A Holistic View of Personhood

I. Origin of Man
A. Natural Cause
1. Evolution
a. Macro-evolution
b. Micro-evolution
B. Supernatural Cause
1. Intelligence
a. Specified complexity

II. Nature of Man
A. Soul
1. Mind
a. More than matter
2. Will
a. Free or determined?
3. Emotion
a. Flow from the soul
B. Body
1. Good or evil
2. Death of,
a. The result of sin
C. Spirit
1. Hunger for reality

III. Practical Application
A. Cause similar to effect (analogy)
1. Made for community

ORIGIN OF MAN

Natural Cause

There are only two possible causes for the origin of man. One is purely natural causes. The universe is filled with natural laws. And given enough time these natural laws combined just the right chemicals at just the right time to produce life. After the initial “creation” of life, natural causes began making small developmental changes called micro-evolution, leading to greater changes called macro-evolution.

Micro-evolution:

Micro-evolution, as it relates to the formation of living things, is small-scale changes within a species. It is an empirical science, which means that it can be studied using the two principles of observability and repeatability. These two principles are the basis for several origin-of-life experiments conducted throughout history. Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) attempted to demonstrate that life can arise from non-life. At about the same time Charles Darwin (1804-1882) theorized that the origin of all life began in a “warm little pond”; out of this little pond emerged single-celled organisms from which came all life through a mechanism called natural selection. But it was scientist Harold Urey, key figure in developing the atomic bomb, and Stanley Miller that have hypothesized what is possibly the strongest evidence that all life was produced by purely natural means. In their 1953 experiment they combined hydrogen, nitrogen, ammonia, and carbon dioxide resulting in amino acids. These amino acids are believed to have micro-evolved into D.N.A., then later into living cells. This development is said to have occurred over billions of years with the help of lightning and ultraviolet radiation from the sun. What Urey and Miller’s experiment seemed to infer is that all life originated by purely natural means.

Macro-evolution:

Macro-evolution, as it relates to living things, is large-scale changes from one species to another. While natural selection, also known as “survival of the fittest”, is a scientific fact of nature (since small changes within a species can be observed and repeated), Darwin theorized that many of these small changes added up to transform one species into another – from microbe to monkey, from monkey to man. Support for this theory is believed to come from the fossil record that shows signs of gradual changes in form. And similarities in the structure of living forms and similarities in embryonic development of different species show signs of a common ancestor.

Supernatural Cause

The only alternative for the origin of man is supernatural intelligence. There is a vast amount of design and information in the universe, and only intelligence can produce such. Natural laws on its own can only do so much. Specified complexity is the characteristic of an effect that has a distinct informative message, such as the words on this screen. Non-intelligence cannot produce such; only messengers can produce messages. All information is caused by intelligence, no matter where it is found. Science has shown that natural laws can produce things with specificity, like quartz crystals. Natural laws can also produce complexity, like random polymers. But science has never shown anything other than intelligence that can cause things that are simultaneously specified and complex. And if specified complexity is an effect produced only by intelligent causes today, then by the law of analogy, specified complexity is an effect produced by an intelligent cause in the past. When we find an effect that has an intelligent cause in the present (such as a painting), we can validly affirm that similar effects whose causes are no longer repeatable or observable (such as Hieroglyphics) also had an intelligent cause. The creation of a sandcastle may no longer be observable. But we know that only intelligence causes sandcastles in the present. Since the effects (the sandcastle of the observable and repeatable present and the sandcastle of the unobservable and unrepeatable past) are similar, we can also affirm similarity in causes of the two sandcastles. But sandcastles are not the only thing with an intelligent cause. Digging deeper into the nature of life, we find that in all of the observed universe, only living cells have both specified complexity. All things with specified complexity contain information. All things containing information have an intelligent cause. Therefore, all cells have an intelligent cause, not merely a natural one. Neither the Urey/Miller, nor the Pasture experiments resulted in any living organisms. Pasture eventually concluded that life cannot arise from non-life. And instead of proving natural causes for the origin of life, he and many other naturalists inadvertently confirmed intelligent design, since the experiments themselves could not have been done without the intelligence and design of Urey, Miller, and Pasture imposed on them. Darwin’s theory was that natural selection could produce enough small changes within a species that would gradually transform that species into a different kind of species altogether. But there are some essential parts of a species’ survival, such as the heart and eyes. And for a Darwinian mechanism (lower life forms gradually changing into higher ones) to work, these must appear all at once and fully formed, else the species won’t survive. Darwin hoped that enough transitional fossils would be discovered to support his theory of gradation. But the fossil record today does not reveal gradual change from one species to another. Instead, they reveal that a species appears suddenly, all at once, and fully formed. And similarities in embryonic development and similarities in form may point to a common supernatural creator, rather than a common natural-caused ancestor.

NATURE OF MAN

Soul

Whatever one believes concerning the origins of man, the one undeniable truth is that man consists of a physical body. But is there more to man than the physical? Could there also be a non-physical component that makes us more than what we see? If the physical body experiences pleasure and pain in the realm of its operation, could not this also be true of the immaterial us? All people believe we have a body. Some people believe we have a soul that is something other than the body, and that it is where we experience our rationing, willing, and emotions. Others would go even further and say that “soul” is an interchangeable word used with “spirit”; these are called dichotomists. Those affirming that man is a three-part being (body, soul, and spirit) are called trichotomist.

Mind – If the nature of man is merely physical, then what we call mind, soul, and spirit are only terms used to describe chemical reactions in the brain, not real entities. Mind and spirit are nothing more than what a shadow is to a tree; when the tree dies, its shadow dies with it. In an ex-materia universe, where there is no need for an eternal creator, the Humanist Manifesto is correct in saying that, “the traditional dualism of mind and body must be rejected”. In rejecting the mind as an entity apart from the physical body, it becomes easy to reject God as an entity outside the physical universe. And if neither God nor mind really exists, then there’s no use in preparing for an afterlife, since man is nothing more than physical matter that only returns to the ground. Mind and spirit are merely a product of matter – nothing more than what a shadow is to a tree.

But how can a man know that he is nothing more than physical matter unless he is more than physical matter? In order to know that he is nothing more than matter, he must transcend matter to make the assertion that “man is nothing more than physical matter”. However, in doing so he actually demonstrates that he is more than matter. How else could he get an all-encompassing view of all matter unless he is able to get an aerial view of it? But if he has not transcended physical matter, then neither can he know what’s beyond matter. No such observation can be made on any object without the observer standing outside and above the object. Perhaps another way to view the problem is to make a distinction between efficient cause (the producer of an effect) and instrumental cause (what the producer uses to bring about the effect). If a man is so closely identified with his physical nature that they are seen to be identical, then perhaps it’s because he hasn’t made a distinction between his being and his physical nature. Both his being and his nature are identified as the efficient cause. But if there is a distinction between inner being (as the efficient cause), and physical nature (as the instrumental cause) through which the inner being is expressed, then something other than mere matter begins to emerge as the real cause of what we do – a mind that is a real separate entity apart from our bodies.

Will – Stoics were those of ancient Greece who taught of an impersonal Reason – the Logos – that rules, governs, and guides the affairs of the universe. They taught that everyone’s fate was already sealed and that people have no free will. Similarly, psychologist B.F. Skinner taught that all human actions are caused by genetics, society, and chance. All actions are caused by something, and since it’s contradictory for an action to cause itself (since a cause must be prior to an effect), then it must have a cause outside of it – the impersonal Reason, God, or the gene/society/chance combo, etc. Therefore, man ultimately has no free will. He merely dances to the tune of his D.N.A., not really responsible towards any objective moral absolutes. Everything just is, and there’s no way to change it. So let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

However, it is true that every action is caused, and true that it is contradictory for an action to cause itself. But is it really contradictory to have a self-caused action? Must an action really be prior to itself to be “self-caused”? Perhaps it’s not the action that must be prior to itself, but the inner being of the person (mind and/or spirit) that causes his actions. Assuming this distinction between mind/spirit (efficient cause) and physical matter (instrumental cause) avoids the self-caused action contradiction while affirming a cause from outside the effect. But could the inner being of a person be determined himself, with no free will of his own? If we assume the law of causality and analogy is valid, then the cause of all being must share intrinsic similarity with its effects. If the cause has intelligence, then the effect has intelligence too. If the cause is free, then the effect is free too. However, the effect, in this case, can’t have the same level of intelligence and freedom as its cause. Whatever virtue the effect receives from its cause must be negated (limited), since the effect cannot be greater than, or equal to, its cause. And it is for this cause that it’s impossible for mere natural causes to give rise to information, freedom, or intelligence.

Emotions – The emotions of man are closely related to the mind and will of man. But what is that relation? Perhaps it’s a matter of influence. Reason has great influence on the emotions, and emotions have a great influence on the will. Here the emotions are both the effect and the cause. Just as a man can be both a son and a father at the same time, the emotions can be both the effect and the cause at the same time. An abusive grand-father will have an abusive son and grand-son. Likewise, wrong reason leads to wrong emotions, resulting in wrong use of the will. Thus, correct ordering of reason results in correct ordering of emotions; correct ordering of emotions result in correct ordering of the will.

Body

Plato, who believed that the physical world is a world of shadows, taught that matter was evil and spirit is good. Freedom was defined as an escape from the prison of the body, since the body was made of matter. Plato’s reasoning went as such:

All matter is evil
The body is matter
The body is evil

This escape, as taught by the early Gnostics, was achieved through special learning, hence the term ‘gnosis’, which means “knowledge”. The teachings of the gnostics leaned toward two extremes: asceticism and libertinism.

Asceticism was the practice of self-denial in order to starve the appetites of the body, since the body is evil. Libertinism was the practice of self-gratification, giving no restrictions to the appetites of the body; since the spirit was good, what happens to the body is ultimately irrelevant. Early Hebrews believed in neither asceticism nor libertinism. The body is not necessarily evil. However, it is weak and easily led by evil impulses of the soul. Human will result in sin, and sin resulted in death. And when the body dies, it gets planted in the ground. Eventually, it will spring forth out of the ground (resurrect) to exist forever. For unless a corn of wheat dies it abides alone; but if it dies it bears much fruit. The Hebrew reasoning went as follows:

All matter is morally neutral
The body is matter
The body is morally neutral

Spirit

It’s impossible on scientific grounds to prove we have a spirit; perhaps this is why many rationalists reject it. Spirit is said to be the seat of consciousness affecting the mind, will, and emotions. Thus there seems to be a rationing component to the spirit that receives input from the mind. It hungers with only one thing that satisfies. As Blaise Pascal noted, there is in human nature an “infinite abyss” that can “only be filled with something that is infinite and unchanging” (see Pensees, by Pascal). Others have called this the “God-shaped vacuum”. If the body is the grain of wheat that dies, then the spirit is the germ of life inside the grain of wheat that lives on when the body ceases to be.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

If man has natural origins, then the applications are little. History, human relations, and life ultimately have no meaning. It’s just a bunch of matter that doesn’t really matter. And when the body dies, we cease to exist. But if man has supernatural origins, then the application and implications are enormous. It means that there’s more to us than just mere physical matter and that we’re not alone in the universe. And if there is an extra-cosmic Being outside the universe, who also acts within the universe, then we can know something about Him by studying the effects. If man has finite intelligence, freedom of will, and emotions, then the cause has these in infinite capacity. If physical matter is a composition of parts (implying limitation), then the unlimited cause is a noncomposed Being – a noncomposed Spirit whom we can know by virtue of our nonphysical entities, such as our minds, will, emotions, and spirit (Where Deep – Spirit of the Infinite, calleth unto deep – the spirit of man). And people, in spite of their flawed limitations, have tremendous value, since every effect shares some type of similarity with its cause, by virtue of the law of analogy.

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