Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. The Problem with Religion: Preliminary Issues; 2. The Unreal Real: The Supernatural, Religion and the Paranormal; 3. Can Science Say Anything about Religion and the Supernatural?; 4. Ghostly Rappings, the Science of the Soul and the Religious Nature of the Paranormal; 5. Ghostly Encounters in the Field: Anthropology of the Paranormal or Paranormal Anthropology?; 6. Why People Think the World Is Haunted; 7. Cognitive Biases and Why People Think Eerie Thoughts; 8. Miracles as Evidence of God’s Actions in the World; 9. When God Talks to People: Religious Experiences as Evidence of the Supernatural; 10. Books Authored by God? Sacred Texts as Evidence of the Supernatural; 11. God’s Fingerprints in the Natural World: Intelligent Design, Irreducible Complexity and Cosmic Fine-Tuning; 12.The Miracles of the Bible: Quintessential Sources for Paranormal Phenomena in Western Culture; 13. Jesus the Miracle Worker, Magician and Sorcerer; 14. Jesus’s Empty Tomb, the Missing Body, and His Return from the Dead: Sources for the Tale; 15. The Post-Resurrection Appearances in the New Testament; 16. Coping with Failed Prophesy: A Socio-Psychological Explanation for the Rise of Christianity; 17. Conclusions: Why Religious and Paranormal Beliefs Persist and Their Dangers; References; Index.