Re: mind/brain, the soul and immortality

On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 16:41:05 -0700 "Terry M. Gray"
<grayt@lamar.colostate.edu> writes:
>
> Nothing at the ASA meeting this past year convinced me that monism
> was right. Those advocating monism on the basis of scientific
> evidence commit the same categorical error as materialists in
> general
> (e.g. concerning God's action in the world). Please note that I'm
> not
> suggesting that monists are materialists with respect to God's
> action
> in the world.
>
May I suggest, in connection with the work of God, that we not use the
notion of intervention? The notion lends itself too readily to implying
that regularities are outside of providence, as in deism. We may refer to
"natural law" events as expected and "miraculous" events as unexpected.
This makes the distinction subjective and ties in to the anthropologists'
claim that humans cannot distinguish between magic and a sufficiently
advanced technology. The suggested terminology also fits in with the
changes resulting from the development of quantum physics, for example.

As for the non-reductive monists, I describe them as materialists plus
God. What I have read of their views seems to leave out any spirit except
the divine One--no angels, demons or souls. I don't think there is any
way to scientifically quantify any of these spirit entities, but there is
anecdotal evidence of their existence. About 1937 D.S. "Stu" Clark and my
dad made a trip by dugout canoe up the Cayapa River with the help of Don
Pedro Ortiz, a colporter, and hired paddlers. They stopped at each house,
greeted the residents, gave a testimony or gospel message, and then,
after making their farewells, paddled up to the next house. They stopped
at one place where, as they greeted the owner, they felt oppressed by
evil. Very quickly Stu said, "Dick, let's get out of here." They made as
quick a farewell as possible. They later learned that this was the
residence of the chief witch doctor of the Cayapa tribe. I have
encountered related reports for which I cannot vouch, but I knew these
two men very well.
Dave
Received on Mon Mar 21 04:36:59 2005