Trances, visions, healing miracles: permeating the biblical records are these altered states of consciousness, through which some early Christians experienced God. Today's rituals and liturgies are related to those experiences, which have become significant elements in the Christian tradition and mysticism. Pilch uses cultural anthropology, cognitive neuroscience, and medical anthropology to interpret these past events, and to explore the contemporary liturgical potential of this new understanding. Backed with solid, scientific insights, this interdisciplinary book will help the reader gain appreciation of our ancestors? faith and the power of Scripture and liturgy.