Few issues generate more debate than the discussion of what God is. Neurotheology attempts to measure brain activity during spiritual experiences.
Attributing the affects of spiritual ritual such as prayer, chanting, singing, meditation etc. to neurological responses in the brain is far too simplistic given the subjective nature of what God means to each person, and because researchers understand little about the brain's role in spirituality. Yet neurotheology may offer an expanded view of spirituality for people interested in reconciling two seemingly disparate belief systems.
God Inside the Brain? The Field of Neurotheology
Neurotheology studies the search for the place(s) in the brain where religious beliefs originate. Neurotheology mixes terms and methods from science and religion in an attempt to confer the authority of science upon religion.
- The perception that time, fear or self-consciousness dissolves
- Spiritual awe
- Oneness with the universe
- Ecstatic trance
- Sudden enlightenment
- Altered states of consciousness
Some proponents believe the existence of neurotheology proves God created the brain, while others believe the brain created God. Yet outside the inherently fascinating push pull debate, what benefit does neurotheology offer?
In a 2007 Associated Baptist Press article titled "How the field of neurotheology opens the door for scientific belief," Hannah Elliott discusses the beliefs of Paul Simmons, a clinical professor of family and community medicine. He believes neurotheology serves as a way to help theologians use all of their capacities to study God.
Simmons a former pastor and ethics professor quoted in Elliott's article ponders, is a spiritual experience "just a mental state or have you gotten in touch with a transcendence? Our brain is basic to all that we are, all that we understand, all that we perceive," he said, adding, "We can't avoid that in theology any longer. At least, we must be aware of the fact that many of our claims made about religion are actually based on science."
God vs. Brain Debate as Old as Time
The debate over the origin of God is hardly new. Historians, writes Elliott, suggest that Joan of Arc, Saint Teresa of Avila, Fedor Dostoevsky and Marcel Proust had aliments like epilepsy, which in turn led to their obsessions with the spiritual world. Modern scientists differentiate between the brain and mind by defining the brain as physical and chemical, while the mind has to do with thoughts and ideas.
Plato's philosophy encompassed both the brain and the mind. Aristotle argued that God is pure mind, and since people have a brain they can think "God thoughts," Simmons said. "Aristotle thought you could think pure thoughts and thus get right in touch with God."
Scientists in the 1950s and 1960s used EEGs to try to study brain wave patterns associated with "spiritual" states. During the 1980s, Dr. Michael Persinger stimulated the temporal lobes of human subjects with a weak magnetic field. Subjects claimed to sense "an ethereal presence in the room."
Scientists use neuroimaging to pinpoint the brain regions that are activated during experiences that subjects associate with "spiritual" feelings or images. David Wulf, a psychologist at Wheaton College, Massachusetts mentioned in Elliott's article, suggests that current brain imaging studies, along with the consistency of spiritual experiences across cultures, history, and religions, "suggest a common core that is likely a reflection of structures and processes in the human brain."
Aldous Huxley used the term neurotheology for the first time in the utopian novel Island. The first modern book published on neurotheology came out in 1994, Neurotheology: Virtual Religion in the 21st Century, and was promoted in a theological journal called Zygon. Newsweek citied a 1998 book published by MIT Press called Zen and the Brain.
God and Science Research Evokes Criticism
Some philosophers, religious scholars and even scientists are critical however. They argue that spirituality, an experience inherently steeped in subjectivity can never be accurately measured. Some criticize the validity of the neurotheological studies, including Persigner's, claiming his work had methodological errors. Persinger however, stands behind his results.
Attempting to apply science to spirituality may be reductionist, boiling down the complex and wildly individual spiritual experience to mere brain circuitry, yet the attempt alone may be worthwhile suggests Simmons. "It's oversimplified, but at the same time, there's a large kernel of truth in there," Simmons said. "The issue is whether a religious experience is a matter of brain circuits or God. Religiously inclined people will say, 'Well, that's God using our brain manifesting [itself] in brain activity.'"
Reconciling God and the Brain
Massimo Pigliucci, a professor of ecology and evolution quoted in Elliott's article, questions neurotheology in his essay titled "Neurotheology: A Rather Skeptical Perspective." "First, it is no theology at all. Theology is the study of the attributes of God," he says. "The neurological study of what happens to the brain during mystical experiences cannot tell us anything about God because all we can do is to measure neural patterns."
Yet converting people to scientific definitions of God and away from their basic beliefs isn't the goal, further understanding the spiritual experiences is. "What I'm trying to do with neurotheology is to explain that each of these has a way with relating to the subject matter," says Brian Alston, a pioneer in neurotheology. "Once again, [it] depends on the standing point of a person in terms of if they're a biologist and what their tools are and if they are a psychologist and what their tools are," says Alston.
Even if neuroscience and theology are brought together within the discipline of neurotheology, some believe the differences will inevitably lead to one discipline dominating, likely theology, suggests Alston.
What may be more useful than theologians and scientists trying to dominate the debate is for both sides to acknowledge that the growing interest in exploring God through multiple disciplines may be the start of a paradigm shift for cultures, a gradual acceptance towards converging beliefs, or least overlay, of various perspectives.
Sources:
MedicineNet.com, "Definition of Neurotheology," (Accessed April 12, 2010).
NeuroDevelopment.net, "Neurotheology," (Accessed April 22,2010).
Elliott, Hannah. Associated Baptist Press, "New field of neurotheology opens door for scientific study of belief," August 08, 2007.
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Laura Owens - Laura Owens has a B.S. in Psychology from Rollins College & U of FL. She is a freelance writer with expertise in motivation & wellness.
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