The Spiritual Brain: Science and Religious Experience

by Andrew B. Newberg

Does God exist? Do we have a soul? Is it possible to make contact with a spiritual realm? How should we respond to the divine? Will life
continue beyond death? Whether you are a deeply religious person, a spiritual seeker, or one who has come to doubt or disbelieve in a spiritual power, you have probably pondered these questions and at least begun to answer them for yourself. In fact, archaeological and historical records show that even the earliest humans were aware of a spiritual realm and developed religious practices as a result.

One of humanity's most awesome forces, the spread and practice of religion has exerted a profoundly outsized effect on individuals and entire civilizations, altering the course of history. The religious impulse is so powerfully pervasive that neuroscience has posed a provocative question: Are our brains wired to worship?

In The Spiritual Brain: Science and Religious Experience, award-winning scholar and practicing neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Newberg, Director of Research at the Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, offers you 24 riveting lectures that explore the new and exciting field of neurotheology, a discipline aimed at understanding the connections between our brains and different kinds of religious phenomena. Using an academic, experimental approach into what he calls "objective measures of spirituality," Dr. Newberg attempts to explain what others have previously only guessed at: the neuroscientific basis for why religion and spirituality have played such a prominent role in human life.

Genres: Science, Psychology, Religion, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Neuroscience, Spirituality

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Dr. Andrew Newberg is Director of Research at the Myrna Brind Center for Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Medical College. He is also Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He is Board-certified in Internal Medicine and Nuclear Medicine. He is considered a pioneer in the neuroscientific study of religious and spiritual experiences, a field frequently referred to as – neurotheology. His work attempts to better understand the nature of religious and spiritual practices and experiences. This has been compiled into his latest book, Principles of Neurotheology, which reviews the important principles and foundations of neurotheology. Believing that it is important to keep science rigorous and religion religious, he has engaged the topic like few others. He has been fascinated by the implications of this research for the study of the mind, brain, consciousness, morality, theology, and philosophy. He has also been particularly interested in the relationship between the brain, religion, and health. His research has included brain scans of people in prayer, meditation, rituals, and various trance states. He has also performed surveys of people's spiritual experiences and attitudes. Finally, he has evaluated the relationship between religious and spiritual phenomena and health. This includes a recent study on the effect of meditation on memory.

In his career, he has also actively pursued neuroimaging research projects on the study of aging and dementia, Parkinson's disease, depression, and other neurological and psychiatric disorders. He has also researched the neurophysiological correlates of acupuncture, meditation, and alternative therapies, and how brain function is associated with mystical and religious experiences. Dr. Newberg helped develop stress-management programs for the University of Pennsylvania Health Systems and received a Science and Religion Course Award from the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences for his program entitled "The Biology of Spirituality" in the Department of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania. He is currently teaching a course in the Department of Religious Studies entitled, “Science and the Sacred: An Introduction to Neurotheology.”

Dr. Newberg has published over 150 research articles, essays and book chapters, and is the co-author of the best selling books, Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief (Ballantine, 2001) and How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist (Ballantine, 2009). He has also published, Principles of Neurotheology (Ashgate, 2011) Why We Believe What We Believe (Ballantine, 2006), and The Mystical Mind (Fortress Press, 1999). He has presented his research throughout the world in both scientific and public forums. He appeared on Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America, ABC's World News Tonight, National Public Radio, London Talk Radio and over fifteen nationally syndicated radio programs. His work has been featured in Time, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and many other newspapers and magazines. An overview of his work can be viewed at on this site.

Reviews

[Clif Hostetler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of twenty-four lectures about the neurology of spirituality. The lecturer knows his audience contains some who want to think of spirituality as somehow transcending the reality of the workings of the brain, thus he is diplomatic on such suggestions. But its apparent to any honest assessment of reality, no brain no thoughts—including spiritual thoughts. So the lecture at one point makes the point that if there is a God capable of communication with humans any messages will need to pass through the human brain. (i.e. Messages sent by radio waves will be totally unperceived by humans—unless there happens to be a manmade radio receiver near by.)

This cartoon illustrates an interesting question:
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http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/debugger.png
The above is not from the lectures or Dr. Newberg.

I found it interesting how different thought processes incorporate different parts of the brain. As an example I've included the following excerpt that discusses the process of developing empathy. Note in the following excerpt that feelings of empathy for people who are different from ourselves requires additional activity of the frontal lobe whereas empathy for those who are similar is prompted by deeper seated parts of the brain responsible for perceiving emotions.

Another study found that inferring the emotional state of someone who is not similar to us relies upon the same neural structures as having empathy for someone who is similar to us. In particular, the parts of our brain that are responsible for perceiving emotions in ourselves are important for developing empathy for those who are similar to us and those who are different from us. Empathy for those who are dissimilar to us requires added frontal lobe function in order to make these empathic inferences.

In other words, this study suggests that it is easier to have empathy for those you know and feel similar to, but you can do it for others. This is a very interesting finding. In fact, it gives us a new neuroscientific basis for understanding a moral precept that is crucial to many religious traditions—namely, that you should love your enemies as well as your friends.

Research also shows that while empathy is to some degree an inherent human trait, it can also be affected by the frontal lobe and other cognitive processes. In other words, at least theoretically, empathy can be learned. This has implications for religious concepts because we can promote altruism and empathy via religious belief systems and practices.

The following are some miscellaneous thoughts and observations I had while listening to the lectures. They are not necessarily the important points.

• Certain neurons in the brain fire when seeing horizontal lines and others fire only when seeing vertical lines. Could this make symbols with vertical and horizontal lines more effective than other symbols? The Christian cross?

• Various neurotransmitters and electrical stimuli to various parts of brain can create feelings and experiences that mimic reported religious experiences—this includes out-of-body feelings.

• The lectures include a short recording of a woman speaking in tongues while her brain was being scanned. Indeed her brain activity showed that the frontal lobe activity was down—thus the part of the brain that usually filters signals passing through so that they make sense were shut down to let the parts of the brain that control speaking to proceed unencumbered. The person speaking in tongues describes the feeling as "letting go."

• Pain is felt only if the brain identifies it as such (i.e. no brain no pain). Ironically, the brain itself has no nerve ending to sense pain, thus the brain of a conscious person will no feel pain from a probe inserted into the brain.

• What is real? Are drug induced feelings less real than “natural” feelings? Some shamans believe the drug induced visions are the true views of reality (e.g. peyote). By way of comparison, are things seen with the aid of eye glasses not real because its not natural?

• The lecture about the relationship of health and spirituality included some fantastic examples of the placebo effect. Which raised the question, if the placebo effect is so effective why doesn't the medical profession make more use of it?

• Some populations studies show a correlation between being religious and good health. The irony is that this is not something that can be prescribed—i.e. pretending to be religious won't work. For that matter, pretending to believe in a placebo won't work either—one has to be sincerely fooled in order to benefit from this phenomena.

• Brain scans show a difference between atheists and believers who had been told to contemplate thoughts of God. Obviously, the atheists had no idea what to think of.

• When test subjects were asked to draw a picture of God about fifteen percent left the drawing blank. Among those who did so, some were strong believers, the balance were atheists—showing that the two have something in common.

• Lecture 21 was particularly interesting for us older people who are concerned about declining brain function. The lecture described some meditation and exercise routines that have been shown to improve brain function—e.g. test subjects improved on cognitive tests after eight weeks of kirtan kriya meditation. Brain scans actually showed a change in the activity level, location, and side of brain being utilized.

• The lecturer says he's been approached by religious groups asking him to use brain scanning to prove that their religion is better than others. He then explains the limitations of brain scan findings.

• The lecturer says he tells medical students to expect sometime in their future medical practice to have a patient ask them to pray with them.
________

The following is a listing of the titles of the twenty-four lectures followed by a short description of their contents. This material is excerpted from the guide book provided by the publisher.

Lecture 1—A New Perspective on Ancient Questions
The purpose of this course is to understand how and why the mind moves human beings to be spiritual, to contemplate God, and to develop and follow religions. Because religion and spirituality can have a tremendous effect on people, there should be some physiological manifestation of that effect in the most important organ in our body—the brain. If we can study the human brain, then by extension, we can also study how religion and spirituality affect the human brain. If we can measure or quantify that effect, then perhaps we can even leam something about how and why we are spiritual.

Lecture 2—Why Do We Have a Spiritual Brain?
It is undeniable that many people classify certain feelings and experiences as “spiritual.” People talk about feeling God’s presence or experiencing a peace that goes beyond any physical explanation. However, do these spiritual experiences or these perceptions of spiritual experience have a purpose? Do they exist because they do some good for the individual or even for the species as a whole? Why do we have a brain that is capable of spirituality? Many great philosophers and theologians have pondered these questions from a religious or spiritual perspective, but in this lecture you will consider them from a neuroscientific and evolutionary perspective as well.

Lecture 3—Brain Function and Religion
The brain has many different functions, and many of those functions relate to a particular aspect of religion or spirituality. You have to understand where the brain comes from, what it does, and how it works before you can understand what the spiritual brain is all about. In this lecture, you will leam about the brain’s basic functions and processes, and you will consider how many of the latest scientific techniques can be used to help study the spiritual brain.

Lecture 4—How Does Science Study Religion?
In this lecture, you are going to be introduced to some of the elements of a well-designed scientific study. Specifically, you are going to leam about the design elements that need to be considered when science undertakes the study of spirituality. By understanding the principles of research design, you will have a better sense of how this field of research has developed, and you will be able to use this information when reviewing the various studies that are presented in this course. This lecture also offers you the opportunity to think about how you might study the spiritual brain.

Lecture 5—Believers and Atheists
Religious practices and experiences seem to be universal within the human species, but if all human beings have a spiritual brain, why are there nonbelievers? This question is at the forefront of many atheists’ minds. From a neuroscientific perspective, is there a difference in the brains of people who believe and those who do not? The implication is that there might possibly be something distinctive about brain structure or function that influences whether people become either believers or
nonbelievers, and that implication is a fascinating component to an even bigger question: Is it the brain or something else that determines whether you believe?

Lecture 6—Spiritual Development
The brain and spirituality appear to develop in parallel throughout the human life span. It is through this developmental process that we come to our religious and spiritual belief systems—first as children through stories; then as adolescents, when we begin to create our own belief
systems; and finally into adulthood, when we consolidate our beliefs. As we grow and develop, our brain grows and develops, and this appears to parallel our spiritual growth.

Lecture 7—The Myth-Making Brain
A fundamental part of religions is their elaboration in myths—the stories that form the basis of religions. In fact, there is evidence that our brain is a myth-making machine. Regardless of culture or belief system, myths often have similar components and content. Perhaps they are similar because the brains of all people are similar. In this lecture, you will learn why and how the hmnan brain makes myths.

Lecture 8—The Brain and Religious Rituals
In the previous lecture, you leamed that myths are powerful stories that affect multiple parts of the brain and tell people something meaningful about the world and about themselves. While these stories typically have a great impact on individuals and groups, religious rituals provide a way to make the impact of the myth even stronger. Rituals make myths not only cognitive, but also experiential. In this lecture, you will learn that rituals get the entire body into the act and help to create some of the most important experiences—spiritual or otherwise—that human beings can have.

Lecture 9—The Biology of Spiritual Practices
In this lecture, you are going to examine the biological underpinnings of two spiritual practices in particular: prayer and meditation. You will learn about how the tools of science can open new windows on the complex phenomena of prayer and meditation. Interestingly, you will also learn that the exploration of spirituality actually has the reciprocal effect of improving our knowledge of humans as biological creatures. Understanding the biology of prayer and meditation—the changes in our heart rate, hormones, and immune system—also leads us toward a greater understanding of the way these practices might affect our health and well-being.

Lecture 10—Religion and Health
There are hundreds of scientific studies that show a relationship between religion and health. As a matter of fact, the interest in this topic is rapidly expanding. Before the 1990s, only about 25 to 50 research papers per year dealt with the relationship between religion and health, but since 2000, there have been over 400 papers published per year on this topic. These papers are consistently showing that religion has an effect on health—but what is this effect, and how and why does it occur? In this lecture, you will learn that religious belief has been shown to correlate with better overall health and well-being.

Lecture 11—Religion and Mental Health
Research has repeatedly shown that many people with psychological problems also express some issues with their religious and spiritual beliefs. For this reason, there appears to be an important—yet often complex—relationship between religion and mental health. In this lecture, you are going to examine the relationship between religion and mental health from a scientific standpoint. You will consider a range of effects—both positive and negative—and you will learn what these effects can teach us about the nature of our spiritual brain.

Lecture 12—Religion and Brain Dysfunction
The phenomenon of speaking in tongues appears commonly in certain Pentecostal church services, but it is by no means limited to that setting. In this lecture, you are going to learn about phenomena such as speaking in tongues, and you are going to consider whether they are symptomatic of brain dysfunction—or whether, perhaps, there might be evidence suggesting that such phenomena may indicate a supernormal functioning ofthe human brain.

Lecture 13—Transmitters to God
Neurotransmitters are a very important component of the underlying biology of religious or spiritual states and the practices that help bring them about. Science is only just beginning to understand the full importance of neurotransmitters, but it is likely that if our brain perceives itself to be able to communicate with God, the neurotransmitters are part of that process. Neurotransmitters may indeed be “spiritual molecules” that can enable us to have religious beliefs and spiritual experiences. In fact, they may truly be the brain’s transmitters to God.

Lecture 14—Stimulated States and Religious Experiences
In this lecture, you will consider stimulated states from a neuroscientific perspective, and you will discover what these stimulated states teach us about spirituality and the human brain. You will learn that induced states help us gain a deeper understanding of the underlying biology of religious or spiritual states, but they raise even more interesting questions about the meaning and realness of these states—which lead to some fascinating issues that pertain to beliefs, reality, and the brain.

Lecture 15—Near-Death Experiences and the Brain
In a biological, psychological, and even cultural basis, researchers know that near-death experiences fiequently share a set of core components; appear to be related to a variety of specific brain processes, including vision, emotions, and memory; and often have life-changing consequences. In addition, near-death experiences can radically change a person’s beliefs. However, researchers do not know if these newfound beliefs are truly new or if they were somehow always there and the near-death experience simply helped the person access them. These uncertainties require a thorough evaluation of near-death experiences from a neuroscientiiic perspective—in spite of the challenges that lie ahead.

Lecture 16—The Believing Brain
Beliefs are important because they affect every part of our lives, and every part of our lives affects our beliefs. In other words, we must be very careful about our beliefs, constantly challenging them and questioning them. In addition, perhaps we should be more compassionate about other people’s beliefs, which are simply expressions of their brains’ best attempt at understanding the world. In this lecture, you will learn that our beliefs are shaped by the way the brain perceives, thinks, remembers, and experiences emotion. You will also learn that social consensus is another important factor that influences our beliefs.

Lecture 17—The Brain’s Influence on Religious Ideas
In this lecture, you will explore how specific religious and theological ideas might arise in the brain and why they might be compelling to thinking creatures. You will also learn how religious ideas can derive from a variety of brain processes. These ideas can range from the practical or mundane to the very esoteric or even mystical. It may be that this entire range—all of the religious ideas that human beings are capable of having—are not only related to brain functions, but are also structured and limited by what our brain can do.

Lecture 18—Revelation, Salvation, and the Brain
In this lecture, you will examine the way that the brain is involved in helping people understand two important religious concepts: revelation and salvation. These two concepts are fundamental to the teachings of a wide range of religious traditions—both ancient and modern, Eastern and Western—and the brain appears to be an essential element. in these two religious experiences. Through our newfound abilities to study the brain, it is possible for us to ask and answer a lot of fascinating questions about how and why human beings experience revelation and salvation.

Lecture 19—The Brain’s Influence on Religious Behavior
This lecture focuses on three behaviors that are crucial to almost every religious tradition: altruism, empathy, and forgiveness. As you will learn from the scientihc research that is presented in this lecture, neuroscience seems to make a real contribution to religious and theological discourse. In addition to showing the neurophysiological conditions that make such behaviors as altruism, empathy, and forgiveness possible, the research also offers evidence that religion can play an important role in shaping a more empathic and less antagonistic world.

Lecture 20—How the Brain Changes God
In this lecture, you will learn about how our brain shapes our beliefs about religion and God. You will learn that the different cognitive and emotional processes of the brain dramatically affect our beliefs of God. In addition, you will learn that there are fascinating ways of trying to understand what people actually think about when they think about God. Furthermore, you will learn how peop1e’s thoughts about God relate to the brain processes that support those thoughts.

Lecture 21—How God Changes the Brain
In this lecture, you will learn how God and religion change your brain. Change might come about through spiritual practices, as a result of long-held beliefs, or even from a religious experience. Scientific research is helping us understand how certain beliefs and practices lead to positive
changes in the brain while others lead to negative changes. Based on that research, perhaps we can find ways to create more positive experiences—which arguably are beneficial not only for the individual, but also for society as a whole.

Lecture 22—Why God Won't Go Away
(This description had to be cut because of a GR word limit for reviews.)
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Lecture 23—The Mystical Mind
(This description had to be cut because of a GR word limit for reviews.)

Lecture 24—Reality and Beyond
(This description had to be cut because of a GR word limit for reviews.)
________________
Below is a link to an article titled, "The Placebo Effect Is A Lie." It says that the research paper often referenced that found the placebo effect is helpful 30% of the time had many flaws and reached incorrect conclusions.
https://medium.com/the-mission/the-pl...

[Brian Ferrell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not hesitate to start this course because I'm fascinated with how the brain has developed to have experiences beyond reality (dreams, religious experiences, drug-induced states, near-death experiences, etc). I struggled to make it all the way through this series and ultimately only finished it so I could assess the work as a whole and warn others.

Professor Newberg is ridiculously apologetic towards the Christian religious tradition. Many of his studies seem designed to prove that religion is good for society and for individuals. Because of this agenda, he doesn't build good experiments. He even describes an encounter with a priest who didn't like that one of his studies had shown a benefit from religion. Religion doesn't need someone to prove that it is correct. It's called faith for a reason.

One of my favorite moments during these lectures is when Newberg suggests an experiment to prove that near-death experiences are real. He proposes to point photographs at the ceiling and then when people describe being lifted out of their bodies he would see if they saw what was on the photographs. This was one of the times when my resolve was put to the test, but I pushed on and kept listening.

Not recommended for those who appreciate good science.

[Steve Dustcircle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captivating. No matter what religion you belong to, the experiences are similar for many ... because the brain does it, not a god. Amazing listen (audiobook/class).

[Dorien · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of basic information, well presented generally, but with here and there a bit of rambling. He would sometimes talk about an interesting theory without being able to back it up with solid research, mostly when reliable research would be almost impossible to carry out. There were a few chapters quite interesting and I think I'll listen to those again in the future.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book of lectures. There were times I wanted to stop because he frustrated me so much. Through a big portion he seemed to be trying to defend religion rather than talk about the brain with regard to religion. Especially during the beginning of the book, he would talk about certain studies and make assumptions that to me doesn't seem valid without mentioning the other side. This annoyed me greatly.

That being said, I did enjoy the findings regarding the MRI studies of the differences in people's brains who meditate vs those who don't. There were other interesting findings discussed throughout the lectures. I just wish that the professor Newberg would be less biased.

[Clayton Williams · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's difficult to know where to begin other than "not even wrong".

There is nothing scientific about this.

Typically the professor uses studies anecdotally to justify his "just so" questions and theories. Where he engages philosophy and or the various scientific disciplines he does so vaguely and shallowly.

He assumes the supernatural to be real but then tries to shoe horn the supernatural into the biological with weak and vague connections.

The worst of the Great Courses I've ever listened to (and I've listened to more than 70 of them)

[Jeff Grundman · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is some useful information here, but it must be read quite critically. Some of the studies Dr. Newberg sites are quite poor, yet he does not allow that from slowing his rapid fire and sometimes dodgy inferences from them. Beginning in lecture 12 (of 24) the quality really drops off. He has little new to say about the brain and it's connection to spirituality. He simply rehashes the same material while looking at finer and finer subsets of beliefs and practices, all while becoming ever more generous with his poorly founded extrapolations. With those caveats it is worth listening/watching the first half, but after that there is little to be gained by continuing.

[Bailey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Where was the science? This was mostly a puff piece, super meh

[Gillian Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

series of lectures on the relationship between neuroscience and spirituality. to help me remember:

enjoyed the studies about how meditation (even in brief three month trials for 12 minute daily meditation — “sa ta na ma”) demonstrated increases in frontal lobe activity, improved performance on cognitive tests, and switched dominant brain activity in the thalamus (relay center) to opposite side of brain — indicating a shift in the person’s perception of events/reality.

meditation and prayer practice decrease cortisol levels which positively impact immune system and literally increase white blood cell counts in individuals??? what!

also eat up the placebo effect! everyone knows it but how do we not talk about this more…. your brain literally believes something is TRUE and your body acts according to the expected outcome? like okay let’s all be delusional what. it is a similar thing with religion—truly believing in something universe god blah blah can positively impact your health. but an atheist cannot trick themselves or pretend to believe in something, they have to genuinely believe to have an effect on their health.


also interesting that in the DSM-5, to diagnose hallucinations as a symptom, they exclude seeing a loved one who has recently passed… because it is SUCH a common occurrence.

also crazy—they did experiments with people who speak in tongues (didn’t know this was a thing xo) who are typically ordinary people and just drop into this crazy random language (I guess typically chanting or singing format). A consistent significant finding is that compared to talking/singing baseline—they have decreased activity/blood flow to their frontal lobe and an increase in their limbic (emotional) and thalamus (relay center), indicating they are not planning or thinking about what to say/how to say it — they are feeling it!! what.

also perception of our own pain and pain of others occurs in the midbrain. and empathy comes easier for people who are similar to us (in-groups). empathy for people who are dissimilar to us requires more use of the frontal lobe MEANING that we can and should teach empathy (neurons that fire together wire together— repetition drives neural pathways and you have to use it or lose it) at an early age to foster acceptance and love and greater understanding of others dissimilar to us.


good analogy when talking about use of drugs that elicit a euphoric-oneness with all-godlike feeling-visions and hallucinations in individuals. when looking at indigenous ones like peyote that have been used in cultures for a long time, shamans have used this as an access point to the “spiritual world” and for seeing a more true reality. the lecturer asks how we know which is more true and poses an analogy, likening using certain drugs to access an alternate reality/sensory perception of the world to using glasses to see. does seeing the world with glasses make the perception untrue because it is not what we see in our baseline reality?

i love the brain af

[Roma Giannina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish after the second lecture. His qualifications to lecture on neuroscience and religious studies aren’t terribly convincing and despite some name dropping with regards to some academics of the theories and methods to the study of religion, he doesn’t seem to be asking the right questions from the outset, or defining which definitions of ‘religion’ and ‘spirituality’ he’s using and WHY. Seemed a bit scattered, definitely a Christian apologist, and instead of defining terms and the goal of the course from the outset, he poses a ton of questions which I assume you will meander through exploring answers via anecdote. He mentions his lab and his experiments, but nothing on the methodology of experiments (double blinds??) and had small sampling. There are far more interesting scientific explorations of neuroscience as it relates to spiritual PRACTICE. He conflated religion and spirituality with the practice that actually gets the brain to light up- one can be a religious zealot and have zero meditative practice that would light up the same parts of the brain as a Franciscan nun. Just saying. Problems everywhere, and the lack of qualifications other than what appear to be self appointed expertise are all intensely problematic. I’d rather read from a qualified neuroscientist working in conjunction with someone well steeped and educated in the theories and methods to the study of religion and religious experience.

[Timo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I sort of took a "buyers beware" attitude entering this lecture series, and wasn't disappointed in having done so.

I engaged the material because I want a better foundational understanding of brain processes involved in the religious experience, and how to translate that into useful ways to incorporate the best of all into a new understanding of human wellbeing.

This Professor runs hot and cold, and while there is a lot of good and interesting information, he gets sloppy with language throughout the entire series. He spends hours analyzing obvious brain response to stimuli (any stimuli) while trying to package the questions as somehow solely "spiritual" or "religious." My sense is that his sloppiness was by design, since it's likely that "believers" are his primary audience, and they use his imprecise use of language to feed their apologetics.

Still, I found a lot of what I came to find, and for that found value here.

[Hoàng Việt · Rating 2 out of 5]

The lecturer is cautious to not sound like pseudoscience, but this course actually is.
He tried to talk mostly about the data from studies and avoid the implications and conjecture of the theory of how the brain and the mind work in those cases. It feels like he trying to find something to talk about to fill the time and giving data that does not tell anything, just give some unexplained observation
It is more like a scientist trying to make his experimental results significant to get a publication. Otherwise it's all nothing and does not prove a point.

It's an ok time to have to keep my critical thinking during the course, it does not really bring any new information and I can tell the lecturer is not trustworthy based on this course.

[Don Heiman · Rating 5 out of 5]

For many years I thought about the three great questions of life: 1) who am I? 2) why am I here? and 3) where am I going?. These great questions focused my attention on the experience of love (the great unifier); the journey of hope (the great quest); and the truth of faith (the soulful transcendence of existence). Dr. Andrew Newberg’s research and 2012 Great Course lectures helped me develop a much deeper understanding how my spiritual brain blends medical science with religious experiences. His lectures are easy to follow and full of insight. The course guide is outstanding. I truly enjoyed this learning experience. (P)

[Allisonperkel · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I find much to quibble about with this book, I did find this different way of looking at data refreshing. Does Dr Newberg draw conclusions I 100% find wrong, yes. Does he still make cogent arguments that get me out of my comfort zone? yes.

If you're looking for a different view into how our brain functions, this is a great listen. I left thinking I should meditate more and I should really work to be more social. Slight note - I don't believe belonging to a church improves the quality and length of your life. I do believe being part of a community, with friends, does. It's little points like the one I referenced that make some of the arguments within this lecture series fall apart

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

These lectures seem to only grab at straws on the topic of how our brain experiences religion and spirituality, so ultimately the course was unsatisfactory. Prof. Newberg offers no cohesive theory and seems to flip around between being an inquisitive scientist and being a religious apologist. Maybe the connection between neurology and theology just doesn’t offer a fruitful path to understanding why humans are so intrinsically inclined toward religiosity.

[Adam Bloch · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting series, but there isn't a whole lot provided. If you want an introduction to the idea of studying brain science with an eye on religion and religious experiences, then this is a fine place to start, but it doesn't make many real connections (although the professor loves asking about whether we think there could be a connection). The professor does a decent job trying to stay religiously neutral (for such a divisive topic).

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heard this on the same period I was reading “The biology of belief”, on my personal pursue of belief. For me it was good food for thought, because it joins the secular with the spiritual. It is a very extensive work though, not for the superficial, since the author goes into extended details about the neuroscience research about the spiritual brain.

[Essam Munir · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can take a good deal of information from this course (and you can see the bad things also), it was too long though and it would've been better to include more specific details (like mentioning the brain areas in certain conditions).
Overall, it is good.

[Trenton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not recommended for those who appreciate real science.

[Sam Pullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this scholar and all I’ve read of him. He’s great for anyone from atheist to theist and everywhere in between. He makes me want to pursue a PhD!

[Camila Betterelli Giuliano · Rating 3 out of 5]

The topic and the research they show are very interesting. But the format is a bit too dense, it's hard to keep up. And as it is to be expected, it is a bit inconclusive as well.

[Michelle Lyons · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pseudoscience. I think I know less truth than I did before I listened to this.

[Nicknamednick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A refreshing take on an ancient subject that "isn't going away."

[Brenton Swafford · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Spiritual Brain was amazing! I gained a lot of good information about how religion affects the brain, and the benefits and drawbacks of religious belief.

[Shikha Malviya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smattering of all the research done by Dr Newberg and his allies.

[Mike Hansen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't recommend this Courses.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of a series of lectures by Andrew Newberg, talking about how our brain responds to spirituality. I may need to read more of his detailed work as this felt very much like it was just skimming the surface of neurotheology with the concluding idea that we still do not know whether the act of spirituality and all of its actions are generated by the brain, or whether the brain is somehow responding to the spirit of God who is creating the experience.

[Tré · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to need to read this again to fully grasp it all.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Anecdotal... close to no hard science.

[David Teachout · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there is one important point to keep in mind when reading or listening to this, it is that the term "god" is not at all your private, culturally created notion by which all other deities can be judged. Think of "god" instead as a holder-place for general spiritual or transcendent experience and you'll get closer to what Newberg is attempting to explain and explore. He wants a definition that is testable, applicable across multiply different experiences and and accessible when explained. Now, at times he doesn't do a great job of that explaining, but overall Newberg succeeds in pointing out the ludicrousness of denying the "god" tendency in human living and also noting how very similar all religious experiences are, not because there is a personal "God" but because "god" is a universal human experience. Whether you ultimately agree with the very tentative conclusions on offer here, an honest and humble appreciation will take the information and seek continued exploration.