Religions
May 1, 2022
Ron Cole-Turner
22 citations
Since the 1960s, psychedelic drugs have been linked to mystical experiences, but few scholars initially engaged with the implications. From 2006 onward, hundreds of studies have connected psychedelics not only to mystical states but also to potential treatments for mental health disorders, with regulatory approval for therapies approaching. These findings challenge the War on Drugs rationale, leading to decriminalization or authorized use in mental health contexts. Religious institutions are slowly adapting, with some viewing psychedelics as sacraments or pathways to deeper spirituality, and religious leaders training as psychedelic chaplains. Scholars in theology and religion are encouraged to explore the philosophical and theological issues and long-term cultural impact.
Religions
November 29, 2021
Ron Cole-Turner
16 citations
William James identified mystical experiences by their ineffability and noetic quality, a concept later modified by W. T. Stace. Today, psychedelic research uses scales based on James to show that drugs like psilocybin and LSD reliably induce intense mystical states. Whether these states are necessary for therapeutic benefits is debated. This review examines James's original account of the noetic quality, its measurement in current studies, and concerns that psychedelic science may be epistemologically biased against atheistic or physicalist views, or that it improperly injects religion into science.
Zygon®
August 26, 2014
Ron Cole-Turner
11 citations
Psychedelic drugs like LSD and psilocybin reliably produce mystical experiences, enabling brain research during such states. Key questions remain: whether drug-occasioned mystical experiences are neurologically identical to traditional mystical states, and whether they differ phenomenologically and theologically. As research progresses and public awareness grows, religious scholars and science-and-religion experts will be needed to interpret the philosophical and theological presuppositions underlying this work and the meaning of its findings.
Religions
April 26, 2024
Ron Cole-Turner
6 citations
Psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin are claimed to reliably trigger mystical experiences, a claim justified using the Mystical Experiences Questionnaire (MEQ), which was developed from W.T. Stace's philosophy of mysticism. Scholars of Christian mysticism argue that Stace's framework inadequately represents Western theistic traditions. Stace, following William James, emphasizes intense, unusual moments of mystical union or fusion with the absolute, reflecting non-Western traditions. Christian mysticism, however, centers on a sense of loving presence and intimate closeness with the divine, not absorption or fusion. Love of God, central to Christianity, is absent from Stace and the MEQ30. For Christianity, mysticism involves lifelong interpretation and transformation, not momentary experience.
Religions
September 18, 2025
Ron Cole-Turner
1 citation
Psychedelic drugs show promise for treating mental health conditions by disrupting prior patterns and increasing neurogenesis and neuroplasticity. The social context during and after psychedelic experiences causally impacts outcomes. Modern cultural contexts may thwart spiritual integration, but local support groups help, especially for those reflecting on spiritual or religious themes. Christian communities can provide both a local social context and a set of theological beliefs that support spiritual growth and psychedelic spiritual integration.
Religions
May 18, 2026
Geoffrey Ready, Ron Cole-Turner
Orthodox Christianity offers distinctive resources for evaluating psychedelic spirituality that both challenge and enrich existing Western Christian approaches. The tradition's insistence that profound spiritual experience is a universal Christian vocation rather than reserved for an elite reframes discussions of mystical experience. Orthodoxy's recognition of diverse catalysts for spiritual awakening, its understanding of ascetical preparation as receptive, and its doctrine of divine energies provide frameworks for evaluating psychedelic experiences that sometimes resemble mystical experience by their orientation and fruits. The emphasis on ongoing formation within communities situates spiritual experience within broader transformation, and traditions of spiritual discernment offer criteria for evaluating authenticity. Engagement with psychedelic experiences can occur within established frameworks when guided by discernment, formation, and communal accountability.