Is the human mind supernatural?

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fleetmouse
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Is the human mind supernatural?

Post by fleetmouse » Tue Feb 19, 2008 12:06 pm

I think I've discussed this once before with metacrock but it's lost in the mists of time.

Meta, you've said that the supernatural is on a different level than the natural, being like an operating system for the program called "creation" running inside it. I'm wondering if parts of creation (e.g. the human mind) are themselves supernatural, and if it breaks that dichotomy. And what is the relationship between the mind and the soul? And if the soul is supernatural, is it part of creation or part of the "operating system"?

I have more questions about the supernatural and the mind having to do with the nature of abstraction, ideals and universals but that'll do for now.

p.s. I am not trying to trick you into a particular answer because of an axe-grinding atheist agenda here, just discussing ideas.

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Re: Is the human mind supernatural?

Post by Metacrock » Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:33 pm

fleetmouse wrote:I think I've discussed this once before with metacrock but it's lost in the mists of time.

Meta, you've said that the supernatural is on a different level than the natural, being like an operating system for the program called "creation" running inside it.
I'm amazed you remember stuff I say. no one else does! :mrgreen:



I'm wondering if parts of creation (e.g. the human mind) are themselves supernatural, and if it breaks that dichotomy. And what is the relationship between the mind and the soul? And if the soul is supernatural, is it part of creation or part of the "operating system"?
supernatural is that which pertains to supenature, and super nature is the power of God to transform us to the higher level of understanding/spiritual consciousness. So you could not really speak of natural tings as supernatural.

In my view the soul is a symbol of the over all life in relation to God. The spirit is the mind. So the soul is a symbol and thus its' relation to the "the mind" (spirit) is symbolic, and deals with one's sense of God consciousness. The spirit is braowded by spiritual experience. thus one could say that a spiritual person has a stronger soul in a metaphorical way becuase her/his relationship with God is deeper.


I have more questions about the supernatural and the mind having to do with the nature of abstraction, ideals and universals but that'll do for now.


great, bring them on.
p.s. I am not trying to trick you into a particular answer because of an axe-grinding atheist agenda here, just discussing ideas.
that's ok I trust you. spread the word around the atheist board I have been banned for beating the fundies in debate. but I'll be back, it's just for a few days.
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Re: Is the human mind supernatural?

Post by fleetmouse » Thu Feb 21, 2008 3:05 pm

Metacrock wrote:
fleetmouse wrote:I'm wondering if parts of creation (e.g. the human mind) are themselves supernatural, and if it breaks that dichotomy. And what is the relationship between the mind and the soul? And if the soul is supernatural, is it part of creation or part of the "operating system"?
supernatural is that which pertains to supenature, and super nature is the power of God to transform us to the higher level of understanding/spiritual consciousness. So you could not really speak of natural tings as supernatural.
You have called God the transcendent signifier or organizing principle, so I wonder if there's some overlap or channel between abstract thought and the divine. Not that I'm advancing the idea that God is "just an idea", but rather understanding abstraction differently... in a way that isn't like the world of forms, but comes to me out of the corner of my mind like the strange feeling after staying up all night. Or reading RD Laing. A kind of trippy recognition. Is that a sense of the numinous?

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Re: Is the human mind supernatural?

Post by Hazard » Thu Feb 21, 2008 4:24 pm

Is the human mind supernatural?

The spirit of man is the intellect, will, mind, conscience, and other faculties that make him a free moral agent and a rational being. It is the invisible life breathed into man by God and which goes back to God (Eccl. 3:19-20). The soul and spirit make the inner man "which is not corruptible" (1 Peter 3:4). In general we can say that the spirit of man is that which knows (1 Cor. 2:11), and the soul of man is that which feels. Both together they form a real, tangible spirit body which fits inside the physical body. i cannot find any Scriptures whichteach that the human mind is "Super-natural."

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Re: Is the human mind supernatural?

Post by Metacrock » Thu Feb 21, 2008 10:28 pm

fleetmouse wrote:
Metacrock wrote:
fleetmouse wrote:I'm wondering if parts of creation (e.g. the human mind) are themselves supernatural, and if it breaks that dichotomy. And what is the relationship between the mind and the soul? And if the soul is supernatural, is it part of creation or part of the "operating system"?
supernatural is that which pertains to supenature, and super nature is the power of God to transform us to the higher level of understanding/spiritual consciousness. So you could not really speak of natural tings as supernatural.
You have called God the transcendent signifier or organizing principle, so I wonder if there's some overlap or channel between abstract thought and the divine. Not that I'm advancing the idea that God is "just an idea", but rather understanding abstraction differently... in a way that isn't like the world of forms, but comes to me out of the corner of my mind like the strange feeling after staying up all night. Or reading RD Laing. A kind of trippy recognition. Is that a sense of the numinous?

I think there is. W.T. Stace believed that many mystics, seem to think that contemplation of the abstract ideas was used by Greek mystics to obtain a lower level mystical conscousness. Plato actually regarded the forms as ideas in the mind, their abstract reality.
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Re: Is the human mind supernatural?

Post by Metacrock » Thu Feb 21, 2008 10:31 pm

Hazard wrote:Is the human mind supernatural?

The spirit of man is the intellect, will, mind, conscience, and other faculties that make him a free moral agent and a rational being. It is the invisible life breathed into man by God and which goes back to God (Eccl. 3:19-20). The soul and spirit make the inner man "which is not corruptible" (1 Peter 3:4). In general we can say that the spirit of man is that which knows (1 Cor. 2:11), and the soul of man is that which feels. Both together they form a real, tangible spirit body which fits inside the physical body. i cannot find any Scriptures whichteach that the human mind is "Super-natural."

Greek word for spirit, penuma, and the Hebrew (can't remember) both mean breath because ancient people didn't know why oxygen was so they thought breath was a mystery that contained the actual life itself in it. So they thought of spirits as like wind because you can't see them but you can feel them (you can't see wind but you can feel it yet its not material seemingly). But that's just a misconception. There's no reason why spirit has to be a wind like quality; I beleive the mind is spirit. All the German philosophers have always believed that.
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Re: Is the human mind supernatural?

Post by Hazard » Fri Feb 22, 2008 4:28 am

Metacrock wrote:
Hazard wrote:Is the human mind supernatural?

The spirit of man is the intellect, will, mind, conscience, and other faculties that make him a free moral agent and a rational being. It is the invisible life breathed into man by God and which goes back to God (Eccl. 3:19-20). The soul and spirit make the inner man "which is not corruptible" (1 Peter 3:4). In general we can say that the spirit of man is that which knows (1 Cor. 2:11), and the soul of man is that which feels. Both together they form a real, tangible spirit body which fits inside the physical body. i cannot find any Scriptures whichteach that the human mind is "Super-natural."

Greek word for spirit, penuma, and the Hebrew (can't remember) both mean breath because ancient people didn't know why oxygen was so they thought breath was a mystery that contained the actual life itself in it. So they thought of spirits as like wind because you can't see them but you can feel them (you can't see wind but you can feel it yet its not material seemingly). But that's just a misconception. There's no reason why spirit has to be a wind like quality; I beleive the mind is spirit. All the German philosophers have always believed that.
Mate, I love this Scripture. I was asked once what it meant? "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). My understanding of this verse; As the natural man hears the wind, so the man born again hears the voice of the Spirit.

Haz.

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Re: Is the human mind supernatural?

Post by Metacrock » Fri Feb 22, 2008 1:29 pm

Hazard wrote:
Metacrock wrote:
Hazard wrote:Is the human mind supernatural?

The spirit of man is the intellect, will, mind, conscience, and other faculties that make him a free moral agent and a rational being. It is the invisible life breathed into man by God and which goes back to God (Eccl. 3:19-20). The soul and spirit make the inner man "which is not corruptible" (1 Peter 3:4). In general we can say that the spirit of man is that which knows (1 Cor. 2:11), and the soul of man is that which feels. Both together they form a real, tangible spirit body which fits inside the physical body. i cannot find any Scriptures whichteach that the human mind is "Super-natural."

Greek word for spirit, penuma, and the Hebrew (can't remember) both mean breath because ancient people didn't know why oxygen was so they thought breath was a mystery that contained the actual life itself in it. So they thought of spirits as like wind because you can't see them but you can feel them (you can't see wind but you can feel it yet its not material seemingly). But that's just a misconception. There's no reason why spirit has to be a wind like quality; I beleive the mind is spirit. All the German philosophers have always believed that.
Mate, I love this Scripture. I was asked once what it meant? "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). My understanding of this verse; As the natural man hears the wind, so the man born again hears the voice of the Spirit.

Haz.

yea, that's good. still a metaphorical usage.
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Re: Is the human mind supernatural?

Post by unred typo » Tue Feb 26, 2008 3:01 am

Metacrock wrote:
Mate, I love this Scripture. I was asked once what it meant? "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). My understanding of this verse; As the natural man hears the wind, so the man born again hears the voice of the Spirit.

Haz.

yea, that's good. still a metaphorical usage.
How so? :?
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Re: Is the human mind supernatural?

Post by Hazard » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:46 pm

unred typo wrote:
Metacrock wrote:
Mate, I love this Scripture. I was asked once what it meant? "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). My understanding of this verse; As the natural man hears the wind, so the man born again hears the voice of the Spirit.

Haz.

yea, that's good. still a metaphorical usage.
How so? :?
Why didn't I think to ask Metacrock that question? Must have bumped my head a few times too many over the years.

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