Neuroscience and religion: using brains to explore the divine
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Abstract
Jewish philosopher Martin Buber said that “[M]an cannot approach the divine by reaching beyond the human: he can approach it through becoming human. To become human is what he,
the individual man, has been created for.”1 Buber’s is just one of many voices trying to determine the origin and the purposes of religion. Buber believes that understanding religion is understanding oneself. His vague words make it difficult to discern whether he is challenging religious zealots by arguing that their ideas cannot possibly reach beyond the scope of the human
mind, or whether he is actually praising religion for its essential simplicity and attractive way of life. Regardless, many theologists and philosophers agree with Buber’s principal argument regarding the reflection of human nature in religious beliefs.