INDEX

Page numbers refer to the print edition but are hyperlinked to the appropriate location in the e-book.

absolute unity, 257, 266, 269, 278, 288

and morality, 257

Acetylcholine, 65

Age of Enlightenment, 226

agency

and religion, 118

agnosticism, 227

Alzheimer’s disease, 38, 65, 128, 147, 202, 250, 298, 314

amygdala, 62, 119, 216, 217, 251

and electrical stimulation, 146

and mystical experience, 268

and rituals, 190

and seizures, 145

animal rituals, 34

anterior cingulate, 114, 130, 215, 235

anthropology, 34, 73

anthropomorphism, 234

anxiety, 132

Aquinas, Thomas, 31

archetypes, 126, 165

Archimedes, 192

Aristotle, 31

Ashbrook, James, 35

Atran, Scott, 73, 116, 294, 297

autonomic nervous system, 55, 100, 187, 214, 218

and near death experiences, 154

and rituals, 110, 183, 186

states during ritual, 187

ayahuasca, 44, 157, 160, 301

Azari, Nina, 178

Banerjee, Konika, 234

Beauregard, Mario, 35, 103, 154

beliefs, 77

and religious extremism, 136

Belief Acceptance Scale, 78

Bhagavad-Gita, 30, 173

Bible, 14, 26, 30, 115, 138, 145, 173, 226, 248

binary process, 234

biogenetic structuralism, 108

Bloom, Paul, 234

Boyer, Pascal, 68, 73, 111, 116, 118, 182, 190, 229, 293, 313, 314

brain

in adolescence, 87

in adulthood, 87

in childhood, 86

and forgiveness, 250

and myth, 164

and physical reality, 260

and psychological disorders, 130

and self-maintenance, 119

and self-transcendence, 120

and sensory experience, 18

and structure of myth, 169

brain injury, 151

brain pathology, 138

Campbell, Joseph, 168, 169

Plato’s cave allegory, 27

centering prayer, 14, 214

ceremonial ritual, 193

Christian theology

and free will, 247

clarity

sense of, 269

Cloninger, Claude, 72, 151

cognitive behavioral therapy

and religion, 130

cognitive imperative, 170

cognitive neuroscience, 17, 31, 38, 46

and free will, 239, 242

Coles, Robert, 98

Collins, Francis, 177

comparison state

for research, 212

conjunctio oppositorum, 193

conjunctive faith, 87

consciousness, 4, 15, 39, 103

and death, 156

and free will, 245, 247

as primary, 233

universal, 225, 263

consciousness studies, 39

conspecific congruence, 251

content analysis, 178, 266

cortisol, 221

costly signaling theory, 114

creativity

and spirituality, 99

criminal brain, 256

d’Aquili, Eugene, 34, 107, 108, 170, 186, 265

Damasio, Antonio, 31, 100, 180, 189

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 129

Dawkins, Richard, 21, 50, 142, 161

deafferentation, 216

default mode network, 17, 129, 170

delusion

and religion, 140

Dennett, Daniel, 11, 76, 112

depression, 132

Descartes, René 17, 31, 32, 290

diffusion tensor imaging, 204

dimethyltryptamine, 219

Dimethyltryptamine, 160, 219

dopamine, 65, 210, 235

in meditation, 210

and schizophrenia, 141

and spiritual experience, 100

drug-induced experiences, 157

and characteristics, 159

drumming, 185, 195, 305

Durkheim, Émile, 73

Einstein, Albert, 24, 225, 270

electroencephalography, 198

and advantages, 199

and disadvantages, 200

and spiritual practices, 200

Eliade, Mircea, 33

emergence, 103

emotions, 23

and memory, 23

problems with, 23

endorphin, 65

enlightenment, 39, 226, 273

epistemology, 285

Erikson, Erik, 127

Evans, Jonathan, 231

evolution

and atheism, 116

exaptation, 117

faith development, 84

Fiske, Alan, 182

Flatliners, 156

fMRI, 232, 247

advantages, 201

arterial spin labeling, 203

blood-oxygen-level-dependent, 202

and Christmas spirit, 100

disadvantages, 205

and drumming ritual, 195

and meditation, 203

and near death experiences, 155

and religious beliefs, 232

and religious symbols, 58

and spiritual experiences, 201

and study of myth, 179

forgiveness

and brain, 253

Fowler, James, 84

Franciscan nuns, 215

Frankfurt, Harry, 240

Frankl, Viktor, 127

free will

arguments against, 241

arguments for, 240

defined, 240

definition, 245

Freud, Sigmund, 125

Fromm, Erich, 126

frontal lobe, 232

and brain stimulation, 234

and creativity, 99

and enlightenment, 273

and forgiveness, 250

and free will, 244

and meditation, 202, 204

and mystical experience, 273

and mystical transformation, 276

and religion and spirituality, 59

and religiousness, 236

and sense of surrender, 183

and speaking in tongues, 99

and spiritual practice, 215

and surrender, 273

as seat of the will, 59

in spiritual practices, 150

fundamentalism, 52, 134, 136

GABA, 64, 205, 210, 215, 306

Geertz, Clifford, 73

Gellhorn

Ernst, 186, 304

Gervais, Will, 231

Gianotti, Lorena, 235

Gimello, Robert, 262

glutamate, 64

Göbekli Tepe, 113

God

in atheism, 224

belief in, 23

and the brain, 232, 238, 261

as delusion, 142

existence of, 16, 21

in faith development, 84

and free will, 241

imagery, 89

in mystical experience, 272

in myth, 168, 173

negative views, 131

in religions, 75

visual representation, 89

God gene, 112, 236

Gollnick, James, 84

Gould, Stephen Jay, 117, 121

Griffiths, Roland, 158, 160

Grof, Stanislav, 160

hallucination

and religion, 140

Haidt, Jonathan, 113

Hamer, Dean, 72, 112, 210, 236

Harris, Sam, 174, 228, 242, 246, 261, 281

health care, 82, 129, 283, 295

heart rate variability, 187, 218, 304

Hill, Peter, 41, 134

Hinduism, 28, 125, 173, 226, 233, 255

hippocampus, 62, 119, 143, 217

and myth, 169

in near death experiences, 154

and seizures, 145

stimulation of, 146

Holbrook, Colin, 234

Hood, Ralph, 41, 134

Hume, David, 241, 311

Huxley, Aldous, 35

hypothalamus, 61, 217

and autonomic nervous system, 188

and beta endorphin, 65

and rituals, 188

incompatibilist, 246

injury

in forgiveness, 251

innermost values, 74

insula, 63, 100, 114, 155, 204, 251, 302

intelligence, 193, 229

intratextuality, 134

Inzlicht, Michael, 235

Islam, 272

Izuma, Keise, 234

Jack, Anthony, 233

James, William, 32, 72, 125, 262, 270

Jung, Carl, 72, 126, 127, 165

Kabat-Zinn, Jon, 220

Kant, Immanuel, 32, 226, 290

Kapogiannis, Dimitrios, 232

Kapur, Shitij, 260

Katz, Steven, 264

Kieley, W.F., 186

Kirkpatrick, Lee, 122

Kirtan Kriya meditation, 149, 203, 206

Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth, 153

Laplace, Pierre-Simon, 241

Laughlin, Charles, 34, 107, 108

Leary, Timothy, 160

lex talionis, 252

Libet, Benjamin, 242, 311

limbic system

basic functions, 60

and rituals, 189

logotherapy, 127

Lonergan, Bernard, 33, 289, 290

LSD, 64, 160, 218, 301

magnetic resonance imaging (see also fMRI)

and neurotheology, 48

marked movements

and rituals, 190

material world, 225

McCullough, Michael, 250

McNamara, Patrick, 35

meaning and purpose, 43, 94, 115, 134, 142, 159, 227, 274

megatheology, 286

melatonin, 64

Mele, Alfred, 243

memory, 22

mentalizing, 231

metatheology, 285

Michelangelo, 59

Miller, Jeff, 243

mindfulness, 74, 130, 201, 217, 226, 298, 305, 314

mirror neurons, 195, 196

Moody, Raymond, 153

moral continuum, 254

mystical experience

and brain transformation, 275

and morality, 271

mystical experiences

characteristics of, 262

and neurotheology, 264

myths

and behavior, 167

and brain functions, 169, 178

definition, 163

and God, 173

Greek, 163

and oppositional brain processes, 171

and scientific perspectives, 175

structure of, 169

myth-ritual relationship, 191

Neanderthals, 34, 107, 114

near death experience, 104

near death experiences

and brain, 156

core characteristics, 153

near-death experiences, 237

and brain, 154

neurodegenerative disease, 147

neuroethics, 253

neurotheology

and alternative terms, 36

applied, 221

and atheism, 228

disciplines included, 38

and epistemology, 259

and the evolution of religion, 120

and forgiveness, 249

foundational goals, 41

and free will, 239

history, 28

as megatheology, 286

as metatheology, 285

as multidisciplinary field, 15

and mystical experiences, 261

and neuroscience, 46

and spiritual development, 84

and spiritual practices, 197

and study design, 47

summary, 5

neurotransmitters, 63

Nietzsche, Friedrich, 279

NMDA receptors, 160

nonorganizational religiosity, 80

nonreductive physicalism, 103

Norenzayan, Ara, 231, 234

Numbers, Ronald, 37

nun

brain imaging study, 14

obsessive–compulsive behaviors

and rituals, 190

Occam’s razor, 176

occipital lobe, 58, 141, 247

oneness, sense of, 137

ontological confusion, 233

ontological violations, 118

organizational religiosity, 79

Otto, Rudolf, 33, 72

oxytocin, 65

panpsychism, 233

parasympathetic nervous system, 55

parietal lobe, 216

basic functions, 59

and myth, 169

and rituals, 189

and self-transcendence, 151

and sense of unity, 135, 216

sense of unity, 192

and social connectivity, 135

and spiritual practice, 215

and unitary experience, 271

Parkinson’s disease, 148

and religious beliefs, 149

Parnia, Sam, 103, 104

Persinger, Michael, 146

and “God Helmet”, 146

PET

advantages and disadvantages, 209

and neurotransmitters, 210

and religious and spiritual practices, 207

placebo effect, 119

Plato, 17, 27

preconscious mind, 243, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249

predeterminism, 246

psilocybin, 64, 158, 218, 301, 308

psychology of religion

as a field, 124

and negative effects, 131

PubMed, 15

pure consciousness, 263

qualia, 260, 313

quantum mechanics, 24, 103, 167, 245, 282

Rabin, John, 145

Radin, Dean, 103

Raichle, Marcus, 170

realness, 269

religion

in adolescence, 87

in adulthood, 87

in childhood, 86

definition, 68

elements of, 77

as epiphenomenal, 112, 121

in human history, 2

and moral values, 115

in neurotheology, 67

and oppositional beliefs, 26

in relation to science, 3

and social coping, 115

types of definitions, 74

and violence, 133

religious affiliation, 78

religious belief, 77

and measurement, 52

religious behavior, 90

religious commitment, 81

religious consequences, 83

religious coping, 82

religious development, 84

religious experiences

normal and abnormal, 160

religious extremism, 134

religious knowledge, 82

religious motivation, 81

religious practices

and psychology, 130

religious rituals, 182

religious struggle, 132

religious symbols, 132

research, 58

religious well-being, 81

religiousness

definition, 70

Renz, Monika, 156

research subjects

design issues, 50

Ring, Kenneth, 153

rituals, 34, 109

as adaptive, 111

animal, 109

and autonomic nervous system, 110

evil, 191

and evolution, 111

group and individual, 195

and mating, 109

and religion and spirituality, 110

and rhythm, 185

Rorschach test, 235

Rosary, 151, 220

Sagan, Carl, 225, 309

Saver, Jeffrey, 145

schizophrenia

and the brain, 140

and dopamine, 141

and religion and spirituality, 139

Schleiermacher, Friedrich, 32, 72, 293

science

in human history, 2

as myth, 175

in relation to religion, 3

scientism, 224

self-transcendence, 119

and brain injury, 151

sensory systems

and rituals, 190

serotonin, 64, 210, 218

Sistine Chapel, 59

Skinner, B.F., 126

Smart, Ninian, 263

social interaction

and beliefs, 24

sociology, 73

sociopath brain, 256

somatic marker hypothesis, 100, 189

speaking in tongues, 51, 99, 205, 208, 217, 220, 272

SPECT

advantages, 207

disadvantages, 208

and neurotransmitters, 210

SPECT imaging

and Kirtan Kriya meditation, 150

and religious and spiritual practices, 207

Spinoza, Baruch, 225, 233

spiritual beliefs

measurement, 52

spiritual but not religious, 94, 226

spiritual development, 84

spiritual experience, 44, 51, 64, 91, 96, 101, 153, 265

and cognitive processes, 102

core elements, 267

drug induced, 158

and negative emotions, 101

and positive emotions, 100

and sensory phenomena, 101

spiritual practices

neurophysiological models, 213

spirituality

and comparison to religion, 93

definition, 70, 97

and emotions, 99

St. Paul

and Road to Damascus, 145

Stace, W.B., 263

Strassman, Rick, 219

Streng, Frederick, 263

stroke

in brain, 275

subject selection, 213

subjective religiosity, 80

supernatural, 16, 20, 74, 118, 158, 171, 219, 224

surrender

sense of, 271

survey of spiritual experiences, 101, 144, 178

Swinburne, Richard, 176

syllogisms

religious, 230

sympathetic nervous system, 55

Tao Te Ching, 85

Taylor, Jill Bolte, 275

temporal lobe

basic functions, 60

and brain stimulation, 146

in religious experience, 147

and seizures, 143

and serotonin, 64

temporal lobe epilepsy

and religion, 143

temporal lobe seizures

and religious experience, 145

Ten Commandments, 30, 115, 256

thalamus, 63

and experience of reality, 269

and rituals, 189

as seat of consciousness, 63

theology

in neurotheology, 39

Tillich, Paul, 74, 227, 294, 310

transcranial magnetic stimulation, 234, 244, 287, 312

transformation

and mystical experience, 274

Trevena, Judy, 243

unconscious

free will, 245

Underhill, Evelyn, 262, 313

undifferentiated faith, 84

unio mystica, 193

unitary continuum, 265

universalizing faith, 88

Waldman, Mark, 74, 135, 273

Wegner, Daniel, 242

Willard, Aiyana, 233

Wilson, David Sloan, 113

Wilson, E.O., 106, 113, 292, 296, 297

Zuckerman, Miron, 229