Why do people still believe in the existence of the soul?

An attempt to understand one's inner state, based on the laws of nature, is not something new. Even before Hippocrates indicated four fluids in the body, Greek, Roman and Indian physicians speculated about what "flows" of different fluids mean. The flow, as a rule, was considered useful, while its blocking often led to chronic ailments and even death.

What was invisible could never be understood until the end, so the theory has outlived itself. The theory of embryos eventually disproved this concept, but in its essence the idea of the existence of the soul is preserved.

Connection of external and internal world

To follow this line of thinking, according to which the existence of the internal and external world is synchronized, external actions should influence internal processes, for example, such as illness.

This type of thinking is observed often. For example, preachers claim that earthquakes, droughts and storms are caused by the approval at the state level of same-sex marriage. Only last week Alabama congressman Mo Brooks said that people who "do good deeds" are healthy, and therefore should contribute less to insurance pools. Such an ambiguous faith contains a metaphysical view. Few clergymen consider the relationship between the internal and external environment.

The views of Martin Luther

The name of Martin Luther in the modern world is associated with criticism from the official Catholic Church, which offered indulgences to Christians to ensure their safe entry into the afterlife. Although Luther became an unsuccessful connoisseur of the body, his ideas about the soul influenced him throughout his life.

The Reformation of the Theologian

The theologian Luther became the author of famous theses, which brought him wide fame and laid the foundation for the reformation of 1517. His fierce rebuttal against such things as idolatry, marriage and the sacrament, ultimately contributed to the split of religion. He was carried away by the idea that Scripture is more relevant than papal decrees or theologians. So characterizes the theologian researcher from Oxford University Roper.

Ideas of Lutheranism

Martin Luther knew exactly how to circumvent censorship and protect their ideas, spreading them as widely as possible. Each of his new work marked yet another radical step forward toward an audience that craved more. No one has dared to use the seal with the purpose of such destructive effect.

Moreover, Luther was a connoisseur of the human body. He demanded that wine be served with bread so that the Christian really accepted the blessing of Christ. While marriage was unacceptable to the clergy, he found that sex was really good, but still adhered to the generally accepted view of the role of women in society.

Bold statements

In one of his greatest criticisms aimed at Rome, Luther declared that the papal authority was sanctioned. Luther fully lived in his imagination, reflecting on what information humanity has collected over all previous centuries that preceded the Bible. He was distinguished by originality of thinking. He proposed the study of modern achievements instead of long-known speculation.

A nonstandard view of the world

He also enjoyed carnal pleasures: sex and intoxication became a part of his daily life. Nevertheless, he attributed spiritual reasons to what is happening inside the flesh, which he loved so much. In particular, it concerned diseases.

However, what seems unusual in Luther's thinking? Faith was scooped up by the theologian from bodily experiences, and the older he became, the sharper this question was for him.

He believed that his body became the identification of the Norwegian term "Ragnarok", which meant that the final forces of good and evil fought inside the intestines and were controlled from above.

In a letter to the Lutheran reformer Philip Melanchthon, he wrote that the devil stopped seducing him spiritually and went on to physical assaults. The closing of his body was a definite sign of the victory of Antichrist.

As his body failed, "his mood became more and more apocalyptic." Since his organs did not function properly, this meant that the society itself was in disarray.

The reformer was not deprived of some impudence - the religious idea of humility, apparently, his basic teachings are missing. Humor remained an integral mechanism for influencing people's minds, which he used to "destroy the aura of holiness." A picture of a man emerges, who did not doubt his rightness and knew how to bring down mankind from the true path. His teaching left a huge mark.

Cognitive Science

Five hundred years after the Lutheran Reformation, we are experiencing another revolution in understanding how our nervous systems interact with the environment through the expanding field of neuroscience. People who are impatient in their essence expect that all outstanding issues related to biology do not have the right to exist. However, cognitive science is a relatively young discipline, and the progress achieved with the available means is already astonishing.

While the mechanisms of consciousness of science are not fully understood, one thing remains undeniable: consciousness depends on the body. There is no body and no mind, and consequently, there is no such thing as a soul.

Such a concept, as consciousness, was already interested in the philosophers Plato and Aristotle. In the era of antiquity, this topic formed the basis of many of their works.

Is the body and soul connected?

In the 17th century, the French mathematician, philosopher and physicist René Descartes expanded the notion of consciousness, indicating that the body and consciousness are independent and unrelated.

As Daniel Dennett and other scientists believe, consciousness is not a special system in the brain or body. It, rather, arises from a series of small processes unified in a unique way to create a larger phenomenon. This manifests itself in the numerous neurological diseases that people suffer when one link in the discarded chain creates its own unique connections.

It is not known whether an integral chain will be discovered, but still the mind and body are separate phenomena, just as brain thinking is not purely rational, but is formed by physical sensations and intuition.

Martin Luther probably never thought about the fact that people will discuss the topics he put forward in Saxony about five hundred years ago. While his rebellious nature should be admired, we moved away from the theme of the soul.

The spirit and biological essence of the individual are separate and incompatible concepts. Pretending that everything is wrong, we will focus on contemplating the shadow on the wall instead of turning to the light source.