Exploring the Paranormal: Miracles, Magic, and the Mysterious

by Alan R. Streett; James F. McGrath

Publisher:

Eerdmans

, 2024

Overview

A personal exploration of questions surrounding psychic healing, séances, astral projection, and more

After an injury threatened his chances of signing a professional baseball contract, R. Alan Streett sought help from Olga Worrall, a world-famous psychic healer. This encounter set in motion his lifelong search for the origin and nature of psychic phenomena. Were they natural or supernatural? From God, or from the devil? Were they mentalists’ tricks, or feats of the subconscious mind? Streett invites us to join him in real time as he explores the fascinating world of the paranormal, offering insights into healing, magic, trance channeling, yogic meditation, alternative medicine, astral projection, and the brain’s ability to produce spiritual and mystical experiences. Ultimately Streett enables readers to draw some time-tested and cutting-edge conclusions. Exploring the Paranormal is a helpful guide for all who wish to understand the varied forms of spirituality that are so popular today.

Contents

Table of Contents

Foreword by James F. McGrath
Part 1
     1. My Quest
     2. Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship
     3. The Summer of ’68
     4. A Fifth-Year Senior
     5. Washington, DC
     6. My First Séance
Part 2
     7. The Great Reversal
     8. Deliverance!
     9. A Demon behind Every Bush
     10. A Tragic Setback
Part 3
     11. Magic and the Witch Doctor
     12. The Spiritualists
     13. The Man Who Spoke to the Dead
Part 4
     14. Mind over Matter
     15. Practice What You Preach!
     16. The Subconscious Mind and Brainwaves
     17. Nighttime Brainwaves and Psychic Phenomena
     18. Searching for Ted Swager
     19. Lessons Learned

Praise for Exploring the Paranormal

In Exploring the Paranormal Christian scholar R. Alan Streett recounts his half-century-long journey into the captivating world of paranormal experiences—spiritual healings, clairvoyance, spirit contact, magic, and beyond—meeting the fascinating practitioners and encountering the intellectual challenges of mapping the subconscious world where mind, psyche, and spirit converge and interact. And he does this all while trying to develop a mature Christian commitment and remain true to an orthodox theological heritage. Readers will be caught up in the unexpected twists and turns as new encounters force thoughtful changes upon the seeker-pilgrim.

——J. Gordon Melton, Baylor University

Alan Streett takes us on an astonishing journey. This is a memoir of sorts, tracing Streett’s life from accomplished baseball player to theology professor, though one centered on the author’s longtime engagement with and study of spiritualism, psychic phenomena, and all things paranormal. In a world increasingly at home with ‘spiritual, not religious,’ this book is a fascinating read.

——Joel B. Green, Fuller Theological Seminary

Alan Streett has spent a lifetime seeking to understand the nature of the paranormal. Dissatisfied with typical evangelical explanations, he follows the trail of evidence wherever it leads and invites us to join him. Along the way we encounter psychic healers, trance mediums, Christian mystics, and even a few hucksters—all claiming to have transcendental experiences. As he separates fact from fantasy, Streett draws surprising conclusions about these extraordinary occurrences. Exploring the Paranormal is a real page turner!

——Jonathan Merritt, contributor to The Atlantic and columnist for Religion News Service

Product Details

• Title: Exploring the Paranormal: Miracles, Magic, and the Mysterious
• Authors: Alan R. Streett, James F. McGrath
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Print Publication Date: 2024
• Logos Release Date: 2024
• Pages: 224
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9781467468794, 9780802884534, 0802884539, 1467468797
• Resource ID: LLS:9781467468794
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-23T12:08:09Z

About the Authors

R. Alan Streett is senior research professor emeritus of biblical theology at Criswell College in Dallas, Texas.