THE BRAIN - THE IMMATERIAL SOUL -THE CONSCIENCE

 THE BRAIN - THE IMMATERIAL SOUL -THE CONSCIENCE

  The thinking of modern man has been affected  by psychologists and society in general  that the brain, which no one denies is simply matter, is the origin and only source of human ideas, cognition, memory, feelings and reason.  Most people do not realize that these very  things attributed to the material brain are actually immaterial.  But  the origin and source of ideas, etc. which are  immaterial cannot possibly be derived from the material brain. In fact anything that is not matter in man is necessarily spirit. All matter has shape and form and other attributes by which we identify them, such as wood, steel, gaseous, large, small, soft, hard, the human body,  etc.

    The  human soul is  the center of man, and it has three faculties, 1. the thinking or cognitive, 2. the feelings or affective and,  3. the deciding faulty which is the will. These three faculties are parts of the composition of man, but man is much more than these faculties. There is a breath of God in every man, and this makes each man responsible to Him who gave him that breath , for in that breath man was granted more than life. What God gave to men exalts him above all creation, but also causes man to be responsible for his thoughts and actions which is his  blessed freedom.   In Psalm 103 God speaks through David saying: “When you turn your countenance away, they shall be troubled; you shall take back their spirit, and they shall vanish, and they shall return to their clay”(verse 29) Death is nothing more that the Lord taking back His Spirit which is our life.

    The function of the brain is not well understood by scientists  and they are still trying to find out how it works. We are certain that 1. The brain is matter; 2. It cannot be the source of spiritual things. It is a control center,  directly and indirectly  controlling many functions in the body, and it is through  the brain that man communicates both to his body and to others beings To communicate spiritual things, such as ideas, the brain must be directed  by a spiritual entity, which is the human soul.

      Here is the account found in the book of Genesis describing man’s actual creation:  “And God formed man out of the clay of the earth and breathed into his person a breath of life and the man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7). After God had formed man He added spirit from His Spirit and the man cognized that he existed, the existence of the world around him and God, who visited  and communicated with him  through the spirit, and His presence rendered man to be content and  happy.  Thus, man is body, soul and spirit with these three faculties, intellectual or cognitive, feelings or affections and volition or free will. It is freedom that elevates man, making him capable to obey or disobey, to love God above everything,  or if he chooses to become disobedient and  worse than the beasts. 

     Conscience is immaterial, and the word in biblical Greek or English means “knowing with”. If a person is honest with himself and listens to his conscience, he will hear a different voice than his own, sometimes it praises and often it rebukes, usually in a soft gentle voice. This is the voice of the Creator who has always and will always speak to men. St. John the Theologian speaks of the conscience within us: “Brethren, hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.  For if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. Brethren if our heart does not condemn us, then we have confidence towards God”                      ( John (3:20-21)

     If we live in sin and love sin, we will do everything to silence our conscience, which when rebuking us becomes annoying offering little comfort.  But the pleasure of sin can be more preferred than the rebuke of the conscience until eventually a person will succumb and  remain in sins. This is a miserable way to leave this world and go to the next life.  Shutting down the conscience is attempted  by loud and continuous music communication, entertainment, cell phoning, texting, keeping as busy as possible and trying to never be alone, seeking more and more pleasures. The conscience seeks to assist and help us to give up the sinful life and seek a good end and eternal life, so it is our best friend. But we have an enemy who whispers contrary things to us: He says:  Go ahead, try it, take it, nobody will know,  you’ll like it, nothing is beyond this life, enjoy all you can before you get too old. Encouraging us in our sins he keeps us in his jail, an unfortunate  prisoner unable to escape the bonds of sin.

   But thanks be to Jesus Christ, who by His death on the Cross, destroyed the tyranny of the Devil who has held us in bitter bondage. He established His Church to cleans and purify us, to free us and forgive our sins and to rid us of vices, replacing them with divine virtues.  Through His sacrifice on the Cross, He has made available to all, the cure for sin, which is in the Holy Eucharist after confessing our sins. Through the Cross joy has come into the world!. The Body and Blood of Christ deifies man’s spirit, nourishing and filling him with joy and exultation and a  source of joy to others. The Church Christ founded , wherein He dwells, has endured for two-thousand years , just as He promised, and will endure to the end. It is known as the Eastern Orthodox Church, the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.