Fingerprints of God, Barbara Bradley Hagerty
Fingerprints of God, Barbara Bradley Hagerty
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Fingerprints of God
The Search for the Science of Spirituality

Author: Barbara Bradley Hagerty

Narrator: Cassandra Campbell

Unabridged: 10 hr 45 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/26/2009


Synopsis

Is spiritual experience real or a delusion? Are there realities that we can experience but not easily measure? Does your consciousness depend entirely on your brain, or does it extend beyond? In Fingerprints of God, award-winning journalist Barbara Bradley Hagerty delves into the discoveries science is making about how faith and spirituality affect us physically and emotionally as it attempts to understand whether the ineffable place beyond this world can be rationally—even scientifically—explained.

Hagerty interviews some of the world's top scientists to describe what their groundbreaking research reveals about our human spiritual experience. From analyses of the brain functions of Buddhist monks and Carmelite nuns, to the possibilities of healing the sick through directed prayer, to what near-death experiences illuminate about the afterlife, Hagerty reaches beyond what we think we know to understand what happens to us when we believe in a higher power.

Paralleling the discoveries of science is Hagerty's own account of her spiritual evolution. Raised a Christian Scientist, she was a scrupulous adherent until a small moment as an adult triggered a reevaluation of her beliefs, which in turn led her to a new way of thinking about God and faith.

An insightful examination of what science is learning about how and why we believe, Fingerprints of God is also a moving story of one person's search for a communion with a higher power and what she discovered on that journey.

About Barbara Bradley Hagerty

Barbara Bradley Hagerty is the award-winning religion correspondent for National Public Radio. She is a recipient of the Templeton-Cambridge Journalism Fellowship in Science and Religion and a Knight Fellowship at Yale Law School. Before joining NPR, she was a reporter at the Christian Science Monitor for eleven years. Barbara lives in Washington, D.C.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Frank Jude on December 03, 2009

Well, Barbara Bradley Hagerty set out to find the evidence of God, and the Transcendent reality she hoped to find and -- guess what? She found it! She asserts she's a "journalist" and "reporter," but her awards as a "religion correspondent" tell me more that what she is is a believer looking for any......more

Goodreads review by Brynna on September 20, 2009

An interesting read, but ultimately disappointing. This would be a good introduction into the interaction of science and spirituality for a non-scientist. As a scientist who has read some on this topic, I found it a little shallow, not in terms of research (obviously extensive and with an honest att......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer on March 02, 2011

It’s been nearly a week since I finished reading this book by NPR correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty, on “the search for the science of spirituality.” When I was only about a quarter of the way into the book, I sat down with two fellow writers to talk shop, and mentioned what I was reading. I surp......more

Goodreads review by Joey on October 21, 2009

How does the brain function when a Buddhist monk is in deep meditation or a charismatic Christian speaks in tongues? What do scientists know about out of body experiences? Can the mind function apart from the brain? These are some of the interesting questions that Hagerty tackles. However, she does......more

Goodreads review by Kathryn on November 01, 2012

The questions that this book poses are not so much along the line of, Is there a God?, but exploring whether Science can attest that spiritual experience and experiences are something separate than just brain synapses and physiological changes. I found this book to be quite fascinating, and one that......more