The Impersonality of Religious Thought

I found Luhrmann's discussion of the process of discernment to be extremely interesting and important for understanding religious processes of thought. Luhrmann discusses how the process by which Evangelicals determine if their thoughts are their own or God's, is socially constructed. Individuals learn how to interpret their thoughts and learn specific practices to help them decide on the thought's origins. Individuals cannot a priori evaluate their own thoughts, instead utilizing normalized structures for understanding. Something as personal as one's own thoughts becomes controlled by accepted social norms.