Now, let’s don our 21st-century lab coats and examine these prophetic experiences through the lens of modern psychology and psychiatry. The key features at play – mystical visions, auditory hallucinations (hearing voices), and extreme emotional states – each have parallels in psychiatric literature. By comparing these, we can see how a clinician might classify what happened to Elijah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others, and where those classifications hit limitations.
Hallucinations vs. Holy Visions
In psychiatric terms, a hallucination is a perception in the absence of external stimulus – basically seeing, hearing, or feeling something that isn’t actually there (at least to anyone else). The prophets, by their own accounts, saw and heard things others did not. This squarely meets the definition of hallucinations. Auditory hallucinations are most common in disorders like schizophrenia – typically experienced as voices talking to or about the person, or giving commands. We have seen that prophetic experiences often involve hearing a voice (usually identified as God or an angel). For instance:
Ezekiel hears God address him as “Son of man” repeatedly, hears various commands (“Ezekiel, lie on your side...”), and even eavesdrops on what God says to other heavenly beings. A psychiatrist would note: hearing voices that comment on you in third person or give you commands are considered first-rank symptoms of schizophrenia (per Kurt Schneider’s classic criteria). Ezekiel checks those boxes, hence why some modern papers flat-out argue he had schizophrenia
Jeremiah and Isaiah also report the “internal voice” of God frequently. These might be considered a bit differently because often the phrasing is “The word of the Lord came to me,” which some scholars think could also mean a strong inner impression or thought rather than an audible voice. If it were not literally a sound, one could liken it to an intrusive thought or inspiration rather than a frank hallucination. But Jeremiah 38:20 explicitly has him telling someone to “Obey the voice of the LORD in what I say”, implying Jeremiah hears an external voice of God. So it sounds more like he perceived an auditory communication.
Elijah’s “still small voice” might be seen as either an auditory hallucination (a voice out of thin air) or even a hallucination-like experience in a dissociative state (he was in a cave, maybe in silence, perhaps in a meditative or altered state due to exhaustion when he perceived it).
Visual hallucinations are also described by prophets (Ezekiel’s visions of creatures, Daniel’s beasts, Isaiah’s angels). In schizophrenia, visual hallucinations are less common than auditory, but they do occur, especially in certain neurological conditions or severe cases. Visual hallucinations are also common in substance-induced psychosis or neurological disorders (like epilepsy or migraines). There’s no suggestion the prophets took substances (sorry, no evidence that Ezekiel was snacking on Babylonian mushrooms), so if these were hallucinations, they’d likely be attributed to a primary psychotic or neurologic disorder. One interesting medical theory was that temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) could cause intense spiritual visions; TLE patients sometimes report religious epiphanies, visions, or voices during seizures or auras, and can have memory gaps or trance-like states. The suggestion that Ezekiel had TLE is speculative, but not outlandish given he had episodes of unresponsiveness (sitting overwhelmed) and vivid imagery. Another figure often suspected of possible TLE is the Apostle Paul (because of his vision on the road to Damascus described in Acts, and a “thorn in the flesh” some think could be seizures), but that’s beyond our scope.
Disorganized speech or delusions often accompany hallucinations in schizophrenia. Did the prophets exhibit these? For disorganized speech: No, the prophetic speeches are typically well-structured grammatically and thematically (even if the content is fantastical). None of the major prophets babble incoherently in the text; they speak in poetry and prose that has been literarily analyzed to death (implying high coherence). This lack of speech disorganization is a point against a schizophrenia diagnosis – indeed, one study noted that figures like Moses or Jesus did not show signs of disorganized or negative symptoms. For delusions: Adelusionin DSM-5 is a fixed false belief not shared by one’s culture and maintained despite evidence to the contrary. The prophets’ beliefs (e.g., “God is speaking to me and has chosen me to deliver a message”) were certainlyfirmand not easily dissuaded by others’ skepticism. Are they false? That depends on one’s stance about God. Are they shared by the culture? In part – the culture believed Godcouldspeak, but usually people were skeptical until some proof. For example, Moses worried that people wouldn’t believe God spoke to him indicating even in a culture open to prophecy, any given claim might be met with “Yeah right, prove it.” So a prophet’s claim could be seen as a delusionuntilit’s validated by a miracle or fulfillment. That’s a unique situation: the prophets’ “delusions” had truth tests built in (e.g., fulfill prophecy, do a miracle). Not something we can do in a clinic! Modern psychiatric patients with religious delusions can’t furnish proof; prophets often could (Elijah calling fire, etc.).
Another modern parallel: religious delusions are common – people may believe they are God, or the messiah, or receiving special messages. In fact, research finds religious themes in a significant portion of psychotic delusions. A case described in a psychiatric journal featured a man with schizophrenia who believed he was chosen by God and could read minds, and he resisted medication because it dulled the voices he thought were divine. He poignantly asked his doctors,“How do you know the voices aren’t real? How do you know I am not The Messiah? God and angels talked to people in the Bible.” This question is at the crux of our discussion. The doctors, operating under a medical model, assumed these were hallucinations of a psychotic disorder. The patient pointed to the biblical precedent as a defense of his reality. Indeed,from his perspective, his experience was indistinguishable from that of a prophet– except society validates one and not the other.
Modern psychiatry tries to distinguish by assessing context and impact. If the voices cause dysfunction, or the beliefs lead to harmful behavior, and if they are idiosyncratic (not part of a consensual religious practice), they are labeled pathological. The DSM-5 acknowledges the need to consider cultural context: a religious vision in a person who is part of a faith community that expects such experiences (say, a charismatic church) might not be diagnosed as psychosis if it doesn’t impair the person. In contrast, someone outside such a context having the same vision might get a diagnosis. In the prophets’ case, their experiencesdidsometimes impair them (Jeremiah’s social life, Ezekiel’s odd lifestyle) but those were part of the prophetic mission, not dysfunction per se. They still accomplished things.
One could liken prophetic visions to “constructive” hallucinations – they had a purpose and often a positive outcome (guiding people, creating scripture), whereas typical psychotic hallucinations lead a patient into greater confusion or self-referential loops. Moreover, prophets often had insight into what they experienced: they attributed it to God. A schizophrenic patient typically also believes the voices are real, so both lack insight in medical terms (neither thinks “I have an illness”). But the difference is prophets had an explanation that their society partly shared (“It’s God”), whereas a patient might say “It’s aliens controlling me,” which few others would buy into.
Extreme Emotions: Divine Dark Nights or Depressive Disorders?
We saw how prophets like Elijah and Jeremiah had periods of deep depression-like symptoms, and others like Jonahhad bouts of irrational anger and despair. How do these stack up with modern mood disorders?
Major Depression: Elijah’s hopelessness and suicidal talk, Jeremiah’s weeping and curses, even Jonah’s “I want to die” (Jonah 4:8) all match theaffectof major depression. The DSM-5 criteria for Major Depressive Episode include depressed mood most of the day, markedly diminished interest, feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt, recurrent thoughts of death, etc. Elijah hits several of those in 1 Kings 19 (he isolates himself, feels like a failure, asks to die). Jeremiah shows prolonged sadness, negative rumination (“Everyone curses me,” “Why was I born just to suffer?”). It’s fair to say these prophets experiencedsituational depressionat least. Today, we might diagnoseAdjustment Disorder with depressed mood(due to the extreme stressors they were under), or even Major Depression if the symptoms were severe and persistent enough. The tricky part is we often see them rebound when circumstances or spiritual reassurance changes. For Elijah, the depression lifted after the trip to Horeb and God’s reassurance. For Jeremiah, it ebbed and flowed, but he also had moments of hope. Their depression was intertwined with their mission – a concept sometimes called“holy suffering”in spiritual terms, but in psychological terms, it’s emotional burnout and trauma.
Anxiety and Trauma: Prophets also had reason to be anxious – they were often threatened. Jeremiah likely had symptoms akin to PTSD after imprisonment and public humiliation. He shows hypervigilance (he says “I hear the whispering of many – terror on every side!” Jer 20:10, which indicates he was constantly on edge). Prophets also carried the weight of impending doom on their shoulders, which is a heavy anxiety load (“Oh no, my whole nation will be destroyed because they won’t listen to me!” is quite an anxiety trigger). While they didn’t have the concept of anxiety disorders, we can see signs like sleeplessness (perhaps Jeremiah on some of those long crying nights) or somatic complaints (Habakkuk says “my body trembles… my legs tremble” at the vision of judgment, Hab 3:16 – a clear fight-or-flight reaction).
Mania or Elation: Did any prophets have manic-like episodes? Biblical narrative doesn’t describe something like “the prophet couldn’t stop talking and had racing thoughts for days.” However, King Saul’s ecstatic prophetic episodes (1 Sam 10:10-13, 19:23-24) where he would be “caught up” and behaving in unusual ways for a day have been compared to hypomanic fits associated with his otherwise depressive demeanor – leading one psychiatrist to speculate Saul had bipolar affective disorder with “prophetic frenzy” during manic phases. That’s highly conjectural. But Saul aside, most prophets didn’t show the classic irresponsibility or grandiose euphoria of mania. If anything, their “high” was a religious ecstasy which is a distinct thing – focused, usually brief, and tied to a vision or message. It’s more comparable to a controlled trance than to mania’s uncontrolled energy. Nonetheless, someone like Ezekiel in an “ecstatic elation” while seeing visions could superficially seem a bit manic (except he wasn’t running around with pressured speech; he was likely still during visions and then wrote methodically).
Dissociative States: Another angle: might some prophets have experienced dissociation? Dissociative phenomena involve a detachment from reality, ranging from mild (daydreaming) to severe (dissociative identity disorder or fugue states). Some prophetic experiences sound a bit like trance states – for example, Daniel says “I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground, but he touched me and set me upright” when an angel comes (Dan 8:17-18). Peter (in Acts 10) “fell into a trance” during a vision. Ezekiel is sometimes “grabbed by the Spirit” and seems not in control of his body. These could be interpreted as altered states of consciousness where normal awareness is suspended to receive the vision. In many cultures, such trance states are induced for spiritual purposes (shamans entering trance to seek guidance, etc.). DSM-5 actually acknowledges something called “Trance and Possession Disorder” in the Other Specified Dissociative Disorders, which is pathological only if unwanted and disruptive. But culturally accepted trance (like shamanism or, arguably, prophecy) wouldn’t be diagnosed as a disorder. The prophets, in that light, might have entered deliberate dissociative states (through prayer, fasting, intense emotion) to experience the divine – a positive use of what in other contexts could be seen as a symptom.
Schizophrenia Spectrum: The big modern category that comes up again and again is schizophrenia – characterized by chronic psychosis with hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, negative symptoms, etc., lasting at least 6 months and impairing function. If one tries to fit prophets into that, some like Ezekiel appear to check many criteria, as earlier discussed, while others like Jeremiah might only have one symptom (voices) but otherwise not the full syndrome. A DSM-oriented analysis of say, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Paul by a group of psychiatrists noted that while these figures had psychotic-like experiences, none neatly fulfilled all criteria for schizophrenia (and they lacked the deterioration in function and chronicity typical of the illness). The authors even proposed perhaps a new diagnostic category to distinguish intenseshort-term psychotic experiences tied to religious themesthat don’t necessarily debilitate the person’s life. This is a fascinating idea: that maybe there’s something like a “prophet syndrome” – not in DSM-5, to be clear! – which is distinct from typical schizophrenia because of the context and the eventual impact.
Indeed, most prophets functioned for years, had followers, wrote coherent texts – atypical for a schizophrenic patient unmedicated. Their experiences might fit better underOther Specified Psychotic Disorder(if we were forced to label) or simply be seen asnon-pathological exceptional experiences. Some researchers like Dr. John Miller (author of “The Role of Psychotic Disorders in Religious History”) emphasize that pointing out similarities to psychosis isn’t to debunk the spiritual importance, but to foster understanding. Miller and colleagues note that individuals with psychotic disorders have shaped religious historyand suggest that recognizing this could increase compassion for those with mental illness today – after all, if Isaiah or Ezekiel walked into an ER, they’d be patients, not saints, by modern standards. That perspective can humble clinicians: it reminds us that the line between illumination and illnessis not always clear-cut.
Case Study Parallels
Modern case studies abound of people with psychosis whose delusions echo prophetic callings. For example, a patient may believe they are the next messiah or that they receive messages from God about the fate of the world. One study categorizing religious delusions found themes of grandiosity (being chosen or divine) and persecution by evil forces, similar to biblical apocalyptic themes. The key difference is often thelack of broader impact: a man proclaiming himself the messiah on a street corner today garners few followers and likely ends up hospitalized if aggressive; whereas prophets like Jeremiah, while persecuted, did gain some disciples and left a legacy. Also, modern psychotic narratives can be very idiosyncratic or disjointed (e.g., “I am Jesus and aliens are after me because I have secret DNA” – mixing unrelated elements), whereas biblical prophets present a relatively cohesive message centered on a known deity and moral framework. That coherence and focus is more suggestive ofpurposeful visionary experiencerather than random neural misfire.
Another modern phenomenon to mention is dissociative identity disorder (DID) where people hear voices of “others” (their own alter personalities). Could prophets have had something like that? Unlikely, as DID usually stems from childhood trauma and manifests with identity switches, none of which we see in prophets. Their identity is stable (they know who they are, and who God is). So DID is not a good fit.
In summary, modern psychiatry can describe prophetic-like experiences with terms such as hallucination, delusion, ecstasy, dissociation, depression, mania. It finds analogues in various disorders. But a crucial part of psychiatric diagnosis is distress and dysfunction. Many prophets were distressed, yes, but was it “dysfunction”? Elijah and Jeremiah had moments they couldn’t go on, but they ultimately carried out their goals. Ezekiel and Isaiah appear quite functional in day-to-day matters (Ezekiel was able to keep track of complex dates and geopolitical oracles; Isaiah had access to kings). Their experiences, while extraordinary, often motivated them rather than incapacitated them. This outcome-oriented view – did the person’s experiences help them thrive in their role or not – is where prophets diverge from typical psychiatric patients.
Finally, the duration factor: schizophrenia and serious psychotic disorders are usually persistent or recurrent. Prophetic experiences could be sporadic (a vision here, an oracle there). In between, the prophet might be quite normal. If a person has intermittent hallucinations but is otherwise fine, they might not qualify for schizophrenia; they could be labeled with something like Schizotypal Personality if they also have eccentric beliefs, or Brief Psychotic Disorder if it’s short-lived under stress. But none of these modern categories perfectly map onto a lifetime prophetic vocation.
The psychiatric perspective by itself might lean toward saying: “Some prophets likely had what we would call psychotic episodes, mood disorders, or PTSD. Others might have been in altered states that we don’t fully understand. In any event, their brains were producing experiences that have equivalents in mental illness.” The theological perspective, which we turn to next, would respond: “Their brains may have been involved, but these were initiated by God and meant for a purpose – they are more than hallucinations or mood swings.” Both perspectives seek an explanation – one in neurons and diagnoses, the other in the divine will and spiritual realm.
(As an aside: Perhaps one day the DSM-7 will have a category like “Religious Prophet Syndrome” for people who have non-pathological hallucinations of a culturally supported nature. Until then, clinicians are stuck with trying to differentiate spiritual experiences from illness case by case. The struggle is real – and often requires consulting cultural and religious knowledge to avoid misdiagnosis.)
Comments