ABSTRACT
The hypothesis that the earliest Christians’ ‘experiences of Jesus’ were caused intramentally (e.g. hallucinations) is contradicted by multiple historical considerations. First, their psychological states were varied; among some members, there was evidence of doubts and fears of persecution. Second, without a corresponding external stimulation of the relevant sensory organ, the mental states internal to each person within a group of people would not agree on various details concerning their experience of the external world. Indeed, as Bergeron and Habermas have noted, collective hallucinations are not found in peer-reviewed medical literature. A number of cases which have been labelled as ‘group hallucinations’ (e.g. apparitions of Mary) may well be cases of illusions, which is a case of misidentification (see next chapter). Third, scientific studies have indicated that many cases of hallucination do subsequently achieve insight that their experience is hallucinatory after the experience has ended. Fourth, ‘solid evidence’ of the physicality of Jesus’ resurrected body—such as experiences of Jesus being involved in meals with causal effects left behind and witnessed by multiple disciples—were multiply attested in first-century documents and would have been required to convince the earliest Christians that a bodily resurrected Jesus was what they witnessed rather than Jesus’ angel, spirit, etc.
