The Big Question Is: Is there credible evidence for God in the human mind and consciousness?
To the onlooker it appears an unremarkable sponge-like object. To Professor Chris Frith: “the total number of possible connections within this human brain are greater than the number of particles in the known universe.” The brain is not only the personal HQ of every individual, it is also the source of a deep mystery. How does it link to our sense of being conscious human beings with a sense of the past, the present, the future and of each other? It is such a deep mystery! Science is unable to explain why consciousness exists or what it is. Across the world, the vast majority of people are associated with some kind of religion: a sort of consciousness of God. In the western world, especially in Europe, grand cathedrals make statements in stone about the majesty and the glory of God. However, across the world human beings also have a strong tendency towards superstition. SO……
- Instead of being real, might religion just be a form of superstition?
- Does the fact that specific religions are popular in specific parts of the world indicate that religion is merely an invention of the culture?
- BUT:
- Is it also possible that religions have more in common than divides them?
- Might this be a highly significant factor in trying to answer the God question? “If we’re created by some kind of god who wants to have positive engagement with us, then our very nature is going to be receptive,” says Oxford University’s Justin Barrett. The second part of “Mind, Consciousness and The God Question” scrutinises human accounts of experiences of God. Priests in a Catholic seminary near New York maintain that they “know the presence of God in their souls” and defend themselves against the claim that they have merely engaged in wishful thinking. An ex drug addict meanwhile gives God the credit for the revolutionary change in her life. It is a testimony echoed by a group of prisoners in Darrington high security prison in Texas. Their dramatic story is transforming prison life. BUT: All is examined in Mind, Consciousness and The God Question. So much for trying to find God in life but what about trying to find God in death? Hammersmith hospital, London is a participant in a worldwide experiment to test the reality of near death experiences and reports of a ‘world beyond’ coming from patients who were clinically brain dead but were then resuscitated. One interviewee claims to have spent 90 minutes in heaven at a time when, after a road accident, he was clinically dead. So might there be evidence here of life after death? The advice of consultant psychiatrist Peter Fenwick is: “Ask the dying. They know.” So does the evidence suggest that God is real – or ‘all in the mind’? Are atheists justified in claiming that the only reality is what science reveals? The evidence for God might hang on whether or not they are right. It’s a judgement for viewers to make for themselves.
- Might the true explanation just be in human psychology?
- Could a ‘god gene’, when activated, be responsible for the feeling that God is in human experience but it’s all down to imagination?
- BUT:
- Isn’t this Christianity delivering what it claims to offer?
- Wouldn’t this be a test of truth?
Programme Contributors
Rev Canon Dr Alan Hargrave
Canon Missioner of Ely Cathedral. The role not only...read more
Rev Canon Dr Alan Hargrave
The Theistic Perspective
Alan Hargrave on two contrasting ways he has a sense of God.
Canon Missioner of Ely Cathedral. The role not only involves full clerical responsibility but has the specific task of encouraging the cathedral to look out to the community and the community to look to the cathedral.
Prof Andrew Newberg
American Neuroscientist. Newberg has focused his...read more
Prof Andrew Newberg
More about the Science
Andrew Newberg on the challenges of being truly open minded in evaluating evidence. We are more prone to look for evidence that supports a view we already hold.
American Neuroscientist. Newberg has focused his professional expertise on the nature of religion, spirituality and their relationship with the functions of brain and mind. He has also studied how our fundamental belief systems arise.
Prof Chris Frith
Professor of Neurospsychology, University College London....read more
Prof Chris Frith
More about the Science
Chris Frith on how specific parts of the brain have very particular functions.
Professor of Neurospsychology, University College London. His main interest is in the applications of functional brain imaging to the study of higher cognitive functions in humans, although he is also well known for his earlier seminal work characterising the cognitive basis of schizophrenia.
Chuck Colson
A member of the Nixon Administration, he was jailed in 1974...read more
Chuck Colson
The Theistic Perspective
Chuck Colson on contrasting atheist and theist world views.
A member of the Nixon Administration, he was jailed in 1974 for his part in the Watergate Scandal. Thereafter, became a committed Christian and founded Prison Fellowship - which operates in 112 countries worldwide. Author of a number of influential Christian books.
Prof Daniel Dennett
American philosopher, writer and cognitive scientist. His...read more
Prof Daniel Dennett
The Atheist Perspective
Daniel Dennett on how evolution by natural selection explains the survival of religion.
American philosopher, writer and cognitive scientist. His research centres on the philosophy of mind, science and biology, particularly as those fields relate to evolutionary biology and cognitive science. A firm atheist and secularist. A prominent member of the New Atheists.
Prof David Sloan Wilson
Argues that the evolutionary paradigm can adequately...read more
Prof David Sloan Wilson
The Atheist Perspective
David Sloan Wilson on his view that beliefs are formed on the basis of their survival value and not because they are true.
Argues that the evolutionary paradigm can adequately explain not only phenomena in the biological world but in the social world of religion and morality as well. There is, therefore, no need for a creator.
Dr Dean Hamer
American geneticist and author. Profoundly skilled in...read more
Dr Dean Hamer
The Atheist Perspective
Dean Hamer on human beings, uniquely among species, having higher forms of consciousness.
American geneticist and author. Profoundly skilled in communicating the complexities of molecular biology to a lay audience and in linking this information to the big issues of the programme. Author of "The God Gene" which argues that spiritual experience is merely a function of the brain.
Denyse O’Leary
Co-authored "The Spiritual Brain" which examines how the...read more
Denyse O’Leary
The Theistic Perspective
Denyse O’Leary on how the mystery of consciousness provides clear pointers to the existence of God.
Co-authored "The Spiritual Brain" which examines how the brain processes religious, mystical and spiritual experiences. O’Leary concludes that spirituality is a manifestation of the reality of God. She believes that the brain and the mind are separate entities.
Don Piper
Author of 90 Minutes in Heaven, Don recounts his story of...read more
Don Piper
The Theistic Perspective
Don Piper on how his attitude to death has changed after ’90 minutes in heaven’.
Author of 90 Minutes in Heaven, Don recounts his story of his brief experience in heaven following a car accident when he was on his way home from a conference in 1989.
Father Matthew Green
Former Professor of Philosophy in a New York Catholic...read more
Father Matthew Green
The Theistic Perspective
Father Matthew Green on attempting to describe his inner experience of God.
Former Professor of Philosophy in a New York Catholic Seminary, Father Green attempts to make the nature of spiritual experience accessible and understandable.
Former Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks
One of the most respected figures of the British...read more
Former Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks
The Theistic Perspective
Lord Sacks on the importance of learning how to listen and how to study in order to know God.
One of the most respected figures of the British establishment, Lord Sacks is a key contributor to public debates on ethics, religion and science.
Prof John Lennox
Oxford Professor of Mathematics and Philosopher of Science,...read more
Prof John Lennox
The Theistic Perspective
John Lennox on evaluating whether his belief is just a product of his upbringing.
Oxford Professor of Mathematics and Philosopher of Science, he is a prominent defender of Christian faith and author of several books on science and religion including "God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?" and "Gunning For God: Why The New Atheists Are Missing The Target."
Dr John Rutter
British composer, conductor, editor, and record producer,...read more
Dr John Rutter
More about the Science
John Rutter on music and its mysterious capacity to evoke a sense of God.
British composer, conductor, editor, and record producer, mainly of choral music, he is undoubtedly one of the best known in the field of religious music. Offers insight into the connection between music and spirituality.
Dr Justin Barrett
Founding editor of the "Journal of Cognition and Culture"...read more
Dr Justin Barrett
The Theistic Perspective
Justin Barrett on the questions underlying why people are receptive to religious belief.
Founding editor of the "Journal of Cognition and Culture" and is author of numerous articles and chapters concerning the cognitive science of religion. Provides key insights into the social and psychological importance of religious belief.
Prof Keith Ward
British philosopher and theologian with specialist interest...read more
Prof Keith Ward
The Theistic Perspective
Keith Ward on how discoveries in the sciences inevitably are raising the ‘God question.’
British philosopher and theologian with specialist interest in comparative theology and the relationship between science and religion. Highly critical of the view that science can ever be a prism through which the validity of spiritual experience can be judged.
Maitreyabandhu
Teacher at the London Buddhist Centre and a member of the...read more
Prof Peter Atkins
Former Professor of Chemistry, University of Oxford. An...read more
Prof Peter Atkins
The Atheist Perspective
Peter Atkins on his belief that religious belief is wishful thinking.
Former Professor of Chemistry, University of Oxford. An outspoken critic of any attempt to argue that science and religion are compatible. Professes total incredulity that respected scientists can believe in a God.
Dr Peter Fenwick
Neuropsychiatrist and neurophysiologist known for his...read more
Dr Peter Fenwick
More about the Science
Peter Fenwick on his research into the experiences of those who are dying.
Neuropsychiatrist and neurophysiologist known for his studies of end-of-life phenomena. He is recognised as an authority on the relationship between the mind and the brain.
Dr Sam Parnia
Physician who researches into near-death and out-of-body...read more
Dr Sam Parnia
More about the Science
Sam Parnia on why the human mind might be a separate entity from the brain.
Physician who researches into near-death and out-of-body experiences. Author of What Happens When We Die, based on his research which considers whether human consciousness can survive death.
Prof Steven Pinker
Harvard College Professor in the Department of Psychology....read more
Prof Steven Pinker
The Atheist Perspective
Steven Pinker on how certain he is that God as explanation is not necessary.
Harvard College Professor in the Department of Psychology. One of the most respected cognitive scientists in the world, he was named one of "Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Thinkers" in 2004. Known for his advocacy of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind.
Stuart McAllister
Former International Director of Ravi Zacharias...read more
Stuart McAllister
The Theistic Perspective
Stuart McCallister on faith and doubt.
Former International Director of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries; currently Regional Director, the Americas. A passionate advocate of the rational basis of Christianity.
To help viewers determine a contributor's stance on the topics discussed within The God Question, we have introduced a series-wide colour coding scheme; Theists, Atheists and Neutral Contributors.