Overview
This book offers an interpretation of a diverse
variety of religious and spiritual experiences,
from the mundane to the shocking, from the
terrifying to the sublime, and from the common
to the exceptionally unusual. It carefully
describes these experiences and offers a novel
classification based on their neurological
features and their internal qualities. The book
avoids the reductionistic oversimplifications so
common in both religious and scientific
literatures, and instead synthesizes
perspectives from many disciplines into a
compelling account of the meaning and value of
religious and spiritual experiences in human
life. The resulting interpretation does not
assume a supernatural worldview, nor does it
reject such experiences as totally delusory.
Rather, the book frames religious and spiritual
experiences as contributing to a spiritually
positive affirmation of this-worldly existence.
Along the way, the book directly addresses key
intellectual and practical questions in a
philosophically sound and scientifically
informed way. For example, can we trust the
apparent meaning of such experiences? What is
the value of religious and spiritual experiences
within human life? Are we evolutionarily
programmed to have such experiences? How will
emerging technologies change such experiences in
the future?
Distinctive Features
Religious and Spiritual Experiences has a number of distinctive features.
The novel typology of religious and spiritual experiences helps readers grasp the diversity and shared aspects of these experiences.
The richly multidisciplinary approach, embracing the sciences and philosophy and theology, demonstrates how multiple insights can converge on a compelling and unified interpretation.
The inclusion of neuroscience perspectives (accompanied by a critique of hasty interpretations) assists readers in reappraising the importance of the neurosciences and properly situating their findings in a wider scheme of interpretation.
The rejection of extreme interpretations (such as supernaturalism that privileges one religion or complete rejection of the value of religious and spiritual experiences) points the way to an appreciation of religious and spiritual experiences as meaningful and useful this-worldly features of human life.
Directly addressing vital practical but theoretically complex questions aids the readers’ grasp of the subject matter and its relevance to their lives.
Table of Contents
Preface and Acknowledgements
Chapter 1. Exploring a Strange yet Familiar Landscape: A Strategy for Interpreting Religious and Spiritual Experiences
Introduction
Motivating Concerns
Theoretical Issues
Conclusion
Chapter 2. Spirituality and the Brain: A Revolutionary Scientific Approach to Religious and Spiritual Experiences
Introduction
History of Thought about Spirituality and the
Brain
Evidence for the Neural Mediation Hypothesis
Problems Facing the Neuroscience of Religious
and Spiritual Experiences
Creative Responses
Conclusion
Chapter 3. A Smorgasbord of Dangers and Delights: The Phenomenology of Religious and Spiritual Experiences
Introduction
Mapping the Terrain of Religious and Spiritual
Experiences
Basic Distinctions in the Map
Exploring Shared Territory in More Detail
Conclusion
Chapter 4. Gateway to Ultimacy: The Importance of Intense Experiences
Introduction
Immediate Responses to Intense Experiences
Five Core Features of Intense Experiences
The Faces, Functions, and Cognitive Value of
Intense Experiences
Evolution and the Neurology of Intense
Experiences
Conclusion
Chapter 5. Can You Trust Your Instincts? The Cognitive Reliability of Religious and Spiritual Experiences
Introduction
Deepening the Reliability Question
The Perception Analogy
An Ecological-Semiotic Theory of Dynamic
Engagement
The Reliability of Religious Perceptual
Engagement
Conclusion
Chapter 6. The Brain-Group Nexus: The Social Power of Religious and Spiritual Experiences
Introduction
A Dynamical Systems Approach to the Brain-Group
Nexus
Describing All Equilibrium Social Arrangements
since the Neolithic
Evolutionary Origins of the Pre-Neolithic
Equilibrium
Behind the Ideological Curtain
Conclusion
Chapter 7. Make it Start, Make it Stop! Religious and Spiritual Experiences in the Future
Introduction
Past Technologies, Transformed in the Present,
Hurtling into the Future
Unprecedented Technologies
Conclusion
Chapter 8. Brains in Bodies, Persons in Groups, and Religion in Nature: An Integrative Interpretation of Religious and Spiritual Experiences
Introduction
Five Key Controversies
Five Key Affirmations
Conclusion