Temporal lobe epilepsy and religious visions
Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 7:35 pm
See this article on the extent to which visions of a deity can occur in persons suffering from temporal lobe epilepsy - even in one case where the person who had the vision was an atheist:
That article is a piece of scientific journalism, but there is a lot more out there in the form of serious scientific literature. Interesting that some have said that Ellen G. White, founder of Seventh Day Adventism, may have been a sufferer. Relevant to the present board is the fact that one person on it has repeatedly referred to the effect on his own life of an unexpected and somewhat unwelcome vision of a deity. Has it ever been argued that this disorder might also be behind the First Vision? In that case, we could have a prophet amongst us who is as real as they ever get ...
Despite the fact that he is a confirmed atheist, when he was 43, Rudi had a powerful religious vision which convinced him he had gone to hell.
"I was told that I had gone there because I had not been a devout Christian, a believer in God. I was very depressed at the thought that I was going to remain there forever."
That article is a piece of scientific journalism, but there is a lot more out there in the form of serious scientific literature. Interesting that some have said that Ellen G. White, founder of Seventh Day Adventism, may have been a sufferer. Relevant to the present board is the fact that one person on it has repeatedly referred to the effect on his own life of an unexpected and somewhat unwelcome vision of a deity. Has it ever been argued that this disorder might also be behind the First Vision? In that case, we could have a prophet amongst us who is as real as they ever get ...