If not, What Is the Case For Our Soul?

Physicalism is in the drinking water in Western culture, and even Christian believers have no idea that there is evidence for an immaterial consciousness and soul. That’s sad!

In its strict definition, physicalism is the thesis that everything is physical. In other words, the physicalist argues that the universe and everything in it corresponds to the condition of being physical. When the physicalists are confronted with the reality that the world also contains things that are not physical, such as psychological elements, social objects, and mathematical characteristics, they would argue that although such items do not seem physical at first glance, they are because of the critical relationship that these items bear to the physical.

That is, the causal argument for physicalism holds that all physical effects are due to physical causes. In other words, anything having physical effects must itself be physical. In other words, physicalism holds that the mental is “nothing over and above” the physical. The physicalist seeks to provide an explanatory account of the mind only in physical terms.

I argue against the causal argument of physicalism in favor of the knowledge argument. There are truths about consciousness that cannot be deduced from the complete physical truth. In other words, the physical truth is not the whole truth. That is, the physical truth neither determines nor can claim the whole truth about the world. For example, the phenomenal consciousness experience of the subjective aspect of the mind is not a physical fact. This echoes a fundamental observation that Dr. Moreland argues in the Irrelevance of Neuroscience article: “Neuroscience does not say anything about what consciousness is or what the soul is. Moreover, the physicalist can answer the question of what consciousness is only by dodging the question of its relationship to other states. That is, the physicalist is likely but mainly interested in what causes consciousness. However, are conscious states identical to brain states, or can they be reduced to physical states of the brain? Note that the functions that used to be attributed to the soul are now attributed to the brain. Moreover, are conscious states reduced to brain states? No. Conscious states cannot be identified with the brain’s physical states, since most of our thoughts, for instance, lack shape, location, or size.

Now, if  there is evidence for an immaterial consciousness and soul, where does the soul go when the body dies?  The biblical view of hell presents a stumbling block to many people today since it seems too harsh for a loving God to send someone to hell, and it seems unfair since it is everlasting.

Is there an alternative to the biblical view of hell?

A few years ago, a famous Pentecostal Pastor died after he started to preach universalism in the 1990’s. Carlton Pearson preached the gospel of universalism that denied the existence of hell. Universalism claims that hell will one day be empty. They claim that people will have a second chance beyond death, an idea Rob Bell favors in his book, “Love Wins.” Like every heresy, his view is biblical before getting horribly out of balance.

In Rob’s view, this quality of life is possible because it is eternal, and we do not have to think that hell can never be changed, that someone’s condition in hell can never be changed. Therefore, he concludes, “One day, hell will be empty because love wins.” Turning to Dr. Moreland, who quotes Morton Kelsey, “To say that men and women after death will be able to resist the love of God forever seems to suggest that the human soul is stronger” (Moreland, 2014, p. 166), obviously, universalism, in its attempt to lock the notion of hell away, seems to be very attractive.

However, a biblical perspective goes against universalism. The path of salvation is itself a narrow one. The problem is that universalism rejects all verses that go against its view out of hand. Universalism claims that every religion’s path to salvation is right. However, if this were true, evangelism would have no point.

What is the point of asking anyone to change religions if all religions are, at the bottom, Christianity in disguise? Passages like John 14:26, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” go against the doctrine because it clearly states that salvation is through Christ alone. Hebrews 9:27 clarifies, “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”