Re: more on reconciliation of science to Christianity

[Guest guest]

One more thing--

I'd have to do some theological reading and more thinking to fully think this

out, but here's an immediate impression:

In Christian theology, the " soul " goes through some sort of rest period while

waiting for the resurrection. It's not entirely clear what this is, but it

is clear that it is some sort of 1) dormancy and 2) waiting. It does not

necessarily appear to be a place of torment or a purgatory, but since the " soul "

is

" separated " from the body, it essentially lies in dormancy until the

Resurrection.

In Greek, this is called " Hades, " which has NOTHING to do with the

mythological Hades, but is a borrowing of the word for a new Christian concept,

or

rather, the continuation (and translation) of a Hebrew concept.

Anyway, in Christianity, the Resurrection involves the physical, material

body. The soul cannot enjoy paradise until it is united with the body. This

would involve a sort of " reactivation " of the body by the Holy Spirit to grant

it

physical life.

This concept seems to indicate to me that the integrated person and the

active, operation soul, is dependent on the existence of the living, physical

body.

When the physical, material body loses its operation, the soul does as well.

Perhaps the soul being at rest or dormant signifies this very concept-- that

it is dependent on the body for activity.

One problem I see with this is the traditional idea that saints can be active

in the world after their death, or that saints intercede for the world.

Perhaps this can be reconciled to the rest of the idea I'm laying out somehow.

Since this is regarded as an exception to the general order of events, there

isn't necessarily a reason we can't consider the other general rules to have

exceptions. Perhaps they are granted their body now, or perhaps, since the

identity of the person or " soul " is real, even though it is dependent on

material

things or arises from the material, God chooses to make an exception to the laws

of nature and energize this abstract identity with his Spirit to grant it

partial activity. After all, it does seem that in Christian theology the

activity of deceased saints is limited, and not a true enjoyment of the paradise

to

come in the resurrected material body. And God ordinarily intervenes in the

physical laws he's created if he chooses, and there is no reason he couldn't in

this type of case.

Just some thoughts. Obviously not clearly formulated yet.

Chris

[Guest guest]

Heidi made some good points in the last email.

If there is an ephemeral template for the body, there might or must be some

ephemeral template for the identity of the person. And that might be used in

the same way to justify reincarnation.

However, I still see, on this *particular* subject, a greater problem for

reincarnation than the Christian view (I won't say Buddhism, since supposedly

the

two can be dissociated). Reincarnation seems to necessitate the belief in

the person as independent form the body that the person " dwells " in. Perhaps

Christie can comment on this, as she indicated earlier that she disagrees.

Whatever we don't understand about the quantum workings of the brain, we at

least know that a rabbit and a human don't have qualitatively equivalent

characteristics of rationality, decision-making power, self-awareness, the same

emotions, etc. The abstract qualities that we refer to as the " soul " are

determined at least in part by what kind of brain that " ephemeral template of

personal

identity " is integrated with.

The Christian view seems to me to hold that a person's body is an integral

and essential part of the personhood, even though the " soul " in some way

consists of some ephemeral template of personhood. When that " ephemeral

template " is

deprived of a body, it cannot enjoy paradise until its body is reunited with

it. But if we believe that the " soul " is what perceives pleasure and pain,

heat and coolness, light and dark, love and hate, then this indicates that the

" soul " arises from an interaction between the body and the ephemeral template,

rather than being simply the ephemeral template itself.

By the way, I really like this " ephemeral template " phrase-- I think it fits

really well.

Heidi, do you have any net articles you can post on the quantum-level

workings of the brain?

Thanks!

Chris