Belief and the Human Brain

From the opening pages to a book I would love to take time I don't have to read:

In the 1970s, Sam Shoeman was diagnosed with liver cancer and told he had only months to live. A few months after his death, the autopsy revealed the doctors were wrong. He had only one small tumor still contained within the liver--not a life-threatening stage of cancer. Sam Shoeman did not die from liver cancer; he died from believing he was dying of liver cancer. Our beliefs change us mentally, physically, and spiritually.

Our brains are constantly in a state of flux; moment by moment new neurons are developing and new circuits are being laid down, new axons and dendrites are forming for the facilitating of new messages to the neurons. At the same time, unused connections are removed, dormant nerve tracks are pruned back and unused neurons are deleted. Incredibly, our beliefs, thoughts, behaviors, and even our diets change our bran structure, ultimately changing who we are.

 Throughout this book we will explore the amazing ability of our brains to adapt, change, and rewire based on the choices we make, the beliefs we hold, and the God we worship--as different "God-concepts" affect the brain differently. My goal with this book is to reveal God in the clearest way possible, to demonstrate how our belief in God changes us, and to display his methods on a practical level. 

--Timothy R. Jennings, The God-Shaped Brain: How Changing Your View of God Transforms Your Life (InterVarsity, 2013), 11