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‘Spiritual Brain’: October Evolutionary Christianity Series
Joan Mason, First Metropolitan United Church, Victoria
Volume 28 Issue 7, 8 & 9 | Posted: September 18, 2014
The Evolutionary Christianity series is back this fall, continuing the conversations on science and faith that proved popular in past years.
Cadboro Bay, Cordova Bay and First Metropolitan United Churches are collaborating to offer a four part video discussion series based on videotapes from The Great Courses program, “The Spiritual Brain”. The topics and host churches are:
1. Oct 7 – First†Met UC: ‘A New Perspective on Ancient Questions’.
2. Oct 14 – Cadboro Bay UC: ‘The Myth-Making Brain’.
3. Oct 21 – Cordova Bay UC: ‘How the Brain Changes God/ How God Changes the Brain’.
The Evolutionary Christianity series is back this fall, continuing the conversations on science and faith that proved popular in past years.
Cadboro Bay, Cordova Bay and First Metropolitan United Churches are collaborating to offer a four part video discussion series based on videotapes from The Great Courses program, “The Spiritual Brain”. The topics and host churches are:
1. Oct 7 – First†Met UC: ‘A New Perspective on Ancient Questions’.
2. Oct 14 – Cadboro Bay UC: ‘The Myth-Making Brain’.
3. Oct 21 – Cordova Bay UC: ‘How the Brain Changes God/ How God Changes the Brain’.
4. Oct 28 – Cadboro Bay UC: ‘The Mystical Mind’.
Each session is offered from 7:00 to 9:30 pm. The cost of the series is $20 or $5 per session. The sessions probe the new field of neurotheology, the neurological study of religious and spiritual experiences. The videotapes feature Dr. Andrew Newberg, the director of research at the Jefferson Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine and a physician at Jefferson University Hospital.
Dr. Newberg is a clear and engaging speaker, who illustrates his presentation with excellent graphics and visuals. Each session will feature videotape footage of Dr Newberg followed by small group discussion around the important questions raised by his presentation: Questions such as How do religious experiences originate? What is their meaning? And why does religion play such a huge role in human experience?
Dr. Newberg has been asking questions about reality, truth, and God since he was a child and he has long been fascinated by the human mind and its complex workings. While still a medical student, he met Dr. Eugene d’Aquili, who was studying religious experiences.
Together they were able to break new theoretical and empirical ground on the relationship between the brain and religion. He is the author of numerous books including How God Changes the Brain, Principles of Neurotheology, Why We Believe What We Believe, and Why God Won’t Go Away.
His research, currently largely focussed on how brain functions, is associated with various mental states—in particular, religious and mystical experiences. His research has included brain scans of people in prayer, meditation, rituals, and trance states, as well as surveys of people’s spiritual experiences and attitudes.
He has also evaluated the relationship between religious or spiritual phenomena and health, and the effect of meditation on memory. He believes that it is important to keep science rigorous and religion religious.
Find out more about The Great Courses program and view a short video about the series at
To register for the entire series or for individual sessions, go to
Joan Mason, First Metropolitan United Church, Victoria