VERITAS: The Mind-Body Problem

When our staff was planning future journal themes some time ago, the topic of the “Mind-Body Problem” was added, and I was a bit ambivalent about it. The reason was that I thought this topic not only seemed abstract, but was a bit too intellectual for the average person, or even the above average.

And as I began to acquaint myself with the subject for the Veritas introductory article, my concern grew as I began to question the relevance of this topic. But as I thought through several of the implications and applications, I realized that this subject should not be confined to the philosophers.

The mind-body “problem” has to do with what is the nature of man, especially the meaning of humans being made in the image of God. And to take it further, what are the implications for right living based on how we understand or lack true understanding of our human nature. Another issue entwined in this topic is whether there is a supernatural component of our life, and if so, what implications does that have for us?

Is human nature strictly materialistic? Are thoughts, feelings, and decisions merely complex chemical reactions governed by purely physical processes? Or are humans composed of a physical body and an immaterial soul or mind? Or, is man composed of three parts—a body, soul, and spirit? Are these parts distinct, or united, or both?

Errors in the correct understanding of the mind-body connection manifest in atheistic naturalistic materialism, heresies in cults such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and Seventh-Day Adventism, eastern religions and new age spiritualists, and even within Christian circles there are differing views on the composition of human nature (dichotomy-trichotomy-psychosomatic unity).

For example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Seventh-Day Adventists teach that the soul is inseparable from the body, and therefore upon death, the soul sleeps until the resurrection of the body, when it is reunited. They also teach the annihilation of the soul and body at judgment for those whose works are not perfect.

But Scripture does not allow for this. God reveals that our soul or spirit (used interchangeably throughout Scripture) continues a conscious existence after physical death, awaiting the reuniting of body and soul either unto eternal life or eternal punishing (Matt. 25:46; Phil 1:22-23; Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:6-8; Matt. 10:28; Rev. 6:9).

Also the error of trichotomy, dividing man into three distinct parts—body, soul, and spirit has resulted in numerous errors including support of the Gnostic heresy. Ancient gnosticism, the basis of the many new age spirituality expressions today, hold that the body is really nothing. Gnostics believe the spirit is the essential “person,” which evolves and goes from discarded body to discarded body.

For an excellent theological study on the composition of our human nature made in the image of God, and a response to the errors mentioned above, see Anthony Hoekema’s Created in God’s Image, by Eerdmans/?Paternoster.

Probably the most significant movement attacking the truthfulness of Christianity is scientific materialism embodied in atheism and evolution. Christians must awaken from their slumber and understand the significance of these attacks.

With the retreat of Christianity partly due to the neglect of worldview discipleship and missional engagement, we are experiencing a growing intolerance towards our faith. One Christian thinker recently shook up the Christian consensus in a published article titled, “The Coming Evangelical Collapse” (Christian Science Montior, March 10, 2009, Michael Spencer). He wrote, “Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes…Evangelicals will increasingly be seen as a threat to cultural progress.”. [1]

Evidence for this has been escalating. After this past election, the dominant liberal media have been aggressively attacking Christianity. Atheism is on the rise. Militant atheism is especially the carrier of the evolution and scientific materialism virus.

A cornerstone in materialism’s philosophy is that humans are strictly material or physical beings without an immaterial mind or soul. Moreover, Dr. William Provine, Professor of Biological Sciences at Cornell University, summarizes the perspective of Darwinian evolution as, “There are no gods, no purposes, no goal-directed forces, no life after death, no ultimate foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning to life, no free will.” (Provine, W.B., Origins Research 16, p.9, 1994). [2]

Another necessary conclusion from a materialist only view is that Jesus did not really rise from the dead and there is no afterlife for us. The Bible is therefore just a bunch of superstitious myths.

More evidence of the media’s growing hostility toward Christianity is an ongoing series of featured stories on the mind-body connection in Time magazine. For example, there were “Glimpses of the Mind” by Michael Lemonick (7/17/95), “The New Science of Happiness” by Claudia Wallis (1/9/2005), “The Mystery of Consciousness” by Steven Paiker (1/19/07), and “The New Map of the Brain” by Jeffrey Kluger (1/18/07).

Steven Pinker is a psychology professor at Harvard University. His special focus is in “evolutionary psychology.” He writes that “the brain is a product of evolution,” and that science has demonstrated that “every act of conciousness can be tied to the brain.” (“The Mystery of Consciousness”, Jan 19, 2007, Steven Pinker). [3]

Pinker, like others of his ilk, believes that neuroscientists and other specialists have significantly established that the mind or soul or consciousness is merely a physical phenomenon of the brain’s functions. Hence, humans are not more than their physical bodies. When you are dead, you cease to exist.

Pinker also concludes that “the biology of consciousness offers a sounder basis for morality than the unprovable dogma of an immortal soul.” (Ibid.) The gist of the Time series is that all that is going on inside our heads are just chemical reactions that are governed by genes, experiences, outside influences and inputs, and other physicalistic processes. This is also the conclusion of the new wave of militant atheists like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, and others.

Our first response article, “Body and Soul: A Biblical Case for Dualism,” is written by Keith Loftin, ARC book editor and adjunct professor at Southeastern Bible College. Keith presents an answer to the question, “Are humans strictly material beings (the view known as physicalism), or do they process both material and immaterial parts (the view known as dualism)?”

Keith presents the Biblical exposition of the Old and New Testament, distinguishing the terms for soul, spirit, and body in Hebrew and Greek. He points out that Jesus, who is God in the flesh, clearly taught a metaphysical and physical distinction between soul and body when He said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt. 10:28).

Keith also argues that the highly substantiated event of the resurrection of Christ (and the promise of believers resurrected bodies), and I might add, the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus in John 11:1-27, reveal the distinction of the two parts of man as well as their unity.

Our second article, “A Philosophical Case for Mind-Body Dualism” is written by James Spiegel, Professor of Philosophy at Taylor University. He, too, distinguishes mind-body dualism from physicalism, but from a philosophical argument.

Dr. Spiegel presents an overview of the most influential philosophers who historically promoted the mind-body dualism, beginning with Descartes. He also offers the argument of Near-Death Experience to help validate that mental events can occur outside the brain.

He then deals with the central issue of how do natural (brain) and non-material (mind/soul) substances interact and determine that all things considered, “mind-body dualism is the most reasonable position regarding the nature of the mind.”

Our next article is written by Angus J.L. Menuge, Professor of Psychology and Computer Science at Concordia University, titled, “What’s Wrong with Evolutionary Psychology?” Dr. Menuge responds to Steven Pinker, Daniel Dennett, and Richard Dawkins’ Darwinian principles of the mind as a purely mechanical, physical entity. He concludes that a “dogmatic commitment to materialism leads to a self-defeating loss of confidence in human rationality and a corruption of the scientific method,” and is self-refuting.

The last article is by Denyse O’Leary, titled, “How Medicine Lost—and then Slowly Regained—its Mind.” O’Leary builds the case that the initial popularity for mechanistic and materialistic theories of the mind in the field of medicine has been significantly undermined by the “extensive documentation” of the role of spirituality in healing, maintaining, and improving health.

Also included in this Areopagus issue are three book reviews. The first is an InterVarsity entry with a four-view type book. The title is In Search of the Soul: Four Views of the Mind-Body Problem, where each view is presented and the other three authors attempt to refute it.

The second review is on the book Shattering the Christ Myth: Did Jesus Not Exist?, by apologist J. P. Holding. Holding brings together scholars to debunk the growing tide of skeptics piggy-backing on the popularity of The DaVinci Code.

The third book reviewed is The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success by Rodney Stark. Stark is a reputable historian who answers those who “seek to denounce Christianity as a hindrance to intellectual and social progress.”

Craig Branch is director of the Apologetics Resource Center, Birmingham, Alabama.