Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T03:17:26.845Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

God's Brain. Some Critical Remarkson Modern Neurotheology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 April 2007

FRIEDRICH WILHELM GRAF
Affiliation:
Evangelisch-Theologische Facultät, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Schellingstrasse 3/VIII VG, D-80799 Munich, Germany. E-mail: ethik@evtheol.uni-muenchen.de

Abstract

The author starts from an observed increase in theoretical contributions to the debate on neurotheology, illustrated by the example of the moral implications of certain discourse types in the novel God's Brain (Johler and Burow). Central scriptural passages of the Judeo-Christian tradition are then interpreted; a crucial shared aspect of these is the implication of an eternal divine memory, the physiological dimension of which has fostered, not just in terminology, a general openness of theology from the ‘neuronal turn’ to the neurotheological diagnostics since the late 19th century. Once the question of a possible self-reflection by the neurologist is systematically excluded, it becomes obvious that the ‘twilight of neurosciences’ still contains a considerable ideological potential. This is particularly evident in light of the questions addressed since the 1970s, despite the most modern methods in imaging and measurement.

Type
Focus: Brain and Mind
Copyright
Academia Europaea 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)