Defenses for Psychological Dualism: Study Packet, Page 2
(Side note: This is the Christian view; below are some ways Christians may defend it)
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Scientific Evidence: Our physical brain health plays a key role in our psychology!
- - E.g. A brain injury will really mes someone up!
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Unity of Identity: Our identity stays the same, even when the physical cells of our body are constantly changing.
- - Note: Brain cells are the most unchanging cells, however, even they experience forms of change, although they do not seem to be completely replaced.
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Freedom to Choose: Human experience shows that we have this!
- - Without allowing our mind to have a supernatural part we have no explanation for this freedom!
- - - If we were only physical then our mental responses would only be the result of the physical cause & effects relationships of the world
- - - - But we can go against how the physical world ‘pushes us’!
- - - Having a spiritual part of our mind allows us to go break the physical chain of cause/effect events, allowing for true freedom
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Near Death Experiences:
- - A controversial claim, even between Christians
- - - Why? Because there have been some who claimed to have this, but were lying!
- - Based on people’s testimonies of significant conscious experiences when they were medically brain-dead
- - - When they had these, their physical brain was totally inactive!
- - Books written by people who claimed to have this:
- - - "90 Minutes in Heaven," by Don Piper
- - - "23 Minutes in Hell," by Bill Wiese
- - - "Heaven is for Real," by Todd Burpo
- - - "The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven," by Keven & Alex Malarkey
- - - - The person who put this together later came out to share that he made it up!
- - - "Proof of Heaven," by Eben Alexander
Psychology in the big story of Christianity: Study Packet, Page 3
Creation: Genesis 1-2
- God made us in “in His image”
- - While sin damaged this, the image of God within us was not destroyed by sin!
- - This (who we were) was very good!
- We are given the ability to…
- - Choose, create, & have a real relationship with God
- We should reflect God through who we are & how we live!
- - We were made to reflect who God is in right-living!
The Fall: Genesis 3
- We sinned against God
- - Sin caused our psychological problems
- - - What are sins?
- - - What example sins do JH students struggle with?
- - Sin is anything we think, do, or say that displeases God
- - - When we sin, it shows that we do not trust God
- - - - And that we do rightly love God
- - Sin has broken how we think and feel
- - - Wrong thoughts are the root of many current problems
- - - Words, attitudes, & actions originate from these
- What are we tempted to sin by?
- Look at the matching ways that we are tempted (#s 1-3) in these verses:
- - Genesis 3:6, “….the woman saw that the tree was (1) good for food, and that it was (2) a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was (3) to be desired to make one wise…”
- - 1 John 2:16, “For all that is in the world— (1) the desires of the flesh and (2) the desires of the eyes and (3) pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.”
- - Jesus conquers these when He was tempted in the desert! (See Matthew 4:1-11 & Luke 4:1-13)
- James 1:13-14, “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.” (NIV)
- - We are tempted to sin by our own evil desires!
- Because God loves us, sin is not that big of a deal, right? Nope...
- - Not really... Consider what these verses share about how we are judged:
- - - Ecclesiastes 12:13–14, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (NIV)
- - - 2 Corinthians 5:9–10, “So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” (NIV)
- Therefore, we are each responsible to God for all of our sins
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Four main ways sin affects us: Short Answer #1
- - The Bible shares: “For the wages of sin is death...” – Romans 6:23 NIV
- - - This means that the 'pay' (wages, thing we deserve) that we get for sinning is death
- - - And the Bible shares many ways in which we die...
- - Here are 4 key ways that sin caused death: Each was experienced by Adam & Eve & has been experienced by every human since then.
- - - Our perfect internal nature died:
- - - - Adam & Eve instantly experienced guilt, shame, irresponsible
- - - - Added to this, we now have a desire to sin
- - - - - Sin was like a spiritual addiction for us, we kept wanting to do it, even though it hurt us!
- - - Our relationship with God died:
- - - - Adam & Eve instantly ran & hide from God
- - - - We ll now live in disobedience to God, running & hiding from Him!
- - - Our relationships with others died:
- - - - Adam & Eve instantly began to sin against each other
- - - - - You see Adam not taking personal responsibility & instead blaming Eve
- - - - - You can imagine that this may have caused a bit of a fight between them...
- - - - Cain, the first child, ends up then killing Abel, the second child!
- - - - Our gossip, fights & arguments, slander, etc... are all results of sin
- - - Our bodies physically die:
- - - - Adam & Eve didn't seem to experience this right away,
- - - - - But they did instantly put themselves on the path that led to it.
- - - - We work hard to live and then we die!
The Spread & Power of Sin:
- Here are some key verses:
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Genesis 6:5, “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
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Genesis 8:21, “…the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth…”
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Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
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Ephesians 2:1, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”
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Romans 5:12, “Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”
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Romans 3:10-18, 23, “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
- To summarize: According to the Bible—
- - All people are naturally sinful/bad (we have a sinful nature),
- - Therefore, we fall short of God’s glory,
- - Therefore, we deserve death.
