Discoveries in contemporary psychology and neuroscience are causing people of all faiths to re-examine religion, spiritual experience and belief in God. This is a ground-breaking, accessible look at the implications of cognitive science for religion and theology, intended for laypeople. Avoiding neurological jargon and respectful to all faiths, it examines: what religious experience is as it plays out in our brains; How modern science challenges historic ideas about free will and undermines the religious concept of the soul as a metaphysical entity separable from the body; What cognitive science reveals about our need for community; The benefits of loyalty to one faith if, in fact, all major religious traditions deal effectively with universal human needs; Current theory on how our brains construct our world in order to guide us safely through life, creating and appreciating meaning as we go.
