Neurotheology and Evolutionary Theology: Reflections on the Mystical Mind

The author questions whether neurotheology, as proposed by d'Aquili and Newberg, is comprehensive enough to address the moral and social dimensions of religion. An alternative is offered: evolutionary theology, grounded in biocultural evolution, which views ultimate reality as immanent in natural and human history. While evolutionary theology accounts for both neurology and culturally evolved religious ideas, it cannot explain the mystic experience of absolute unitary being. Neurotheology better accounts for this transcendent experience. Neither theology, however, explains how transcendent ultimate reality gives rise to the changing world of baseline reality.

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Abstract

Eugene d’Aquili and Andrew B. Newberg in their book The Mystical Mind suggest that their neurotheology is both a metatheology and a megatheology. In this commentary I question whether neurotheology is comprehensive enough and suggest that it needs to and possibly can take into account the moral and social dimensions of religion. I then propose an alternative metatheology and megatheology: evolutionary theology grounded in the science of biocultural evolution and focusing on ultimate reality as creatively immanent in natural and human history. Neurotheology and evolutionary theology may complement one another. Evolutionary theology accounts for both the neurology of the brain and culturally evolved ideas and practices of particular religions and their theologies. Hence it seems more comprehensive than neurotheology. However, because ultimate reality in evolutionary theology is immanent in the world of space and time, of baseline experience, it cannot account for the mystic experience of absolute unitary being. In accounting for this transcendent experience and its reality, neurotheology is more comprehensive. However, neither theology can account for how transcendent ultimate reality, experienced by the mystic as absolute unitary being, gives rise to the changing world experienced as baseline reality.