Joan D. Koss-Chioino and Philip Hefner's new volume is unique in exploring the meaning of spiritual transformation and healing with new research from a scientific perspective. An interdisciplinary group of contributors-anthropological, psychological, medical, theological, and biological scientists-investigate the role of religious communities and healing practitioners, with spiritual transformation as their medium of healing. Individual authors evaluate the meaning of spiritual transformations and the consequences for those who experience it; the contributions of indigenous healing systems; new frameworks for neurological and physiological correlates of transformative religious experiences; the support from neuroscience for the radical empathy and intersubjective exchange that takes place in healing practices; and evidence for universal elements of the healing process. This exciting new book will be an invaluable resource for those generally interested in the role of religion in society, across the sciences, social sciences, and all religious traditions. With a foreword by Solomon H. Katz.

Contributions by: Carol Rausch Albright, Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, Mary Ann Bucklin, Bonnie Glass-Coffin, Philip Hefner, David Hogue, Ralph W. Hood, David Hufford, Leonard M. Hummel, Dale Ironson, Gail Ironson, Solomon Katz, Joan D. Koss-Chioino, Heidemarie Kremer, Jean L. Kristeller, Andrew Newberg, Kenneth I. Pargament, Karl E. Peters, Michael L. Spezio, Edith L. B. Turner, Fraser Watts