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Flights of the Soul: Visions, Heavenly Journeys, and Peak Experiences in the Biblical World is unavailable, but you can change that!

Reports of prophetic dreams, of journeys into the heavens, and of other alternate states of consciousness abound in the Old and New Testaments and in extra-biblical literature. And although some scholars consider such reports to be simple literary devices, John J. Pilch—a leading expert in social scientific interpretation of the Bible—argues that ancient accounts of alternate consciousness are...

very self. The light takes the form of a cloud (Exod. 24:15ff.) or fire (Deut. 5:24) flashing brightly (Ezek. 1:4, 27–28; 10:4). From a neurological perspective, the bright color signals a shift in consciousness. From an ideological (theological, personal meaning) perspective, Paul the Pharisee familiar with light in the Israelite tradition would be aware that he had entered alternate reality or that some being from alternate reality might be initiating communication with him. Next, Paul hears a
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