A Brain Scientist Set Out to Study the Mind. Then Cancer Changed Everything.

Proving a Miracle 

This book is both a deeply personal memoir and an exploration of one of humanity's oldest questions: Can miracles really happen, and can they be investigated scientifically? Dr. Joshua W. Brown—a distinguished neuroscientist, professor of psychological and brain sciences at Indiana University, and expert in cognitive neuroscience—approaches the subject from an unusual perspective. Rather than asking readers to accept miracles on faith alone, he examines whether modern science can meaningfully evaluate claims of supernatural healing while remaining intellectually rigorous. 

A Scientist Confronts His Own Mortality

The book begins with Brown's own life-changing medical crisis. After suffering a violent seizure, he was diagnosed with an aggressive, inoperable glioma (cancerous brain tumor), only days before the birth of his first child. As a neuroscientist familiar with medical literature, he understood the grim prognosis. His scientific training gave him little reason for optimism, and conventional medicine could offer only limited hope. Faced with what appeared to be certain death, Brown and his wife turned increasingly toward prayer. Raised as the son of a prison chaplain, Brown already possessed a Christian faith, but his illness forced him to wrestle with whether prayer could genuinely influence physical healing or whether it merely offered emotional comfort. Rather than abandoning his scientific mindset, Brown determined to investigate healing claims with the same curiosity he applied to neuroscience research. This decision became the foundation for both his personal journey and the book itself.

The Intersection of Faith and Neuroscience

One of the book's central themes is that science and faith need not be enemies. Brown argues that many people assume science automatically disproves miracles. He contends instead that science simply studies observable evidence. If unusual healings occur, scientists should be willing to investigate them rather than dismiss them in advance. Drawing from neuroscience, Brown explains how beliefs influence the brain and how the brain affects physical health. He discusses topics including: the placebo effect, stress and the immune system, hope and resilience, social support, positive expectations, the neurological effects of prayer, and the influence of belief on recovery. Importantly, Brown does not claim that every recovery is miraculous or that every healing can be attributed to prayer. Instead, he distinguishes between medically explainable improvements and cases that appear to resist current scientific understanding. 

Investigating Miraculous Healings

A significant portion of the book chronicles Brown's efforts to examine reports of miraculous healing around the world. This investigation eventually led to the co-founding of the Global Medical Research Institute (GMRI), an organization devoted to evaluating extraordinary healing claims using accepted medical standards. Rather than relying solely on testimonies, GMRI seeks: medical records, physician documentation, imaging studies, before-and-after examinations, and independent expert review. Brown argues that many miracle stories fail because they lack sufficient evidence, but others deserve serious investigation precisely because they include substantial medical documentation. 

Global Accounts of Healing

Brown describes investigations that took him beyond the United States to places where reports of healing are more common. Among the cases he discusses are individuals who reportedly experienced: restoration of hearing, 
recovery from blindness, healing from severe physical disabilities, and recoveries from diseases that physicians believed irreversible. Rather than presenting these accounts as unquestionable proof, Brown carefully explains the available medical evidence while acknowledging where unanswered questions remain. This balanced approach distinguishes the book from works that simply collect inspirational miracle stories. Brown repeatedly emphasizes the importance of following evidence wherever it leads.

His Own Recovery

The emotional center of the book remains Brown's own health. Over time, imaging studies reportedly showed dramatic changes in his brain tumor. Eventually, what had once appeared to be an active malignant tumor became scar tissue, and his seizures ceased. Brown attributes this extraordinary recovery to God's intervention while recognizing that medical science cannot fully explain every aspect of what occurred. He avoids claiming that everyone who prays will experience the same outcome. Instead, he presents his recovery as one example that motivated a broader scientific inquiry into healing. 

Prayer, Community, and Healing

Brown emphasizes that healing involves more than medicine alone. Throughout the book he highlights the importance of: supportive relationships, church community, emotional resilience, hope, forgiveness, and persistent prayer. He notes that even when physical healing does not occur, these factors often improve emotional well-being and quality of life. From both neuroscience and Christian theology, Brown argues that human beings are designed for relationships—with one another and with God.

Faith Without Anti-Science

A refreshing aspect of Proving a Miracle is Brown's refusal to portray science and faith as opposing forces.
He repeatedly encourages readers to: value modern medicine, appreciate scientific research, seek appropriate medical treatment, and remain open to the possibility that God may sometimes work beyond current scientific explanation. Rather than criticizing physicians or researchers, Brown believes science itself benefits from investigating unusual cases honestly.

Themes Throughout the Book

Several themes recur throughout the narrative:

1. Science should investigate rather than dismiss. Brown argues that skepticism should remain open-minded rather than automatically rejecting extraordinary evidence.

2. Belief affects health. Neuroscience demonstrates that hope, expectation, and community influence both mental and physical well-being.

3. Prayer matters. While Brown stops short of claiming prayer guarantees healing, he presents evidence that prayer may affect people in measurable ways and believes God sometimes answers with miraculous intervention.

4. Miracles and medicine can coexist. The book rejects the false choice between trusting physicians and trusting God.

5. Hope is rational. Brown concludes that hope is not merely emotional optimism but can be grounded in both scientific evidence and Christian faith.

Proving a Miracle occupies a unique place among books on faith and healing because it combines memoir, neuroscience, medical research, apologetics, and spiritual reflection. Brown writes as someone deeply committed to scientific integrity who nevertheless believes his own healing—and certain other carefully documented cases—cannot be fully explained by current medical knowledge. The result is neither a traditional miracle testimony nor an academic textbook. Instead, it is an invitation for readers to consider whether modern science may have prematurely dismissed evidence of the supernatural. 
 

To learn more about Dr. Joshua Brown, click the LINK! Or to learn more about the Global Medical Research Institute, click the LINK! 

CREDITS

Author, latest, Proving a Miracle (Harper Collins, 2026) / Cofounder and chair of the board the Global Medical Research Institute, which reviews medical evidence regarding claims of healing through prayer / professor of psychological and brain sciences, Indiana University Bloomington / work appeared in Science, Neuron, and Nature Neuroscience / 79 peer-reviewed publications / married to Dr. Candy Brown, two grown children