Searching For 'The Fingerprints of God'
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Date: 28 May 2009
The Science of Spirituality
National Public Radio's religion correspondent ponders the limits of science, and raises some big questions: Does spirituality run in families? Is there a God gene? And how do we explain near-death experiences? She explains how new technologies are helping scientists study the brain during intense religious experiences, from drug-induced ecstasies to meditation.
Barbara Bradley Hagerty, author of Fingerprints of God: The Search for the Science of Spirituality
The Psychology of the Soul
Begins at 23 min 17 sec
Thinkers like Carl Jung and William James paved the way for Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, which debuted earlier this year. Published by the American Psychological Association, it’s the first academic journal of peer-reviewed research on how faith affects human behavior.
Dr. Ralph Piedmont, editor of Psychology of Religion and Spirituality
Commentary: Shareholder Activism
Begins at 31 min 38 sec
For decades, religious groups have been watching their stocks to make sure the companies they’re invested in are socially responsible. And they're not afraid to speak up, pushing resolutions on worker justice, pollution, executive compensation and much more.
Mary Ann McGivern, member of the Loretto Community of women religious
Sacred Jazz
Begins at 36 min 49 sec
Jazz great Mary Lou Williams (pictured) believed that jazz and prayer were "twin mates of spiritual expression." She developed a style known as “sacred jazz,” which went on to inspire Duke Ellington and John Coltrane. Catholic jazz artist Deanna Witkowski introduces us to this little-known genre, and shares her new album, which sets Christians prayers, hymns and psalms to music for a jazz quartet.
Deanna Witkowski, jazz pianist/composer/vocalist. Her new album is From This Place
Twenty-Four Hour Chant
Begins at 49 min 4 sec
This Earth Day, about 60 Buddhists gathered at a Unitarian church in Colorado Springs to chant for 24 hours. They chanted in shifts, from one to four hours at a time, in the language of the early Buddhist scriptures. Producer Bob Thomason was there, and sent us this audio postcard.
Produced by Bob Thomason, producer and reporter for KRCC
This Week's Interfaith Calendar
May 31 - Pentecost (Christian)
On Pentecost, Christians remember the day when the Holy Spirit descended upon the followers of Jesus. As the story goes in the New Testament, the disciples had all gathered in Jerusalem, when a violent, blowing wind came down from the heavens, filling the place with sound. The Holy Spirit came to rest on them, in the form of “tongues of fire”, and everyone began to understand each other's native language, even though they had come from many different nations. This is the first mention in the Bible of what we now call "speaking in tongues," and the basis of the modern Christian Pentecostal movement.
Hear a recording of speaking in tongues, or glossololia, from the lab of Dr. Andrew Newberg. He's leading a fascinating new field called neurotheology, which studies the biological basis of spirituality.
