1300 187 187
Aÿfascinating tour of religious and mystical experiences and their relation to human physiologyÿHymn singing in the suburbs and ecstatic drumming in the African night, speaking in tongues and UFOs, chariots of fire, and pierced Messiahs-what do these things tell us about faith and what it means to be human? Human religious experiences are remarkably uniform; many can be pharmacologically induced. Recent research into the neurology of religious experience has shown that, when worshipping or praying, a certain part of the brain, apparently dormant during other activities, becomes active. This fascinating book takes a survey of the evidence-from shamans to medieval mystics, to out-of-body experiences and epilepsy, via Jerusalem and middle-class Christianity-and assesses its significance.
'I have enjoyed an extended argument with this book. Foster's passion and clarity help focus on the key issues concerning the nature of religious feeling in human life, demanding a quality of response from the reader that matches his own high standard of thought and exposition.' [Professor Chris Gosden, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford]'A look at the ultimately important questions of life that is itself wonderfully alive: you may not agree, but you will never be bored.' [Iain McGilchrist]'In this tour of the weird and wacky in religion and spirituality, Charles Foster displays his gift for making science accessible and philosophy entertaining. He will amuse and irritate religious believers and non-believers in turn but won't let either group stray too far from the evidence. You may not agree with all of Foster's answers, but he is certainly asking good questions.' [Justin Barrett, The University of Oxford]'Both serious and entertaining.' [Professor Susan Blackmore, author of Consciousness: An introduction]
| List of Illustrations | p. xi |
| Image Permissions | p. xiii |
| Acknowledgements | p. xv |
| Preface | p. xvii |
| Prologue | p. I |
| Matter Matters: Religious People are Made of Molecules too | p. 5 |
| God Head: The Anatomy of Religion | p. 11 |
| The Holy Helix: Genetically Predestined to Believe? | p. 41 |
| Wholly Mad or Holy Madness? | p. 49 |
| Getting Out of Yourself: An Introduction to Other States of Consciousness | p. 81 |
| Finding God in a Garden: How Psychoactive Substances can Throw Open the Doors of Perception | p. 97 |
| Finding God in the Bedroom: The Sexuality of Spirituality and the Spirituality of Sexuality | p. 133 |
| Finding God in the Intensive Care Unit: Near-death and Other Out-of-body Experiences | p. 145 |
| Other Portals | p. 167 |
| Wired for God? | |
| Turning On and Tuning In: Brains as Antennae | p. 181 |
| Religious Experience and the Origin of Religion | p. 195 |
| Angels or Demons? The Suppression of Religious Experience | p. 231 |
| Breathing God | p. 239 |
| Epilogue | p. 249 |
| Appendix: Who am I? The Terrible Problem of Consciousness | p. 253 |
| Select Bibliography | p. 269 |
| Notes | p. 275 |
| Index | p. 321 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
ISBN: 9780340964439
ISBN-10: 034096443X
Audience:
General
Format:
Paperback
Language:
English
Number Of Pages: 352
Published: 1st May 2012
Dimensions (cm): 19.8 x 12.9
x 2.3
Weight (kg): 0.25
9am - 4pm AEST, Monday - Friday
