{"id":44425,"date":"2017-09-29T13:39:28","date_gmt":"2017-09-29T19:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=44425"},"modified":"2017-09-29T13:41:28","modified_gmt":"2017-09-29T19:41:28","slug":"shaken-naturalistic-faith-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/09\/shaken-naturalistic-faith-syndrome.html","title":{"rendered":"Shaken Naturalistic Faith Syndrome"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"In<\/a>
A nice image from southern California, where I was born and raised
(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

From a well-respected Dutch cardiologist:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is 1969. \u00a0At the coronary care unit the alarm suddenly goes off. \u00a0The monitor shows that the electrocardiogram of a patient with a myocardial infarction (heart attack) has flatlined. \u00a0The man has suffered a cardiac arrest. \u00a0Two nurses hurry over to the patient, who is no longer responsive, and quickly draw the curtains around his bed. \u00a0One of the nurses starts CPR while the other places a mask over his mouth and administers oxygen. \u00a0A third nurse rushes over with the resuscitation trolley that contains the defibrillator. \u00a0The defibrillator is charged, the paddles are covered in gel, the patient\u2019s chest is bared, the medical staff let go of the patient and the bed, and the patient is defibrillated. \u00a0He receives an electric shock to the chest. \u00a0It has no effect. \u00a0Heart massage and artificial respiration are resumed, and, in consultation with the doctor, extra medication is injected into the IV drip. \u00a0Then the patient is defibrillated for the second time. \u00a0This time his cardiac rhythm is reestablished, and more than a minute later, after a spell of unconsciousness that lasted about four minutes, the patient regains consciousness, to the great relief of the nursing staff and the attendant doctor.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

That attendant doctor was me. \u00a0I had started my cardiology training that year.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Following the successful resuscitation, everybody was pleased \u2014 everybody except the patient. \u00a0He had been successfully revived, yet to everybody\u2019s surprise he was extremely disappointed. \u00a0He spoke of a tunnel, colors, a light, a beautiful landscape, and music. \u00a0He was extremely emotional. \u00a0The term near-death experience<\/em> (NDE) did not yet exist, and I had never heard of people remembering the period of their cardiac arrest \u00a0While studying for my degree, I had learned that such a thing is in fact impossible: being unconscious means being unaware \u2014 and the same applies to people suffering a cardiac arrest or patients in a coma. \u00a0At such a moment it is simply impossible to be conscious or to have memories because all brain function has ceased. \u00a0In the event of a cardiac arrest, a patient is unconscious, is no longer breathing, and has no palpable pulse or blood pressure.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pim van Lommel, Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience<\/em> (New York: HarperCollins, 2010), v-vi.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Significantly, the epigram to the Introduction to Dr. Van Lommel\u2019s\u00a0book \u2014 an epigram that immediately precedes the passage cited above, reads as follows:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

All science is empirical science, all theory is subordinate to perception; a single fact can overturn an entire system.<\/strong> \u00a0\u2014 Frederik van Eeden<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Friday. \u00a0So it shouldn\u2019t be a surprise that Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture<\/em> has published a new article today:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo New Studies of Biblical Repentance\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Have you, by the way, noticed the list, to the right side of the article, of the various formats in which it\u2019s available?\u00a0 You can listen to an audio recording of it, for example. \u00a0In other words, you can enjoy Interpreter<\/em> while you\u2019re walking on your treadmill or driving in your car. \u00a0And what could possibly be more wonderful than that<\/em>?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Have you ever wondered what Mary Magdalene might have looked like? \u00a0Well, here\u2019s a stab at it:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIs This the Face of Mary Magdalene?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of course, the most fundamental question concerns whether that\u2019s\u00a0her skull in the first place.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yesterday, I looked in on an amusing discussion the Church\u2019s responsibility for the unusually high levels of obesity among Latter-day Saints<\/a>. \u00a0In that light, this list is certainly worth a look:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Most and Least Obese States in America \u2014 Ranked!\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A nice little essay from Stephen Smoot<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus, the Alt-Right, and Latter-day Publicans\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 From a well-respected Dutch cardiologist: \u00a0 It is 1969. \u00a0At the coronary care unit the alarm suddenly goes off. \u00a0The monitor shows that the electrocardiogram of a patient with a myocardial infarction (heart attack) has flatlined. \u00a0The man has suffered a cardiac arrest. \u00a0Two nurses hurry over to the patient, who is no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nShaken Naturalistic Faith Syndrome<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    From a well-respected Dutch cardiologist:   It is 1969. \u00a0At the coronary care unit the alarm suddenly goes off. \u00a0The monitor shows that\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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