Introduction: If Neurotheology Is the Answer, What Is the
Question?
1. Neurotheology and the Happy Prison of the Brain
2. What is Neurotheology?
3. Neuroscience and Neurotheology
4. What is Religion from a Neurotheological Perspective?
5. What is Spirituality from a Neurotheological Perspective?
6. Neurotheology and the Evolution of Religion
7. Neurotheology and Psychology
8. Brain Pathology and Religion
9. Religious Myths and the Brain
10. The Ritualizing Brain
11. Religious and Spiritual Practices
12. The Spiritual But Not Religious Brain
13. Free Will and the Brain
14. Escaping the Prison of the Brain: Mysticism
15. The End of Faith and the Beginning of Neurotheology
Notes
Index
Andrew Newberg is the director of research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. His books include Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief (2001), Why We Believe What We Believe: Uncovering Our Biological Need for Meaning, Spirituality, and Truth (2006), How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist (2009), and Principles of Neurotheology (2010).
A tour de force in this emerging field, Neurotheology
provides a superb review of the science to date and shows the many
directions the field may go in the future. This book raises
profound implications for neuroscience, medicine, theology, and
philosophy. Fascinating and clearly written and accessible for
everyone. Truly mind-blowing. -- Harold Koenig, Duke University
Medical Center
This book offers the promise that 'neurotheology' can help move us
beyond the conflict between science and religion toward the truth
or at least to a more unified and universal perspective on the
interface between spirituality and the brain. Neurotheology
covers many potential points of contact between science and
religion, acknowledges the existence of complexity and the dangers
of simple reductionism, and presents clear information on the
capabilities and limitations of various forms of neurological
assessment. -- John Peteet, Harvard Medical School
In Neurotheology, Andrew Newberg discusses the possibility
of a fruitful dialogue between neuroscience and religion and how
this sort of investigation may have a profound impact on how we see
spirituality, ourselves, and life. A world expert in the
neuroimaging study of spiritual experiences, Newberg proposes a
nondogmatic approach to the scientific study of spirituality and
successfully advocates for fruitful exchanges between science and
religion. -- Alexander Moreira-Almeida, Federal University of Juiz
de Fora
A magnificent work! Newberg is a superb scientist, yet still writes
for a curious reader or college student an entirely gripping
scholarly account. He addresses some of humanity's all-time epic
questions of ultimate meaning with systematic, fine grain research
that could only be technically possible in the past decade. A true
work of scholarship, with rigor, artful synthesis, and a deep bench
of knowledge around spirituality and religion. -- Lisa Miller,
Ph.D., Professor and Founder, Spirituality Mind Body Institute,
Teachers College, Columbia University
This is an excellent introduction to the emerging field of
neurotheology as well as a concise assessment of the contributions
of neuroscience to our understanding of a broad range of religious
and spiritual issues. * Reading Religion *
This volume serves as both a great introduction to the various
empirical approaches available to the study of religious phenomena
and a strong argument for the crucial role of neurophysiology in
aiding the psychology, cognitive science, and anthropology of
religion to better understand the 'why' and 'how' of religious
experience and behavior. * Quarterly Review of Biology *
This book very usefully highlights complex material related to
brain research and neuroscience as applied to areas of human
experience broadly categorized as religious. * Religion *
[A] comprehensive look at the field of neurotheology, or the
neurology of religion. . . . Given that the larger relationship
between science and religion has been contested for centuries,
Newberg's latest evidential support for a scientific understanding
of why humans practice religion will be a welcome overview for
interested readers. * Publishers Weekly *
Newberg's book will be of most value to those who are struggling to
reconcile science and spirituality. * Choice *
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