The Human Soul

Eric J. Kolb PhD

Description

Eric J. Kolb, Ph.D. presents a psychological view of theological concepts, arguing that there’s no reason to choose between science and religion. Why not both?
The Human Soul is an exploration of the essence of human life from a scientific psychological, philosophical, and theological perspective. The purpose of this book is to instructor the reader on current scientific findings of the nature of mankind and to compare these with Biblical scripture and philosophy.
This book is unique because unlike many religion bashing scientific based books, the Human Soul is more objective. While citing peer reviewed scientific evidence, the author demonstrates how this evidence aligns with the Bible, because although faith is blind, it need not be ignorant.
This is a book for those willing to view and understand the scientific data pertaining to the nature of man and contrast this with The Bible. Though it might be to scientific for those whose only source of understanding is the Bible and to Christian for those who reject Religion at the face of it, the Human Soul, if read with an least a partially open mind, may help one to better understand what they believe to know about human life.

Sujets

• Conflicts
• Philosophie et théologie
• Religión
• Religion
• Science

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse UK
• Date de parution: 24 juillet 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798823083683
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

A PSYCHOLOGICAL VIEW OF THEOLOGICAL CONCEPTS
 
 
 
 
 
THE HUMAN Soul
 
Eric J. Kolb, Ph.D.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
AuthorHouse™ UK
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Bloomington, IN 47403  USA
www.authorhouse.co.uk
Phone: UK TFN: 0800 0148641 (Toll Free inside the UK)
UK Local: (02) 0369 56322 ([phone] from outside the UK)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
© 2023 Eric J. Kolb, Ph.D. All rights reserved.
 
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
 
Published by AuthorHouse 07/21/2023
 
ISBN: 979-8-8230-8367-6 (sc)
ISBN: 979-8-8230-8368-3 (e)
 
 
Unless otherwise indicated, all Bible verses are taken from the New International Version.
 
 
 
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
CONTENTS
Introduction
 
Science and Theology
Interchanging Uses of the Terms Soul, Intellect, and Mind
The Three-Ring Model
Overview: The Critical difference between Attention and Focus
 
Chapter 1 : Reality
 
Perception and Perspective
False Claims
Critical Thinking and Presumption
Proof of Knowledge and Understanding
Qualia, the Unit of Experience
 
Chapter 2 : Cognition
 
Abstract Construct
Reason
Impressions and Ideas
Thoughts
Concepts
Intellect
Decisions
Intuitive Knowledge, Belief, and Reason: The Human Ability to Reason
 
Chapter 3 : Materialism versus Dualism
 
The Perspective of a Materialist
The Perspective of a Dualist
Cartesian Dualism
Hylomorphic Dualism
Property and Substance Dualism
The Science and Reason of Substance Dualism
Objections to Dualism
Causation and Dualism
The Mind-Body Problem
Materialism versus Dualism, a Question of the Soul
 
Chapter 4 : Consciousness
 
The Hard Problem of Consciousness
The Nature of Consciousness
Conscious Awareness
The Neural Pathways of Consciousness
The Quantum Theory of Consciousness
The Mathematics of Consciousness
The Evolution of Consciousness
Consciousness of Plants
Consciousness of Animals
Theories Pertaining to Consciousness
The Multiple Drafts Model
Integrated Information Theory (IIT)
The Organic Relationship between Consciousness and Matter
Conclusion Consciousness
 
Chapter 5 : Theories and Definitions Pertaining to the Human Soul
Opposition to Thomas Aquinas
Five Qualities of the Soul
Location and Mass of the Soul
The Human Soul: Merely a Bundle of Perceptions?
 
Chapter 6 : Identity Continuality, Proof of the Human Soul
Proof of the Human Soul
Continuality of Identity and the Soul
Opposition to Continuality
 
Chapter 7 : Causation and Conscious Free Will
 
The Principle of Causation
Duality and Free Will
Benjamin Libet
The Libet Experiments
The Illusion of Conscious Free Will
Opposition to Libet
The Effect of Conscious Free Will on Moral and Social Behaviour
Conscious Awareness: Consciously Controlled Behaviour
Intention
Empirical and Phenomenological Free Will
Self-Steered Self-Organised System
God’s Will versus Mine
 
Chapter 8 : Created in the Image of God
The Cosmic Timeline
Resurrection and Afterlife
Moral
Physical and Mental Health Benefits of Spirituality and Religion
The Essence of Religion
Kant’s Reasoning of God
Biblical Understanding of the Soul
Resurrection
Spiritual Development
The Existence of Evil
Human Critic on God’s Creation versus Spiritual Development
Stages of Creation and Development
 
References
 
 
 
 
 
To Him and all who are earnestly seeking the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The mind knows it believes, but the soul believes to know.
INTRODUCTION
Nature has a quality that many scholars have described as relational. In any scientific aspect of nature, one is likely to find an equation with an equal sign in it. Density equals mass divided by volume; time equals distance divided by velocity; force equals mass times acceleration. All these equations illustrate how various aspects of nature are related and defined in terms of each other.
Since the work of Immanuel Kant, we have come to realize that one cannot know reality directly but only through one’s senses, and those senses distort reality by emphasizing one aspect over others. One approach is to consider the most likely metaphor for reality and test that hypothesis, using scientific evidence as it becomes available. A good hypothesis will lead to evidence and new knowledge through further scientific investigation. However, this approach presumes that reality is not only relational but also rational, and rational in a way humans can understand. Thus, some questions in science, such as the mind-body problem, do not have answers that completely coincide with our understanding of reality.
As such, science may require us to change our understanding of reality or our understanding of the scientific data that conflicts with our understanding of reality (Graves, 2008). This may be truer for the subject of the human soul than for any other subject. In this examination of the human soul, I aim to inform my readers of the scientific understanding of the soul and how it compares to the theological understanding of the human soul.
In A Treatise of Human Nature , Hume (1739/2007) posed questions concerning man’s nature, which were never discussed objectively. Not without reason did Hume first publish his three-volume work anonymously. The church did not take kindly to the idea that one should even ponder the nature of man. They believed that it should be sufficient to intuitively know that God created man. Man had no business trying to get a peek behind God’s curtain, like Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. As one who understands that the curtain has long since been torn, I have a special appreciation for Hume’s critical and extremely thorough depiction of the human soul. 1 In 1739, long before scientific psychology was even a thing, Hume demonstrated an incredible and accurate understanding of complex neurological systems, which were not to be discovered until the turn of the twentieth century.
Other philosophers and theologians are renowned for understanding that although faith is blind, it need not be ignorant. Descartes (2010) began his work by stressing the importance of questioning one’s own beliefs, just as one must be wary of one’s own perceptions, which are known to be deceptive, as we will later discuss. John Wesley argued that faith is an active principle, and hope relates to that which we do not yet possess. It should be noted that this idea is common to Christian theology and scientific psychology.
John Calvin, a man whom I was forced against my will to learn about on a church retreat, began the war against prideful human knowledge that I continue to fight today. In his will, he wrote that his life’s work should be an endowment to show the mutual bearing of science and theology (Coulson, 1955). Both science and theology seek an understanding of the nature of the world.
I believe that the nature of the universe was set in place by God. Science has demonstrated this by the contrapositive method of proof. Science first assumes that there is no God and then studies creation from that perspective. When this leads to contradictions, as the cosmological anthropic principle asserts, then this should serve as evidence that the primary assumption is false. However, instead of drawing this conclusion, science tends to change the assumptions to satisfy the data. On the other hand, theology seeks understanding through the Word and Spirit of God but tends to neglect the study of scientific data.
Why not both? Doubting Thomas, as he has become known, was one of Jesus’s disciples. He experienced first-hand all of Jesus’s miracles. Nevertheless, when told of His resurrection, Thomas said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). Because of this, Thomas is often depicted as having weak faith. This story is often used to teach people to believe blindly, not to doubt, and certainly not to question. But how did Jesus react to his doubting? Jesus did not scold him or shame him. He very simply gave Thomas the evidence he required to believe.
Science and Theology
I would like to suggest that science is to theology what math is to music. Music is indeed based on math, but it is not the math that moves us and inspires us to dance. As a Christian, I believe that the Bible is the highest authority of truth. And anybody who studies the Bible diligently can learn everything they need to know about God. Many verses in the Bible state that God reveals Himself in nature, which essentially means God reveals Himself in science.
Thus, Christians should not only devote themselves to l