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NeuroTheology: Brain, Science, Spirituality, Religious Experience
NeuroTheology is the Alpha and Omega of this exciting
new science. Over 600 pages. Nearly 200 illustrations. Thirty Eight Chapters. Thousands of References. The World's Leading Experts. And more....
Is the Brain Wired for God?
Is There a Scientific Basis for
Spirituality & Religious Belief?
Does God Exist?
What is the Physics of God?
Is There Life After Death?
What is the Anti-Christ?
These questions and more are answered by the World's Leading Experts...
Andrew Newberg, Michael Persinger, Matthew Alper, Eugene G. d'Aquili, Scott
Atran, William James, Michael Winkelman, Carol Rausch Albright, Fraser Watts,
and more. Over 600 pages. Nearly 200 illustrations. Thirty Eight Chapters.
Thousands of References. And more....
new science. Over 600 pages. Nearly 200 illustrations. Thirty Eight Chapters. Thousands of References. The World's Leading Experts. And more....
Is the Brain Wired for God?
Is There a Scientific Basis for
Spirituality & Religious Belief?
Does God Exist?
What is the Physics of God?
Is There Life After Death?
What is the Anti-Christ?
These questions and more are answered by the World's Leading Experts...
Andrew Newberg, Michael Persinger, Matthew Alper, Eugene G. d'Aquili, Scott
Atran, William James, Michael Winkelman, Carol Rausch Albright, Fraser Watts,
and more. Over 600 pages. Nearly 200 illustrations. Thirty Eight Chapters.
Thousands of References. And more....
620 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 2003
2 people are currently reading
107 people want to read
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June 16, 2024
A DIVERSE SET OF ESSAYS ABOUT NEUROTHEOLOGY AND OTHER TOPICS
Editor (and author of many of the essays included) Rhawn Joseph wrote in the first essay of this 2002 book, “Life could not have emerged from non-life---at least not on Earth…. Indeed, there is absolutely no scientific evidence to support the hypothesis that life on Earth emerged from an organic soup, or was randomly fashioned within an undersea thermal event… life on Earth… either arrived here from other planets… or it was fashioned by a superior intelligence: the hand of ‘god.’ And, if life was created by ‘god’ or if the seeds of life swarm throughout the cosmos, then some of these ‘genetic’ seeds have fallen to Earth and on other planets including Mars… Life has not only repeatedly appeared on other planets, but has done so long before the Earth became a twinkle in god’s eye. Indeed, the ‘seeds of life’ may have in fact been created by ‘god.’” (Pg. 12-13) Later, he adds, “what if these ancient ones long ago engineered their own DNA and thus genetically engineered their own metamorphosis … that enable them to analyze… and manipulate phenomenon that modern humans cannot even conceive much less comprehend. These people, these ancient ones, would be as ‘gods’ even if they were merely human.” (Pg. 20)
In another essay, he states, “Conventional wisdom is of a single line of descent, and that modern humans ‘evolved’ in Africa… with each successive species migrating out of Africa, and then… replacing earlier species who had also originated out of Africa before them… is has yet to be explained why that variation can only occur in Africa, and why that variation did not lead just to variable species, but increasingly intelligent and resourceful, and more advanced species… Not only is the out-of-Africa, single seed, mutation scenario contradicted by the fossil evidence, but by logic and genetics.” (Pg.102)
William F. Hamilton III suggests, “The strongest version of panspermia … lends support to the ET hypothesis for UFO origins. It also lends support to evolutionary interference by advanced ET races that have come to earth. It does not go so far as to lend support to the ET abduction human-hybrid scenario through we could consider the possibility.” (Pg. 112)
William Braud asserts, “the investigations of experimental parapsychology have become increasing [sic] sophisticated, criticisms of earlier work have been effectively met, and present studies match or exceed those of conventional behavioral and biomedical research in the tightness of their designs and in their safeguards against artifacts and confounding variables.” (Pg. 127) Later, he adds, “if a strong case ever could be made for the survival of some aspects of personality or of some forms of active consciousness, after death… then such evidence would be strongly suggestive that a functioning brain may not be essential to the presence of at least some forms of consciousness.” (Pg. 133)
Andrew Newberg wrote, “the answer to one of the common posed questions, ‘Did God create brain or did the brain create God?’ would be ‘yes’ to both… The implications of such a conclusion would be that, while human beings and the human brain are derived in some respects from an absolute reality or God, that it is also the human brain that creates our conception of the ultimate reality of God… However, that the brain may be derived from some fundamental or divine level of reality is a question that remains to be clearly answered.” (Pg. 145)
Scott Atran says, “religion is not an evolutionary adaptation per se, but a constantly re-emerging cultural path by which people readily navigate the complex evolutionary landscape that sets cognitive, emotional and material conditions for ordinary human interactions. It arises, in part, from developed cognitions of folkpsychology and agency.” (Pg. 149) Later, he adds, “broader neurotheological interpretations of the findings are unwarranted. They involve speculation that not only strays way beyond the facts but crucially ignores or contradicts much recent work in cognitive and developmental psychology and cognitive anthropology… there is no evidence that less extreme, more ‘routine,’ religious experiences have some characteristic brain-activation pattern.” (Pg. 165)
Carol Rausch Albright explains, “Whether the Deity truly influences our consciousness is, of course, a different question… I tend to think of God more as a process than as a ‘thing.’ I think that God… is manifested in terms of action…” (Pg. 177) Later, she adds, ‘If God did create human beings out of love, then… God would have desired human spiritual growth… So, if Godself is related to the universe in the most complex way one can imagine. For all is centered in God, and begins and ends in God…. But might Godself also be adaptive?... The evidence so far leads me to believe that Godself is indeed adaptive.” (Pg. 182)
Raymond F. Paloutzian and two others wrote, “The notion of neurotheology raises the idea that it is possible to learn about God or God perceptions by studying the brain. Specifically, the narrowest version of this idea, mapping the brain mechanisms that underlay reports of God experiences, is said to tell us about the neurobiological substrates of experiencing God. We argue that the efforts to map such brain mechanisms may teach us a great deal about the neuropsychological processes that are at the basis of various important perceptions---such as the perception of God, the numinous, and Absolute Unitary Being… but that such knowledge does not tell us about God.” (Pg. 189)
Michael A. Persinger observes, “The power of the God Experience shames any known therapy. With a single burst in the temporal lobe, people find structure and meaning in seconds. With it comes the personal conviction of truth and the sense of self-selection… If the God Experience can control the lives of human beings to this extreme, what if it can be controlled or manipulated by things or people?” (Pg. 276)
Matthew Alper notes, “at some point in the last two million or so years, during the emergence of the latter hominid lines, a cognitive adaptation emerged that enabled us to cope with our awareness of death, while at the same time allowing us to maintain self-conscious awareness. By having this cognitive mechanism instilled in us, we were not ‘wired’ to perceive physical death in a much more acceptable manner. Once nature has instilled us with neurophysiologically-generated cognitive phantoms who could protect us from inevitable death, humans were better equipped to survive their inherent fear of such.” (Pg. 302-303)
Rhawn Joseph suggests, “dreams may also contain meaningful information that is not otherwise available to the conscious mind… The conscious mind is often denied information and social-emotional nuances that may be unconsciously conveyed by others but which may be perceived within the right hemispheres and limbic system.” (Pg. 425)
Matthew Alper proposes, “So why not use the same methodology that has enabled us to master our environments, to master ourselves? Science. Isn’t it time we begin placing the same emphasis we use on perfecting our toys---our space ships, computers, and automobiles---on perfecting ourselves? How much longer will we be slaves to destructive religious credos, before we can transfer our faith over to the natural sciences?” (Pg. 469)
This book is very wide-ranging, going far beyond brain physiology, and related topics. It will interest some persons interested in creative and speculative ideas about religion and spirituality.
Editor (and author of many of the essays included) Rhawn Joseph wrote in the first essay of this 2002 book, “Life could not have emerged from non-life---at least not on Earth…. Indeed, there is absolutely no scientific evidence to support the hypothesis that life on Earth emerged from an organic soup, or was randomly fashioned within an undersea thermal event… life on Earth… either arrived here from other planets… or it was fashioned by a superior intelligence: the hand of ‘god.’ And, if life was created by ‘god’ or if the seeds of life swarm throughout the cosmos, then some of these ‘genetic’ seeds have fallen to Earth and on other planets including Mars… Life has not only repeatedly appeared on other planets, but has done so long before the Earth became a twinkle in god’s eye. Indeed, the ‘seeds of life’ may have in fact been created by ‘god.’” (Pg. 12-13) Later, he adds, “what if these ancient ones long ago engineered their own DNA and thus genetically engineered their own metamorphosis … that enable them to analyze… and manipulate phenomenon that modern humans cannot even conceive much less comprehend. These people, these ancient ones, would be as ‘gods’ even if they were merely human.” (Pg. 20)
In another essay, he states, “Conventional wisdom is of a single line of descent, and that modern humans ‘evolved’ in Africa… with each successive species migrating out of Africa, and then… replacing earlier species who had also originated out of Africa before them… is has yet to be explained why that variation can only occur in Africa, and why that variation did not lead just to variable species, but increasingly intelligent and resourceful, and more advanced species… Not only is the out-of-Africa, single seed, mutation scenario contradicted by the fossil evidence, but by logic and genetics.” (Pg.102)
William F. Hamilton III suggests, “The strongest version of panspermia … lends support to the ET hypothesis for UFO origins. It also lends support to evolutionary interference by advanced ET races that have come to earth. It does not go so far as to lend support to the ET abduction human-hybrid scenario through we could consider the possibility.” (Pg. 112)
William Braud asserts, “the investigations of experimental parapsychology have become increasing [sic] sophisticated, criticisms of earlier work have been effectively met, and present studies match or exceed those of conventional behavioral and biomedical research in the tightness of their designs and in their safeguards against artifacts and confounding variables.” (Pg. 127) Later, he adds, “if a strong case ever could be made for the survival of some aspects of personality or of some forms of active consciousness, after death… then such evidence would be strongly suggestive that a functioning brain may not be essential to the presence of at least some forms of consciousness.” (Pg. 133)
Andrew Newberg wrote, “the answer to one of the common posed questions, ‘Did God create brain or did the brain create God?’ would be ‘yes’ to both… The implications of such a conclusion would be that, while human beings and the human brain are derived in some respects from an absolute reality or God, that it is also the human brain that creates our conception of the ultimate reality of God… However, that the brain may be derived from some fundamental or divine level of reality is a question that remains to be clearly answered.” (Pg. 145)
Scott Atran says, “religion is not an evolutionary adaptation per se, but a constantly re-emerging cultural path by which people readily navigate the complex evolutionary landscape that sets cognitive, emotional and material conditions for ordinary human interactions. It arises, in part, from developed cognitions of folkpsychology and agency.” (Pg. 149) Later, he adds, “broader neurotheological interpretations of the findings are unwarranted. They involve speculation that not only strays way beyond the facts but crucially ignores or contradicts much recent work in cognitive and developmental psychology and cognitive anthropology… there is no evidence that less extreme, more ‘routine,’ religious experiences have some characteristic brain-activation pattern.” (Pg. 165)
Carol Rausch Albright explains, “Whether the Deity truly influences our consciousness is, of course, a different question… I tend to think of God more as a process than as a ‘thing.’ I think that God… is manifested in terms of action…” (Pg. 177) Later, she adds, ‘If God did create human beings out of love, then… God would have desired human spiritual growth… So, if Godself is related to the universe in the most complex way one can imagine. For all is centered in God, and begins and ends in God…. But might Godself also be adaptive?... The evidence so far leads me to believe that Godself is indeed adaptive.” (Pg. 182)
Raymond F. Paloutzian and two others wrote, “The notion of neurotheology raises the idea that it is possible to learn about God or God perceptions by studying the brain. Specifically, the narrowest version of this idea, mapping the brain mechanisms that underlay reports of God experiences, is said to tell us about the neurobiological substrates of experiencing God. We argue that the efforts to map such brain mechanisms may teach us a great deal about the neuropsychological processes that are at the basis of various important perceptions---such as the perception of God, the numinous, and Absolute Unitary Being… but that such knowledge does not tell us about God.” (Pg. 189)
Michael A. Persinger observes, “The power of the God Experience shames any known therapy. With a single burst in the temporal lobe, people find structure and meaning in seconds. With it comes the personal conviction of truth and the sense of self-selection… If the God Experience can control the lives of human beings to this extreme, what if it can be controlled or manipulated by things or people?” (Pg. 276)
Matthew Alper notes, “at some point in the last two million or so years, during the emergence of the latter hominid lines, a cognitive adaptation emerged that enabled us to cope with our awareness of death, while at the same time allowing us to maintain self-conscious awareness. By having this cognitive mechanism instilled in us, we were not ‘wired’ to perceive physical death in a much more acceptable manner. Once nature has instilled us with neurophysiologically-generated cognitive phantoms who could protect us from inevitable death, humans were better equipped to survive their inherent fear of such.” (Pg. 302-303)
Rhawn Joseph suggests, “dreams may also contain meaningful information that is not otherwise available to the conscious mind… The conscious mind is often denied information and social-emotional nuances that may be unconsciously conveyed by others but which may be perceived within the right hemispheres and limbic system.” (Pg. 425)
Matthew Alper proposes, “So why not use the same methodology that has enabled us to master our environments, to master ourselves? Science. Isn’t it time we begin placing the same emphasis we use on perfecting our toys---our space ships, computers, and automobiles---on perfecting ourselves? How much longer will we be slaves to destructive religious credos, before we can transfer our faith over to the natural sciences?” (Pg. 469)
This book is very wide-ranging, going far beyond brain physiology, and related topics. It will interest some persons interested in creative and speculative ideas about religion and spirituality.
December 6, 2012
There are 38 articles in this book, covering the wide gamut of areas relevant to neurotheology. Some are excellent, some decidedly flaky. Astonishing to see that new copies are now priced at more than £1,000 on Amazon.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews