Amazon.com Review
Many people who experience psychotic episodes have extreme spiritual encounters: for one person, it may be a sense of a tree's spirit speaking its truth aloud; for others, it could be the sensation of energy beaming from their bodies and communicating with dolphins on a far-off coast. Modern psychiatry usually categorizes these visions as evidence of psychosis, to be treated with antipsychotic medication. But what if these visions were actually extensions of legitimate spiritual encounters or glimpses into the deeper dimensions of the soul?
Author Russell Shorto (Gospel Truth) dares to ask these questions. He even offers evidence of a new movement in psychiatry, in which established doctors are assuming a more holistic approach to psychotic episodes and taking the patient's soul into account. This is not a cavalier dismissal of all that can be gained from appropriate diagnoses of (and medications for) mental illness; rather, it is an impressively researched argument for opening up to the idea of spiritual visions. Citing extensive research and numerous case studies, Shorto helps readers consider the possibility that grandiose spiritual visions aren't necessarily symptoms of mental illness. --Gail Hudson
From Library Journal
Although both of these books focus on the great interest in spirituality in America today, much of which lies outside the predominant religious cultures, they are quite different. Shorto (Gospel Truth: The New Image of Jesus Emerging from Science and History and Why It Matters) considers contemporary psychiatric cases to show how many psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychotherapists have opened themselves to spiritual and religious dimensions. Freud may have dismissed religion, but now the most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual includes an entry for the "religious or spiritual problem." Taylor (William James on Consciousness Beyond the Margin) presents the history, starting in the 1700s, of various spiritual and religious movements that he calls the "shadow culture"Athey lie in the shadow of prevailing cultures and religions. He discusses Quakers and Shakers, Swedenborgians, Christian Scientists, and many more, and brings us to the current American focus on a seeming connection between psychology and spirituality. Both books are extremely interesting and both tackle challenging and controversial subjects. Both also call for some background on the part of the reader. Highly recommended.AJohn Moryl, Yeshiva Univ. Libs., New York
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