Encountering Mystery: Religious Experience in a Secular Age

“Numinous experiences may not be common, but they are not, even in our so-called secular world, uncommon,” contends Princeton theological seminary professor Allison (The Resurrection of Jesus) in this evenhanded analysis. He compiles accounts of supernatural episodes, including his experience of lights descending from the sky to surround him with “a calm ecstasy,” and suggests that there are phenomena science can’t explain that deserve to be studied. The stories—some shared directly with the author, others pulled from archives or articles—tell of people who have seen strange shadows, been inexplicably overwhelmed by bliss, or had near-death experiences. Positing that many angel encounters follow a script in which someone has their distress relieved by an apparently otherworldly stranger, the author asks, “Why, if there are no divine emissaries to be seen, natural selection has programmed so many of us to see them?” Allison’s willingness to doubt some supernatural accounts (“It is natural to have reservations”) and lay out the scientific explanations for others makes the cases he can’t explain more persuasive, as does his commitment to promoting inquiry over definite answers. A grounded entry in the supernatural encounters genre, this well-researched chronicle has the power to give skeptics second thoughts. (Aug.)