Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

I copied this from someone's post on a forum and cleaned up the typos. I heard about it first on Bob Dutko.

Skeptic magazine (Vol. 9, No. 4 2003) claims a theory (rather elaborate) based by research done on laboratory rats. They state the scientific testing shows that if three things happen simultaneously then a death like state occurs. The following is from this issue of Skeptic magazine as written by Michael Persinger...

1) Limbic Epilepsy or Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. The seizures induced by this specific form of epilepsy are described as 'partial complex seizures'. People who have this form of epilepsy are affected primarily by behavioral and personality changes. Most people who have this form of epilepsy are extremely creative and have noticeable altered thought patterns. In fact a few of the changes include: feeling as though they are 'chosen', interpreting events to be from some cosmic source (i.e. God), compulsion to tell others or 'proselytize' their beliefs, obsession with the origins of the universe or world and the purpose of existence, accelerated excellence in oral discourse.

"Many of the individuals who display these electrical transients are very intelligent, creative people who perceive their environment quite differently from the average person. However they may be more prone to periods of depression, irritability and altered sexuality. Perhaps the most defining characteristic of these individuals is their frequent experiences of a sensed presence or Sentient Being, with or without auditory experiences, that are attributed to the cultural deity, such as Yahweh, Allah or to angels"

2) In laboratory testing on rats with Limbic epilepsy, a certain type of drug has been administered, 'acepromazine' and later substituted with 'reserpine'. Reserpine is an alkaloid that comes from a plant called Rauwolfia serpentine (a plant growing naturally in India). This drug was used historically to treat symptoms of insanity, hypertension and insomnia. It depletes the brain of certain neurotransmitters. While we have very little knowledge of Jesus during his teen years, it is potentially possible that he may have had contact with Essene or Eastern philosophies. This would have made him familiar with the "psychotropic traditions of the East regarding consumption of plant extracts, like reserpine, and the subsequent but transient 'death-like' conditions".

3) Physical Restraint. When the rats with limbic epilepsy were injected with Reserpine and physically restrained, they would exhibit symptoms of death. Extreme forms of hypothermia, death like state, which lasted 3 days, and then the rats would recover. They appeared normal but "they developed a type of dishevelment, lowered body weight, alteration in preferred diet, permanent deficits in memory, and a propensity for spontaneous seizures for the rest of their lives".

There are few descriptions of Jesus' actual behavior, it is possible that the ones that do exist could be matched with descriptions of those suffering from limbic epilepsy. Skeptic magazine describes it as "His bouts of rage at the temple, auditory instructions and debates during his wanderings for 40 days in the desert, his emotional liability (such as crying), requirements to be isolated concurrent with marked moodiness, the nascent focus of his philosophies and the compelling feeling that he was 'special and chosen' suggest he displayed markedly elevated temporal lobe experiences".

Wow. You have got to be kidding me.

1) What about brain damage? "Hey Thomas, check out these holes in my hands and feet. Got any fish? I'm hungry. Can you comb my hair for me because I can't do it for myself now?"

2) What about all those wounds, especially on the hands, feet, and the spear to the chest? No big deal, He would have be just fine.

3) What about walking out of the tomb? No big deal, He could have move that stone away and got out with any of the soldiers seeing Him.

4) How exactly does TLE let someone control the weather, turn water into wine, walk on water, heal people, cast out demons, cure leprosy, and raise people from the dead, as was reported by eyewitnesses? I don't think it does!

I see now that I really don't have the kind of faith it takes to be an atheist.