From Cells to Souls, and Beyond


Book Description

For more than a decade developments in science have prompted wide-ranging discussions about human nature. Gone are the days when this subject was the preserve of theologians and philosophers; today the fields of genetics and neuroscience are shifting attention to the "biological basis of human nature. This engaging book takes readers straight to the intersection of religion and science, exploring what new scientific knowledge does and does not say about religious views on personhood. Written by an international, interdisciplinary team of scholars sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation, "From Cells to Souls -- and Beyond examines such questions as personal identity, the meaning of "human," the mind-body relationship, and subjective spiritual experience. Each topic is discussed against the backdrop of biblical theology with the relevant science made clear. The result is a fresh interpretation of the Christian doctrine of humankind true to both science and Scripture. Contributors: Diogenes Allen Warren S. Brown Gaius Davies Lindon Eaves Joel B. Green Malcolm Jeeves D. Gareth Jones David Parkes C. Michael Steel Alan J. Torrance Glenn Weaver Michael Welker Philip H. Wiebe




Beyond Cell Memory


Book Description

In 2002, author Grace J. Scott began to receive channeled material from the beyond and to publish the results. This latest book of such material was delivered by souls selected by Creator to deliver His messagethat He is the origin of all that isto the world. All of creation began with a cell of Creator, and this single individual cell of His energy contains an exact copy of His DNA and cell memory. That is how we are all connectedhow we are all one. Beyond Cell Memory presents the channeled material in simple language so that all who read it may understand such mysteries as how souls and bodies were created. As humans evolved physically, our form, size, and intellect were enhanced by beings of higher intellect and spiritual vibration from other universes; these same beings are now surrounding and protecting Earth. Famous peopleDr. Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Edgar Caycechanneled material that covers dreams, homosexuality, abortion, and suicide. Isaac Newton and Galileo Galilei channeled material that suggests that DNA and cell memory connect us to souls of other universes and the Creator of all that is. What we, as souls, do on our planet is known by and impacts other planets containing souls. Each soul contains DNA and cell memory from Creator, and this same soul exists regardless of the number of lives lived. With imminent cataclysmic Earth changes, we must learn how to clear our cell memory of trauma.




Debating Christian Theism


Book Description

Comprising groundbreaking dialogues by many of the most prominent scholars in Christian apologetics and the philosophy of religion, this volume offers a definitive treatment of central questions of Christian faith. The essays are ecumenical and broadly Christian, in the spirit of C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity, and feature lucid and up-to-date material designed to engage readers in contemporary theistic and Christian issues. Beginning with dialogues about God's existence and the coherence of theism and then moving beyond generic theism to address significant debates over such specifically Christian doctrines as the Trinity and the resurrection of Jesus, Debating Christian Theism provides an ideal starting point for anyone seeking to understand the current debates in Christian theology.




The Soul of Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil


Book Description

This book presents a provocative new interpretation of Beyond Good and Evil, arguably Nietzsche's most important work. The problem is that it appears to express merely a loosely connected set of often questionable opinions. Can Nietzsche really be an important philosopher if this is his most important book? Maudemarie Clark and David Dudrick address this question with a close reading that emphasizes how Nietzsche writes. They argue that the first part of Beyond Good and Evil presents coherent and interconnected arguments for subtle and well-thought-out positions on traditional issues. Nietzsche's infamous doctrine of the will to power turns out to be a compelling account of the structure and origin of the human soul. And although he rejects some aspects of traditional philosophy, Nietzsche's aim is to show how philosophy's traditional aspirations to seek both the true and the good can be fulfilled. Beyond Good and Evil turns out to be a major work of philosophy and Nietzsche's masterpiece.




FaithQuestions - What About Religion and Science?


Book Description

This book invites us to consider ways to remain confident in our faith as we understand and appreciate the discoveries and advances of science. How can Christians integrate, believe, or accept all the teachings of science, the Bible, and Christian tradition? How can we believe in both the discoveries of science and the Bible? Are science and religion compatible or incompatible? Does the Christian understanding that God created the universe exclude the findings and discoveries of science? What is the role of faith in the world of education? What can we believe about intelligent design? If we believe in evolution, can we believe in God? Does the Big Bang theory exclude God? If we are Christians, can we support stem-cell research and cloning? Can science help us understand the afterlife? Does science negate or support prayer? What is the difference between faith and reason? Do they exclude or complement one another? As Paul Stroble addresses these questions and others, he helps us examine different possible ways that religion and science relate to each other and ways that science and religion provide meaning and value in our lives. PAUL STROBLE is an elder of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference of The United Methodist Church. He has served both as parish pastor and college instructor and currently teaches at the University of Akron, where he earned an Excellence in Teaching award. He is a long-time writer-researcher for the United Methodist curriculum FaithLink and author of numerous articles and curricular materials. Among his eleven books are Paul and the Galatians and What Do Other Faiths Believe? He is married to Dr. Beth Stroble, and they have a daughter, Emily. The FaithQuestions study series is designed to meet the needs of people who have questions about the Christian faith and who desire a deeper engagement with scripture and with discipleship as they explore studies of issues in theology, ethics, missions, Bible interpretation, and church history. It seeks to equip a new generation of church leaders to appreciate the eternal message of the gospel and to develop the skills to articulate its relevance in our contemporary context. The series would be a good choice for users who have completed Disciple. this will be the ninth study in the series, following What About the Rapture - What Do Other Faiths Believe - What Happens When We Die - What About Divine Healing - What About the Trinity - What About Forgiveness - What About the Devil - What About Reading the Bible




The Physical Nature of Christian Life


Book Description

This book explores the implications of recent insights in modern neuroscience that attribute mental capacities often ascribed to a disembodied soul instead to the functions of the brain and body in collaboration with social experience. It explores how this insight changes the traditional "care of souls," encouraging more attention to fostering spiritual growth through a social and communal focus.




Soul-Searching


Book Description

There are well over one hundred different views of the nature of human existence; though the Bible may rule out many of these, there still remains a large number that are all compatible with Scripture. The Bible never explicitly defines the nature of the soul or spirit, which is actually quite puzzling or even ironic, given that one major aim of Scripture is spiritual development and ultimate questions about the soul. In fact, Judeo-Christian thinking on those questions has been evolving over the course of four thousand years. This book documents that evolution as a man named Abram left Babylon four thousand years ago, journeying through the lands and the philosophies of civilizations preceding him by many more thousands of years, while he and his descendants (both physical and spiritual) unpacked their understanding of our inner being--the human soul--and the afterlife. That journey is followed to the present day, and examines how a critically thinking Christian can embrace a theology of the human soul that is fully compatible with modern scientific findings, including explanations for consciousness, mind, and soul.




God on the Brain


Book Description

The human brain is incredibly complex. Both Christian and secular scholars alike affirm this fact, yet the traditional view of humanity as spiritual beings made in the image of God has come under increased pressure from humanistic and materialistic thinkers who deny that humans are anything more than their physical bodies. Christians have long affirmed that humans are spiritual beings made by God to know and fellowship with him, while the humanist position views humans as merely evolved animals. Bradley Sickler provides a timely theological, scientific, and philosophical assessment of the human brain, highlighting the many ways in which the gospel informs the Christian understanding of cognitive science. Here is a book that provides a much-needed summary of the Bible’s teaching as it sheds light on the brain, with careful interaction with the claims of modern science, arguing that the Christian worldview offers the most compelling vision of the true nature of humanity.




Ricoeur and the Third Discourse of the Person


Book Description

This book is about the so called “4S” challenge – how does or can or should someone say something to someone about something? This challenge is getting more intense day by day in our contemporary globalized world, increasingly connected by science and technology through telecommunication and all sorts of social media, where people are acutely aware of the diverse views on culture, politics, economics, religion, ethics, education, physical health and mental wellbeing, which are very often in conflicts with each other. This book arises from the reading of the dialogue between two internationally renowned and respected French scholars, Jean-Pierre Changeux and Paul Ricoeur, What Makes Us Think? A Neuroscientist and a Philosopher Argue about Ethics, Human Nature, and the Brain, which explores where science and philosophy meet, and whether there is a place for religion in the 21st century. This book develops on the ideas Ricoeur raised in the dialogue about the need for “digging deeper” and a “third discourse” as a way forward to improve dialogues between competing worldviews and ideologies. It attempts to formulate a “third discourse” (as distinct from ordinary language as “first discourse” and various scientific or professional/specialist languages as “second discourse”) to address the burning issue of fragmentation of the person through overcoming the alienations between established discourses of philosophy, science and theology, without doing injustice to the unique and indispensable contributions of each of these discourses. It argues that such a “third discourse” has to go beyond dualism and reductionism. To achieve that, this new way of talking about the lived experience of the person is going to take the form of a non-reductive correlative multilayered discourse that has the capacity to, as expressed in the language of the hermeneutics of Ricoeur, “explain more in order to understand better.”




The Penultimate Curiosity


Book Description

When young children first begin to ask 'why?' they embark on a journey with no final destination. The need to make sense of the world as a whole is an ultimate curiosity that lies at the root of all human religions. It has, in many cultures, shaped and motivated a more down to earth scientific interest in the physical world, which could therefore be described as penultimate curiosity. These two manifestations of curiosity have a history of connection that goes back deep into the human past. Tracing that history all the way from cave painting to quantum physics, this book (a collaboration between a painter and a physical scientist that uses illustrations throughout the narrative) sets out to explain the nature of the long entanglement between religion and science: the ultimate and the penultimate curiosity.