05-06-2021, 04:12 PM
Epilepsy has sometimes been called "St. Paul's Desease". There are epilepsy groups that still give it that name. Paul wrote about an ailment "there was given to me a thorn in the flesh" and somewhere he wrote about his inability to "stand proud" which means he couldn't stand up. It appears that those who suffer from a particular type of epilepsy called "temporal lobe epilepsy" have strong religious experiences. Julius Caesar had epilepsy but it was a more common type. They used to call it "the falling down disease".
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/was-st-pauls-r...nt-1562925
https://lifeasahuman.com/2010/mind-spiri...istianity/
It's probably pointless to use this as an argument for Paul's hallucination because religious believers want to believe the supernatural explanation no matter what the reality is, but it's an interesting angle and explains his strong religious conversion. Then again, Paul's whole conversion story could be made up bullshit from the get-go. Funny how he didn't write about it until 18 years later.
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/was-st-pauls-r...nt-1562925
Quote: Religious experiences and beliefs of "having met God" have long been documented in patients with epilepsy. Some researchers have even suggested that famous saints such as Joan of Arc or St Paul may have been victim of seizures. According to these theories, this is what would have triggered their visions of God
Quote:Seven hours after suffering from a seizure of temporal origin, the 46-year-old patient underwent a messianic revelation experience. While the man had not been particularly religious before this incident, he suddenly told doctors he felt as if God was approaching him and started chanting prayers with great intensity, The Times newspaper reports.
The patient then tried to convince the hospital's medical staff to become his followers, stating he had had a "conversation with God and He had sent him to them".[/quote]
Another report on Temporal Lobe Epilepsy which sites several subjects who had a religious experience and a lack of a sex drive afterwards
[quote]Paul’s experience en route to Damascus, but hearing voices would be a very unlikely symptom of migraine. Most migraineurs, though, would find the characterization “a thorn in the flesh” quite descriptive. Other causes postulated for Paul’s symptoms include various psychiatric disorders, eye ailments such as retinal detachment, and even being hit by lightening. These all, however, fail to take into consideration another characteristic of St. Paul, his hypo-sexuality or lack of sex drive.
Quote:In I Corinthians 7:1-9 Paul makes it clear that he has only an academic appreciation of the human sexuality. He asserts that while abstinence such as he practices is best, “…it is better to marry than to burn with passion.”
There is one ailment, however, which neatly explains all of Paul’s symptoms: temporal lobe epilepsy. Seizures in this area can be associated with a feeling of religious ecstasy, accompanied by visual and auditory hallucinations. An initial seizure would be a profound experience in one as devout as Paul and could certainly result in an about-face in religious beliefs. In addition, in the February 25, 1984 edition of Lancet, Spark, Wills and Royal describe hypo-sexuality in all of 16 men with temporal lobe epilepsy, tying Paul’s symptoms together nicely.
https://lifeasahuman.com/2010/mind-spiri...istianity/
It's probably pointless to use this as an argument for Paul's hallucination because religious believers want to believe the supernatural explanation no matter what the reality is, but it's an interesting angle and explains his strong religious conversion. Then again, Paul's whole conversion story could be made up bullshit from the get-go. Funny how he didn't write about it until 18 years later.