Part One:  What Is the Relationship of Our Mind, Soul, and Brain?

The watershed issue of whether or not humans will live on after physical death—and for Christians in a New Heaven and Earth (Rev. 21:1-4)—is whether or not we have souls. The fundamental feature of our soul is an immaterial (non-physical) mind that exists distinct from our physical brain. Since our mind is the seat of our intellect, emotions, and will, if our soul survives physical death, our minds will continue to live on as the primary feature of our soul once it leaves our bodies at death. Theologian and philosopher J.P. Moreland and Christian scholar Dinesh D’Souza explain:

Throughout history,” writes Moreland, “the vast majority of people, educated and uneducated alike, have been dualists (those who believe that the soul is an immaterial thing different from the body and brain), at least in the sense that they have taken a human to be the sort of thing that could enter life after death while his or her corpse was left behind.  (The Soul; How We Know It’s Real and Why It Matters.)

 D’Souza, puts it a little differently, and as we proceed through this seven-part series, I’ll explain what both are saying:

Consciousness [our thoughts and feelings collectively] lies beyond all known scientific laws and explanations. The startling conclusion is that the central feature of our identity and humanity operates outside the recognized physical laws of nature. One of these laws is, of course, mortality for all living consciousness “in” the body in the same way that nerves or neurons are. Consciousness merely comes with the body and operates through the body. The body serves as a kind of receiver and transmitter for consciousness, not its author or manufacturer. (Life After Death)

If there is no immaterial mind/soul that survives physical death, there would be no life after death, no resurrected bodies, and no hope of eternal life. So it’s worth carefully investigating the relationship between our mind/soul and our physical brain. Such an inquiry will demonstrate that people will survive physical death and, in particular for God’s people—Christ-followers—we will spend eternity in an Edenic-like paradise in His eternal Kingdom.

Although the Bible is unambiguous in its teaching that all humans have souls and will live on after physical death, demonstrating this scientifically can be a compelling apologetic point of contact with non-Christians—who typically elevate scientific materialism as the ultimate source of truth. As we saw in my previous blog series, people who willfully reject Jesus Christ—although they too have eternal souls and will survive physical death—will not spend eternity in the best of all possible worlds. Instead, their destiny will be eternal separation from God and His people in the worse of all possible worlds: Hell. ©

Next week we’ll see why our brain and mind/soul must be distinct—and what life and society would be like if they weren’t.