Steps Toward a Neurophenomenology of Speaking in Tongues
Josh Brahinsky, Michael Lifshitz, Tanya Marie Luhrmann
The Oxford Handbook of Psychedelic, Religious, Spiritual, and Mystical Experiences June 20, 2024 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780192844064.013.18
Summary
Working between neuroscience and ethnographic observation can yield unexpected insights. A neurophenomenological project on the evangelical Christian practice of speaking in tongues combined years of participant observation in churches with careful interviews of practitioners. Designing a neuroimaging experiment to capture reported experiences led researchers to notice a shift they termed "dropping in." The interdisciplinary approach deepened understanding of tongues prayer in unanticipated ways.
Study at a glance
| Design | qualitative study |
|---|---|
| Population | evangelical Christian tongues-speakers |
| Key finding | The combination of ethnographic phenomenology and neuroscience revealed a shift in the experience of speaking in tongues, called "dropping in," which deepened understanding of tongues prayer. |
Abstract
Abstract This chapter aims to show that working back and forth between neuroscientific methods and ethnographic phenomenology can inspire us to think differently. We discuss a neurophenomenological project to improve our understanding of the evangelical Christian practice of speaking in tongues. After several years of ethnographic participant observation in tongues-speaking churches, we interviewed tongues-speakers carefully. As we developed a neuroimaging experiment to try to capture what we heard from them, our interdisciplinary approach pushed us to notice shifts in the experience of speaking in tongues, which we came to call “dropping in.” The combination of ethnographic phenomenology and neuroscience brought us a deeper understanding of tongues prayer in ways we did not expect.