Why do some people effortlessly experience God and others do not, no matter how much they may desire to? In the Christian tradition, there are different answers to this question. Some have seen this as a result of the Fall, election, or as Sarah Coakley argues, the result of God’s ‘dark intimacy’. Could the fact that human experiences turn out to be, at least partly, within our own control help us choose among these theories of the hiddenness of God, or even pose an alternative account? Human experience and belief are embodied and as such are conditioned by intentional practices: for example, in daily prayer, liturgy, ritual, and charismatic activities. Research in cognitive science of religion and neurobiology suggests that the brain is essentially malleable, constantly changing in response to lived experience. This article argues for the possibility of using scientifically‐informed tools to work with psychological and neurobiological realities to provide a deeper understanding of the cooperative, participatory nature of our embodied human engagement with Divine presence and absence.

中文翻译：

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综合的身体和神的缺席：神学背景下的精神技术

为什么有些人会不费吹灰之力地体验上帝，而另一些人却不愿如此，无论他们想要多少？在基督教的传统中，对这个问题有不同的答案。有些人认为这是由于堕落，选举或萨拉·科克利（Sarah Coakley）辩称，这是上帝“黑暗亲密关系”的结果。事实证明，人类经验至少部分地在我们自己的控制范围之内，这是否可以帮助我们在这些关于上帝隐藏的理论中进行选择，甚至提出替代的解释？人类的经验和信仰得到体现，因此受到有意行为的制约：例如，在日常祈祷，礼拜，仪式和超凡魅力的活动中。宗教和神经生物学的认知科学研究表明，大脑本质上具有延展性，并根据生活经验不断变化。具有心理和神经生物学的现实，可以更深入地了解我们在神的存在与不存在下所体现的人类参与的合作性，参与性。