(This post is a compilation of five previous posts that have been archived. I have reposted them for convenience so that they do not have to be tracked down individually.)

PART ONE

In a previous post (”Why Pray?”), I made mention of how I conceptualize the work of the Holy Spirit in the brain of the Christian during prayer. This series of posts will expand on, clarify, and further explain my view. In a tedious and unpublished blog (actually, the dissertation for my Doctor of Ministry degree), I have gone into my understanding of the integration of spirituality with our present knowledge about the dynamics of the brain; for humanitarian reasons, I am not subjecting you to it here.

This series is meant to be a more concise and narrow examination of the subject. But it will include significant portions of the dissertation – humbly entitled, “An Integration of Biblical Anthropology and Neuropsychology and Its Implications for Christian Education and Discipleship” – so be prepared. You might want to have a gallon or two of coffee nearby.

There are five important factors at play in my model of sanctification: the brain, the human spirit, the mind, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible. Each will be discussed in order and then an attempt to describe the dynamics of sanctification with be offered.

This initial post will discuss the human brain. The sources and references for much of the information are not included but may be obtained (1) by contacting me and (2) for large sums of money.

The Brain

Although not always evident in some of us and a matter of conjecture in others, everybody has a brain. It is an unimpressive-looking, three-pound mass of grayish-pink, jelly-like tissue consisting of 10 billion neurons (nerve cells); as many as 100 billion supportive, glue-like cells called neuroglia; vascular (blood-carrying) tissues, and various other tissues. It does not look good to eat, unless you have an appetite for roadkill jellyfish or squid.

From the outside, the brain appears as three distinct but connected parts: the cerebrum (the Latin word for brain) – two large, almost symmetrical hemispheres; the cerebellum (“little brain”) – two smaller hemispheres located at the back of the cerebrum; and the brain stem – a central core that gradually becomes the spinal cord.

Two other major parts of the brain, the thalamus and the hypothalamus, lie in the midline above the brain stem underneath the cerebellum. Since they are hidden in the midbrain, you can’t see the thalamus or hypothalamus unless you have access to a CAT scan or a chainsaw.

The neocortex (also referred to as the cerebral cortex or cerebrum), which accounts for 85 percent of the brain’s weight, is the outermost part of the brain and gives to it its wrinkled, walnut-like appearance. The folds in the brain, caused by growth and the limitations of the skull, hide almost two-thirds of the brain’s surface: if the neocortex were unfolded, it would cover the floor of a 16 square-foot room. (Or maybe a room 16 feet square: I’m not sure which it is. Either way, it would still be ugly.) In the various lobes of the cerebrum takes place most high-level brain functions.

The frontal lobe of the neocortex, directly behind the forehead, is vital for speech (Broca’s Area), movement, planning, and mental representations; at the back of the head, the occipital lobe is involved in vision. The olfactory bulb, which produces the sense of smell, is tucked under the frontal lobe, behind and slightly above the nose. Just above the occipital lobe is the parietal lobe, which processes signals from sensations throughout the body; on each side of the head are temporal lobes that contain processes for memory, hearing, and, on the left temporal lobe, comprehension of language (Wernicke’s Area).

As mentioned above, beneath the cerebral cortex are the thalamus and hypothalamus: the former serves as a relay station for the senses while the latter is responsible for emotions and physical sensations, as well as serving as a junction for the nervous and endocrine systems.

There are two major types of brain cells: neuroglia and neurons. The neuroglia are perhaps ten times as numerous as neurons, but neurons are responsible for all electrochemical communication in the brain. Neuronal communication occurs either electrically or chemically: when transmitting an impulse within a neuron, it is conducted electrically; when communicating between neurons, across a gap (or synapse), it is done chemically. A single neuron may make as many as 10,000 connections with other neurons in the neocortex, resulting in the possibility of one hundred trillion (100,000,000,000,000) such connections in the brain. I personally have not counted them, but I trust the number because it’s too big to be made up. It may be off by 1 or 2 connections, but not much more.

Neurons do not exist in isolation, awaiting activation by a chemical transmission from another isolated neuron; rather, they exist in vast neural networks, columns, or schemas in the brain. A neural network is an affiliation or connection between millions of neighboring neurons that are involved in similar activities; schemas are networks or columns of networks throughout the brain which have established connections for processing information.

The more frequently a schema is activated, the stronger the connection between neurons becomes. Such schema and networks are critical for memory and, especially, learning.

The existence of schemas provides individuals with a mental system or grid through which to experience the world: if one’s experience of the world is consistent with existing schemas in the brain, then the information is assimilated (filed away in existing patterns) and the schemas are reinforced. If, however, one’s experience is not consistent with existing schemas, then accommodation takes place (a new pattern is established): the particular schema – and all schemas connected with it – is adjusted to allow for the new, previously inconsistent information. Schemas, or neural networks, are the building blocks of mental activity, as well as the foundation and key for learning

So, as you’re reading this, I’m literally messing with your brain. Too late now. Oops, there’s another new connection! Stop it!

With me so far? I recognize that this may be nothing new to many of you, very confusing to others, and quite possibly some of the driest reading since college, but it is important for what follows. If we are to understand how God may – repeat, may – be working in our brains, then we have to have a basic understanding of the brain. And when we do, then we can more actively participate in and facilitate the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

So the brain is a network of neurons that processes electrical and chemical signals. A single thought or feeling can have innumerable connections to various parts of the brain, developing a complex network supporting and facilitating the specific thought or feeling. And remember: the more often the neuropathway is activated, the stronger it becomes and the more likely it will be followed again in the future.

PART TWO

In our first episode (CotB – P1), I provided a rudimentary overview of the major parts of the brain and how thoughts and feelings are transmitted. Hopefully, the explanation was more illuminating than obfuscatory; if not, let me know and I’ll try to do a better job (i.e., I’ll go back and re-do the post). Assuming that everything is sufficiently clear, however, let’s plunge ahead to the second of the issues to be examined.

So we have a brain. Now what? Well, now the question is: what causes brain activity? The answer is threefold, but only the last one is of interest to us for the purpose of this discussion. The first two sources of brain activity are external and internal stimuli. The brain is activated by external stimuli whenever our senses detect something in the environment, i.e., in the external world. Looking at this blog is triggering your optic nerve, which in turn is setting in motion a host of dynamics in the brain that result in such things as recognition that these curious little markings are letters and that these letters form words and sentences and paragraphs that are supposed to be a coherent thought.

Brain activities outside the realm of consciousness or awareness also occur. Your eyes move back and forth across the page without you having noticed (until now) or having told them to do so. This is a result of learning, and there are some strong pathways in your brain that cause your eyes to move from left to right and up and down in order to see what the next word is going to be. At the same time, the stimulation of the optic nerve may result in other, unexpected things happening – such as yawning, or a sudden craving for coffee or something else to do besides read this.

Internal stimuli are triggers that are independent of the environment. For example, when your stomach begins to contract because it no longer has enough food – or, if not food, then something from McDonald’s – when that happens, then it sends a message to your brain (via neurons and the nervous system) to do something about it. When you do finally shove something into your mouth, other things begin happening: saliva is produced, swallowing is activated, your stomach is happy (but doesn’t stop with the signal just yet), blood is re-allocated, etc.

Your body is a busy, busy place, always doing things – like breathing – that are usually outside your awareness. And some things that are always outside your awareness (try, right now, to be aware of what your inner ear is actually doing at this very moment as it keeps you from falling over as you read this). You can perhaps be aware of the effects of some of those activities, but you can’t sense it happening unless something goes wrong.

In our discussion, however, it is the third stimuli that is of primary interest. This third activator of thought, feeling, and behavior is the human spirit. Our human spirit is what enables us to think about things that have nothing to do with our immediate environment or physical existence. It is responsible for the capacities to will to do something, to meditate, to think original thoughts, to create new associations or connections between old networks or constellations in our brains.

The human spirit is not the electrical or chemical signal or transmission within the brain, but is a spiritual dimension of our makeup that instigates such activity.

The human spirit is also that which gives us what the psychologists call temperament, or our particular predispositions in life. Temperament is described by terms such as introverted or extroverted, dominant or compliant, active or passive. It is said that temperament is roughly 50 percent of who we are, although I have no idea how anyone can come up with such a figure.

I would further argue that personality resides in our spirits and that the makeup of the mind (the subject of the next post) is largely the resulting configuration of our brains growing out of the accommodation, assimilation, and compensation due to the interaction of our spirit, our physical constitution, and our experiences. I believe this because of the Incarnation.

When the Second Member of the Godhead took human form, He did not develop a personality that was different than what it had been previously. God doesn’t change, remember? So who Jesus was is who Jesus is and is who Jesus will always be. His Spirit took up residence in human form – He became actual flesh and blood – and it was His Spirit that manifested itself through His brain, mind, and body.

Unlike Jesus, of course, our human spirits are not pre-existent but are formed at the moment of conception (naturally, I believe, not by a direct act of God). Our personalities are largely set at that time, although modified later through experiences, drugs, or by coming in contact with rapidly moving blunt objects aimed at our heads.

Our human spirit not only initiates brain activity but also supervises or superintends conscious thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Our spirit decides how to respond to some of the external and internal stimuli we experience, and then “accompanies” the transmission at various points along the way. Ideally, at significant points, our spirit can make a choice about which direction the thought, feeling, or behavior will go. Because we have a human spirit, we are morally responsible. By and large, we can make choices about moral matters.

PART THREE

Having taken a quick look at the brain (Pt. 1) and the human spirit (Pt. 2), it’s now time to consider the third of the five aspects of our spiritual nature and sanctification: the mind. But first, a brief review.

Think of the brain as a seemingly infinite number of points (neurons) that exist in three-dimensional space. A pretty good analogy is to think of all the stars in the night sky: although we can see only a few thousand (at most) with the naked eye, there are actually (to quote a dead man) “billions and billions” of them. Our brain has 100,000,000,000 or so of these “points” scattered throughout its four-pound mound of gelatinous mass.

Of course, the night sky does not exhibit any visible signs that there are connections that exist between these billions of stars. Our brain, however, does have connections. Lots of them. Or, more accurately, it has channels of potential connections that exist, awaiting only some activation to establish a connection. Not all the points or neurons are connected to each other – at least, not directly – but the number of channels and connections are staggering. More than can be counted on your fingers and toes. Or the fingers and toes of everyone on the planet.

Some of these neurons and channels exist in areas of the brain that seem to be the triggers for various mental functions, such as sight, hearing, touch, feeling, thinking, and adjusting our underwear in public. And we seem to have connecting thoughts and feelings about our activities, as well as similar behaviors in others when we catch them.

What causes the creation of these connections via the channels is the human spirit, along with internal and external stimuli. Think of the human spirit as an immaterial cause and the other two as material causes. But not only does the spirit initiate, it also superintends or governs the connections at various points along the way. We are generally aware of this activity due to the phenomenon of consciousness, although there may be other things that our spirit does of which we are not always conscious.

Now we turn to the mind, which according to Rom 12.1-2, is an important element in our spiritual growth and maturity. (Of course, the heart and soul are also involved in sanctification, but that’s a different part of my dissertation. I’ll only say that it’s really cool the way I conceptualize all of that. Sorry.) Basically, the mind is the architecture or configuration that results from the interaction of the spirit and the brain over the course of our lifetime. It is not just the connections that exist but also – and more importantly – the non-activated channels between the various neurons.

This organization of the brain is sometimes called schemas and exists in vast networks and constellations of channels and momentary connections. As stated previously, the more frequently a channel is employed the greater the possibility that it – along with all associated connections – will be used again. A channel that may start out as a faint trail across a virgin field can develop into an eight-lane freeway. With apologies to Robert Frost, we normally take the road most easily traveled.

A channel can also start out as a veritable autobahn, however. Remember the first time you decided to lick a metal pole on a cold, cold day? How many times did you have to do that to come to the conclusion that maybe this was something to tell someone else to do, but not to do again yourself? That is because the brain marks some signals with powerful chemical indicators that this seemingly good idea is not so good after all. That marking is permanent and powerful.

So we have a mind, semi-ordered or disordered as the case may be, which is largely a result of our experiences. Our minds are created and activated by our spirits in interaction with our brains, giving us the incredible diversity among people. After all, how many different ways are there to organize 100 billions neurons? Well, more than a few. And this mind (along with the heart and soul) is the key to our sanctification.

PART FOUR

So far, we have described the mental aspects of your basic, natural, human being: a brain, a human spirit, and a uniquely ordered mind. This is true of every person who has ever lived on the planet. But for some – we call ourselves Christians – there is an additional component to our constitution that makes all the difference in the world. And in the next world. We will also consider in this post the fifth aspect of our spiritual existence, since the fourth and fifth are closely related.

The Holy Spirit is a fourth factor in the constitution of some people, and He is the Agent of change or sanctification in every Christian. Paul makes it clear that, if we do not have the Spirit of Christ, then we are not believers (Rom 8.9b). The Holy Spirit does a lot of things in His ministry to and through us, but here we are limiting our consideration to His role in our sanctification.

Like the human spirit, the Holy Spirit is an initiator, activator, and governor of processes in our brains. Unlike the human spirit, however, the Spirit only initiates and governs those (neuro)pathways of righteousness that He has made. He does not work on the old, sinful channels in the mind of the Christian – or even the “righteous” ones we have done in the flesh – but instead creates new pathways to be followed. His purpose is to make the righteous channels more active and attractive than the sinful ones.

The sinful paths are what constitutes the flesh (when used in a negative sense in Scripture). When Paul declares, “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please” (Gal 5.17), he may be describing something that modern neurology sheds some light on.

The flesh – the mental eight-lane channels of pleasure and sin – presents itself as an easy alternative to what the Spirit is offering. The Spirit beckons us down a path of righteousness, but the well-traveled and familiar path of sin is calling, too. Who wins?

Well, according to Paul, whichever one our human spirit decides to yield to. He says to the Galatians, “walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh” (Gal 5.16), and to the Romans, “do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. . . . Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?” (Rom 6.13, 16).

The Christian’s responsibility in the process of sanctification is to yield, not to the flesh but, to the Holy Spirit. As we walk with Him, He will transform our minds and change our behaviors.

Of course, it is possible to make similar changes without the Holy Spirit. Any person, including a Christian, can attempt to create new neuropathways of righteousness through willpower and discipline. There are, without question, a great number of very good, very honorable, very noble non-Christians in the world. Many of them are in church every Sunday.

The Pharisees in Jesus’ day were good men: their peers looked up to them and admired their piety. We know that they’re the bad guys because we know the whole story, but had we been living at that time we, too, would have thought very highly of them. But their righteousness was a product of their own spirit and thus corrupted by sin.

And there are a great number of Christians who, for one reason or another, are attempting to perfect themselves by the flesh (i.e., the work of the human spirit to change the brain for the better). Paul says that they are foolish (Gal 3.3) and states that no one – that is, NO ONE – will be made righteous or justified through their own efforts (Rom 3.20, Gal 2.21). All our righteousness, after all, is nothing but a filthy rag (a polite euphemism) in the eyes of God (Is 64.6). And this is true whether that self-produced righteousness is accomplished by a non-Christian or a Christian. The only righteousness that counts with Him is that which He gives (positionally) to us and that which the Holy Spirit produces (experientially) in us.

The Holy Spirit does not work willy-nilly or arbitrarily in the believer, He utilizes the written word of God – the Bible – to establish new paths of righteousness in the believer. That may come from reading the Bible, hearing it read, or hearing it from the lips of others, but it is the truth as contained in the Bible that provides the direction, form, and content of the new channels in our brain.

The more we hear the word of God, the more our minds are transformed – if we yield to Him and follow down those paths. The Bible does not contain error and, if studied correctly, cannot lead us into error. It is one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Scriptures for us. Strictly speaking, He does not “reveal” anything to us: revelation is complete; revelation is confined to the Bible. The Spirit enlightens us and enables us to see the truth of God in a way that it becomes part of our life.

It is not just knowledge of the Bible that He desires, but a change in our lives. We are to be “living bibles” in the world, blessing others and being blessed in the process.

It is the presence and leading of the Holy Spirit that makes the Bible living and active (Heb 4.12). The Bible does not possess some magical power of its own. This is clearly seen by the effect it has on a non-Christian: to them it is just a book, a collection of confusing and sometimes-quaint concepts. But it is hardly something to live by and, even if it were, it would be impossible.

The Bible is special because of its purity and clear revelation of the Person of God, but by itself it changes no one. Change is the activity of the Holy Spirit, and it is the Bible that He uses to accomplish His work in us.

PART FIVE

OK, for the sake of this post, let’s say you understand and accept everything that I said in the previous four sections on the brain and sanctification. At this point, then, the proper response or question might be: “You mean I read all of that stuff just to humor you? So what? What good or difference does any of that make?”

Calm down. Take a deep breath, hold it ’til the count of five, then release. Repeat a few thousand times or so.

In a way, the application of all the preceding can be of great value; at the same time, it is a re-discovery of what the Bible has demonstrated and described all along. Again, for the sake of argument (or, “discussion,” since spiritual Christians don’t argue (1 Cor 1.10 [pardon my ripping the verse out of context to use for my own sarcastic purpose]), let’s assume that everything I said is accurate and in keeping with biblical anthropology. Starting from that point, there are several important applications to be made.

The first, which was mentioned in the last post, is the importance of knowing the Bible. If it is true that the Holy Spirit uses the Bible to accomplish His work of sanctification in us, then the more time spent reading or hearing the word of God the more quickly He can work in us. Of course, the Holy Spirit must enlighten us as we read or listen, but if we’re not reading or listening to the Bible then the light may shine but there won’t be anything for us to see. Or anything for Him to work with.

So Bible reading/hearing/studying is important. But we have to be sure that we are accurately or correctly handling the truth God has entrusted to us (2 Tim 2.15). There is a discipline or regimen to the study of the Bible that is necessary to follow if we are to have truths available to the Holy Spirit. Again, the Bible is not a magical book that will yield truth to a reckless audience. We must be clear on what God has said or promised and, just as importantly, what He has not said or promised. Every lesson we are taught, every conclusion we come to on our own must be subjected to the infallible truth of the Bible and the penetrating discernment of the Holy Spirit within us.

The major application is drawn from a discipline called “brain-based learning,” which was pioneered by secular (?) educators Geoffrey and Renate Caine. Their books are fascinating reading and, as will be explained shortly, quite encouraging for Christians in an indirect way.

In 1975, Christian educator Larry Richards wrote A Theology of Christian Education, a remarkable book and well-ahead of its time. One of the problems he identified was the difficulty in getting isolated beliefs (head knowledge) to become operating beliefs (so-called heart knowledge, or that which is put into practice).

The work of the Caines provides valuable insight into accomplishing that task. (All quotes in the following are from their works.) There are three things necessary for brain-based learning to occur:

1. Relaxed alertness
2. Orchestrated immersion
3. Active processing.

Relaxed alertness refers to a state of mind characterized by low threat and high challenge: people must feel emotionally safe within an environment and relationship of an honest, supportive yet confrontational community that allows for growth and experimentation. This condition, which is the optimal state of mind for learning, is deliberately achieved. It includes relaxing physically, meditating purposefully (focusing on specific biblical content rather than attempting to empty one’s mind), and providing a physical environment that supports such a state of mind. Providing people with a safe, non-threatening learning experience requires first of all that the teacher/preacher/discipler feels neither threatened nor bored. Only then will learning be safe enough not to be threatening, but challenging enough not to be boring.

Immersion in the learning experience is based on the finding that “to some extent all meaningful learning is experiential.” Elements that contribute to immersion in learning include “an event or situation that has some aspect of a narrative or story form;” a physical environment that supports the narrative; genuine, supportive social relationships, and, a wide range of experiences involving as many of the senses as possible. The more that the experience resembles real-life, the more effective the teaching. Orchestrated immersion involves not only personal interaction with the teacher or discipler, but an opportunity for people to engage in long-term, open-ended, and self-directed studies which are sufficiently challenging so as to produce intrinsic rewards. One need look no further than the process of sanctification, a life-long pursuit not to be completed in this lifetime, for an example of such a challenge for the Christian. And more than merely being immersed in the study, the Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and provided with the power to do the work.

The third and final condition necessary for learning to occur is active processing of the experience by the people. This means that, guided by the teacher, preacher, or discipler, sufficient practice and rehearsal is provided to allow the people to begin to make connections and create new meanings with the new knowledge being acquired. To broaden and deepen the learning, people must be given an opportunity to actively process the material and the experience. One of the primary purposes in the calling of the twelve disciples, according to Mark, was so that these men might spend time with Jesus (3.14). This was their apprenticeship, a time when they would learn lessons from the Master not only through His messages but by accompanying Him during more than three years of ministry. Jesus did not primarily train the disciples didactically but by having them with Him and giving them ministerial opportunities and responsibilities. While His purpose was not to present a treatise on effective brain-based discipling techniques, our Lord nevertheless modeled the conditions and principles discussed here. In loving His disciples He created an atmosphere of relaxed alertness; by being with them continuously He immersed them for more than three years in a learning-rich environment, and through repetition, questions, and fellowship gave the disciples opportunities to actively process all that they were learning.

Following the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the effectiveness of His strategy was demonstrated by the awareness of the rulers, elders, scribes, and family of high priests who, “as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus” (Ac 4.13). Empowered by the Holy Spirit, Peter and John manifested the effects of three-plus years of on-the-job learning in what it meant to minister, preach, and witness.

They changed the face of the world because they had received a real-life education and had been discipled into being leaders of the early church. And this is precisely what the church is to be about today. The church is meant to be a loving and confrontational community (relaxed alertness), involving people in the work of the ministry (orchestrated immersion), and through fellowship allowing believers to process and discuss their Christian experience (active processing). God created our brains. He knows how we learn, and His approach is clearly demonstrated in Jesus’ interactions with the disciples and in all His dealings with His people throughout the Bible. For the church to succeed, it needs only to return to that which is effective in facilitating sanctification in the Christian.


2 Cor 1:13