmational bias is very strong, for we are often reluctant to change our views, and when someone presents an alternative view, we are quick to discount them.
It is often the case that we use Scripture with confirmational bias. We might hold a strong belief about something, and we will go to Scripture to find verses which support what we want to be true. At the same time, if someone presents us with a text that contradicts our deeply held belief, we either ignore that verse (sometimes) or, more often, we say that they are misusing the Bible for their own purposes. We call the practice of confirming our bias using Scripture “cherry picking” or “proof texting.”
As I continued my conversation with Thomas, he told me that the way to overcome confirmational bias was to develop our belief systems within community rather than alone. In other words, we need to listen to others. In seminary one of my professors expressed the same when he said that while we should read good books that assist us in understanding the Bible, we should always read books with which we may disagree. He said that we need to hear the viewpoints of others, particularly when they differ, if we are going to be credible in our own. In other words, we need someone to challenge what we believe so that we can be sure that the position we are holding is the right one. To fight confirmational bias, we can’t simply find others who agree with us and use them to support our position. We need to listen to others.
But who should we listen to? This is an important question especially when it comes to understanding the Bible. We need to be careful, for there are many who study the Bible simply to refute what it has to say, thus denying the truths of Scripture and the necessity of faith in Jesus Christ. We should avoid them. What we need to do is listen to people to who want to understand what the Bible teaches so that they can develop a deep and robust faith.
In my years of study and learning, I have discovered that the best conversation partners are those who seek to understand what the Bible means on its own terms. We all have a tendency to impose our views on Scripture and thus make it support our views (confirmational bias), but we must resist that. Just as with all forms of communication where the one who is speaking/writing seeks to impart a particular idea, so it is with the biblical authors. The biblical authors wanted to communicate a message, and they hoped to be understood. It is the goal of healthy Bible study to understand original intention and meaning of the biblical authors so that we can grasp the full message and then allow it to shape our beliefs and understanding. Thus, we must be wary of liberals who feel free to ignore portions of Scripture that they do not like, but, equally, we must be wary of traditionalists who ignore other portions of Scripture because cannot make those passages fit their traditions. Instead, we are best advised to read the Bible on its own terms and seek to understand it as the original authors meant it to be understood.
The best way to study the Bible is in community, in conversation with others. We may find that we disagree on certain points, but if we all agree that God moved the biblical authors to be intentional and particular in their communication, we can move toward a better understanding of the message of the Bible. Our common goal will be to understand Scripture on its own terms. Always, though, we need to be prepared to let our beliefs and opinions be challenged as we read Scripture, for Scripture should shape us and not the other way around.
We are all susceptible to fall into the trap of confirmational bias, for we all have beliefs and opinions we have held onto, perhaps for our entire lives. It is far easier to find proof texts for what we believe rather than conform ourselves to what God would have us believe.
If I had to buy a tractor, I could depend on my biases and buy an International. Unfortunately, it would old because they stopped making them years ago. Better, I could talk to people who know tractors and I could try to put aside my biases and listen to what they have to say. I might end up with the best tractor, perhaps even a green one. And, as we listen to Scripture, seeking to understand what the biblical authors sought to communicate, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will end up with a deeper and more robust faith.
Pastor Gary
