Saint Paul's famous revelation may have been 'caused by epileptic fit', say scientists

Researchers at Hadassah Medical Centre have scanned the brain of a man during a seizure while he also had visions of God

Portrait of Saint Paul of Tarsus or Saint Paul the Apostle. Painting by Giuseppe Franchi (Getty Images )

Saint Paul, a key figure in the history of the Western world, is well-known for his dramatic religious conversion on the road to Damascus.

Exactly what occurred as Saint Paul made his revelation, turning from persecuting Jesus to preaching Jesus, has been difficult to determine as the accounts in Acts and the letters vary in detail. However, a team of scientists have developed a theory as to how St Paul’s U-turn may have come about.

Rather than hearing God talking to him, scientists in Israel have suggested Saint Paul’s revelation could have been brought about by an epileptic seizure, The Times reports.

Researchers at Hadassah Medical Centre, linked to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, have scanned the brain of a man during a seizure, while he also had visions of God and noticed a surge of activity in the organ’s frontal lobe, which is linked to a belief people are interacting with a deity.

While treating the epileptic man, researchers connected him to an electroencephalogram, measuring brain activity.

Writing in the journal of Epilepsy and Behaviour they say: “While lying in bed, the patient abruptly ‘froze’ and stared at the ceiling for several minutes, stating later that he felt that God was approaching him. He then started chanting prayers quietly, looked for his kippa and put it on his head, chanting the prayers more excessively.”

Dr Shahar Arzy and Dr Roey Schurr record the man saying God had revealed himself to him and had ordered that he bring redemption to the people of Israel.

According to the scientists, the event occurred several hours after a seizure and coincided with increased activity in the patients’ left prefrontal cortex linked to social behaviour and planning in the brain.

Researchers said that the patient was not particularly religious before the incident, but abruptly began trying to enlist disciples.

“The patient then stood up, detached the EEG electrodes from his skin, and went around the department trying to convince people to follow him, stating that ‘God has sent me to you’," researchers wrote.

Previously, scientists have suggested that a belief in God is deeply embedded in the human brain, which is programmed for religious experiences.

Researchers at the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda near Washington searching for the neural "God spot" said their findings support the idea that the brain has evolved to be sensitive to any form of belief that improves the chances of survival, which could explain why a belief in God and the supernatural became so widespread in human evolutionary history.