Visions of Jesus Direct Encounters from the New Testament to Today

by Wiebe, Phillip H.

• ISBN13: 9780195126693
• ISBN10: 0195126696
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-11-05
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Ernie Hollands, a career criminal, said Christ appeared to him in his cell in Millhaven Penitentiary. Maria Martinez saw Jesus at a busy intersection in Miami, Florida. Rose Fairs was lying in bed one morning when the Venetian blinds opened and the head of Jesus materialized before her. Were these people only imagining a figure that seemed life-like, or is there a chance that what they saw was, in some way, real? This first critical study of contemporary visions of Jesus offers the intriguing accounts of thirty people, most of them ordinary men and women without prior or subsequent experiences of this kind, who remain mystified about their encounters. Wiebe recounts each vision in vivid detail, exploring why these individuals believe their visions were of Jesus, and why they typically believe them to be objective happenings, rather than hallucinations or dreams. He regards the occurrences from perspectives as diverse as biblical scholarship and parapsychology, concluding that they may well represent genuine religious experiences of a mystical character. The fascinating nature of these visions and Wiebe's thoughtful, evenhanded approach to each report add up to a book that will be provocative reading for skeptics and the faithful alike.

Author Biography

Phillip H. Wiebe is Professor of Philosophy and Dean of Arts and Religious Studies, at Trinity Western University, in Canada.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Introduction	p. 3
Christic Apparitions in Christian History	p. 15
Contemporary Christic Visions and Apparitions	p. 40
Evaluation of the Evidence	p. 89
Christic Appearances and Visions in the New Testament	p. 111
Supernaturalistic Explanations	p. 150
Mentalistic and Psychological Explanations	p. 172
Neurophysiological Explanations	p. 193
Interpreting Christic Visions and Apparitions	p. 212
Appendix I	p. 224
Appendix II	p. 226
Appendix III	p. 228
Notes	p. 231
Bibliography	p. 251
Index	p. 271
Biblical Names Index	p. 279
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