Miracles Three Volumes : God, Science, and Psychology in the Paranormal (Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality)

Can science, psychology, and biology explain miracles? This three-volume set attempts to answer that question, presenting the latest, as well as classic, thinking and research regarding miracles from fields that include psychology, psychiatry, theology, biology, and history. We have all heard of what seem miraculous events, which have surfaced across history. They range from stigmata and bleeding icons to deadly tumors that disappear and healers who succeed just by laying hands on the afflicted; from people who can predict unexpected events to so-called mediums and those who can allegedly see and speak with the dead. These books, led by an eminent scholar who serves as series editor for the Praeger series Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality , examine miracles of body, mind, and spirit, presenting the most recent research and writing on these uncommon events, aiming to bring hard science to some of the most persistent and peculiar phenomena associated with the human race. Can science, psychology, and biology explain miracles? This three-volume set attempts to answer that question, presenting the latest, as well as classic, thinking and research regarding miracles from fields that include psychology, psychiatry, theology, biology, and history. From news of a crippled woman who left her wheelchair and walked after an evangelist prayed over her, to stories of people who died on the operating table only to be revived to tell of bright lights and the pathway to the afterlife, we've all heard of what seem miraculous events. They have surfaced across history. They range from stigmata and bleeding icons to deadly tumors that disappear, and healers who succeed just by laying hands on the afflicted; from people who can predict unexpected events to so-called mediums and those who can allegedly see and speak with the dead. Some miracles are intricately tied to religious beliefs, but there are millions of people who ascribe to no particular religion, yet still believe that things happen that defy all laws of nature, and thus defy scientific explanation. In these books, eminent scholar J. Harold Ellens and his team of expert contributors examine miracles of body, mind, and spirit, presenting the most recent research and writing on these uncommon events as they aim to bring hard science to some of the most persistent—and peculiar—phenomena associated with the human race. Cover Page (e-book)......Page 1 ISBN 9780275997243 (vol. 1)......Page 6 Cover Page......Page 2 Recent Titles in Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality......Page 4 Title: Volume 1 - Religious and Spiritual Events......Page 5 Contents......Page 9 Series Foreword......Page 11 Introduction......Page 14 1 Biblical Miracles and Psychological Process: Jesus as Psychotherapist......Page 16 2 Distorted Reality or Transitional Space? Biblical Miracle Stories in Psychoanalytic Perspective......Page 30 3 Jesus and Miracles in Historical, Biblical, and Psychological Perspective......Page 51 4 Miracles in the Old Testament......Page 72 5 Old Testament Figures as Miracle Workers......Page 92 6 Moses’ Competition with Pharaoh’s Magicians......Page 102 7 The Religious-Historical Background of the New Testament Miracles......Page 118 8 The Miracle of Christ’s Birth......Page 132 9 "That They May Believe": Distinguishing the Miraculous from the Providential......Page 150 10 Through Signs and Wonders: Religious Discourse and Miracle Narratives......Page 174 11 Healing in the Gospels: The Essential Credentials......Page 201 12 What We Can Learn from Miraculous Healings and Cures......Page 223 13 Are Miracles Essential or Peripheral to Faith Traditions?......Page 236 14 Religious and Spiritual Miracle Events in Real-Life Experience......Page 256 15 How Religious or Spiritual Miracle Events Happen Today......Page 279 16 On the Limits of Scientific Investigation: Miracles and Intercessory Prayer......Page 295 Conclusion......Page 316 Index......Page 320 About the Editor and Advisers......Page 328 About the Contributors......Page 332 Cover Page......Page 337 Recent Titles in Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality......Page 339 Title Page......Page 340 ISBN 9780275997267 (vol. 2)......Page 341 Contents......Page 344 Series Foreword......Page 346 Introduction......Page 349 1 God and Science......Page 352 2 The Enduring Fascination of Miracles......Page 368 3 Relocating, Reanalyzing, and Redefining Miracles: A Psychodynamic Exploration of the Miraculous......Page 378 4 Miracle Attributions, Meaning, and Neuropsychology......Page 400 5 What Is a Medical or Therapeutic Miracle?......Page 418 6 History of Research on Faith, Prayer, and Medical Healings......Page 433 7 Psychoneuroimmunology and Jesus' Healing Miracles......Page 445 8 The Phenomenology of Transformation and Healing: The Disciples as Miracle Workers and Other Biblical Examples......Page 465 9 Miracles and Crowd Psychology in African Culture......Page 485 10 Sacred Bleeding: The Language of Stigmata......Page 505 11 Miracles in Kongo Religious History: Evaluating the Ritual Healing Theory......Page 527 12 Where Medicine Ends and the Miraculous Begins in Mysterious Healings......Page 549 13 Faith: An Existential, Phenomenological, and Biblical Integration......Page 564 14 The Healing Power of the Will to Live......Page 586 15 Intercessory Prayer, Group Psychology, and Medical Healing......Page 600 Conclusion......Page 614 Index......Page 618 About the Editor and Advisers......Page 628 About the Contributors......Page 632 Cover Page......Page 637 Recent Titles in Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality......Page 639 Title Page......Page 640 ISBN 9780275997281 (vol. 3)......Page 641 Contents......Page 644 Series Foreword......Page 646 Introduction......Page 649 1 The Sensed Presence as a Coping Resource in Extreme Environments......Page 652 2 Mysticism and the Paranormal......Page 667 3 Multistate and Entheogenic Contributions to the Study of Miracles and Experimental Religious Studies......Page 689 4 The Miraculous and Mental Illness......Page 716 5 Miracles in the Frontal Lobes: A Neuropsychological Approach to the Way We Make Miracle Attributions......Page 745 6 An African Perspective on Miracles......Page 768 7 "Hallelujah! Thank You, Jesus!": Selling the Miraculous in the Preaching of Faith Healers......Page 790 8 Miracles in "A Course in Miracles"......Page 813 9 The Miracle of Psychotherapy......Page 838 10 Spiritualizing the Unknown......Page 845 11 Personal Experience, Self-Reporting, and Hyperbole......Page 861 12 Music and the Miraculous: The Neurophysiology of Music’s Emotive Meaning......Page 881 13 Revelation and the Practice of Prophecy: With Special Reference to Rabbi Nachman of Breslov......Page 904 Conclusion......Page 952 Index......Page 956 About the Editor and Advisers......Page 966 About the Contributors......Page 970 V. 1. Religious And Spiritual Events -- V. 2. Medical And Therapeutic Events -- V. 3. Parapsychological Perspectives Edited By J. Harold Ellens. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.