This collection of passages is not offered as a complete theology of miracles or spiritual action. It is used only to establish that the classical theistic worldview, especially in its biblical form, does not present spirituality as purely private, symbolic, or inward. It repeatedly depicts divine power, angels, demons, healings, miracles, exorcisms, signs, and spiritual gifts as producing effects within public reality.

Miracles, Signs, and Public Works

“Jesus went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 4.23).

“They brought to him all the sick… and he cured them” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 4.24).

“Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 11.4-5).

“If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 12.28).

“Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid’” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 17.7).

“Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the child was cured instantly” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 17.18).

“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well’” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Mark 10.52).

“Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Mark 10.52).

“The power of the Lord was with him to heal” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Luke 5.17).

“Immediately he stood up before them, took what he had been lying on, and went to his home” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Luke 5.25).

“Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Luke 9.42).

“Jesus had just then cured many people of diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Luke 7.21).

“The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with a skin disease are cleansed” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Luke 7.22).

“This beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and revealed his glory” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 2.11).

“Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk’” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 5.8).

“At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 5.9).

“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 9.2).

“Jesus said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 9.7).

“Then he went and washed and came back able to see” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 9.7).

“Lazarus, come out!” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 11.43).

“The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 11.44).

“Many of the Jews therefore… believed in him” after Lazarus was raised (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 11.45).

Apostolic Signs and Healings

“Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 2.43).

“Peter said, ‘I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you’” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 3.6).

“In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 3.6).

“Immediately his feet and ankles were made strong” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 3.7).

“All the people saw him walking and praising God” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 3.9).

“By the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 5.12).

“They even carried out the sick into the streets” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 5.15).

“A great number of people… bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 5.16).

“Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 6.8).

“The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip” because they saw signs (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 8.6).

“Unclean spirits… came out of many who were possessed, and many paralyzed or lame people were cured” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 8.7).

“God did extraordinary miracles through Paul” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 19.11).

“When the handkerchiefs or aprons… were brought to the sick, their diseases left them” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 19.12).

“Evil spirits came out of them” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 19.12).

Spiritual Beings Acting in Physical Reality

“An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 1.20).

“An angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 28.2).

“Suddenly an angel of the Lord stood there, and a light shone in the cell” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 12.7).

“The chains fell off his wrists” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 12.7).

“An angel of the Lord opened the prison doors” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 5.19).

“The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you’” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Judg. 6.12).

“Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff” and fire consumed the offering (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Judg. 6.21).

“The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Exod. 14.19).

“The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Exod. 14.21).

“The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day… and a pillar of fire by night” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Exod. 13.21).

Demons / Unclean Spirits Producing Observable Effects

“They brought to him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and he cured him” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 12.22).

“After the demon had been cast out, the one who had been mute spoke” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 9.33).

“Immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met him” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Mark 5.2). BibleGateway’s NRSVUE page titles Mark 5.1-20 as Jesus healing a man possessed by demons.

“The unclean spirits came out and entered the swine” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Mark 5.13).

“The man who had been possessed by demons… was sitting there, clothed and in his right mind” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Mark 5.15).

“He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Mark 1.27).

“The unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Mark 1.26).

“Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Luke 8.2).

These passages are included to acknowledge a major internal qualification within classical theism: God is often described as hidden, unsearchable, mediated, partially revealed, or not directly accessible to ordinary human perception. This argument does not deny that feature of the worldview. Rather, it distinguishes hiddenness of direct access to God from the alleged public effects of spiritual interaction. 

God Hidden, Unsearchable, or Not Directly Accessible

“Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Isa. 45.15).

“No one has ever seen God” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 1.18).

“No one has ever seen God” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 John 4.12).

“No one can see me and live” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Exod. 33.20).

“You cannot see my face, for no one shall see me and live” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Exod. 33.20).

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Deut. 29.29).

“How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Rom. 11.33).

“Who has known the mind of the Lord?” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Rom. 11.34).

“Clouds and thick darkness are all around him” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Ps. 97.2).

“The Lord has said that he would reside in thick darkness” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Kings 8.12).

“He made darkness his covering around him” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Ps. 18.11).

“Can you find out the deep things of God?” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Job 11.7).

“God is great, and we do not know him” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Job 36.26).

God Revealed Only Partially, Indirectly, or Through Mediation

“Now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 13.12).

“Now I know only in part; then I will know fully” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 13.12).

“We walk by faith, not by sight” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 2 Cor. 5.7).

“For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Rom. 8.24).

“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Heb. 11.1).

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 20.29).

“You have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 11.25).

“You have revealed them to infants” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 11.25).

“To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Mark 4.11).

“For those outside, everything comes in parables” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Mark 4.11).

“Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Mark 4.12).

“The mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations” has now been revealed (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Col. 1.26).

“Your life is hidden with Christ in God” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Col. 3.3).

God’s Presence Not Automatically Obvious Even When Active

“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it!” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Gen. 28.16).

“Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Luke 24.31).

“Their eyes were kept from recognizing him” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Luke 24.16).

“None of the rulers of this age understood this” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 2.8).

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 2.14).

“They are spiritually discerned” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 2.14).

“No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 11.27).

“No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 6.44).

“No one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 6.65).

These passages are included to show that classical theism does not merely claim isolated ancient miracles, but also connects faith, prayer, spiritual gifts, divine help, healing, exorcism, prophecy, moral transformation, and signs with believers and religious communities. The point is not that every believer must display every sign at all times, but that the worldview appears to predict some observable spiritual effects among faithful individuals, communities, and spiritually significant outcomes. 

Signs Accompanying Believers

“These signs will accompany those who believe” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Mark 16.17).

“By using my name they will cast out demons” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Mark 16.17).

“They will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Mark 16.18).

BibleGateway’s NRSVUE text for Mark 16.17-18 explicitly lists signs accompanying believers, including casting out demons, tongues, protection from deadly things, and healing the sick.

“The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 14.12).

“In fact, will do greater works than these” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 14.12).

“I will do whatever you ask in my name” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 14.13).

“If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 14.14). BibleGateway’s NRSVUE listing gives John 14.12-14 as a direct promise that believers will do Jesus’s works and receive what they ask in his name.

Prayer Producing Observable Results

“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 7.7).

“Knock, and the door will be opened for you” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 7.7).

“Everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 7.8).

“Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 21.22).

“Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Mark 11.24).

“If you abide in me… ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 15.7).

“Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 15.16).

“Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 16.24).

“Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 18.19).

“The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, James 5.15).

“The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, James 5.16).

BibleGateway’s NRSVUE page for James 5.13-20 titles the passage “The Prayer of Faith” and includes prayer, anointing, healing, forgiveness, and the claim that faithful prayer saves the sick.

Healing and Faith Outcomes

“Your faith has made you well” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 9.22).

“According to your faith, let it be done to you” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 9.29).

“Great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 15.28).

“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed… nothing will be impossible for you” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 17.20).

“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 21.22).

“Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Mark 5.34).

“All things can be done for the one who believes” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Mark 9.23).

“Your faith has made you well” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Luke 17.19).

“Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Luke 17.19).

“Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has saved you’” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Luke 18.42).

Spiritual Gifts as Observable Community Phenomena

“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 12.7).

“To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 12.8).

“To another faith by the same Spirit” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 12.9).

“To another gifts of healing by the one Spirit” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 12.9).

“To another the working of powerful deeds” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 12.10).

“To another prophecy” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 12.10).

“To another the discernment of spirits” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 12.10).

“To another various kinds of tongues” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 12.10).

“To another the interpretation of tongues” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 12.10).

“Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work powerful deeds?” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 12.29).

“Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues?” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 12.30).

“Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 14.1).

“If all prophesy, an unbeliever or outsider who enters is reproved by all” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 14.24).

“The secrets of the unbeliever’s heart are disclosed” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 14.25).

“So, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 14.25).

Observable Fruit in Faithful Individuals

“You will know them by their fruits” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 7.16).

“Every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 7.17).

“Thus you will know them by their fruits” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 7.20).

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 13.35).

“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 15.8).

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Gal. 5.22).

“Gentleness and self-control” are also fruits of the Spirit (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Gal. 5.23).

“Live as children of light, for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Eph. 5.8-9).

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 5.14).

“Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 5.16).

Public Confirmation of Divine Message

“They went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Mark 16.20).

“The Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Mark 16.20).

“God also added his testimony by signs and wonders and various miracles” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Heb. 2.4).

“By gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Heb. 2.4).

“The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, signs and wonders and mighty works” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 2 Cor. 12.12).

“Our message of the gospel came to you not in word only but also in power” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Thess. 1.5).

“My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 2.4).

“The kingdom of God depends not on talk but on power” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, 1 Cor. 4.20).

“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 2.4).

“Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 2.7).

“In our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 2.11).

Angelic / Demonic / Spiritual Domains Occurring Publicly

“An angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Get up and go toward the south’” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 8.26).

“The Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over to this chariot and join it’” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 8.29).

“The Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 8.39).

“About three o’clock he had a vision in which he clearly saw an angel of God” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 10.3).

“He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 10.11).

“The Spirit said to him, ‘Look, three men are searching for you’” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 10.19).

“While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 10.44).

“The circumcised believers… were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 10.45).

“They heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 10.46).

“Her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone” after Paul cast out the spirit (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 16.19).

“Paul… said to the spirit, ‘I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her’” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 16.18).

“It came out that very hour” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 16.18).

“Jesus went about all the cities and villages… curing every disease and every sickness” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 9.35).

“He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 10.1).

“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with a skin disease, cast out demons” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Matt. 10.8).

“The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Luke 10.17).

“I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Luke 10.18).

“I have given you authority… over all the power of the enemy” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Luke 10.19).

“The works that the Father has given me to complete… testify on my behalf” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 5.36).

“If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 10.37).

“But if I do them… believe the works” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 10.38).

“Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 20.30).

“These are written so that you may continue to believe” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, John 20.31).

“A great many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 5.12).

“The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem… and they were all cured” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 5.16).

“Paul and Barnabas… spoke boldly for the Lord, who testified to the word of his grace by granting signs and wonders” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Acts 14.3).

“God added his testimony by signs and wonders and various miracles” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, Heb. 2.4).

This research list is not offered to claim that every spiritual, paranormal, or religious report has been individually disproven. The claim is more modest and abductive: across major investigated domains such as prayer, faith healing, miracles, possession, apparitions, mystical experience, near-death experience, mediumship, psi, and paranormal encounters, the literature has not produced a strong, stable, repeatable, observer-independent evidential pattern sufficient to establish reliable spiritual causation. The recurring pattern is instead mixed or null results, disputed methods, weak effects, failed replication, culturally mediated reports, psychologically explainable experiences, and ordinary alternative explanations.  (Ghosts, Ghouls, Jinn, Demons, Paranormal Interactions, Mystical Experiences, Prayer, Faith Based Healings, Near Death Experiences, Apparitions, Possession, Miracles.)

Prayer / Faith Healing / Distant Healing

Byrd, Randolph C. “Positive Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer in a Coronary Care Unit Population.” Southern Medical Journal, vol. 81, no. 7, 1988, pp. 826-829.

Harris, William S., et al. “A Randomized, Controlled Trial of the Effects of Remote, Intercessory Prayer on Outcomes in Patients Admitted to the Coronary Care Unit.” Archives of Internal Medicine, vol. 159, no. 19, 1999, pp. 2273-2278. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10547166/.

Krucoff, Mitchell W., et al. “Music, Imagery, Touch, and Prayer as Adjuncts to Interventional Cardiac Care: The Monitoring and Actualisation of Noetic Trainings (MANTRA) II Randomised Study.” The Lancet, vol. 366, no. 9481, 2005, pp. 211-217.

Aviles, Julio M., et al. “Intercessory Prayer and Cardiovascular Disease Progression in a Coronary Care Unit Population: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Mayo Clinic Proceedings, vol. 76, no. 12, 2001, pp. 1192-1198.

Cha, Kwang Yul, Daniel P. Wirth, and Roger A. Lobo. “Does Prayer Influence the Success of In Vitro Fertilization-Embryo Transfer? Report of a Masked, Randomized Trial.” Journal of Reproductive Medicine, vol. 46, no. 9, 2001, pp. 781-787.

Wirth, Daniel P., et al. “The Effect of Complementary Healing Therapy on Postoperative Pain after Surgical Removal of Impacted Third Molar Teeth.” Complementary Therapies in Medicine, vol. 1, no. 3, 1993, pp. 133-138.

Palmer, Raymond F., David Katerndahl, and Jayne Morgan-Kidd. “A Randomized Trial of the Effects of Remote Intercessory Prayer: Interactions with Personal Beliefs on Problem-Specific Outcomes and Functional Status.” Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, vol. 10, no. 3, 2004, pp. 438-448. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15253847/. The PubMed abstract identifies this as a randomized clinical trial of 86 adults assigned to prayer or control conditions.

Secular, Marilia A., et al. “A Randomized Clinical Trial on the Effects of Remote Intercessory Prayer in the Adverse Outcomes of Pregnancies.” Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, vol. 18, no. 8, 2013, pp. 2379-2384. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23896920/. PubMed describes this as a double-blind randomized trial with 564 pregnant women.

Sicher, Fred, Elisabeth Targ, Dan Moore II, and Helene S. Smith. “A Randomized Double-Blind Study of the Effect of Distant Healing in a Population with Advanced AIDS.” Western Journal of Medicine, vol. 169, no. 6, 1998, pp. 356-363.

Targ, Elisabeth F., Dan Moore II, and Fred Sicher. “The Efficacy of Distant Healing for Human Immunodeficiency Virus: A Randomized Trial.” Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, vol. 8, no. 6, 2002, pp. 68-79. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17131980/.

Jonas, Wayne B., and Cindy C. Crawford. Healing, Intention and Energy Medicine: Science, Research Methods and Clinical Implications. Churchill Livingstone, 2003.

Turner, Derek. “Just Another Drug? A Philosophical Assessment of Randomised Controlled Studies on Intercessory Prayer.” Journal of Medical Ethics, vol. 32, no. 8, 2006, pp. 487-490. PubMed Central, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2563375/. PubMed notes that Turner discusses why intercessory-prayer trials may be philosophically unlike ordinary drug trials.

Masters, Kevin S., Glen I. Spielmans, and Jason T. Goodson. “Are There Demonstrable Effects of Distant Intercessory Prayer? A Meta-Analytic Review.” Annals of Behavioral Medicine, vol. 32, no. 1, 2006, pp. 21-26.

Hodge, David R. “A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature on Intercessory Prayer.” Research on Social Work Practice, vol. 17, no. 2, 2007, pp. 174-187.

Religion, Spirituality, Health, and Coping

Koenig, Harold G. Handbook of Religion and Health. 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 2012.

Koenig, Harold G., Michael E. McCullough, and David B. Larson. Handbook of Religion and Health. Oxford University Press, 2001.

Koenig, Harold G. “Religion, Spirituality, and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications.” ISRN Psychiatry, 2012, article 278730. PubMed Central, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3671693/.

Koenig, Harold G. “Religion, Spirituality, and Health: A Review and Update.” Advances in Mind-Body Medicine, vol. 29, no. 3, 2015, pp. 19-26.

Pargament, Kenneth I. The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice. Guilford Press, 1997.

Pargament, Kenneth I., Harold G. Koenig, Nalini Tarakeshwar, and June Hahn. “Religious Coping Methods as Predictors of Psychological, Physical and Spiritual Outcomes among Medically Ill Elderly Patients.” Journal of Health Psychology, vol. 9, no. 6, 2004, pp. 713-730.

Pargament, Kenneth I., Harold G. Koenig, and Lisa M. Perez. “The Many Methods of Religious Coping: Development and Initial Validation of the RCOPE.” Journal of Clinical Psychology, vol. 56, no. 4, 2000, pp. 519-543.

Ano, Gene G., and Erin B. Vasconcelles. “Religious Coping and Psychological Adjustment to Stress: A Meta-Analysis.” Journal of Clinical Psychology, vol. 61, no. 4, 2005, pp. 461-480.

Abu-Raiya, Hisham, and Kenneth I. Pargament. “Religious Coping among Diverse Religions: Commonalities and Divergences.” Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, vol. 7, no. 1, 2015, pp. 24-33.

Weber, Samuel R., and Kenneth I. Pargament. “The Role of Religion and Spirituality in Mental Health.” Current Opinion in Psychiatry, vol. 27, no. 5, 2014, pp. 358-363.

Lucchetti, Giancarlo, et al. “Spirituality, Religiousness and Mental Health: A Review of the Current Scientific Evidence.” World Journal of Clinical Cases, vol. 9, no. 26, 2021, pp. 7620-7631.

Garssen, Bert, Machteld A. Visser, and Ad Vingerhoets. “The Relationship between Religion/Spirituality and Mental Health: A Review.” Mental Health, Religion & Culture, vol. 24, no. 4, 2021, pp. 328-354.

Vitorino, Luciano Magalhães, et al. “The Association between Spirituality and Religiousness and Mental Health.” Scientific Reports, vol. 8, 2018, article 17233. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30467362/.

Mystical / Spiritual Experiences

James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature. Longmans, Green, and Co., 1902.

Stace, W. T. Mysticism and Philosophy. Macmillan, 1960.

Hood, Ralph W. “The Construction and Preliminary Validation of a Measure of Reported Mystical Experience.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, vol. 14, no. 1, 1975, pp. 29-41.

Hood, Ralph W., Peter C. Hill, and Bernard Spilka. The Psychology of Religion: An Empirical Approach. 5th ed., Guilford Press, 2018.

Taves, Ann. Religious Experience Reconsidered: A Building-Block Approach to the Study of Religion and Other Special Things. Princeton University Press, 2009.

McNamara, Patrick. The Neuroscience of Religious Experience. Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Newberg, Andrew B., Eugene G. d’Aquili, and Vince Rause. Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief. Ballantine Books, 2001.

Newberg, Andrew B., and Mark Robert Waldman. How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist. Ballantine Books, 2009.

Beauregard, Mario, and Vincent Paquette. “Neural Correlates of a Mystical Experience in Carmelite Nuns.” Neuroscience Letters, vol. 405, no. 3, 2006, pp. 186-190.

Schjoedt, Uffe, et al. “Highly Religious Participants Recruit Areas of Social Cognition in Personal Prayer.” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, vol. 4, no. 2, 2009, pp. 199-207.

Schjoedt, Uffe, et al. “The Power of Charisma: Perceived Charisma Inhibits the Frontal Executive Network of Believers in Intercessory Prayer.” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, vol. 6, no. 1, 2011, pp. 119-127.

Ferguson, Michael A., et al. “Reward, Salience, and Attentional Networks Are Activated by Religious Experience in Devout Mormons.” Social Neuroscience, vol. 13, no. 1, 2018, pp. 104-116. PubMed Central, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5478470/.

Newberg, Andrew B., Nancy A. Wintering, Donna Morgan, and Mark R. Waldman. “The Measurement of Regional Cerebral Blood Flow during Glossolalia: A Preliminary SPECT Study.” Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, vol. 148, no. 1, 2006, pp. 67-71. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17046214/.

Goodman, Felicitas D. Speaking in Tongues: A Cross-Cultural Study of Glossolalia. University of Chicago Press, 1972.

Grady, Beth, and Kate M. Loewenthal. “Features Associated with Speaking in Tongues (Glossolalia).” British Journal of Medical Psychology, vol. 70, no. 2, 1997, pp. 185-191. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9210995/.

Castelein, J. D. “Glossolalia and the Psychology of the Self and Narcissism.” Journal of Religion and Health, vol. 23, no. 1, 1984, pp. 47-62. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24306939/.

Psychedelics, Mystical-Type Experience, and God-Encounter Studies

Johnson, Matthew W., Peter S. Hendricks, Frederick S. Barrett, and Roland R. Griffiths. “Classic Psychedelics: An Integrative Review of Epidemiology, Therapeutics, Mystical Experience, and Brain Network Function.” Pharmacology & Therapeutics, vol. 197, 2019, pp. 83-102. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30521880/.

Barrett, Frederick S., Matthew W. Johnson, and Roland R. Griffiths. “Validation of the Revised Mystical Experience Questionnaire in Experimental Sessions with Psilocybin.” Journal of Psychopharmacology, vol. 29, no. 11, 2015, pp. 1182-1190.

MacLean, Katherine A., Matthew W. Johnson, and Roland R. Griffiths. “Mystical Experiences Occasioned by the Hallucinogen Psilocybin Lead to Increases in the Personality Domain of Openness.” Journal of Psychopharmacology, vol. 25, no. 11, 2011, pp. 1453-1461.

Garcia-Romeu, Albert, Roland R. Griffiths, and Matthew W. Johnson. “Psilocybin-Occasioned Mystical Experiences in the Treatment of Tobacco Addiction.” Current Drug Abuse Reviews, vol. 7, no. 3, 2014, pp. 157-164. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25563443/.

Griffiths, Roland R., et al. “Survey of Subjective ‘God Encounter Experiences’: Comparisons among Naturally Occurring Experiences and Those Occasioned by Classic Psychedelics.” PLOS ONE, vol. 14, no. 4, 2019, e0214377. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31013281/.

Davis, Alan K., et al. “Survey of Entity Encounter Experiences Occasioned by Inhaled N,N-Dimethyltryptamine: Phenomenology, Interpretation, and Enduring Effects.” Journal of Psychopharmacology, vol. 34, no. 9, 2020, pp. 1008-1020. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32345112/.

Yaden, David B., et al. “The Varieties of Self-Transcendent Experience.” Review of General Psychology, vol. 21, no. 2, 2017, pp. 143-160.

Yaden, David B., and Andrew B. Newberg. The Varieties of Spiritual Experience: 21st Century Research and Perspectives. Oxford University Press, 2022.

Nour, Matthew M., Lisa Evans, David Nutt, and Robin L. Carhart-Harris. “Ego-Dissolution and Psychedelics: Validation of the Ego-Dissolution Inventory.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, vol. 10, 2016, article 269.

Carhart-Harris, Robin L., et al. “The Entropic Brain: A Theory of Conscious States Informed by Neuroimaging Research with Psychedelic Drugs.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, vol. 8, 2014, article 20.

Millière, Raphaël, et al. “Psychedelics, Meditation, and Self-Consciousness.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 9, 2018, article 1475.

Meditation, Contemplative Practice, and Neuroimaging

Fox, Kieran C. R., et al. “Is Meditation Associated with Altered Brain Structure? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Morphometric Neuroimaging in Meditation Practitioners.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, vol. 43, 2014, pp. 48-73.

Fox, Kieran C. R., et al. “Functional Neuroanatomy of Meditation: A Review and Meta-Analysis of 78 Functional Neuroimaging Investigations.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, vol. 65, 2016, pp. 208-228. arXiv, https://arxiv.org/abs/1603.06342.

Fox, Kieran C. R., et al. “Meditation Experience Predicts Introspective Accuracy.” PLOS ONE, vol. 7, no. 9, 2012, e45370.

Garrison, Kathleen A., et al. “Meditation Leads to Reduced Default Mode Network Activity beyond an Active Task.” Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, vol. 15, no. 3, 2015, pp. 712-720.

Brewer, Judson A., et al. “Meditation Experience Is Associated with Differences in Default Mode Network Activity and Connectivity.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 108, no. 50, 2011, pp. 20254-20259.

Lutz, Antoine, Julie Brefczynski-Lewis, Tom Johnstone, and Richard J. Davidson. “Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise.” PLOS ONE, vol. 3, no. 3, 2008, e1897.

Lutz, Antoine, Lawrence L. Greischar, Nancy B. Rawlings, Matthieu Ricard, and Richard J. Davidson. “Long-Term Meditators Self-Induce High-Amplitude Gamma Synchrony during Mental Practice.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 101, no. 46, 2004, pp. 16369-16373.

Tang, Yi-Yuan, Britta K. Hölzel, and Michael I. Posner. “The Neuroscience of Mindfulness Meditation.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience, vol. 16, no. 4, 2015, pp. 213-225.

Hölzel, Britta K., et al. “Mindfulness Practice Leads to Increases in Regional Brain Gray Matter Density.” Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, vol. 191, no. 1, 2011, pp. 36-43.

Brefczynski-Lewis, Julie A., Antoine Lutz, Henry S. Schaefer, David B. Levinson, and Richard J. Davidson. “Neural Correlates of Attentional Expertise in Long-Term Meditation Practitioners.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 104, no. 27, 2007, pp. 11483-11488.

Lomas, Tim, et al. “A Systematic Review of the Neurophysiology of Mindfulness on EEG Oscillations.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, vol. 57, 2015, pp. 401-410.

The neuroscience subsection is worth keeping because it gives you a non-supernatural comparison class for intense spiritual states. Recent PubMed indexing also shows ongoing meta-analytic work on meditation neuroimaging and brain change.

Near-Death Experiences

Greyson, Bruce. “The Near-Death Experience Scale: Construction, Reliability, and Validity.” Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, vol. 171, no. 6, 1983, pp. 369-375.

Greyson, Bruce. “Near-Death Experiences.” Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, 2nd ed., Elsevier, 2012.

Greyson, Bruce. After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about Life and Beyond. St. Martin’s Essentials, 2021.

Greyson, Bruce. “Incidence and Correlates of Near-Death Experiences in a Cardiac Care Unit.” General Hospital Psychiatry, vol. 25, no. 4, 2003, pp. 269-276.

Greyson, Bruce. “Dissociation in People Who Have Near-Death Experiences: Out of Their Bodies or Out of Their Minds?” The Lancet, vol. 355, no. 9202, 2000, pp. 460-463.

Kelly, Emily Williams, Bruce Greyson, and Edward F. Kelly. “Unusual Experiences near Death and Related Phenomena.” In Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century, edited by Edward F. Kelly et al., Rowman & Littlefield, 2007, pp. 367-421.

Martial, Charlotte, et al. “Neurochemical Models of Near-Death Experiences: A Large-Scale Study Based on the Semantic Similarity of Written Reports.” Consciousness and Cognition, vol. 69, 2019, pp. 52-69. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30711788/. PubMed describes this as a large-scale comparative analysis of NDE reports and drug-induced altered-state reports.

Martial, Charlotte, et al. “Near-Death Experiences as a Probe to Explore (Disconnected) Consciousness.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences, vol. 24, no. 3, 2020, pp. 173-183.

Facco, Enrico, and Christian Agrillo. “Near-Death Experiences between Science and Prejudice.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, vol. 6, 2012, article 209.

Charland-Verville, Vanessa, et al. “Near-Death Experiences in Non-Life-Threatening Events and Coma of Different Etiologies.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, vol. 8, 2014, article 203.

Blanke, Olaf, and Sebastian Dieguez. “Leaving Body and Life behind: Out-of-Body and Near-Death Experience.” In The Neurology of Consciousness, edited by Steven Laureys and Giulio Tononi, Academic Press, 2009, pp. 303-325.

Blanke, Olaf, Theodor Landis, Laurent Spinelli, and Margitta Seeck. “Out-of-Body Experience and Autoscopy of Neurological Origin.” Brain, vol. 127, no. 2, 2004, pp. 243-258.

Nelson, Kevin R., Michelle Mattingly, Sherman A. Lee, and Frederick A. Schmitt. “Does the Arousal System Contribute to Near Death Experience?” Neurology, vol. 66, no. 7, 2006, pp. 1003-1009.

Nelson, Kevin R. The Spiritual Doorway in the Brain: A Neurologist’s Search for the God Experience. Dutton, 2011.

French, Christopher C. “Near-Death Experiences in Cardiac Arrest Survivors.” Progress in Brain Research, vol. 150, 2005, pp. 351-367.

Blackmore, Susan. Dying to Live: Near-Death Experiences. Prometheus Books, 1993.

Morse, Melvin, Paul Castillo, David Venecia, Jerrold Milstein, and Donald C. Tyler. “Childhood Near-Death Experiences.” American Journal of Diseases of Children, vol. 140, no. 11, 1986, pp. 1110-1114.

Klemenc-Ketis, Zalika. “Life Changes in Patients after Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: The Effect of Near-Death Experiences.” International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, vol. 20, no. 1, 2013, pp. 7-12.

AWARE and AWARE-II belong in your “best modern cardiac arrest studies” subsection. The original AWARE study was published in Resuscitation in 2014, and AWARE-II appeared in Resuscitation in 2023; your existing entries already capture those key anchors.

Consciousness, Out-of-Body Experiences, and Anomalous Experience

Metzinger, Thomas. The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self. Basic Books, 2009.

Metzinger, Thomas. “Out-of-Body Experiences as the Origin of the Concept of a ‘Soul.’” Mind and Matter, vol. 3, no. 1, 2005, pp. 57-84.

Blackmore, Susan. Beyond the Body: An Investigation of Out-of-the-Body Experiences. Heinemann, 1982.

Irwin, Harvey J. “The Psychological Function of Out-of-Body Experiences: So Who Needs the Out-of-Body Experience?” Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, vol. 173, no. 4, 1985, pp. 244-246.

Cheyne, J. Allan, Steve D. Rueffer, and Ian R. Newby-Clark. “Hypnagogic and Hypnopompic Hallucinations during Sleep Paralysis: Neurological and Cultural Construction of the Night-Mare.” Consciousness and Cognition, vol. 8, no. 3, 1999, pp. 319-337.

Cheyne, J. Allan. “Sleep Paralysis and the Structure of Waking-Nightmare Hallucinations.” Dreaming, vol. 13, no. 3, 2003, pp. 163-179.

Sharpless, Brian A., and Jacques P. Barber. “Lifetime Prevalence Rates of Sleep Paralysis: A Systematic Review.” Sleep Medicine Reviews, vol. 15, no. 5, 2011, pp. 311-315.

Denis, Dan, et al. “A Systematic Review of Variables Associated with Sleep Paralysis.” Sleep Medicine Reviews, vol. 38, 2018, pp. 141-157.

Waters, Flavie, et al. “Visual Hallucinations in the Psychosis Spectrum and Comparative Information from Neurodegenerative Disorders and Eye Disease.” Schizophrenia Bulletin, vol. 40, suppl. 4, 2014, pp. S233-S245.

Waters, Flavie, and Charles Fernyhough. “Hallucinations: A Systematic Review of Points of Similarity and Difference across Diagnostic Classes.” Schizophrenia Bulletin, vol. 43, no. 1, 2017, pp. 32-43.

Powers, Albert R., Christoph Mathys, and Philip R. Corlett. “Pavlovian Conditioning-Induced Hallucinations Result from Overweighting of Perceptual Priors.” Science, vol. 357, no. 6351, 2017, pp. 596-600.

Remote Viewing / Psi / Ganzfeld / Parapsychology

Targ, Russell, and Harold E. Puthoff. “Information Transmission under Conditions of Sensory Shielding.” Nature, vol. 251, 1974, pp. 602-607.

Puthoff, Harold E., and Russell Targ. “A Perceptual Channel for Information Transfer over Kilometer Distances: Historical Perspective and Recent Research.” Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 64, no. 3, 1976, pp. 329-354.

Hyman, Ray. “The Ganzfeld Psi Experiment: A Critical Appraisal.” Journal of Parapsychology, vol. 49, 1985, pp. 3-49.

Honorton, Charles. “Meta-Analysis of Psi Ganzfeld Research: A Response to Hyman.” Journal of Parapsychology, vol. 49, 1985, pp. 51-91.

Hyman, Ray, and Charles Honorton. “A Joint Communiqué: The Psi Ganzfeld Controversy.” Journal of Parapsychology, vol. 50, 1986, pp. 351-364.

Bem, Daryl J., and Charles Honorton. “Does Psi Exist? Replicable Evidence for an Anomalous Process of Information Transfer.” Psychological Bulletin, vol. 115, no. 1, 1994, pp. 4-18. PDF, https://www.alice.id.tue.nl/references/bem-honorton-1994.pdf. The paper reviews competing earlier Hyman and Honorton meta-analyses of Ganzfeld studies.

Hyman, Ray. “Evaluation of Program on Anomalous Mental Phenomena.” Journal of Parapsychology, vol. 59, no. 1, 1995, pp. 5-96.

Utts, Jessica. “An Assessment of the Evidence for Psychic Functioning.” Journal of Parapsychology, vol. 59, no. 4, 1995, pp. 289-320.

May, Edwin C., Jessica Utts, Beverly S. Humphrey, Luke W. Luke, T. James Frivold, and V. V. Trask. “Advances in Remote-Viewing Analysis.” Journal of Parapsychology, vol. 54, no. 3, 1990, pp. 193-228.

American Institutes for Research. An Evaluation of Remote Viewing: Research and Applications. Central Intelligence Agency Reading Room, 1995, https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00791R000200180005-5.pdf. The AIR evaluation separated laboratory evidence from operational intelligence usefulness.

Central Intelligence Agency. STARGATE Collection. CIA Reading Room, https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/collection/stargate. Accessed 11 June 2026.

Milton, Julie, and Richard Wiseman. “Does Psi Exist? Lack of Replication of an Anomalous Process of Information Transfer.” Psychological Bulletin, vol. 125, no. 4, 1999, pp. 387-391.

Bem, Daryl J., John Palmer, and Richard S. Broughton. “Updating the Ganzfeld Database: A Victim of Its Own Success?” Journal of Parapsychology, vol. 65, no. 3, 2001, pp. 207-218.

Storm, Lance, Patrizio E. Tressoldi, and Lorenzo Di Risio. “Meta-Analysis of Free-Response Studies, 1992-2008: Assessing the Noise Reduction Model in Parapsychology.” Psychological Bulletin, vol. 136, no. 4, 2010, pp. 471-485.

Hyman, Ray. “Meta-Analysis That Conceals More than It Reveals: Comment on Storm et al. (2010).” Psychological Bulletin, vol. 136, no. 4, 2010, pp. 486-490.

Tressoldi, Patrizio E. “Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence: The Case of Non-Local Perception, a Classical and Bayesian Review of Evidences.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 2, 2011, article 117.

Radin, Dean. The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena. HarperOne, 1997.

Alcock, James. “Parapsychology: Science or Magic?” Pergamon Press, 1981.

Hansel, C. E. M. ESP and Parapsychology: A Critical Re-Evaluation. Prometheus Books, 1980.

Wiseman, Richard. Paranormality: Why We See What Isn’t There. Macmillan, 2011.

French, Christopher C., and Anna Stone. Anomalistic Psychology: Exploring Paranormal Belief and Experience. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.

Paranormal Belief / Anomalistic Psychology

Irwin, Harvey J. An Introduction to Parapsychology. 5th ed., McFarland, 2009.

Lange, Rense, James Houran, and Robert B. B. Irwin. “A Rasch Scaling Validation of a ‘Core’ Paranormal Belief Scale.” British Journal of Psychology, vol. 91, no. 1, 2000, pp. 113-129.

Tobacyk, Jerome J. “A Revised Paranormal Belief Scale.” International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, vol. 23, no. 1, 2004, pp. 94-98.

Wiseman, Richard, and Caroline Watt. “Belief in Psychic Ability and the Misattribution Hypothesis: A Qualitative Review.” British Journal of Psychology, vol. 97, no. 3, 2006, pp. 323-338.

Lindeman, Marjaana, and Kia Aarnio. “Superstitious, Magical, and Paranormal Beliefs: An Integrative Model.” Journal of Research in Personality, vol. 41, no. 4, 2007, pp. 731-744.

Aarnio, Kia, and Marjaana Lindeman. “Paranormal Beliefs, Education, and Thinking Styles.” Personality and Individual Differences, vol. 39, no. 7, 2005, pp. 1227-1236.

Rogers, Paul, et al. “Paranormal Belief and Errors of Probabilistic Reasoning: The Role of Constituent Conditional Relatedness in Believers’ Susceptibility to the Conjunction Fallacy.” Consciousness and Cognition, vol. 56, 2017, pp. 13-29. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29032111/.

van Elk, Michiel. “The Self-Attribution Bias and Paranormal Beliefs.” Consciousness and Cognition, vol. 49, 2017, pp. 313-321. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28236749/.

Drinkwater, Kenneth, Neil Dagnall, and Andrew Denovan. “Differences in Cognitive-Perceptual Factors Arising from Variations in Self-Professed Paranormal Ability.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 12, 2021, article 670959. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34177736/.

Dean, Charlotte E., et al. “The Relationship between Paranormal Belief and Cognitive Function: A Systematic Review and Assessment of Study Quality across Four Decades of Research.” PLOS ONE, vol. 17, no. 5, 2022, e0267360.

Denovan, Andrew, Neil Dagnall, and Kenneth Drinkwater. “The Associations between Paranormal Beliefs and Sleep Variables.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 13, 2023, article 1077298. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36632033/. PubMed notes associations between paranormal beliefs and sleep variables including sleep paralysis and exploding head syndrome.

Dean et al. is especially important because it gives you a broad systematic-review anchor for paranormal belief and cognitive function, rather than relying on isolated skeptical papers.

Apparitions / Bereavement Encounters / Sensed Presence

Rees, W. Dewi. “The Hallucinations of Widowhood.” British Medical Journal, vol. 4, no. 5778, 1971, pp. 37-41.

Grimby, Agneta. “Bereavement among Elderly People: Grief Reactions, Post-Bereavement Hallucinations and Quality of Life.” Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, vol. 87, no. 1, 1993, pp. 72-80.

Olson, Philip R., Mike Suddeth, Glenn Peterson, and Bernice Egelhoff. “Hallucinations of Widowhood.” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, vol. 33, no. 8, 1985, pp. 543-547.

Steffen, Edith, and Adrian Coyle. “Can ‘Sense of Presence’ Experiences in Bereavement Be Conceptualised as Spiritual Phenomena?” Mental Health, Religion & Culture, vol. 13, no. 3, 2010, pp. 273-291.

Steffen, Edith, and Adrian Coyle. “Sense of Presence Experiences and Meaning-Making in Bereavement: A Qualitative Analysis.” Death Studies, vol. 35, no. 7, 2011, pp. 579-609.

Keen, Catherine, Peter Murray, and David Payne. “Sensing the Presence of the Deceased: A Narrative Review.” Mental Health, Religion & Culture, vol. 16, no. 4, 2013, pp. 384-402.

Hayes, Jacqueline, and Gillian Leudar. “Experiences of Continued Presence: On the Practical Consequences of ‘Hallucinations’ in Bereavement.” Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, vol. 89, no. 2, 2016, pp. 194-210.

Castelnovo, Anna, et al. “The Phenomenology and Impact of Hallucinations Concerning the Deceased.” BJPsych Open, vol. 6, no. 6, 2020, e136. Cambridge Core, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-open/article/phenomenology-and-impact-of-hallucinations-concerning-the-deceased/1AA7D2F7BB52C491462566785D752E02.

Kamp, Karina Stengaard, and Helena Due. “How Many Bereaved People Hallucinate about Their Loved One? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Bereavement Hallucinations.” Journal of Affective Disorders, vol. 243, 2019, pp. 463-476. Note: retracted. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30975434/. Include only if you want to discuss problems in the literature, because PubMed indexes a retraction notice for this paper.

Ratcliffe, Matthew. Experiences of Depression: A Study in Phenomenology. Oxford University Press, 2015.

Ratcliffe, Matthew. Grief Worlds: A Study of Emotional Experience. MIT Press, 2023.

Possession / Dissociation / Trance / Mediumship

Bourguignon, Erika. Possession. Chandler & Sharp, 1976.

Bourguignon, Erika, ed. Religion, Altered States of Consciousness, and Social Change. Ohio State University Press, 1973.

Lewis, I. M. Ecstatic Religion: A Study of Shamanism and Spirit Possession. 3rd ed., Routledge, 2003.

Boddy, Janice. Wombs and Alien Spirits: Women, Men, and the Zar Cult in Northern Sudan. University of Wisconsin Press, 1989.

Crapanzano, Vincent. The Hamadsha: A Study in Moroccan Ethnopsychiatry. University of California Press, 1973.

Csordas, Thomas J. The Sacred Self: A Cultural Phenomenology of Charismatic Healing. University of California Press, 1994.

Kirmayer, Laurence J. “Culture, Affect and Somatization.” Transcultural Psychiatric Research Review, vol. 21, no. 3, 1984, pp. 159-188.

Kirmayer, Laurence J. “Culture and the Metaphoric Mediation of Pain.” Transcultural Psychiatry, vol. 45, no. 2, 2008, pp. 318-338.

During, E. H., et al. “A Critical Review of Dissociative Trance and Possession Disorders: Etiological, Diagnostic, Therapeutic, and Nosological Issues.” Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 56, no. 4, 2011, pp. 235-242. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21507280/. PubMed describes this as a review of dissociative trance and possession disorders and their DSM relevance.

During, E. H., et al. “Spirit Possession and Mental Health: A Review.” Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 56, no. 7, 2011, pp. 411-419. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21766834/.

Seligman, Rebecca, and Laurence J. Kirmayer. “Dissociative Experience and Cultural Neuroscience: Narrative, Metaphor and Mechanism.” Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, vol. 32, no. 1, 2008, pp. 31-64.

Seligman, Rebecca. “The Unmaking and Making of Self: Embodied Suffering and Mind-Body Healing in Brazilian Candomblé.” Ethos, vol. 38, no. 3, 2010, pp. 297-320.

Dein, Simon, and Roland Littlewood. “Possession and Exorcism in the New Testament and Modern Psychiatry.” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, vol. 100, no. 1, 2007, pp. 29-32.

Dein, Simon. “Delusion, Possession and Religion.” Psychopathology, vol. 52, no. 1, 2019, pp. 1-11. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30489188/. PubMed notes the article discusses criteria for distinguishing religious experience, possession, and psychopathology.

Ng, Beng-Yeong. “The Clinical Characteristics of Possession Disorder among 20 Chinese Patients in the Hebei Province of China.” Psychiatric Services, vol. 49, no. 3, 1998, pp. 360-365. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9525797/.

Hecker, Tobias, et al. “A Village Possessed by ‘Witches’: A Mixed-Methods Case-Control Study of Spirit Possession in Rural Nepal.” Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, vol. 39, no. 1, 2015, pp. 74-103. PubMed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25234302/. PubMed’s abstract frames possession here as an idiom of distress connected to mental illness, trauma, violence, and oppression.

Lucchetti, Giancarlo, et al. “Spirit Possession and Mental Health: A Narrative Review.” Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2025. PubMed Central, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11818320/.

Mediumship / Survival Research / Afterlife Claims

Gauld, Alan. Mediumship and Survival: A Century of Investigations. Heinemann, 1982.

Braude, Stephen E. Immortal Remains: The Evidence for Life after Death. Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.

Braude, Stephen E. The Limits of Influence: Psychokinesis and the Philosophy of Science. Routledge, 1997.

Alvarado, Carlos S. “Dissociation in Britain during the Late Nineteenth Century: The Society for Psychical Research, 1882-1900.” Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, vol. 3, no. 2, 2002, pp. 9-33.

Kelly, Edward F., et al. Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century. Rowman & Littlefield, 2007.

Kelly, Edward F., Adam Crabtree, and Paul Marshall, eds. Beyond Physicalism: Toward Reconciliation of Science and Spirituality. Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.

Beischel, Julie, and Gary E. Schwartz. “Anomalous Information Reception by Research Mediums Demonstrated Using a Novel Triple-Blind Protocol.” Explore, vol. 3, no. 1, 2007, pp. 23-27.

O’Keeffe, Ciarán, and Richard Wiseman. “Testing Alleged Mediumship: Methods and Results.” British Journal of Psychology, vol. 96, no. 2, 2005, pp. 165-179.

Roxburgh, Elizabeth C., and Chris A. Roe. “A Survey of Dissociation, Boundary-Thinness, and Psychological Wellbeing in Spiritualist Mental Mediumship.” Journal of Parapsychology, vol. 75, no. 2, 2011, pp. 279-299.

Moreira-Almeida, Alexander, Francisco Lotufo Neto, and Harold G. Koenig. “Religiousness and Mental Health: A Review.” Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 28, no. 3, 2006, pp. 242-250.

Moreira-Almeida, Alexander, and Stanley Krippner. “Psychopathology and Mediumship.” In Varieties of Anomalous Experience: Examining the Scientific Evidence, edited by Etzel Cardeña, Steven Jay Lynn, and Stanley Krippner, 2nd ed., American Psychological Association, 2014, pp. 333-366.

Miracles / Philosophy / Epistemology of Testimony

Hume, David. “Of Miracles.” In An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, 1748.

Swinburne, Richard. The Concept of Miracle. Macmillan, 1970.

Swinburne, Richard. The Existence of God. 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 2004.

Mackie, J. L. The Miracle of Theism: Arguments for and against the Existence of God. Oxford University Press, 1982.

Earman, John. Hume’s Abject Failure: The Argument against Miracles. Oxford University Press, 2000.

McGrew, Timothy, and Lydia McGrew. “The Argument from Miracles: A Cumulative Case for the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.” In The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology, edited by William Lane Craig and J. P. Moreland, Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, pp. 593-662.

Larmer, Robert A. The Legitimacy of Miracle. Lexington Books, 2014.

Corner, David. The Philosophy of Miracles. Continuum, 2007.

Tucker, Aviezer. “Miracles, Historical Testimonies, and Probabilities.” History and Theory, vol. 44, no. 3, 2005, pp. 373-390.

Houston, Joseph. Reported Miracles: A Critique of Hume. Cambridge University Press, 1994.

Nickell, Joe. Looking for a Miracle: Weeping Icons, Relics, Stigmata, Visions and Healing Cures. Prometheus Books, 1993.

Nickell, Joe. The Science of Miracles: Investigating the Incredible. Prometheus Books, 2013.

Religious Visions / Apparitions / Marian Claims

Zimdars-Swartz, Sandra L. Encountering Mary: From La Salette to Medjugorje. Princeton University Press, 1991.

Carroll, Michael P. The Cult of the Virgin Mary: Psychological Origins. Princeton University Press, 1986.

Christian, William A. Apparitions in Late Medieval and Renaissance Spain. Princeton University Press, 1981.

Turner, Victor, and Edith Turner. Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture. Columbia University Press, 1978.

Dundes, Alan. “The Vision of Our Lady of Guadalupe: A Psychological Interpretation.” Western Folklore, vol. 47, no. 2, 1988, pp. 79-97.

Bouflet, Joachim, and Philippe Boutry. Un signe dans le ciel: Les apparitions de la Vierge. Grasset, 1997.

Groeschel, Benedict J. A Still, Small Voice: A Practical Guide on Reported Revelations. Ignatius Press, 1993.

Laurentin, René. An Appeal from Mary in Argentina: The Apparitions of San Nicolás. Queenship Publishing, 1990.

Nickell, Joe. “Marian Apparitions: A Skeptical Look.” Skeptical Inquirer, vol. 20, no. 6, 1996, pp. 18-25.

Shamanism, Ecstasy, and Cross-Cultural Altered States

Eliade, Mircea. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Princeton University Press, 1964.

Harner, Michael. The Way of the Shaman. Harper & Row, 1980.

Winkelman, Michael. Shamanism: A Biopsychosocial Paradigm of Consciousness and Healing. Praeger, 2010.

Winkelman, Michael. “Shamanism and Cognitive Evolution.” Cambridge Archaeological Journal, vol. 12, no. 1, 2002, pp. 71-101.

Winkelman, Michael. “Shamanism as Neurotheology and Evolutionary Psychology.” American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 45, no. 12, 2002, pp. 1873-1885.

Lewis-Williams, David. The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art. Thames & Hudson, 2002.

Lewis-Williams, David, and David Pearce. Inside the Neolithic Mind: Consciousness, Cosmos and the Realm of the Gods. Thames & Hudson, 2005.

Bourguignon, Erika, and Lenora S. Greenbaum. “Diversity and Homogeneity in World Societies.” Ethos, vol. 1, no. 3, 1973, pp. 219-231.

Goodman, Felicitas D. Where the Spirits Ride the Wind: Trance Journeys and Other Ecstatic Experiences. Indiana University Press, 1990.

Vitebsky, Piers. The Shaman: Voyages of the Soul from the Arctic to the Amazon. Duncan Baird, 1995.

Skepticism, Cognitive Bias, and Methodology

Shermer, Michael. Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time. W. H. Freeman, 1997.

Shermer, Michael. The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies. Times Books, 2011.

Gilovich, Thomas. How We Know What Isn’t So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life. Free Press, 1991.

Vyse, Stuart A. Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition. Oxford University Press, 1997.

Brugger, Peter, and Christine Mohr. “The Paranormal Mind: How the Study of Anomalous Experiences and Beliefs May Inform Cognitive Neuroscience.” Cortex, vol. 44, no. 10, 2008, pp. 1291-1298.

French, Christopher C. “Why Statues Weep: The Best Science on the Paranormal.” The Psychologist, vol. 18, no. 8, 2005, pp. 484-487.

Hines, Terence. Pseudoscience and the Paranormal. 2nd ed., Prometheus Books, 2003.

Lilienfeld, Scott O., Steven Jay Lynn, John Ruscio, and Barry L. Beyerstein. 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.

Sagan, Carl. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. Random House, 1995.

Pigliucci, Massimo, and Maarten Boudry, eds. Philosophy of Pseudoscience: Reconsidering the Demarcation Problem. University of Chicago Press, 2013.

Alcock, James E. “Give the Null Hypothesis a Chance: Reasons to Remain Doubtful about the Existence of Psi.” Journal of Consciousness Studies, vol. 10, no. 6-7, 2003, pp. 29-50.

Signs, Miracles, and Divine Acts in the World

“We did show him all Our tokens, but he denied them and refused” (The Qur’an 20:56).

“We verily did send Moses with Our revelations” (The Qur’an 14:5).

“Then We sent Moses and his brother Aaron with Our tokens” (The Qur’an 23:45).

“Then We sent Moses with Our tokens and a clear warrant” (The Qur’an 40:23).

“And We gave unto Moses nine tokens, clear proofs” (The Qur’an 17:101).

“So We opened the gates of heaven with pouring water” (The Qur’an 54:11).

“And caused the earth to gush forth springs” (The Qur’an 54:12).

“Then We inspired Moses, saying: Smite the sea with thy staff” (The Qur’an 26:63).

“And it parted, and each part was as a mountain vast” (The Qur’an 26:63).

“Then We brought near the others to that place” (The Qur’an 26:64).

“And We saved Moses and those with him, every one” (The Qur’an 26:65).

“And We drowned the others” (The Qur’an 26:66).

“Throw down thy staff. And when he saw it writhing as it were a demon” (The Qur’an 27:10).

“Throw thy staff. And when he saw it writhing as it had been a demon” (The Qur’an 28:31).

“Then he flung down his staff and lo! it was a serpent manifest” (The Qur’an 7:107).

“And he drew forth his hand, and lo! it was white to the beholders” (The Qur’an 7:108).

“Then We inspired Moses: Throw thy staff! And lo! it swallowed up their lying show” (The Qur’an 7:117).

“Thus was the Truth vindicated and that which they were doing was made vain” (The Qur’an 7:118).

Jesus as a Miracle-Worker by Allah’s Leave

“I come unto you with a sign from your Lord” (The Qur’an 3:49).

“I fashion for you out of clay the likeness of a bird” (The Qur’an 3:49).

“I breathe into it and it is a bird, by Allah’s leave” (The Qur’an 3:49).

“I heal him who was born blind, and the leper” (The Qur’an 3:49).

“I raise the dead, by Allah’s leave” (The Qur’an 3:49).

“I announce unto you what ye eat and what ye store up in your houses” (The Qur’an 3:49).

“Lo! herein verily is a portent for you, if ye are to be believers” (The Qur’an 3:49).

“Thou didst shape of clay as it were the likeness of a bird by My permission” (The Qur’an 5:110).

“Thou didst heal him who was born blind and the leper by My permission” (The Qur’an 5:110).

“Thou didst raise the dead, by My permission” (The Qur’an 5:110).

Angels Acting in the World

“When thy Lord inspired the angels, saying: I am with you” (The Qur’an 8:12).

“So make those who believe stand firm” (The Qur’an 8:12).

“I will throw fear into the hearts of those who disbelieve” (The Qur’an 8:12).

“When ye sought help of your Lord and He answered you” (The Qur’an 8:9).

“I will help you with a thousand of the angels, rank on rank” (The Qur’an 8:9).

“Allah appointed it only as good tidings” (The Qur’an 8:10).

“And that your hearts thereby might be at rest” (The Qur’an 8:10).

“Allah had already given you the victory at Badr, when ye were contemptible” (The Qur’an 3:123).

“Is it not sufficient for you that your Lord should support you with three thousand angels?” (The Qur’an 3:124).

“Your Lord will help you with five thousand angels sweeping on” (The Qur’an 3:125).

Jinn and Invisible Beings Interacting with Human Reality

“And the jinn did He create of smokeless fire” (The Qur’an 55:15).

“And I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me” (The Qur’an 51:56).

“A company of the jinn gave ear” to the Qur’an (The Qur’an 72:1).

“They said: Lo! we have heard a marvellous Qur’an” (The Qur’an 72:1).

“And among us there are righteous folk and among us there are far from that” (The Qur’an 72:11).

“And there were men among mankind who took shelter with the males among the jinn” (The Qur’an 72:6).

“They increased them in revolt against Allah” (The Qur’an 72:6).

“Of the jinn there were some who worked under him by permission of his Lord” (The Qur’an 34:12).

“They made for him what he willed: synagogues and statues, basins like wells and boilers built into the ground” (The Qur’an 34:13).

“And of the devils were some who dived for him” (The Qur’an 21:82).

“And did other work, and We were warders unto them” (The Qur’an 21:82).

Revelation as a Spiritual-Human Interaction

“The Faithful Spirit hath descended with it” (The Qur’an 26:193).

“Upon thy heart, that thou mayst be one of the warners” (The Qur’an 26:194).

“Say: The holy Spirit hath revealed it from thy Lord with truth” (The Qur’an 16:102).

“Who is an enemy to Gabriel! For he it is who hath revealed it to thy heart” (The Qur’an 2:97).

“It is naught else than revelation revealed” (The Qur’an 53:4).

“Which one of mighty powers hath taught him” (The Qur’an 53:5).

“Nor doth he speak of his own desire” (The Qur’an 53:3).

God Is Beyond Direct Comprehension

“Vision comprehendeth Him not, but He comprehendeth all vision” (The Qur’an 6:103).

“He is the Subtile, the Aware” (The Qur’an 6:103).

“Naught is as His likeness” (The Qur’an 42:11).

“And He is the Hearer, the Seer” (The Qur’an 42:11).

“Allah! There is no God save Him, the Alive, the Eternal” (The Qur’an 2:255).

“His throne includeth the heavens and the earth” (The Qur’an 2:255).

“He is the Sublime, the Tremendous” (The Qur’an 2:255).

“Knower of the Invisible and the Visible” (The Qur’an 59:22).

“He is Allah, the One!” (The Qur’an 112:1).

“Allah, the eternally Besought of all!” (The Qur’an 112:2).

“There is none comparable unto Him” (The Qur’an 112:4).

God’s Knowledge Is Hidden from Humans

“With Him are the keys of the Invisible. None but He knoweth them” (The Qur’an 6:59).

“He knoweth what is in the land and the sea” (The Qur’an 6:59).

“Not a leaf falleth but He knoweth it” (The Qur’an 6:59).

“He knoweth the traitor of the eyes, and that which the bosoms hide” (The Qur’an 40:19).

“He knoweth the secret and that which is yet more hidden” (The Qur’an 20:7).

“Say: None in the heavens and the earth knoweth the Unseen save Allah” (The Qur’an 27:65).

“He revealeth unto none His secret, save unto every messenger whom He hath chosen” (The Qur’an 72:26-27).

“Allah knoweth; ye know not” (The Qur’an 2:216).

“Of knowledge ye have been vouchsafed but little” (The Qur’an 17:85).

Access to God Is Mediated by Revelation, Messengers, and Permission

“It was not given to any mortal that Allah should speak to him unless by revelation” (The Qur’an 42:51).

“Or from behind a veil” (The Qur’an 42:51).

“Or He sendeth a messenger to reveal what He will by His leave” (The Qur’an 42:51).

“Lo! We inspire thee as We inspired Noah and the prophets after him” (The Qur’an 4:163).

“We sent no messenger save with the language of his folk” (The Qur’an 14:4).

“Messengers of good cheer and of warning” (The Qur’an 4:165).

“That mankind might have no argument against Allah after the messengers” (The Qur’an 4:165).

“And they say: Why is not a portent sent down upon him from his Lord?” (The Qur’an 10:20).

“Then say: The Unseen belongeth to Allah” (The Qur’an 10:20).

“Wait, then! Lo! I am waiting with you” (The Qur’an 10:20).

God Guides Some and Leaves Others in Error

“Allah sendeth whom He will astray, and guideth whom He will” (The Qur’an 14:4).

“He whom Allah sendeth astray, for him there is no guide” (The Qur’an 7:186).

“Whomsoever Allah guideth, he is the rightly guided” (The Qur’an 17:97).

“Whom He sendeth astray, for them thou wilt find no protecting friends beside Him” (The Qur’an 17:97).

“Allah guideth whom He will unto a straight path” (The Qur’an 2:213).

“Thou guidest not whom thou lovest, but Allah guideth whom He will” (The Qur’an 28:56).

“Allah increaseth in right guidance those who walk aright” (The Qur’an 19:76).

“Allah hath sealed their hearing and their hearts” (The Qur’an 2:7).

“And on their eyes there is a covering” (The Qur’an 2:7).

Signs Are Present, but Not Everyone Perceives Them

“How many a portent is there in the heavens and the earth which they pass by” (The Qur’an 12:105).

“Yet they turn away from it” (The Qur’an 12:105).

“We have displayed for mankind in this Qur’an all kind of similitudes” (The Qur’an 17:89).

“But most of mankind refuse aught save disbelief” (The Qur’an 17:89).

“And if We opened unto them a gate of heaven and they kept mounting through it” (The Qur’an 15:14).

“They would say: Our sight is wrong” (The Qur’an 15:15).

“Nay, but we are folk bewitched” (The Qur’an 15:15).

“If they behold a portent they turn away and say: Prolonged illusion” (The Qur’an 54:2).

“They denied and followed their own lusts” (The Qur’an 54:3).

Prayer and Divine Response

“When My servants question thee concerning Me, then surely I am nigh” (The Qur’an 2:186).

“I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he crieth unto Me” (The Qur’an 2:186).

“So let them hear My call and let them trust in Me” (The Qur’an 2:186).

“And your Lord hath said: Pray unto Me and I will hear your prayer” (The Qur’an 40:60).

“Is not He best who answereth the wronged one when he crieth unto Him?” (The Qur’an 27:62).

“And removeth the evil” (The Qur’an 27:62).

“Call upon your Lord humbly and in secret” (The Qur’an 7:55).

“Lo! the mercy of Allah is nigh unto the good” (The Qur’an 7:56).

“Remember Me, I will remember you” (The Qur’an 2:152).

“O ye who believe! Seek help in steadfastness and prayer” (The Qur’an 2:153).

“Lo! Allah is with the steadfast” (The Qur’an 2:153).

Faith Producing Observable Life Outcomes

“Who believe in the Unseen, and establish worship” (The Qur’an 2:3).

“And spend of that We have bestowed upon them” (The Qur’an 2:3).

“Such are in guidance from their Lord” (The Qur’an 2:5).

“And such are successful” (The Qur’an 2:5).

“Lo! those who believe and do good works, theirs are the Gardens of Paradise” (The Qur’an 18:107).

“Whosoever doeth right, whether male or female, and is a believer” (The Qur’an 16:97).

“Him verily We shall quicken with good life” (The Qur’an 16:97).

“And We shall pay them a recompense in proportion to the best of what they used to do” (The Qur’an 16:97).

“Those who believe and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah” (The Qur’an 13:28).

“Verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest” (The Qur’an 13:28).

“Allah is the Protecting Friend of those who believe” (The Qur’an 2:257).

“He bringeth them out of darkness into light” (The Qur’an 2:257).

God Supporting Believers Publicly

“If ye help Allah, He will help you and will make your foothold firm” (The Qur’an 47:7).

“Allah will surely help him who helpeth Him” (The Qur’an 22:40).

“Our host, they verily would be the victors” (The Qur’an 37:173).

“Lo! We verily do help Our messengers, and those who believe” (The Qur’an 40:51).

“In the life of the world and on the day when the witnesses arise” (The Qur’an 40:51).

“Allah hath promised such of you as believe and do good works that He will surely make them to succeed” (The Qur’an 24:55).

“He will surely establish for them their religion” (The Qur’an 24:55).

“He will give them in exchange safety after their fear” (The Qur’an 24:55).

“If Allah is your helper none can overcome you” (The Qur’an 3:160).

“And if He withdraw His help from you, who is there who can help you?” (The Qur’an 3:160).

Angels and Spiritual Help Given to Believers

“When ye sought help of your Lord and He answered you” (The Qur’an 8:9).

“I will help you with a thousand of the angels, rank on rank” (The Qur’an 8:9).

“Allah appointed it only as good tidings” (The Qur’an 8:10).

“And that your hearts thereby might be at rest” (The Qur’an 8:10).

“When thy Lord inspired the angels, saying: I am with you” (The Qur’an 8:12).

“So make those who believe stand firm” (The Qur’an 8:12).

“Your Lord will help you with five thousand angels sweeping on” (The Qur’an 3:125).

“Then Allah sent His peace of reassurance down upon His messenger and upon the believers” (The Qur’an 9:26).

“And sent down hosts ye could not see” (The Qur’an 9:26).

“He it is Who sent down peace of reassurance into the hearts of the believers” (The Qur’an 48:4).

“That they might add faith unto their faith” (The Qur’an 48:4).

Prophetic Signs as Public Evidence

“We sent Our messengers with clear proofs” (The Qur’an 57:25).

“And revealed with them the Scripture and the Balance” (The Qur’an 57:25).

“Messengers came unto them with clear proofs” (The Qur’an 10:13).

“We verily sent messengers before thee with clear proofs” (The Qur’an 40:78).

“And it was not given to any messenger that he should bring a portent save by Allah’s leave” (The Qur’an 40:78).

“We gave Jesus, son of Mary, clear proofs” (The Qur’an 2:87).

“And We supported him with the holy Spirit” (The Qur’an 2:87).

“We gave Jesus, son of Mary, clear proofs” (The Qur’an 2:253).

“And strengthened him with the holy Spirit” (The Qur’an 2:253).

“Jesus came with clear proofs” (The Qur’an 43:63).

“I have come unto you with wisdom” (The Qur’an 43:63).

Spiritual Reality Producing Judgment in Public History

“So the earthquake seized them, and morning found them prostrate in their dwelling-place” (The Qur’an 7:78).

“Then the earthquake seized them, and morning found them prostrate in their dwelling-place” (The Qur’an 7:91).

“So We took each one in his sin” (The Qur’an 29:40).

“Of them was he on whom We sent a hurricane” (The Qur’an 29:40).

“Of them was he who was overtaken by the awful cry” (The Qur’an 29:40).

“Of them was he whom We caused the earth to swallow” (The Qur’an 29:40).

“Of them was he whom We drowned” (The Qur’an 29:40).

“Allah wronged them not, but they did wrong themselves” (The Qur’an 29:40).

“Then We saved him and those with him in the ship” (The Qur’an 29:15).

“And made of it a portent for the peoples” (The Qur’an 29:15).

Nature as Public Signs of God

“Lo! in the creation of the heavens and the earth are portents for believers” (The Qur’an 45:3).

“And in your creation, and all the beasts that He scattereth in the earth” are signs (The Qur’an 45:4).

“And the difference of night and day” are signs (The Qur’an 45:5).

“And in the provision that Allah sendeth down from the sky” are signs (The Qur’an 45:5).

“Lo! herein indeed are portents for folk who take thought” (The Qur’an 16:11).

“Lo! herein is indeed a portent for people who believe” (The Qur’an 16:79).

“Lo! herein indeed are portents for folk who have sense” (The Qur’an 16:67).

“Lo! herein is indeed a portent for folk who heed” (The Qur’an 16:69).

“Lo! in the heavens and the earth are portents for believers” (The Qur’an 45:3).

Public Reality Across Varying Spiritual Domains

“Messengers came unto them with clear proofs” (The Qur’an 10:13).

“We sent Our messengers with clear proofs” (The Qur’an 57:25).

“And We gave unto Moses nine tokens, clear proofs” (The Qur’an 17:101).

“I come unto you with a sign from your Lord” (The Qur’an 3:49).

“I heal him who was born blind, and the leper” (The Qur’an 3:49).

“I raise the dead, by Allah’s leave” (The Qur’an 3:49).

“We supported him with the holy Spirit” (The Qur’an 2:87).

“I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he crieth unto Me” (The Qur’an 2:186).

“Pray unto Me and I will hear your prayer” (The Qur’an 40:60).

“If ye help Allah, He will help you” (The Qur’an 47:7).

“I will help you with a thousand of the angels” (The Qur’an 8:9).

“Of the jinn there were some who worked under him by permission of his Lord” (The Qur’an 34:12).

“And there were men among mankind who took shelter with the males among the jinn” (The Qur’an 72:6).

“Vision comprehendeth Him not, but He comprehendeth all vision” (The Qur’an 6:103).

“He revealeth unto none His secret, save unto every messenger whom He hath chosen” (The Qur’an 72:26-27).