Customer Reviews

Whatever Happened to the Soul? Scientific and Theological Portraits of Human Nature

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It is unlikely that those who gave this book poor reviews understood the book at all. In fact, this book is NOT an attack on Christianity, and furthermore, several contributors to this volume are prominent theological scholars. Contrary to others' opinions, the authors take a non-reductive physicalist approach to human consciousness, rather than a purely materialistic view. The contention of the authors is merely that human consciousness is a physical entity; not some undetectable, supernatural phenomenon. Critics subsequently concluded that this contention equalled a disbelief in God. I beg to differ.

This is the way books need to be written which integrate two different disciplines. A variety of authors from diverse areas of expertise which addressed a single issue. The arguement is well focused from beginning to end and each contributor genuinely interacted with the others. Finally we have a contemporary, intelligent book that deals a fatal blow to the banal notion of personhood as duality, and its more popular heresy, the immortality of the soul. As a pastor this academic volume has proven fruitful in teaching, preaching, writing and counseling. Yes, my pastoral colleagues, science I could understand and enjoy, as well as sink my teeth into. Yes, my scientific friends, theology with integrity, honesty and an appreciation for others contribution to an important topic.

Finally! Here is a book which combines sound biblical research, solid contemporary life sciences, well-reasoned philosophy, and rich theological construction. The authors describe the consonance between good biblically based theology and contemporary science in developing what they call nonreductive physicalist Christian anthropology. This book will be BASIC to sound contemporary theology in this area. Reading it is liberating, exciting, and affirming of the unity of faith and reason, religion and science, piety and devotion to learning. BUY IT, but above all READ IT.

People who have actually studied philosophy and are tired of hearing people rave on and on about saving "souls" can read this for direction and sound arguments. It is a good collection of experts in theological, scientific, and philosophical fields that are not trying to push materialism onto you and call it Christianity. These are seminary professors and Christian scholars who have done their homework and are trying to make the corrections necessary to share the faith in today's world. It accentuates religion's key characteristic of a new life in Christ. Makes a great partner to William James' "Varieties of Religious Experience." Theological Anthropology is much overlooked today, and Christians are taking flack. You do not have to believe in evolution, but you cannot deny modern neuroscience and psychology. This book delineates how that can be done.

Edited by Brown, Murphy and Maloney `What Ever Happened to the Soul' is a collection of inter-related essays regarding contemporary thought in the area of cognitive science as it pertains to the concept of the human soul.

Much recent work in the field of neurology points to an increasing correlation between the physical and the mental. Though work in this area is embryonic and far from definitive, it does raises important theological and philosophical questions. In particular, how does this growing physical-mental relationship impact the classic theistic view of man? In popular writing the mind-body issue has traditionally been framed as a dichotomy between either Cartesian substance dualism (brain and soul interact but are distinct substances) or reductive materialism (ultimately everything can be reduced to physics). Both of these approaches have there challenges.

With regard to dualism, the oft-cited question of how two distinct substances interact is not as troublesome to me as the implications of an increasing correlation between the physical brain and the mind (soul) - e.g. impact of injury, disease and the genetic-personality link. Despite dualism's difficulties, however, reductive materialism is even less satisfactory. For example, reductionism fails to account for free will, the nature of consciousness or the veracity of rationality - not minor problems.

The current text argues for what is known as non-reductive materialism. In this model, the soul is tied to the brain but an emergent quality that is not explainable by reductionism. I find this approach to have its own challenges. On the positive side the authors do a good job of dispelling the overstated popular conception of Christianity as necessarily entailing Cartesian dualism. It also provides a helpful means to see humans in a more holistic manner. On the negative side, the argument has a bit of a slippery feel. Unexplainable emergent qualities do not seem any easier to comprehend than substance dualism - at some point a miracle occurs (may be the case).

Overall, I thought the book was well written and thought provoking. Brown's pieces were particularly enjoyable. Although I think I may share many of her views, I found Murphy's contribution regarding current reductionist arguments a bit muddled - for someone interested in Christian take on these issues J.P. Moreland is much clearer

Overall, I highly recommended the book for readers interested in the philosophy of religion and the philosophy of the mind.

Quite simply, this is an extremely useful book.

It is a decidely Christian rejection of substance dualism, something that has been wanting in a popular yet still academic format for some time now. This book argues persuasively that a dualistic mindset is not only unnecessary, but a real hindrance to Christian thought.

As to the accusations of heresy given by some earlier reviewers - it seems that the reactions were a little ill-reasoned. In particular I would like to respond to Bruno D. Granger. Granger attacks the book because:

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But even much more important, I think that Christian anthropology is fundamental for one of the most basic Christian dogma: the double nature of Christ, both human and divine. Traditionally it was thought that Christ had a human physical body and the third person of the Trinity as soul. But if humans are only physical beings without a (spiritual) soul then Jesus of Nazareth could not have been been both human and divine.

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I don't doubt that many modern Christian dualists also think this way - that Jesus' BODY could not have been the divine "part," it was His SOUL that was the divine nature. However, this is heretical as far as historical Christian Orthodoxy is concerned. it is the christological herey called "nestorianism," splitting the divine and human natures up into two distinct substances. This, naturally, makes the body of Jesus nothing more than human (i.e. not divine at all), and renders the atoning work on the cross totally useless. But the obvious reason to reject this dualistic heresy present by Mr Granger is that it basically denies the incarnation altogether. If the "divine" and "human" parts remained so separate, did God really become man at all? Did the word really become flesh?

Glenn Peoples

This book is about a puzzle: how our souls are connected to our bodies. The book's answer is called nonreductive physicalism.

Chapters 2 and 3, about evolution and genetics, can be skipped. They're too detailed and technical to be thumbnail introductions on those topics, but too philosophically naive to provide useful bridges to the rest of the book.

The authors of the later chapters (especially Murphy) at least appreciate the key issues. Ultimately, however, the book suffers from two major flaws. One is that its message doesn't hang together. The book repeatedly rejects the idea that people are "nothing but their bodies," but it also repeatedly declares that people consist of bodies and nothing else. And the book denies that one can explain people's spiritual lives neurobiologically, but it endorses a research program to do exactly that.

Second, the book is theologically precarious. It shuns the idea of an immaterial soul as incompatible with modern scientific ideas about how the physical world works. But exactly the same considerations will lead one to disbelieve in Biblical miracles, in divine healing from illness, and in the work of the Holy Ghost. The book in fact acknowledges this problem, without offering a solution (pp. 147-148).

Note for philosophy students: A key early mistake in the book (or perhaps a deliberate tactic) is to lump together two rival views, namely reductive and eliminative materialism. From there on, the book constantly declares that it is not reductive about the soul, when what it really means is that it is not eliminative about the soul.

This Collection of essays gathers several fine essays that give a monistic account of the soul. Rather than the standard dualistic account of the soul as something separate from the physical body, this collection emphasizes a more unified and wholistic conception of the self. Contributors are from a variety of academic disciplines which contributes to the book's strength. A provoking and important philosophical read for Christians and non Christians alike. A must read especially for psychologists of religion and/or for those interested in theology and science. An important book for scholars in all disciplines.

This book is a clear example of the materialist or pantheist apostasy that is growing in liberal theology. I would recommend instead reading Moreland's Beyond Death: Exploring the Evidence for Immortality, or tougher books like Swinburne's Evolution of the Soul or Taliaferro's Consciousness and the Mind of God. All these books defend a Christian view that will be a beter alternative for Christian theologians.