NEUROSCIENCE, PSYCHOLOGY, AND RELIGION: ILLUSIONS, DELUSIONS, AND REALITIES ABOUT HUMAN NATURE

NEUROSCIENCE, PSYCHOLOGY, AND RELIGION: ILLUSIONS, DELUSIONS, AND REALITIES ABOUT HUMAN NATURE. By Malcolm Jeeves and Warren S. Brown. (2009)· West Consho hocken, PA: Templeton Foundation Press. Pp. l60, pb. $17.95. Reviewed by Bryan Auday (Gordon College/Wenham, MA).

This book is part of the Science and Religion series supported by the Templeton Foundation who commissioned two stellar, seasoned authors to write a brief book that would extend the dialogue between developments within the scientific enterprise and religion. Jeeves and Brown, both neuropsychologists, have written a solid - albeit brief - book that explores questions about the role brain activity plays in human behavior and experience. The book is clearly written for the non-specialist (e.g., the term psychology is defined) and appears to be best suited for the general educated public who wants to learn more about the historical developments that undergird several contemporary areas of research within brain science that have implications for religious belief. JPC readers who are academics might want to consider requiring this book for undergraduate freshmen in psychology or neuroscience programs as a conversation starter that could then be supplemented with more in-depth scholarly writings on selected issues such as the biological correlates of moral behavior or the neurological foundation of religious beliefs.

The book contains nine chapters and includes a bibliography for further reading, along with a name and subject index. With a central goal of placing historical, philosophical, and theological perspectives in a broader context for understanding human nature, chapter one addresses the rapid growth of neuroscience as a discipline and its relationship with the field of psychology. I concur with the authors' observation that advancements within contemporary brain imaging technologies (e.g., fMRI, PET, TMS) have fueled interest and research, Chapter two addresses the nature of the debate between science and religion by placing it within the context of a two-fold typology of "warfare" or "partnership." Although I would have preferred to have seen the conversation more finely parsed - even bringing in Ian Barbour's overused four-fold typology - to better delineate the nuances of the interaction, I sympathize with the authors' goal to simplify things for the introductory reader.

Chapter three delves into the mind/soul/body and includes brief discussions on the wholists versus localization debate, phrenology, as well as addressing the relatively new field of neurotheology. Chapter four is devoted to brain function and serves as a primer into basic neuroanatomy and systems. It appeared that the authors tried to accomplish too much in this chapter since it reads more like an encyclopedia. A more narrowed discussion on cognitive systems might have been more interesting. In addition, the inclusion of a brain atlas picture would help the novice understand where the mentioned brain structures are located. Chapter five serves to link the mind and brain, and offers more insight into the birth of the discipline of neuropsychology which attempts to delineate specific mental processes that correspond to particular brain regions.

The next three chapters address some timely and provocative topics such as evolutional psychology and its implications for religious individuals, the neuroscience of religiousness with a side discussion on temporal lobe disorder and some of Michael Persinger's research into religious experience and electromagnetic stimulation of the brain, and lastly perhaps the most important topic in the book regarding a theological understanding of human nature.

Overall, I found Neuroscience, Psychology, and Religion: Illusions, Delusions and Realities about Human Nature to be a cogent addition to the literature on how religious belief can be informed by the disciplines of neuroscience and psychology.