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We are the only creation who live with the knowledge that we shall one day die. This anticipation of extinction is difficult to contemplate. The sorrow of ceasing to exist fueled a global resurgence of spirituality during the Axial Age (800-200 BC). Culminating around 500 BC, every religious teaching that arose sought to address the universal plight of humanity, i.e., the anxiety of suffering and the tragic finality of death. We turn to contemplate the possibility of an after-life, for, having tasted life, we desire to exist forever.
Hinduism and Buddhism find solace in the possibility of liberation by disciplining the body and the mind through yoga and meditation. Judaism anticipates the divine promise of a good earthly life from Torah by the observance of a covenant, while Islam welcomes a postmortem resurrection by following the Five Pillars of the Quran's Straight Path. These philosophies explore the limits of human consciousness, which, along with emotions and memory, sustain personality. Our spiritual selves rely on the proper functioning of our brains. The religions of India have long understood the importance of mastering the mind to care for the body. What then are the salvific implications of the religious philosophies for the Christian faith in this Decade of the Brain?
Author: Rev. Dr. Ron Choong is a Christian apologist and the Director of the Academy for Christian Thought in New York. He trained as a lawyer and theologian, earning three masters degrees and a doctorate in the philosophy of science and theology, from London, Yale and Princeton. His other books include The Question of Origins: Universe, Life and Humanity, So You Think You Know the Bible, and Neuroscience, Nolition, and Implications of a Kenotic Theology of Moral Cognition.
