The Physical Nature of Christian Life: Neuroscience, Psychology, and the Church (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780521734219)

This book explores the implications of recent insights in modern neuroscience for the church's view of spiritual formation. Science suggests that functions of the brain and body in collaboration with social experience, rather than a disembodied soul, provide physical basis for the mental capacities, interpersonal relations, and religious experiences of human beings. The realization that human beings are wholly physical, but with unique mental, relational, and spiritual capacities, challenges traditional views of Christian life as defined by the care of souls, a view that leads to inwardness and individuality. Psychology and neuroscience suggest the importance of developmental openness, attachment, imitation, and stories as tools in spiritual formation. Accordingly, the idea that care of embodied persons should be fundamentally social and communal sets new priorities for encouraging spiritual growth and building congregations.

Author: Warren S. Brown, Brad D. Strawn
ISBN-10: 0521734215
ISBN-13: 9780521734219
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 06/11/2012
Pages: 192
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.50d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 02/01/2013