Poimen Ponderings

There is a movement to combine science and religion in an attempt to quantify empirically results of people’s faith.  There has been research on prayer and recovery of patients.  But, these are not truly scientific because they only give interpretations of observed reductional results without any control to the myriad of variables.  It only makes common sense that a person will think healthier if they know another person is thinking about them (and praying).  I find these researches very interesting, but not evidence but they are too shaky.  Can faith or spirituality be proven?

Recently, I read a book Why God Won’t Go Away by Andrew Newberg, Eugene D’Aquill, and Vince Rause where they discuss the mechanics of the brain and its activity when the divine is experienced using SPECT cameras.  This book was not out to prove God in the brain, but to illustrate how our biological brain may interface with the divine.   It discusses how our brain works through multiple components to produce certain results such as spiritual mystical experiences.  In psychology, which means “study of the soul”, perhaps we can better define our spiritual selves in order to become soul healthy as people and as a society.