I have finished reading Stephen C. Meyer’s new book, Return of the God Hypothesis, and I strongly recommend it to you. My next blog posts will address points made in his book and relate them to the points I have made in my books and blogs concerning dualist interactionism. As Meyer stated, too many people, including some leading scientists today, do not accept the reality that properly interpreted Scripture in context and good science can be in concordance without contradiction, a point I have made in my writings. I value his book since the transcendent intelligence that designed the universe and all within and sustains it is identified by inference to the best explanation as the biblical God. I quote from Meyer’s book:

…philosophers or scientists who postulate the existence of God understand God to have certain attributes (e.g., transcendence, intelligence, creativity, omnipresence, and free will) and corresponding causal powers that would allow God to produce certain kinds of effects expected on the basis of those powers….By articulating those attributes, properties, and powers, philosophers can provide a theoretical rationale for affirming the causal adequacy of a God hypothesis…with respect to specific observable phenomena or kinds of events….Since scientists have evidence confirming those expectations in, for example, the discovery of the fine tuning and temporal beginning of the universe and the digital code and information processing systems in living cells, evidence from the world provides confirmation of the theistic hypothesis and positive support for its causal adequacy as an explanation.

I am currently reading an outstanding, and long overdue, book by Stephen C. Meyer. It is entitled Return of the God Hypothesis: Three Scientific Discoveries That Reveal the Mind Behind the Universe. It was released March 31st, so it could not be more current. As I am reading through the book I am underlining comments that will be relevant to the points I have made in my books and my blogs. I am blessed to have known the author in years past whom I have cited in my books. It was his response to a question, “A wave of information,” that has inspired the last 20 years of my research and given it focus. I will also continue to post blogs that discuss current articles from the neuroscience literature that address the issue of dualist interaction between the immaterial and material components of our Selves. So, please stand by.

In Luke 8:43-46 Jesus’ cloak was touched by a woman who sought healing from 12 years of bleeding:

And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”

A so-called nonclassical energy has been associated with cognition, attention and intention in my books and blogs posts. It is an immaterial energy, or a power. I share this Scriptural post that refers to a “power” going out from Jesus to effect the woman’s physical, material healing in the context of a dualist interaction, a process that continues to this day.

The first verses I shall share are in Luke 5:21-23:

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk?’”

Another instance of Jesus’ knowing the thoughts of other people is recorded in Luke 6:7-8:

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there.

I refer to the scheme for communication discussed in my books as a template for information transmission between the Mind of God and the mind of Man via the indwelling of the human spirit by the personal Holy Spirit. It also applies to the communication between God the Father and his Son, the God-Man Jesus Christ, who was indwelled by the Holy Spirit at his baptism. In this scheme the identification of the Sender, or information Source, is the Mind of God the Father, and the recipient, or receiver, is the mind of Man, applicable in this case to the Mind of Jesus Christ the God-Man. The transmitter of specified information in this scheme is the Holy Spirit who directs a signal with meaning and purpose to the receiver, in this case the cognitive Mind of Jesus. The signal is in the form of spike patterns of action potentials transmitted through the neural synaptic networks as linguistic codes in various manifestations, including perceived words and discernment. I suggest a parallel between this scheme and the cited Scriptures wherein Jesus “knew what they were thinking.” It is a dualist interaction between immaterial and material entities created by God.

In the last several blogs I have shared summaries of a few studies from the neurosciences suggesting that cognition generates wave forms that are interactive with specific regions of the brain. The immaterial mind appears to interact with synaptic networks of the brain through waveforms that in turn are instantiated within spike trains of action potentials that transmit specified information in linguistic neural codes. In the next blogs I will share verses from Scripture that suggest that specified information may have been received by Jesus during his ministry, perhaps via this mode of communication between the spirit and soul of individuals identified in the Scriptures cited and the Holy Spirit who indwelled Jesus after his baptism. I share these Scriptures as “food for thought.” Are we coming closer to at least a partial understanding of the means of communion between the Holy Spirit and the human spirit and soul, including the human spirit and soul of the God-Man, Jesus Christ? Is dualist interactionism pertinent only within individuals, or can it apply to communion between individuals? “Food for thought.”

From this point forward my blogs will address the most recent neuroscience findings that consider wave forms in the brain, especially when there is evidence that they are generated by the immaterial cognitive mind. As I have stated in an earlier blog such articles are beginning to appear in the neuroscience literature, but at a slow pace. My blog posts will therefore be less frequent.

For those of you who are finding my blogs informative, please consider reading through all of my blog posts since they expand on the contents of my two books. I also hope that you will consider reading my books. Put together, all that I have written should present a compelling argument that good neuroscience and properly interpreted Scripture are in concordance where dualist interaction between the Mind of God and the mind of Man is concerned. Thank you for your interest.

I conclude this series of blog posts by commenting on how the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in repentant believers is manifested. The Apostle Paul admonished believers to walk by the leading of the Holy Spirit, as did the God-Man Jesus Christ. In doing so they manifest the fruits of the Holy Spirit. These include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The Source of these effects is the character and living presence of Jesus Christ. Desires of the flesh reflect an attitude of defiance to God. Believers who live in obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit are “sealed,” signifying that God has ownership of them.

Paul also taught that spiritual gifts are given to believers for the benefit of the whole Church. The gifts are supernatural, Spirit-given abilities that are addressed in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11. The gifts are given by one Spirit for the common good, the Spirit of Jesus Christ. These include wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy. the discernment of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues, service, teaching, encouragement, sharing, leadership and showing mercy. We are designed to need each other and to serve one another. Communion and companionship vertically between the Christian and the Father will always include a horizontal relationship in love among the saints.

It is my hope that what I have shared in this series of blogs is helpful for an understanding of what it means to be indwelled by the Holy Spirit. How does the indwelling relate to the human spirit and soul, and how does communion occur in our time between the Holy Spirit and the human spirit and soul? It is a communion actualized by the transmission of meaning in neural codes through God’s created synaptic networks. It is a bidirectional dualist interaction between the immaterial Mind of God and mind of Man and the exquisite material mechanisms of the human brain.

The Book of Acts could be called The Acts of the Holy Spirit since there are fifty-six references to the Holy Spirit in the twenty-eight chapters of the book, more than in any other single book of the Bible. Huber L. Drumwright, Jr. stated that Jesus Christ continued his work through the lives and ministries of his disciples. In John 12:24 Jesus told his disciples, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies it produces many seeds.” Walter Thomas Conner said, “The Holy Spirit is the presence of the living Lord Jesus in spiritual power in the lives of men.”

This work was begun at Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2:14-36 when the Holy Spirit was given as an indwelling as Jesus had promised before his death on the cross. The Spirit was given to dwell permanently once again inside all repentant believers, making regeneration possible for all mankind. Regeneration refers to the restoration of the intimate, direct, personal interaction between the Holy Spirit and the human spirit and soul that was lost at the Fall. Though yet fallen in our time humanity in repentance has been granted salvation by the grace and love of God through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ, resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit. The price for sin has been paid. Life is restored in the living Jesus Christ. Spirit-indwelled individuals are spokespersons for God, and their testimony is Spirit-originated and Spirit-empowered. The first Christian sermon was given by Peter at Pentecost, and the events demonstrated that Jesus who was raised from the dead had his authority extended beyond our time into eternity and beyond Earth into heaven. Jesus reigns by virtue of his resurrection. The presence and power of the Holy Spirit is the proof.

What does it mean to be indwelled, or anointed, by the Holy Spirit? In The Boundless Love of God: A Holy Spirit Story, I address this action. In the next blogs I will share my comments from this book, beginning with the indwelling of Jesus Christ, the God-Man, by the Holy Spirit of his Father. Recall that I refer to the soul as consisting of mind, will, emotion and conscience and heart as the soul.

Throughout his life Jesus lived and spoke in complete obedience to God’s counsel through his indwelling Holy Spirit. In John 15:9-15 Jesus teaches that he has obeyed his Father’s commands and that everything he has learned from his Father he has made known to his disciples. In the synagogue in Nazareth Jesus opened the scroll of Isaiah and read, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach the good news…,” confirming his identity with God the Father and fulfilling Scripture that identified him as the promised Messiah. To Thomas he said, “If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” Responding to a question from Phillip Jesus stated, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” These passages confirm Jesus’ indwelling by his Father through his Holy Spirit who descended to dwell in the human spirit of Jesus just after he was baptized by John the Baptist. He willfully lived in complete obedience to the Father all his life, even to his death. As Jesus was dying on the cross he cried out, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” That Jesus possessed a human spirit is indicated by these words he spoke on the cross. His very last words were, “‘It is finished.’ With that he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” These verses confirm that Jesus the Man possessed a spirit and submitted it in full obedience to the Spirit of the Father.

I now address the question if Man is a tripartite being. Spirit and soul can be confusing concepts since the words appear to be used interchangeably in Scripture. And where does spirit fit in?

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. Hebrews 4:12

From my first book, Nerve Endings of the Soul: Interaction Between the Mind of God and the Mind of Man Through Neural Synaptic Networks, I addressed this issue with comments that give support to Hebrews 4:12:

Then God said, “Let Us make man in our image, in my likeness” . . . . So God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:26-27

God is a triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Only the Spirit knows the Mind of God. (1 Corinthians 2:11) Since man was created in the image of God (imago Dei) it is biblical that man is tripartite with body, soul and spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 states, “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” When God formed man from the dust of the ground, He breathed “the breath of life” into him. (Genesis 2:7) It is this life from God that constitutes the human spirit, and as it is with God only the human spirit truly knows the mind of man. It is the soul of man that is the vehicle through which the mind’s will operates, and if a repentant man’s soul wills to obey God, it will allow the spirit to rule over the man as ordered by the indwelling Holy Spirit. As spirit acts upon the soul of man, the soul in turn expresses itself through the brain and body.

With the Fall of man (Genesis 3) the image of God in humans was corrupted with the loss of intimate communion between the soul of man and the Holy Spirit since Man in sin experienced spiritual death, losing [the indwelling personal] communion between the Holy Spirit and his human spirit. Man’s mind became governed by his soul, the will of his own self-centered focus. The relationship between God and Man was and is designed to be a bidirectional, interactive one. Man’s capacity is to use all the communicable attributes of his Creator God, his mind being created in the image of the Mind of God. The restoration of this interaction depends upon Man’s repentance and the soul’s choice to follow the Counsel of the Holy Spirit through his human spirit.