Introduction vii Acknowledgements xiii Part 1 Definitions 1 1. Defining the Terms: Experience, Religious Experience, Spiritual Experience 3 Part 2 Data 17 2. The Characterization, Classification and Reporting of Religious and Spiritual Experiences 19 3. Qualitative and Quantitative Research 27 4. Categories of Religious and Spiritual Experiences: From Mysticism to NDEs 37 Part 3 Debates 55 5. Experience and Experiences 57 6. Triggers and Facilitators 67 7. Experience and Fruits 75 8. Experience and Interpretation 83 9. Objectivity and Veridicality 103 10. Evidence and Argument 115 11. Challenges of Diversity and Naturalistic Explanations 123 12. Religious Experience and Religious Language 135 13. Religious Experience and Revelation 148 14. Gender Issues 162 Part 4 Disciplines, Doubters and Defenders 169 15. The Psychology of Religious and Spiritual Experience 171 16. Religious and Spiritual Experience in Scripture 179 17. Religious and Spiritual Experience in the Christian Tradition 193 18. The Theology of Religious and Spiritual Experience 205 19. The Philosophy of Religious and Spiritual Experience 216 20. The Anthropology and Sociology of Religious and Spiritual Experience 226 Appendix: Religious and Spiritual Experiences and Neuroscience 244 References 247 Index of Subjects 273 Index of Names 299