Science and the Mystic | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

Free Newsletters:

RSS Feeds |

Audio |

Twitter

Home > 2009 > May

Christianity Today, May, 2009 |

Science and the Mystic

What are we to make of the variety of spiritual experiences?

Review by Mark Galli | posted 5/26/2009 09:29AM

3 of 3

To paraphrase Augustine, any god whose nature we can "defend most easily" is not likely to be a god worthy of worship. It is certainly not the Christian God, who, even though he has made himself known in Christ, remains to many a "stumbling block" and "folly" (1 Cor. 1:23).

Still, Hagerty has raised crucial issues for Christians to consider, and does so in a way that is accessible to all. As she says, it's all so intriguing, but not all "scientific conclusions" are to be taken at face value.

Mark Galli, senior managing editor of Christianity Today

Related Elsewhere:

Fingerprints of God: The Search for the Science of Spirituality is available at ChristianBook.com and other book retailers.

Barbara Bradley Hagerty's website has an excerpt from the book and a discussion guide.

NPR has a section on Hagerty's "The Science of Spirituality" special report.

Time had an interview about the book.

Christianity Today has other stories on science & faith, including:

Trivializing the Transcendent | What can science really tell us about faith? (August 1, 2006)

Did Martin Luther Get Galileo in Trouble? | David Lindberg talks about the early relationship between science and faith and his own journey on the subject (February 1, 2003)

How Computer Nerds Describe God | The founding editor of Wired magazine explains his mission to talk about faith using the vocabulary and logic of science (November 1, 2002)

first page |

3 of 3

share this page

May 2009, Vol. 53, No. 5, Page 61

E-mail this page

Write CT

Print this article

Post a comment

Reader Reviews are below

Subscribe to Christianity Today and get 3 free trial issues. No credit card required.

Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only.

If you decide you want to keep Christianity Today coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive nine more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The three trial issues are yours to keep, regardless.

Click here for international orders

2-for-1 Gifts!

[Reader Reviews]

Average User Rating:

Displaying 1 - 3 of 22 comments.

See all comments

Richard Morgan

Posted: June 05, 2009 4:57 PM


My (favourable) reaction was a bit lengthy. Check it out here: http://therepentantgene.blogspot.com/

Johann

Posted: May 29, 2009 7:25 AM

Isn't faith enough? Why do Americans NEED to hearken after EXPERIENCES and FEELINGS like primitve Africans? In the old days, I wouldn't think twice about hearing someone talk about a miracle that happened to them or a feeling of God that they experienced. Now, after the Pentecostal Revolution, in which EXPERIENCE has become the base coin of the realm, and a tool to raise oneself up and put down those who haven't had as many "spiritual" experiences as you, I despise hearing about all these hokey miracles and feelings. I think 99% of them are phony anyway.

kostya

Posted: May 28, 2009 7:31 PM

I suggest that the star rating be abolished or modified. What are we rating, the review or the book? About mystical experiences: Everyone assumes that they cannot be analysed critically or that they are by definition completely devoid of content that can be assessed as true or not. All the mystical experiences that I as an evangelical Christian have had, and there were very many, were as a direct result of the gospel heard (my initial conversion) , the scriptures read, prayers uttered, or not uttered but directed to a person I knew -Christ and the Father. We have devalued mystical experience to either a brain fuzz or emotion empty of reason. But we are told in Scripture that we must discern spiritual experiences. These are discerned by both the Spirit in us (a spiritual gift) and by the Word of God. Mystical experiences are therefore subject to both 'mystical' and rational scrutiny, and can be evaluated for their Truth content.

The allotted time for commenting has ended.