The Atlantic: Hallucination, or Divine Revelation?
Emma Green | J
“”Madness” used to be considered an affliction of the spirit—demonic possessions, or Godly visions. Now it’s treated as a medical issue. What does this mean for contemporary believers?”
“What is the difference between a homeless man who claims to speak to God and a saint who says the same? When I posed this question to Andrew Scull, the author of the recent book Madness in Civilization: A Cultural History of Insanity, he chuckled and cited a quip by the philosopher Bertrand Russell: “From a scientific point of view, we can make no distinction between the man who eats little and sees heaven and the man who drinks much and sees snakes.””
Full Article at The Atlantic>>>
