Lecture 7

       The Jews went through a time of cognitive dissonance when Jerusalem and all that was in it was destroyed, so it was through this that the people of Jerusalem began to create explanations why this had happened. Cognitive dissonance deals with reality verses belief contradicting each other, and choosing which to trust. The Jews experienced this when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and they were exiled to Babylon. The people of Jerusalem trusted God because of his covenant to David that promised a land for his people and a line of descendants that would never end (2 Samuel 7:4-17). However, once Jerusalem was besieged and Josiah was killed this covenant with god was broken and people started to doubt their religion. It was a matter of cognitive dissonance to believe the reality of things (the destruction of their holy city) or to remain faithful to God. Those who stood strong by their religion came up with excuses of why God destroyed the city and why the Ark was gone; for example they could have been being punished because God was angry. There was a huge depopulation in Jerusalem due to the exile; only the poorest of the poor remained. Out of this, there was a new way of worshipping the Lord emerging from the exiled Jews. After the Temple was destroyed these people had to develop new ways to worship without the Temple. Jewish people still practiced the laws of Sabbath and sacrificing to preserve what little they had left of their culture.