(9.1:“alien”in the Ethiopic,“living inflesh”in the Old Slavonic). In the
seventh heaven, Isaiah meets the saints andfinally the Holy Trinity. At this
point, however, concerns about earthly reality enter. The description of the
vision contains a brief recapitulation of Jesus’appearance and mission on
Earth. First, the Father sends the Son to earth (10.8–15). During the Son’s
descent, we hear about boundaries, gate-keepers, and passwords that were
easily passed by previously during Isaiah’s ascent (10.24–29). Second, the
summary of Jesus’life and crucifixion (11.1–22) indicates a renewed engage-
ment with earthly reality, suggesting that the seer entered thefinal stage of the
awakening experience. Finally, after Jesus’return to heaven, Isaiah is dismissed
abruptly:“thou will return into thy garment till thy days are fulfilled”(11.35).
Before the account of Isaiah’s journey to heaven, theAscension of Isaiah
provides details about the circumstances of the vision. Although these descrip-
tions might not be particularly reliable as historical reports of the occasion of the
vision, they can actually hint at the circumstances of similar heavenly journeys
in the religious group that produced the text. According to chapter 6 of the
Ascension of Isaiah, forty prophets and“sons of prophets”gathered on the
occasion of Isaiah’s vision, hoping to receive some kind of instruction or
initiation from him (Isaiah laying his hands upon them). Isaiah was seated on
the king’s couch and other prophets were sitting to his right (and left). As Isaiah
was speaking“in the Spirit,”he fell silent and“his consciousness was taken from
him”(according to the Ethiopic text), while his eyes remained open and his
mouth shut. The overall setup of the prophetic session described here reminds
one of ethnographic descriptions of shamanic rituals, where more junior sha-
mans and apprentices join the seer, trying to learn the technique of trance and
making attempts to achieve it themselves (Hoppál, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010,
pp. 213–28). Further, the condition of the prophet (as described in verses
10 – 12) seems to correspond to the symptoms ofsleep paralysis, which neuro-
scientists previously discussed in the context of alien abduction, out-of-body
experience, and NDE. A different scenario is suggested by another description at
the beginning of the writing. Here we learn that King Hezekiah had a vision
during his illness in thefifteenth year of his reign, concerning the“Beloved”
(ch. 1, verses 2–4). Although this reference provides little detail about the illness,
it seems to refer to a single occasion rather than a permanent medical condition.
In sum, the two-phase model, based on McNamara’s and Marsh’s work,
sheds light on various details of Isaiah’s tour of heaven in theAscension
of Isaiah and explains the unfolding narrative sequence of the episodes.
Although the exact circumstances of the vision cannot be reconstructed,
both ritual practice (possibly accompanied by the use of hallucinogens) and
a traumatic event (such as severe illness) are within the range of possibilities.
Finally, let us consider how great visions such as Isaiah’s tour of heaven can
be understood in terms of the Lobes Theory. Extreme religious experience
often arises in the context of special stimuli, such as special medical conditions
164 Cognitive Science and the New Testament