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"Neurophysiology of the person is valuable to the extent that
it can open new frontiers of explanation. It may well provide considerable
information and valuable new understanding about the functions of the human
person.
But neuroscience is also freighted with considerable optimism and
interest today because it seems capable of providing a degree of assurance
regarding life beyond the grave.
Faith in science has become the modern mantra
replacing faith in Christ.
Expectations are running high! Could we perhaps
really know with scientific assurance that there is something personal that will
survive our death?
Is there perhaps something "soulish" that could
surely survive, something that we could detect and measure today?"
Thad
Tren
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articles | dialogue on mind-matter | evolutionary psychology | Home | views on Biblical Counseling | further resources
Issues
related to Human Nature
molecules, electrons, and mind; counseling
Today we find
ourselves in the midst of an explosion of new insights into the ways that the
brain works and the implications that these findings have for human behavior and
health. The computer, imaging, and a variety of micro-methods have
provided the means for obtaining new and often surprising information.
There are new challenges for the Christian at the Ethical level and, more
fundamentally, with what it means to be human. The
ASA has paid particular attention to these topics is recent years. The following papers represent
current thinking in this diverse and controversial
field.
An allied issueconcerns the place of psychology in addressing human
behavior. Is the Bible the sole authority in treating the human condition - the
notion that all behavioral problems are rooted in spiritual issues - or, are
some problems more properly handled by mental health professionals and
physicians?
First: a historical
introduction. Then
a representative
series of papers on the scientific side
and counseling. Use
the search engine on the home page for
a more complete survey of ASA thought.
Magnetic Image showing a vertical cross-section of the human head
Faw, Harold W., "In the Image of God: Exploring Links with Cognitive Psychology", PSCF
58.4:310-314
(12/2006) Constructive,
ongoing conversations between cognitive psychologists and theologians
are both possible and valuable. Indeed, these two fields need
each other as they pursue a balanced understanding of the most complex
portion of God’s creation—ourselves. Reasons for cooperation
include the significant ways in which our cognitive capacities reflect
those of our Creator, the rational nature of the
theologicalenterprise, and the corrective reminders biblical theology provides concerning our creaturely status in God’s world
Trenn, Thad, "Science and the Mystery of the Human Person," PSCF 58 (September 2006): 216-225.
Malcolm Jeeves, "Neuroscience,
Evolutionary Science, and the Image of God," PSCF 57 (September
2005): 170-186. Acknowledging
the persuasive current impact of neuroscience and neuro-philosophy this paper
urges us to remember that biblical warrant and scientific evidence join in
reminding us 
that central to our understanding of what it means to be a person
is our psychosomatic unity. We
know each other, not as brains ensheathed in bodies, but as embodied persons. We
are people who relate to each other as beings created in the image of God. This
image is not a separate thing. It is not the possession of an immaterial soul.
It is not the capacity to reason. It is not the capacity for moral behavior. It
is not the possession of a “God spot” in our brains. It is acknowledging “our
human vocation, given and enabled by God, to relate to God as God’s partner in
covenant. To join in companionship of the human family and in relation to the
whole cosmos in ways that reflect the covenant love of God. This is realized and
modeled supremely in Jesus Christ.”
David F. Siemens, Jr. "Neureoscience, Theology, and Unintended Consequences," PSCF 57 (September 2005): 187-190. Most contemporary neuroscientists hold that soul or mind is no more than what emerges from complexly organized matter, that is, is strictly a function of brain. While not necessary, this view has been adopted by some evangelicals who seek current relevance. They, of course, have to posit a nonmaterial deity, something clearly not part of science. Their claims have been disputed on grounds of incompatibility with the resurrection, with spiritual beings, with free will, and with eternal life. None of these criticisms has noted an even more fundamental problem: non-reductive physicalism apparently makes the Incarnation impossible.
Peter Rust, "Dimensions of the Human Being and Divine Action," PSCF 57 (September 2005): 191-201 Humans are three-dimensional, body-soul-spirit entities, but nevertheless unitary, indivisible persons. Animal behavior includes deterministic and random constituents. It may be modeled in terms of information systems, containing regulatory loops. Goal settings for these may be fixed, as in “lower” animals, or governed by internal adaptive supervisory systems freely selecting from alternative routines, as in conscious “higher” or “soulish” animals. A metasupervisor in humans provides self-consciousness, free will, conscience and spiritual behavior. As with space, each further dimension includes the previous one, but cannot emerge from it or be reduced to it.
Trenn, Thad, "If the Spiritual Soul Were Beyond the Scope of Physicalism," Private communication. Paper presented at the ASA/CSCA/CiS meeting on the theme, Neuroscience and the Image of God, held 2004 July 22-26, at Trinity Western University, Langley, BC, Canada.
Moreland, J. P., "A Christian Perspective on the Impact of Modern Science on Philosophy of Mind," PSCF 55.1:2-13 (3/2003) Today it is widely held that, while broadly logically possible, dualism is no longer plausible in light of the advances of modern science. My thesis is that once we get clear on the central first and second-order issues in philosophy of mind, it becomes evident that stating and resolving those issues is basically a (theological and) philosophical matter for which discoveries in the hard sciences are largely irrelevant. Put differently, these philosophical issues are, with rare exceptions, autonomous from (and authoritative with respect to) the so-called deliverances of the hard sciences.
P. David Glanzer, "Mind Life," Perspectives on Science And Christian Faith, (June 2001): 74-83.
Donald F. Calbreath, "Aggression, Suicide, and Serotonin: Is There a Biochemical Basis for Violent and Self-Destructive Behavior?," Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 53.2 (June 2001): 84-95. Contemporary biomedical science has attempted to explain behavior in terms of genetic determinism, with specific mental states being produced by alterations in the brain concentrations of one or more specific biochemical components. The literature relating to the presumed association between low brain levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin and aggression and suicide is reviewed and critiqued. Due to the variety of methodological shortcomings in this research, conclusions based on the data cannot be considered valid. Implications for the legal profession and for Christian moral principles are discussed.
Bert M. Hodges, "Remapping Psychology: A New Look at Values in Scientific Ontology," Christian Scholar's Review XXI (Spring 2000): 471 - 497. Hodges explores the possibility that values are the ontological fundamentals within which human activities such as perception, development, and emotion are enacted. The relation of values to "laws" and "rules" in scientific accounts is considered, and a theory of values is sketched that clarifies the enigmatic character of behavior. Values, it is proposed, are heterarchical, legitimating, and frustrating. Mr. Hodges teaches social, cognitive, and theoretical psychology at Gordon College.
Malcolm Jeeves, "Psychology and Christianity: the view both ways," A lecture delivered in the Winstanley Lecture Theatre, Trinity College, Cambridge on Tuesday, 28th November 2000.
Warren S. Brown and Malcolm A. Jeeves, "Portraits of Human Nature: Reconciling Neuroscience and Christian Anthropology," Science and Christian Belief 11 No. 2 (October 1999): 139-150.
Maloney, H. Newton, "John Wesley and Psychology," Journal of Christianity and Psychology (1999), Vol. 18. #1, 5-18.
Polischuck, Pablo "Perspectives on the Self: Substantial and Dialogical Aspects," Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 50.2: 95 (6/1998)
Price, Daniel J., Rev., "Discovering a Dynamic Concept of the Person in Both Psychology and Theology" Perspectives On Science and Christian Faith 45.3: 170 (9/1993)
Thorson, Walter R., "An I Behind the Eye: Donald MacKay's Gifford Lectures" Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 44.1:49-54 (3/1992)
Dembski, William A., "Converting Matter into Mind: Alchemy and the
Philosopher's Stone in Cognitive Science," Perspectives on Science and
Christian Faith 42.4:202-226 (12/1990)
Comment
Clark, Gregory A., "Response to W. Dembski's 'Converting Matter into
Mind' (12/1990)" Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 43.2:103-106
(6/1991)
Feuch, Dennis, "The Mind/Body
Debate," Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith
43 (March 1991): 71-72.
Rebuttal
Dembsky, William, "Conflating
Matter and Mind," PSCF 44 (June 1991): 107-111.
Insertion of Electrode during Parkinson surgery
J. Raymond Zimmer, "Evolutionary
Psychology Challenges the Current Social Sciences," PSCF 50 (September 1998): 176.
Roger K. Bufford and Jonothan M. Garrison, "Evolutionary Psychology: A Paradigm Whose Time May Come: A Response to J. Raymond Zimmer", PSCF 50 (September 1998): 185.
Leda Cosmides & John Tooby, "Evolutionary Psychology: A Primer" Center for Evolutionary Psychology, UC Santa Barbara
Mental Health
Struthers, William M., "Defining Consciousness: Christian and Psychological Perspectives." PSCF 53 (June 2001): 102-106.
The articles offered below reflect the tensions that may arise when one seeks to counsel or find a counselor within a Christian context.
James R. Beck, " Psychology and Christianity Four views," a review of Johnson, Eric L. & Stanton L. Jones, eds. Psychology and Christianity: Four views. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2000. This edited volume makes a major contribution to the ongoing discussion of how the field of psychology and Christianity should relate to each other. This debate began when Christians started entering the field of mental health in the 1960s, and it continues to this day with as much energy as ever. Although the contours of the debate have shifted somewhat over the years, the greatest change, a change very evident in this volume, is in the level of sophistication with which the arguments are put forth.
Harold D. Delaney and Thomas E. Goldsmith, Scientific Psychology and Christian Theism
Malcolm Jeeves, Psychology & Christianity - The View both ways
David Powlison, What is wrong with the therapeutic approach to counseling - 9 MarksChristian Association for Psychological Studies
The editor haas.john@comcast.net would appreciate your comments and suggestions for additional material
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