Where God and science meet : how brain and evolutionary studies alter our understanding of religion
In this far-reaching and novel work, experts from across the nation and around the world present evolutionary, neuroscientific and psychological approaches to explaining and exploring religion, including the newest findings and evidence that have spurred the fledgling field of neurotheology. Spiritual practices, or awakenings, have an impact on brain, mind and personality. These changes are being scientifically predicted and proven. For example, studies show Buddhist priests and Franciscan nuns at the peak of religious feelings show a functional change in the lobes of their brain. Similar processes have been found in people with epilepsy, which Hippocrates called "the sacred disease." New research is showing that, not only does a person's brain activity change in particular areas while that person is experiencing religion epiphany, but that such events can be created for some people, even self-professed atheists, by stimulating various parts of the brain. It is not the goal of neurotheology to prove or disprove the existence of God, but to understand the biology of spiritual experiences. Such experiences seem to exist outside of time and space--caused by the brain losing its perception of a boundary between physical body and outside world. Understanding why this is the case could help explain other intangible events, such as altered states of consciousness, possession, supposed alien visitations, near-death experiences and out-of-body events. Understanding how and why these abilities evolved in the brain could also help us understand how religion contributes to the survival of the human race
1 online resource (3 volumes) : illustrations
9780313054761, 9780313054778, 9780313054785, 9780313054792, 0313054762, 0313054770, 0313054789, 0313054797
233527044
v. 1. Evolution, genes, and the religious brain
v. 2. The neurology of religious experience
v. 3. The psychology of religious experience. Contents of v. 1: The evolutionary psychology of religion / Steven Pinker
Sacred emotions and affective neuroscience : gratitude, costly signaling, and the brain / Robert A. Emmons and Patrick McNamara
Genetic and environmental influences on the traditional moral values triad
authoritarianism, conservatism, and religiousness
as assessed by quantitative behavior genetics methods / Laura B. Koenig and Thomas J. Bouchard Jr
Religious behaviors, badges, and bans : signaling theory and the evolution of religion / Richard Sosis
Nature's medicine : religiosity as an adaptation for health and cooperation / Joseph Bulbulia
The cognitive psychology of belief in the supernatural / Jesse M. Bering
The ritual healing theory : therapeutic suggestion and the origin of religion / James McClenon
Religion is not an adaptation / Lee A. Kirkpatrick
The cognitive and evolutionary roots of religion / Scott Atran
Amazing grace : religion and the evolution of the human mind / Ilkka Pyysiäinen
The significance of the evolution of religious belief and behavior for religious studies and theology / Wesley J. Wildman. Contents of v. 2: The chemistry of religiosity : evidence from patients with Parkinson's disease / Patrick McNamara [and others]
Religious and spiritual practices : a neurochemical perspective / Andrew B. Newberg
Neuroimaging studies of religious experience : a critical review / Nina P. Azari
Religion and the life course : is adolescence and "experience expectant" period for religious transmission? / Candace S. Alcorta
Neurotheology : a science of what? / Matthew Ratcliffe
Religion as a by-product of evolved psychology : the case of attachment and implications for brain and religion research / Pehr Granquist
Religious conversion, spiritual transformation, and the neurocognition of meaning making / Raymond E. Paloutzian, Erica L. Swenson, and Patrick McNamara
Religion and the brain : evidence from temporal lobe epilepsy / Steven C. Schachter
The frontal lobes and the evolution of cooperation and religion / Patrick McNamara
Mind design and the capacity for ritual performance / Carl Seaquist
The brain, religion, and baseball : comments on the potential for a neurology of religion and religious experience / Warren S. Brown. Contents of v. 3: The neuropharmacology of religious experience : hallucinogens and the experience of the divine / David E. Nichols and Benjamin R. Chemel
The relationship between religion and health / Andrew B. Newberg and Bruce Y. Lee
Religion, meaning, and the brain / Crystal L. Park and Patrick McNamara
The darker side of religion : risk factors for poorer health and well-being / Gina Magyar-Russell and Kenneth Pargament
The common core thesis in the study of mysticism / Ralph W. Hood, Jr
Cross-cultural assessments of shamanism as a biogenetic foundation for religion / Michael Winkelman
Schizophrenia, neurology, and religion : what can psychosis teach us about the evolutionary role of religion? / Steven A. Rogers and Raymond F. Paloutzian
Between yang and yin and heaven and hell : untangling the complex relationship between religion and intolerance / Ian Hansen and Ara Norenzayan
The origins of dreaming / Kelly Bulkeley
Chemical input, religious output : entheogens : a pharmatheology sampler / Thomas B. Roberts
An illusion of the future : temptations and possibilities / Keith G. Meador
Electronic reproduction, [Place of publication not identified], HathiTrust Digital Library, 2011
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