micksherlock Posted August 11, 2012 Posted August 11, 2012 What do Joan of arc, Saint Paul and Muhammed, all have in common? According to the legends surrounding these three figures, they all saw and or, heard, God, whether in the form of angels, saints, or God himself. Joan of Arc was accused of witchcraft, with many observers believing her to be possessed by demons. According to her though, she had a direct visual and audio link to God. Paul, on his way to Damascus, saw visions of Christ, and heard Christ's voice in his head. Muhammad, who it was alleged, spoke to Allah, suffered pain and was left breathless on many occasions following his episodes/seizures, at first, believing himself to be possessed by demons. These three characters, if the legends do any justice to the truth surrounding their tales, may have in fact been suffering from Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. Dr Lydia Bayne of the California University is one of the first neurologists to pose this idea, given the symptoms of this disease, i.e, visual and auditory hallucinations and feelings of ecstasy. A further common symptom of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy is a heightened sex-drive. Consider now, Paul's famous saying in the Epistle to the Romans, in which he says: “…I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members” (Romans 7:23 NASB). Here, Paul, according to many theologians, one of them being, Bishop John Shelby Spong, was speaking with regard to his constant battle against his own sexual desires. Another relevent passage from Paul, appears in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians, in which he says: “there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me” (2 Corinthians 12:7 NASB) Some theologians have suggested that the thorn in Paul's flesh was epilepsy, whilst others have speculated that it pertained to his obscure sexual desires. The fact of the matter is, both positions may be right, at the same time. Ok, then there is Muhammad.....I think I will just leave this examination here... Your thoughts?
mcdaddy Posted August 11, 2012 Posted August 11, 2012 Paul never said himself he had a Damascus experience. Only Acts says that, which is to be taken with a large grain of salt. I also think Paul may have been gay. 1
Kaiser01 Posted August 11, 2012 Posted August 11, 2012 Paul never said himself he had a Damascus experience. Only Acts says that, which is to be taken with a large grain of salt. I also think Paul may have been gay. Why do you think he was gay?
bornagainathiest Posted August 11, 2012 Posted August 11, 2012 Hey Mick! The Wiki page on TLE makes some interesting points. http://en.wikipedia....l_lobe_epilepsy For instance... Neurotheologians speculate that individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy, having a natural tendency to experience states of consciousness such as euphoria or samādhi, have functioned in human history as religious figures or shamans. Thanks, BAA.
mcdaddy Posted August 11, 2012 Posted August 11, 2012 Paul never said himself he had a Damascus experience. Only Acts says that, which is to be taken with a large grain of salt. I also think Paul may have been gay. Why do you think he was gay? Think of a modern catholic priest. Anti gay tirades, he was unmarried (when every good Jew was supposed to have a wife), the "thorn in the flesh" problem he dealt with, saying not to marry is better, etc. Y could do a google search and find a better explanation than that tho.
Recommended Posts