Overview

In June 1981, six young Croatians in the village of Medjugorje, in the former Yugoslavia, reported that the Virgin Mary had appeared to them. The Medjugorje visionaries say that Mary has returned every day since then, bringing them important messages from heaven to convey to the world. Throughout history, people have reported encountering extraordinary religious experiences-apparitions of the Virgin Mary, visions of Jesus Christ, weeping statues and icons, the stigmata, physical healings and miracles, and experiences of the afterlife-and interpreted them as supernatural in origin. Scholars have often tried to reinterpret such experiences, including those described by the great mystics like Francis of Assisi, Catherine of Siena, and Teresa of Avila, into natural or psychopathological categories, such as hysteria, hallucination, delusion, epileptic seizures, psychosis, the workings of the unconscious mind, or fraud. Are such reductionist explanations valid? Over the past three decades the Medjugorje visionaries have been subjected to extensive medical, psychological, and scientific examination, even while undergoing their visionary experiences. Daniel Klimek argues that the case of Medjugorje affords a rare opportunity to understand a deeper dimension of extraordinary religious phenomena. Presenting and analyzing the scientific studies on the visionaries in juxtaposition with the major scholars and debates surrounding religious experience, Klimek concludes that a multidisciplinary approach grants a more holistic and deeper understanding of such extraordinary religious experiences.

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9780190679200

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Reviews

Daniel Klimek has written a brilliant tour de force with impressive and unimpeachable scholarship. His vast and sound knowledge of primary and secondary sources speaks for itself. Klimek is a seasoned scholar, and this work makes a significant contribution to the field. Given the entrenched academic dogma that religious and mystical experience can be reduced to pathology, this book will be widely discussed and cause quite a stir. --Harvey D. Egan, S.J., Professor Emeritus of Systematic and Mystical Theology, Boston College Medjugorje and the Supernatural comprises a treasure trove of theological-mystical distinctions coupled with scientific-medical facts concerning the most globally discussed apparition of our time--an invaluable contribution to the study of Medjugorje and a must-read for all avid students of this great contemporary Marian event. --Mark Miravalle, Professor of Mariology, Franciscan University of Steubenville A ground-breaking scientific look at the visionary experiences in Medjugorje. The author shows how science and spirituality can work together in illuminating the Truth. An important study for anyone trying to understand supernatural experiences. --Msgr Stephen J. Rossetti, Research Associate Professor, The Catholic University of America

Klimek's impressive study manages to bring faith and science into earnest conversation in a manner that is both learned and accessible ... This is an important book for anyone desiring a way to think about religious experience that betrays neither faith nor science. -- Luke Timothy Johnson, Commonweal Magazine Klimek deals with this need to know about the nature of the phenomenon, which in this case is something quite extraordinary. In particular, he responds to a major and recurrent ploy that aims to undercut the whole phenomenon by pathologizing it. -- Michael Grosso, Religious Studies Review Like many past entries into this field, Klimek trains his gaze on the scientific study of religious experience, in this case studies that have been done on the psychology and neuroscience of a small group of visionaries who have, for over thirty years, claimed to see daily apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the Balkan village of Medjugorje. What makes Klimek's book noteworthy - and ambitious - is his insistence that these studies both prove the authenticity (and supernatural nature) of the events at Medjugorje, and provide a new framework for cooperation between science and religion. --Samuel J. Gee, Reading Religion Daniel Klimek has written a brilliant tour de force with impressive and unimpeachable scholarship. His vast and sound knowledge of primary and secondary sources speaks for itself. Klimek is a seasoned scholar, and this work makes a significant contribution to the field. Given the entrenched academic dogma that religious and mystical experience can be reduced to pathology, this book will be widely discussed and cause quite a stir. --Harvey D. Egan, S.J., Professor Emeritus of Systematic and Mystical Theology, Boston College Medjugorje and the Supernatural comprises a treasure trove of theological-mystical distinctions coupled with scientific-medical facts concerning the most globally discussed apparition of our time--an invaluable contribution to the study of Medjugorje and a must-read for all avid students of this great contemporary Marian event. --Mark Miravalle, Professor of Mariology, Franciscan University of Steubenville A ground-breaking scientific look at the visionary experiences in Medjugorje. The author shows how science and spirituality can work together in illuminating the Truth. An important study for anyone trying to understand supernatural experiences. --Msgr Stephen J. Rossetti, Research Associate Professor, The Catholic University of America

Daniel Klimek has written a brilliant tour de force with impressive and unimpeachable scholarship. His vast and sound knowledge of primary and secondary sources speaks for itself. Klimek is a seasoned scholar, and this work makes a significant contribution to the field. Given the entrenched academic dogma that religious and mystical experience can be reduced to pathology, this book will be widely discussed and cause quite a stir. --Harvey D. Egan, S.J., Professor Emeritus of Systematic and Mystical Theology, Boston College Medjugorje and the Supernatural comprises a treasure trove of theological-mystical distinctions coupled with scientific-medical facts concerning the most globally discussed apparition of our time--an invaluable contribution to the study of Medjugorje and a must-read for all avid students of this great contemporary Marian event. --Mark Miravalle, Professor of Mariology, Franciscan University of Steubenville A ground-breaking scientific look at the visionary experiences in Medjugorje. The author shows how science and spirituality can work together in illuminating the Truth. An important study for anyone trying to understand supernatural experiences. --Msgr Stephen J. Rossetti, Research Associate Professor, The Catholic University of America

Author Information

Daniel Maria Klimek is a Third Order Franciscan friar, writer, and scholar. He is a member of the theological commission of the International Marian Association and has taught as a Lecturer in the School of Franciscan Studies at St. Bonaventure University. He earned his Ph.D. in spirituality with distinction from the Catholic University of America, and received his Master of Arts in Religion from Yale Divinity School, concentrating on the history of Christianity. Daniel Maria is a recognized authority on the Marian apparitions of Medjugorje.

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