Excerpt from
Visions and Healing in the Acts of the Apostles
How the Early Believers Experienced God
John J. Pilch

© 2004 by the Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, microfilm, microfiche, mechanical recording, photocopying, translation, or by any other means, known or yet unknown, for any purpose except brief quotations in reviews, without the previous written permission of Liturgical Press, Saint John’s Abbey, P.O. Box 7500, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7500. Printed in the United States of America.

Dedicated with love and gratitude to Dr. Felicitas Daniels Goodman, respected anthropologist mentor and friend, whose life and research have charted the way to alternate reality, the realm of God.

Contents

Introduction

These are just five of the more than twenty references in Acts of the Apostles to individuals encountering God, the risen Jesus, or angels in a level of awareness different from ordinary waking consciousness. Cognitive neuroscientists and anthropologists call these different levels of awareness altered states of consciousness (ASC). In general they agree that at all times and in all places people have been capable of and actually entered a variety of altered states of consciousness. “Indeed the potential to shift, voluntarily or involuntarily between different states of consciousness is a function of the universal human nervous system. All people have to cope with different states of consciousness in one way or another” (Clottes and Lewis-Williams 1996: 12).

Even those in Western culture who because of their scientific and psychological socialization tend to be skeptical about or even resistant to these experiences have more of them than they realize. Those who drink alcohol know the effect of one, two, or more drinks on consciousness. Those who drive automobiles admit that they have often arrived at their destination having observed all the laws and followed the correct roads but can’t remember the trip. The driver, especially if driving alone, has been in an altered state of consciousness commonly called “road trance.” Practically everyone has daydreamed in class, or during a lecture, or a sermon, or a concert, or on many other occasions. These are all instances of altered states of consciousness, changed levels of awareness. As the examples just mentioned suggest, levels of awareness change often during a day: preparing a meal, listening to a lecture, driving, watching TV, and so on. Most of the time a person is unaware of the shift and realizes it only when forced to return to that from which he or she was “distracted.” Moreover, scientists know precious little about the relationship among the more than twenty different levels of awareness identified (Goodman 1973: 101).

The reason why this experience is so universal is because it is rooted in the basic physiological make-up of every human being (Pilch 2002c). All human beings are100% the same, 100% different, and 50% the same and 50% different all at the same time. At the level of biology, all human beings are 100% the same (barring handicaps or the like). The nervous system functions the same in all human beings no matter where they live or in what century. Of course, the country, culture, society, and family in which they live make them partly the same as other human beings and partly different, that is 50 % the same and 50% different. Every human being has a father and mother, but those roles are interpreted and experienced differently in different countries, cultures, societies, and families. Some cultures (like ancient Israel) are patriarchal, others (like the Philippines) are matrilineal. The role of father and mother differs in each.

Relative to the topic of this book, Mediterranean believers are more likely to interpret an altered state of consciousness experience as an encounter with someone from the realm of God, while a scientifically sophisticated Western believer may be inclined to interpret such an experience as a “hallucination,” that is, something pathological, or perhaps an “alien from outer space” or an “unidentified flying object (UFO).” The society, country, or culture of origin influences the way in which the visionary interprets an experience. In their ecstatic trance experience of Jesus’ Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36), the disciples identified the two men talking with him as Moses and Elijah, not Zeus and Apollo. Finally, as distinct individuals, every person is 100% different from any and every other person. The experiences of one person are not the experience of another.

Dr. Erika Bourguignon was the pioneer in doing research on altered states of consciousness. Her work was further developed by one of her students, Dr. Felicitas Goodman. Dr. Goodman began her graduate work at a later time in her life after a successful career in linguistics. She was quite understandably drawn to research glossolalia, or “speaking in tongues,” found in some religious groups. Her published research on that topic is one of the definitive studies of this phenomenon (Goodman 1972). Her interest in religious experience continued to grow, and in 1979 Dr. Goodman established The Cuyamungue Institute in Columbus, Ohio, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, an anthropological research and teaching institution specializing in comparative religions and ecstatic trance. In her long years of research and practice, she examined artifacts and studied ethnographies to assist her in interpreting strategies for inducing changes in levels of awareness. She was and continues to be interested in the cross cultural phenomenon of altered states of consciousness identified as religious ecstatic trance. She also immersed herself in the study of mythologies to help her interpret many personal trance experiences which initially she could only remember and record. Often it was much later that she found the key to interpreting the experience. Interpretation of the experience is crucial, for the meaning of the experience is not always self-evident (see 1 Cor 14:13).

Based on her field work and research into religious ecstatic trance experiences, Dr. Goodman identified four major kinds of ASCs that serve four human needs or desires (Goodman 1990: 71-75; Gore 1995): (1) healing, that is, the restoration of meaning to life (e.g., Acts 3:4); (2) divination, that is, seeking or learning the answer to a question or solution to a problem (e.g., Acts 16:9-10); (3) metamorphosis, the blurring of the boundaries between the human world and the realm of God in hopes of learning how to work change that is needed and/or desired (e.g., Acts 12:6-11); (4) and sky (or spirit) journeys, that is, visits to the realm of God similar to those reported by the astral prophets Ezekiel (e.g., Ezek 3:23-24) and John in Revelation (e.g., Rev 4:1-2). As is evident in the scripture citations noted in the parentheses of the previous sentence, the trance experiences reported in Acts fit into Dr. Goodman’s categories. (Though not reported in Acts, Paul admits that he experienced a trip or sky journey to the realm of God in 2 Cor 12:1-5.)

In her early research, Dr. Goodman concluded that “the trance experiences itself is vacuous. If no belief system is proffered, it will remain vacuous. It is a neurophysiological event that receives content only from signals present in the respective culture” (Goodman 1990: 17). However, Goodman’s subsequent research proved that neurophysiological events are not really vacuous, but always occur in the context of a belief system, a mythology, an ideology. Her research confirmed that statement (Goodman 2001: 9). Trance experiences thus filled with culturally significant and expected scenarios. Without a key to interpret the experience, the visionary believes it to be vacuous. But with the aid of a belief system, the visionary can interpret the visuals and provide the sound track and the interpretation. The understanding and interpretation of a vision derives from the culture, more specifically from what anthropologists call culture’s latent discourse, or traditions of the culture, or “cultural dogma” (Goodman 1973: 101). A person learns and remembers these traditions, relying upon them for making sense out of experiences as needed.

In our scientific minded culture, the latent discourse responds with skepticism to any mention of an altered states of consciousness experience. Indeed, ASCs are often considered to be pathological or signs of pathology. In our culture, people who hear voices and communicate with persons who aren’t there are said to be mentally ill. In contrast, in the biblical world the latent discourse is basically the Israelite tradition that believed that God’s communication with human beings in altered states of consciousness was normal. “During the time young Samuel was minister to the LORD under Eli, a revelation of the LORD was uncommon [literally: “rare”] and [ecstatic] vision infrequent” (1 Sam 3:1). The Prophets of Israel as well as members of the Jesus movement and subsequent Jesus groups all shared a common latent discourse. They interpreted their trance experiences within a framework that ASC experiences were normal. The dramatic change and reinterpretation of God’s rules about clean and unclean foods (see Leviticus 11) that Peter learned in his trance reported in Acts 10 could only happen in an ASC experience of beings from the realm of God communicating to a human being. Only God could make that change, and in the Israelite tradition just cited God routinely communicates with human beings in trance experiences.

The experiences, research and publications of Dr. Goodman and her associates in The Cuyamungue Institute provide very helpful models and insights for analyzing and interpreting the reports of religious ecstatic trance experiences in Acts of the Apostles (Goodman 1990: 59). In this book, I apply those insights to those reports in Acts of the Apostles. I follow a modified outline and the literary interpretation of Acts presented by F. Scott Spencer (1997, see Appendix 1). Because he utilized and incorporated in his excellent literary analysis the cultural research of members of The Context Group of which I am a founding member, my approach complements his work.

It is also appropriate to review the basic, commonly held scholarly opinion about Acts. This commentary accepts that opinion, in general. While Luke claims to have made a careful investigation and an orderly presentation of his findings (Luke 1:1-4; compare Acts 1:1-2), scholars agree that he has interpreted events heavily. “In our view, the Lukan picture of Paul represents a literary fiction, and for the estimation of the social position of the historical Paul, his own letters have priority. The historical Paul was a citizen of neither Rome nor Tarsus” (Stegemann and Stegemann 1999: 302). Indeed in a forthcoming commentary on Paul’s letters, Prof. Bruce Malina and I argue that Paul was an Apostle to the lost sheep of the house of Israel living among the non-Israelites and not an Apostle to non-Israelites as presented by Luke in Acts (Malina and Pilch 2006). Yet even Luke indicates that Paul always insisted on his authentic and unquestioned status as an Israelite who was always open to dialogue with other Israelites. In the course of this commentary on Acts, I will indicate where Luke does not present Paul in his proper historical setting.

This raises a significant question about the double focus of this book: trance experiences (visions) and healing reports. Did these occur factually, or are they simply Lucan literary creations to make a “theological” point, or a mixture of fact and interpretation? As Prickett (1996: 45) observes, this question is inappropriate for a document like Acts of the Apostles.

Thus, to apply the notions of fact or fiction to Acts would be anachronistic. The more appropriate question would “how should a contemporary reader imagine Luke’s reports of visions and healings in Acts of the Apostles?” Whether a reader chooses to interpret some reports as factual (e.g., Paul’s surviving the bite of the snake—Acts 28:5-6), or as core fact with [heavy] interpretation (e.g., Paul’s call by God in a trance experience—Acts 9:1-9, compare with Gal 1:15-16), or as literary creation with historical elements interjected (e.g., Acts 27, the adventurous sea journey into which Paul and some of his visions have been inserted), the ultimate question concerns the cultural plausibility of the report. How would Luke’s audience hear and interpret these reports?

At the conclusion of this commentary, I present a ceremonial rite for inducing trance (see Appendix 3). This rite was developed on the basis of insights from the research of Dr. Goodman and my familiarity with and experience in the Christian tradition, especially the Franciscan School. St. Bonaventure is recognized by the Church as the Prince of Mystical Theologians, and St. Joseph of Cupertino was so well known for his trance journeys and levitations that he was designated the patron of aviators.

The Bible in general and Acts in particular nowhere present the reader with a complete report containing all the elements and/or stages of a trance experience as they are known today from anthropology and cognitive neuroscience. The Bible is a high context document, that is, its authors assumed the original audience would be able to supply details that are not explicitly mentioned. To facilitate the reading of this commentary, therefore, I will summarize at this point the more detailed information about rite and trance presented in Appendix 2, and the elements and stages of trance presented in Appendix 3.

Trance experiences which are one of the many levels of awareness available to human beings can be spontaneous or induced. Daydreaming and reverie are examples of spontaneous trance. These changes of awareness occur frequently throughout the course of a day. In Acts of the Apostles, I identified fourteen examples of spontaneous trance: an angel gives instructions to Philip (Acts 8:26-40), Ananias learns about Paul’s experience on the road (Acts 9:10-16); Agabus predicts a famine (Acts 11:28), etc. (see Appendix 3).

Intentionally induced trance ordinarily occurs in the context of a rite. Rites are structured, repetitive, and rhythmic patterns of behavior (see Appendix 2) This behavior has sometimes been called “ritual,” but from a social science perspective that word is inappropriate as will become clear in a moment. There are two kinds of rites: a ritual rite, a behavior that occurs irregularly in day to day life, and a ceremonial rite, a behavior that occurs with regularity. Healing takes place in a ritual rite, that is, a behavior that is enacted only when someone is sick and seeks healing. Peter “stares” at the lame man and heals him (Acts 3:4; “staring” is often part of the ritual rite of healing). Paul “stares” at the blind man and heals him (Acts 14:8-10). Staring induces trance, and healing often take place in trance (e.g., both of these deeds by Peter and Paul just mentioned).

Ceremonial rites occur with regularity in human life at predictable times and moments. Fixed prayer is one example of a ceremonial rite. Paul was at prayer in the Temple when he was advised in trance by the Lord to flee Jerusalem (Acts 22:17-23). The report of Paul’s experience is brief. How is a reader to imagine the rite by which Paul entered a trance state and received instruction from the Lord? I summarize here the model which I have constructed and presented in Appendix 3. This model incorporates insights from cognitive neuroscience and anthropology.

There are also three stages to the actual trance experience apparently reflected in Luke’s report of Paul’s call vision (Acts 9; 22; 26). These stages and their characteristics describe the neurological changes in a person experiencing altered states of consciousness and documented by modern scientific technology.

The reader will recognize that no report in Acts of the Apostles (or elsewhere in the Bible) reflects all the elements in this model. As anthropologists are careful to point out, a model tries to be comprehensive, to include everything the researcher has learned in many cultures. Yet every element may not be reported, indeed might not even have occurred in a given experience. The model is therefore heuristic, that is, it aids in understanding and interpretation. It is not prescriptive, that is, it does not say that every human experience must be like this.

Though I am aware that my research is making a scholarly contribution to the interpretation of Acts of the Apostles, I have written this book for pastoral purposes. At the recommendation of my Context Group Colleagues especially Stuart Love, Dennis Duling, S. Scott Bartchy, and Bruce Malina, I changed my initial plan of focusing only on trance experiences and healing in favor of presenting the reader with the broader context of these events in Luke’s total store line spanning nearly forty years (A.D. 30 •—A.D. 65 •). For this purpose, I have relied heavily on F. Scott Spencer’s presentation of the story line as noted above. To enhance the pastoral utility of this book, I have prepared reflection questions for the reader in personal or group study. I owe a special debt of gratitude to Mrs. Loretta Fitzgerald Bedner, chairperson, department of religion, Bishop McGuiness Catholic High School, Kernersville, N.C., for assisting with these reflection questions.

Finally, in addition to Dr. Goodman whom I lovingly acknowledged in the dedication, I wish to thank Judy Lazarus and Joan Scott, members and officers of The Cuyamungue Institute and facilitators of the group that meets weekly in Davidsonville, Md. for initiating me into the research procedures of the Institute and for their continuing wise guidance along the way. With their assistance, I have a earned certification from the Institute to assist in research projects about religious ecstatic trance. Many of the insights gained from that experience and research have helped to illumine Luke’s reports.

Feast of St. Joseph of Cupertino, O.F.M.
September 18, 2004

Cap.John J. Pilch
Georgetown University, Washington, DC
University of Pretoria, South Africa
and Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Hong Kong, SAR, China