reconciliation of science to Christianity and Buddhism

[Guest guest]

Just a passing thought I figured I'd through out at y'all:

It seems to me that Christian cosmology is much more reconcilable to science

than Buddhist cosmology (which I'm thinking of because of Heidi's comments

about buddhism and science).

In particular, I think the idea of reincarnation is particularly

irreconcilable to science. It necessitates a dualist belief in an immaterial

soul that

constitues the full essence of a person, apart from the body, and relegates the

body to the relatively insignificant position of a dwelling place for the

soul, of which it is not an integral part.

Science refutes the notion of the " ghost in the machine. " Science shows that

the " soul, " while not necessarily material itself, is entirely integrated

into the material body, and arises from the cumulative effects of physical,

material operations. The " mind " can still be presented as an abstract element,

but

the brain cannot be regarded as simply a dwelling place for the mind, nor

simply a switchboard between the mind and the body, because alterations to the

brain can cause permanent alterations to the character of the mind, and the mind

can actually be dissociated into multiple entities by cutting the corpus

collosum.

Christians have generally considered the soul to be immaterial, but I don't

consider this Biblically based, nor do I consider any essential elements of

Christian theology to necessitate a belief in an immaterial soul. I believe

Christians have generally considered the soul to be immaterial for the same

reason

that non-Christians have until very recently: namely, lack of knowledge.

Biblically and theologically, there is an spiritual element to man. However,

the Bible seems to indicate that the soul is material. For example, animals

have souls, and it is said that their soul is in their blood. On the other

hand, the spiritual element of man is the activity of the Holy Spirit united

within him. It is the Holy Spirit that leaves man at death, or rather, not the

Holy Spirit entirely, but the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit. That's

why it says that a man is like a flower in a field, a spirit passes through him,

and he no longer recognizes his region. The spirit passing through him is

the Holy Spirit whose energies enliven him and grow within him to grant him

human qualities from birth, and leave him at death.

The soul is immaterial in the sense that an abstract ego, identity, exists,

but there is nothing essential to Christianity that I see that indicates it is

necessarily some kind of immaterial entity that dwells within the material

entity in a literal sense.

I think it is easier to modify traditional Christian belief about the soul to

reconcile it with science, while retaining the essential components of

Christianity, than to reconcile Buddhist cosmology with science, which I think

is,

for the reasons I described, basically impossible.

I think many people intuitively consider the " soul " as necessarily

immaterial, and I think this comes from an intuitive dualism that elevates the

spiritual

as superior to the material, but the Christian Church has explicitly

condemned this dualism.

Chris