Jumal ja elektrokeemia: sissejuhatus neuroteoloogiasse
God and Electrochemistry: an Introduction to Neurotheology

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the paper is to provide the reader with an introductory device to enter the emerging field of cognitive neuroscience of religion – a field that has sometimes been referred to as neurotheology. The first section of the paper is addressed primarily to theologians in asking why should we try thinking about God in terms of neural activity at all. After all, theology is supposed to be a teaching about God but the neurosciences, by definition, can only ground their claims in the data collected about the human brain. In the second section of the paper, an introduction is made to one of the most widely known hypotheses within the field of neurotheology, namely, the Newberg-d’Aquili hypothesis. The hypothesis is explained both on the philosophical and neuroscientific levels. The third section of the paper describes Newberg and d’Aquili’s neurophysiological model of mystical experiences and includes a subsection on the empirical testing of the whole hypothesis. The last sections of the paper deal with the theological implications that follow from Newberg and d’Aquili’s neuroscientific modelling of religious and mystical experiences. It is concluded that the new cognitive neurosciences may well turn out to be very effective tools when it comes to understanding and explaining the role and nature of religion (in general) and theological statements (in particular).

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