Thursday, November 13, 2014

Question on the "Immortal Soul" doctrine?


Our body has a mind. For those who believe we have an immortal soul, does it have a mind too?
If Yes, does that mean we have two minds? If No, how does it do anything after the body dies?

The question seems inevitable to consider.

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My preemptive responses to anticipated answers:
'No. The soul takes our body's mind.'
Response: Our body's mind is tied-into our brain, so when our brain dies, so does the mind.
'Yes, it has a mind of its own too.'
Response: How can we have two minds?
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If you could use the Bible to document your answers, that would be great.

Best Answer
Those who believe in an immortal soul believe that when we die, we take with us our thoughts, personality, memories, etc.

But we know that all that stuff is tied physically to our brain.

So those who hold to this doctrine have to explain why, if the soul has the capability to carry our mind away from the body, why does the physical body even have a brain to handle these function? It is needlessly redundant.

Either we have a functioning physical brain, plus a non-functioning spiritual "brain" that starts working immediately at death, downloading information from the physical brain then taking over.

Or we have two functioning brains - a physical and spiritual - carrying on redundant double duty.

LINK

Note: The primary reasoning I use for dismissing the immortal soul doctrine is due to the Passion Narratives. See:

A Lesson from Jesus’ Rebuke
http://jimspace3000.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-lesson-from-jesus-rebuke-in-order-for.html

Unbelievers, I have proof that Jesus is God?


Look, in John 10:38, it says "The Father is in me and I in the Father." John 14:11 reads much the same. Jesus is your Lord and Savior!

Wait a minute...

John 14:20 - "At that day you (i.e. the disciples) will know that I am in my Father and you in me, and I in you" Herp derp merp.

So a dozen disciples are partners with Jesus and God?

Or...maybe the language is FIGURATIVE, which would make sense since Aramaic and Hebrew possess far greater capacity for metaphor than English.

CHRISTIANS, stop using that verse as proof for Jesus' divinity, k thx bye.

Best Answer
I hear ya! Furthermore, in John 10:38, 14:9-11 and 17:21 the Greek word 'en,' translated as "in" as in "in the Father" and "the Father is in me," may also be translated as "in union," as seen in 14:20 and 17:21 where the disciples are also 'en' the Son and the Father. Clearly, "in union" is the intended meaning there, and surely in the other occurrences as well. This finds support in John 17:22, 23, where the NET Bible reads:

"The glory you gave to me I have given to them, that they may be one just as we are one – 23 I in them and you in me – that they may be completely one [footnote: Or “completely unified.”], so that the world will know that you sent me, and you have loved them just as you have loved me."

Here Jesus explains that being 'en' another means being unified with another, as the NET Bible footnote points out. That unified is the intended meaning is also corroborated by John 6:56, where Jesus said: "The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me, and I in him." (NET Bible) Clearly, Jesus' body and blood cannot literally reside in all Christians simultaneously, for two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time.

So we can see that when we follow Trinitarian reasoning to its logical conclusion, that it leads to insurmountable problems.

Source:
Read more at: Exploring a Trinitarian Black Box