On the Development of a Systems Concept of Supernatural Phenomena: A Status Report

Presented by Michael E. Kerr, MD

Murray Bowen first considered the idea of a concept to address supernatural phenomena in 1980. He concluded that by studying the function that beliefs in supernatural phenomena serve in people’s lives, facts would emerge that could be included in a natural systems theory. He never developed the idea into a formal concept, but continued to hold that “a systems theory could account scientifically for biological, psychological, and spiritual phenomena in a single frame of reference.” In this presentation, Dr. Kerr, Director Emeritus of the Bowen Center, explains some of Bowen’s original thinking. It also describes research during the past twenty-five years (in medicine, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology) that provides a clear direction for developing these ideas into a new concept.

For more information, please contact The Bowen Center at 202-965-4400 or info@thebowencenter.org.