Thomas J Parlette
“A Story You Can Trust”
1st Corinthians 15: 1-11
2/9/25
A Duke University professor was hospitalized with an injury. Then someone made a video of him in his hospital bed and posted it on the internet. That’s odd, for sure. Not usually what happens in the hospital with HIPPA regulations and all. But then things got even weirder.
According to the professor, the video “described how my injury got me to hate healthy people, how that got me to join Bill Gates and the Illuminati in creating the COVID pandemic. It also caused me to attempt to try and kill as many healthy people as possible using the virus and the vaccines, to control people.”
Every bit of it was false – It was all a lie. But some people believed it. An acquaintance of his even reached out via email and asked, “What happened to you?”
The experience led that professor, a man named Dan Ariely, to write a book called Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things. The book is a very personal exploration of misinformation and conspiracy theories, and what causes people to fall into distrust.
He talks about what he calls “The Funnel of Misbelief,” which explains our society’s loss of trust. People fall into the funnel when they are stressed and have a deep need for understanding. They go deeper when they lose their social attachments and begin to feel ostracized. The result is a group of rational people believing irrational things, such as the story of a professor creating the COVID pandemic to kill as many healthy people as possible. (1)
Conspiracy theories are not a new phenomenon – they’ve been around for centuries, from witch trials and antisemitic campaigns to beliefs that Freemasons were trying to topple European monarchies. But the “golden age” of conspiracy theories, it seems, is now. Recent polls show that more than 50% of Americans believe in one conspiracy theory or another…
According to a study conducted by the University of Chicago:
- 19% of Americans believe the government was behind the 9/11 attacks;
- 25% believe the 2008 recession was caused by a small cabal of Wall Street Bankers;
- And 11% believe the government mandated a switch to compact fluorescent lightbulbs in government buildings because “they make people obedient and easier to control.” (2)
Much of the commentary on conspiracy theories presumes that followers simply have bad information, or not enough, and that they can be helped along with a better diet of facts.
But anyone who has talked with a conspiracy theorist knows that they’re never short on details… They have plenty of information, but they insist that it be interpreted in a particular way – usually the way that feels most exciting or scandalous.
So how does a conspiracy theory feel? First of all, it lets you feel like you’re smarter than everyone else. Political scientist Michael Barkun points out that conspiracy theory devotees love what he calls “stigmatized knowledge,” – sources that are obscure or even looked down upon.
In fact, the more obscure the source is, the more the true believers want to trust it…
One of the most exciting parts of a conspiracy theory is that it makes everything make sense. We all know the pleasure of solving a puzzle – the “click” of satisfaction when you complete a Wordle, a crossword or a Sudoku.
Conspiracy theories encourage their followers to see themselves as the only ones with their eyes open, and everyone else as sheep. But paradoxically, this fantasy leads to self-delusion – and helping the followers recognize that can be a first step. Unraveling their beliefs requires the patient work of persuading devotees that the world is just a more boring, more random, less interesting place that one might have hoped.
To make progress against conspiracy theories, we have to patiently prove what’s happening – to research, learn and find the most plausible interpretation of the evidence, not the one that’s the most fun and exciting. (3)
When Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians, he was addressing the citizens of a powerful city in the Roman Empire. Corinth was a wealthy center of commerce in Greece, and it was full of cultured and educated people who were stressed by politics and economic challenges. Much as we are today.
On top of that, many of these people were feeling spiritual emptiness. Some were joining groups called “mystery religions” that included secret ceremonies in which a person would be joined to a pagan god or goddess. Very popular in Corinth was a drama about the death of Adonis, a celebration of his resurrection, and an invitation to share in his triumph.
Paul knew that these secret ceremonies were irrational, and he worried that the Corinthians would fall into their own sort of 1st century Funnel of Misbelief, believing what he considered to be conspiracy theories of the day. Because they were stressed and had a deep need for understanding, they were vulnerable to these mystery religions. Paul wrote his letter to remind them of the power of Jesus to fill the empty places in their lives with new and unexpected life. He was offering them the truth, a story they could trust – not a myth.
“Now I want you to understand,” writes Paul, “the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which you are being saved.” Here, Paul reminds them of the good news of the resurrection of Jesus, which he had previously shared with them. He wants them to “hold firmly” to this message, and not be distracted by theories or popular myths, like the myth of Adonis.
Paul says, “For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received – that the Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures…” Paul wants them to know that the story of Jesus is not a myth, but it is connected to something bigger than himself. Christ died for our sins “in accordance with the scriptures,” and he was raised from dead “in accordance with the scriptures.”
None of this is irrational, according to Paul. It is not crazy or out of left field like a conspiracy theory. No, the promise of forgiveness and new life fits what God has been doing all through history, as reported in the Scriptures.
This is good information, not misinformation. This is a story you can trust.
Being aware that people fall for conspiracy theories when they feel unattached and ostracized, Paul tries to strengthen their social cohesion. He writes that Jesus “appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve and then to more than five hundred brothers and sisters…” The resurrection is not some made-up internet meme or YouTube video – it is a real historical event, witnessed by a long list of men and women. You can check it out for yourselves, says Paul to the Corinthians, “most of them are still alive, though some have died.”
Our society relies a lot on trust,” says Dan Ariely. “It’s like fish in water. Fish don’t notice the water… because it’s all around them. Trust is the same. Trust is all around us. Because of that, we don’t often notice how big and important it effect is on our behavior… But the reality is that people who go down the Funnel of Misbelief lose trust, and they pay a price – and we, as a society, pay a price.” (4)
Paul knows how much the Christian community relies on trust. That is why he reminds the Corinthians that Jesus appeared to people that they knew about and trusted – from Cephas to five hundred brothers and sisters. Paul then says that Christ “appeared also to me” – reminding them of the time that the resurrected Jesus spoke to him personally on the road to Damascus, completely turning his life around.
It is by the grace of God – that Paul talks about so many times – that Paul is who and what he is. And because of this, the story he tells can be trusted.
At the end of the day, all Paul cares about is that the Corinthians accept the forgiveness and new life that Jesus offers. He knows there is nothing irrational about the resurrection, since it is God’s grace-filled plan to relieve the stress of sin and death. He reminds the Corinthians that the resurrection was witnessed by a wide community and proclaimed by a number of apostles. “Whether then it was I or they,” says Paul, “so we proclaim and so you believed.” He does not want the Corinthians to buy into conspiracies or fall into the Funnel of Misbelief.
We need to hear this message today – because we are very much like the people of Corinth. Many of us are stressed and spiritually empty, and we are losing our social attachments. A recent study has shown that one third of adults 45 and older feel lonely, and nearly one fourth of adults 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated. (5) Loss of social attachments can cause us to tumble into the Funnel of Misbelief and leave us vulnerable to conspiracy theories.
We need a message we can trust. We have a deep need for understanding, and we want to find the truth.
In a world of misinformation and conspiracy theories – ours is a trustworthy story. It leads us to life, not death. It is based on Scripture, not Internet speculation. It is grounded in the eyewitness accounts of a reliable community of Christians. And it comes from the grace of God, the One who loves us and wants us all to experience forgiveness and new life.
So, let us put our trust in Jesus, the One who died for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day. His truth comes through belief, not misbelief. The story of Jesus’ death and resurrection is a story we can trust.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Dan Ariely, “Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things,” Next Big Idea Club, September 20, 2023.
2. Christina Georgacopoulos, “Why We Fall for Conspiracies,” LSU, February 2020.
3. Donovan Schaefer, “Buying into conspiracy theories can be exciting – that’s what makes them dangerous,” The Conversation, July 5, 2022.
4. Dan Ariely, ibid…
5. “Loneliness and Social Isolation Linked to Serious Health Conditions.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, April 29, 2021.
