Minding Our Humanity

Mind: “the element or complex of elements in an individual that feels, perceives, thinks, wills, and especially reasons” (Webster's Dictionary)

Marilynne Robinson's third chapter from Absence of Mind analyzes the thought of Sigmund

Nietzsche, Marx, and Freud: The Three Atheists of My Undergrad Years

Freud (1856-1939), who clearly positioned himself as a "scientist," analyzing the depths of humanity. The mind is central to Freud and to Robinson's book and naturally represents a topic of considerable interest in the dialogue of theology with science, particularly with neuroscience and cognitive science. Robinson takes on the topic primarily from the angle of philosophy and the history of ideas.

Here is a representative quotation from the chapter. 

"If there is one thing Freud asserts consistently, from which every theory proceeds and to which every conclusion returns, it is just this--that the mind is not to be trusted.” Marilynne Robinson

Robinson's point in Absence of Mind is that modern thinkers--through people like Freud in the past as well as Stephen Pinker and E. O. Wilson today--have led us to an absence of mind, which represents a serious reduction of what it means to be human. (In that previous sentence, I wrote that "modern thinkers" were critiquing our trust in human thought, which of course is oxymoronic and probably a striking example of "sawing off the branch you're sitting on.")

I think Robinson's right in many ways, and yet I have to add the theological categories of

doubt and sin. Put another way, is the mind a single entity? For example, we might say, “I’m of two minds on that issue.” And the Bible describes doubt, as in James 1: 8 as being “double-minded." Moreover, Paul in Romans 7 seems torn up by warring minds,

"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." Romans 7:15, Paul

And yet, Jesus clearly believed that the mind is essential in responding to God,

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’" Matthew 22:37, Jesus

This indeed, is the "greatest commandment," which when added with love of our neighbor, summarizes God's will for us.

That leaves some questions to ponder because I think many Christians today don't trust the mind and consistently propose that we need to listen to our "hearts"--by which they mean emotions (which is not the biblical definition by any stretch) and thus reject the mind. Note above that Webster’s definition includes “feels, perceives, thinks, wills” and not simply “reasons.” 

Do you trust your mind? To what degree why or why not? Is your mind a gift from God? What gets in the way of a trustworthy mind? What makes it trustworthy or untrustworthy? 


P.S. If you're interested in viewing and/or hearing Robinson's fourth chapter, "Thinking Again," it was also the fourth of her 2009 Terry Lectures on Religion in the Light of Science and Philosophy at Yale, which appears in her book with the title.

Positive Psychology, Scripture, and Becoming Fully Alive: Another Soul Dialogue

Nick (my imaginary friend): Ok, Greg, so far it seems like you’ve avoided the topic of positive psychology, Scripture, and becoming fully alive. Since it’s smoky this morning in Chico—the fires are taking their toll—let’s stop walking, and let me hear it all—whatever you’ve got to say. I’ll let you do most of the talking.

Greg: Let me start here this: When I was trained in the humanities starting at Cal, I learned from leading lights like Sigmund Freud that religion is an "illusion." (Today Richard Dawkins echoes this and calls religious belief a “delusion.”) 

Put in simple form: If you believe in God, you’re crazy. The stronger your belief, the crazier you are.

But here’s the weird thing: More sensible research, more scientific research—the kind backed up by quantitative and statistical analysis—leads to the opposite conclusion. By and large, religious belief leads to happier lives.

      

Four quick examples: First of all, one of the best resources for connecting faith ands science, the eSTEAM newsletter, which produced a whole issue on psychology. 

Second, the Greater Good Magazine at UCB (maybe my alma mater has learned something since I was there as an undergrad) has demonstrated the psychological benefits of forgiveness, which of course is a key teaching in Christianity.

Third, Health wrote about the “Five Surprising Health Benefits of Religion” like lower blood pressure, more life satisfaction, more resilience, healthier immune system, a longer life, 

And finally, even the HuffPo (not generally predisposed to propagating religious belief) published a piece on “Why Religion Is Linked With Better Health And Well-Being” 

You might say that, when we say yes to God, we say yes to happiness, the abundant life, and human flourishing. 

Chose one of the three for a description, but if you ask, Do I want one of these? The answer is Yes.

Nick: Ok, you’ve talked about the scientific studies. What about Scripture and human flourishing?

Greg: Just one example of many possibilities… I remember attending a conference on technology and faith where, at a lunchtime conversation, a bright, young physicist, who struck me as both articulate and ebullient, told me how she had struggled with depression. One of her problems was perseverating—thinking about the same thing over and over. The cognitive response she learned through her therapist was to let her brain saturate on positive thoughts—to  perseverate on positivity, perhaps. 

She pointed to Philippians as a beautiful expression of that work. Here’s how Eugene Peterson paraphrases a key verse:

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.” Philippians 4:8, The Message

Nick: So there’s a way to wrap all these things together—positive psychology, Scripture, and becoming fully alive?

Greg: In a word, Yes.