Introduction

There are two main views of the mind-body problem—substance dualism and monism. Theists typically take the body and the soul as two distinct substances with the soul as the source of personal identity. Monism is usually expressed in terms of physicalism and materialism. Examples of physicalist models are causal theory of mind and central-state materialism. There are three general attitudes in this mind-body business: (1) Mental states do not exist. For instance, Wittgensteinians deny the existence of mental states and call them nomological danglers instead. (2) Mental states exist but are not accessible to observers. It is called epiphenomenology. (3) Mental states exist and are accessible to observers.

Consciousness not a Brain State

Even some opponents of dualism admit that consciousness is not just a simple effect of physical stimuli. Daniel Dennett believes that there is an interpretative element to mental states. He calls this interpretative action of the brain heterophenomenology. He also uses hallucination as an example of the multiple draft model.

Physicalists sometimes use the Turing machine to model consciousness. Examples are Roger Penrose (The Emperor’s New Mind) and Frank Tipler (Physics of Immortality). If each neuron is represented by 1 bit, then there is not enough memory to support the complexity of consciousness. Another way to see why the human mind is not a computer per se is that it does not crash.

Some New Age gurus claim that consciousness can influence quantum systems. The classical example is the Schrödinger cat problem. The implication is that it takes the same kind to influence a kind. Therefore consciousness must be physical in nature. The Schrödinger cat problem is one of measurement theory of how a classical device interacts with a quantum system. It does not necessarily imply a physical connection between consciousness and quantum mechanics. In other words, it is a sophism.

Saul A. Kripke has also shown in Naming and Necessity the logical fallacy of identifying mental states with brain states.

Holistic Dualism

John W. Cooper shows in Body, Soul, & Life Everlasting that the Bible conveys both the concept of holism and dualism. Hebrew words such as nephesh (soul), ruach (spirit), basar (flesh) and qereb (inner parts) all have holistic meanings. On the other hand, the talk of life after death in both OT and NT clearly points to the continuity of the soul apart from the body. Cooper argues that holistic dualism is the proper attitude toward Biblical anthropology. Although Cooper does not provide a language to resolve the mind-body problem in terms of holistic dualism, one has the impression that the midpoint between the extremes of substance dualism and monism is the preferred Biblical attitude.

A New Model

Suppose that holistic dualism is the correct attitude. I take a step further to provide a mechanism for the mind-body connection. In nature, we see examples of two distinct entities unified as a whole. Electricity and magnetism are two aspects of the same dynamics--each sharing common sources such as charge and/or current. In mathematics, two parametric equations are unified with a common parameter. Similarly, the mind-body dichotomy can be seen as a unity if they are derived from the same source. In this case, the source is the Holy Spirit. Man is created in the image of God (Ge 1:27) in a sense that God has given man His Spirit (Ge 2:7). Sinless man has the fullness of the Holy Spirit in both his body and mind. Sin grieves the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30) and the fullness of his dwelling is diminished (Jas 4:8). This theory of Biblical anthropology partially resolves the mystery of the hypostatic union, i.e. the unity of Christ’s human and divine natures, in that a perfect man is fundamentally and fully identified with God by default.

To ensure independence, the Holy Spirit limits the sensory experience of an embodied soul to the interpreted stimuli received by the body. This limitation is lifted in a disembodied soul as in the case of a near death experience. This limitation may also explain the apparent limitation of the incarnated Christ’s omniscience in the New Testament.

Body Mind

Holy Spirit Holy Spirit

Sinless State

Sinful State

In essence, this model says that the mind-body is fundamentally dependent on God for all man, i.e. the Holy Spirit is the glue between the mind and the body. It explains Pascal’s God shaped vacuum. Physical death is equivalent to the separation of God’s Spirit from man. Animals are not created in the image of God and do not depend on God for their mental life. Some may even argue further that animals are not conscious.

The mind is said to be a substance because it can exist independently of the body and the Holy Spirit because God has created man in His image as a free agent. Independence is an essence of freedom. The body is not a substance because its survival depends on both the mind and the Holy Spirit.