Life After Death: The Soul (Lesson 4) MR. DEZILVA FEBRUARY 4TH

Richard Dawkins (1941 - ) Context A Materialist An evolutionary biologist Wrote The Selfish Gene where he addresses what humans are Wrote River out of Eden, which focuses on life after death and what the soul is for him

Dawkins on the Soul The Materialist View: The Selfish Gene No part of a person is non-physical The consciousness cannot be separated from the brain The Selfish Gene Humans are no more than survival machines Humans are the vehicles of genes, looking to replicate themselves in order to survive into the next generation “Survival machines – robot vehicles, blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes.” The River out of Eden Life is just “bytes and bytes of digital information” Self-awareness is a result of evolutionary advantages

Dawkins continued Immortality of the soul arguments have no sound basis Based on wish-fulfillment and for those who fear death Consciousness is not some “magic ingredient” that gives humanity special status as the “image of God”- it is just an aspect of evolution Consciousness is no more than electro-chemical events within the brain.

Christian Understanding of the Soul General Christian Outlook God gave people souls as a “divine spark” and made in God’s image Differed between animals (Genesis 2:7) – God breathed life into man and became a living being. The soul will be judged by God after death The decisions that we have made (or not made) will result in us being judged by God and facing positive or negative consequences.

Christianity and the Soul Characteristics of the soul: The soul is the subject of mental and spiritual states – the essential person. The soul encompasses the mind and the spirit The soul includes reason and intellect, but also goes beyond it. A person has the spiritual capacity to develop a relationship with God – this comes from the soul.

Origins of the Soul Two Christian theories on the origin of the soul: Creationism The belief that God creates each individual soul every time a new baby is born. When the soul becomes one with the body is debated and leads to discussion of abortion and murder Traducianism The belief that the soul is inherited from the parents (similarly to how eye colour is inherited) Believed by earlier Christians; follows from the idea of Original Sin and the souls were tainted through inheritance.

John Hick (1922 – 2012) Context: Had a strong religious experience that led him to accept evangelical Christianity Affirmed to the idea that God allows evil because it helps us develop as humans into virtuous creatures. Argued for religious pluralism Wrote a crucial book about life after death and the soul entitled Death and Eternal Life

Hick on the Soul Stems from the Irenaean Theodicy Replica Theory Based on the idea that the whole of this earthly life is a vale of soul making – a testing ground for people in which they develop moral character. The presence of evil helps people to grow and develop Hick extends this by claiming that the soul needs a body in order to continue with its journey in the afterlife and continue the evolutionary process in which people continued to learn. Replica Theory The soul is capable of everlasting life with God (it is not unchanging like Plato’s soul) There is a physical rebirth in which the body is replicated by God (More on this when we talk about reincarnation)

Christianity continued Richard Swinburne The Evolution of the Soul The soul and the body are distinct from one another – thus, the soul is capable of survival after death Things about us can be explained, but not always in physical truths The most important aspects of us as a person are not found in the physical bodies The soul is unique: capable of logic, order, complex thought The soul is aware of its own freedom to make choices The soul is aware of moral obligation (recognises goodness) Our souls allow for us to have consciousness

Keith Ward Defending The Soul A response to scientists that claim humans are just physical beings Without the soul, morality becomes a matter of personal choice and tastes, but we need the moral claims in order to progress The moral claims come from God and help us achieve that special dignity of being human (rather than animal) Without the soul, humanity lacks any sense of final purpose Refers to Genesis to include the idea that man was made from material form, but filled with the spirit of God and given the goal of his existence.