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Overcoming Delusion: The Soul of Our Nation--Animal or Spiritual?

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Genesis 2:7: The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.

Ecclesiastes 12:7: The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Matthew 10:28: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.

So, Berkhof concludes the Bible teaches that man's constituent elements are the material body and the immaterial soul (or spirit).

Traditionally, the body is often referred to as the "animal" part of man and the soul is referred to as the "spiritual" or divine part of man (man's soul is "divine" because it is not mortal).

Much of this is subject to various debates in various circles. But what cannot be debated is the fact that many people hold these beliefs: to the point where the movie franchise Star Wars made history with its assertion of a human "dark" and "light" side.

Instinct and Desire

Our common understanding is that "instinct" directs animal life-activity. Pursuant to this Keyserling asserts that the natural animal is never "sick" in the way that humans are and are not "immoral" in the same way as humans. Because the natural animal is constrained by "law" but human beings are "free."

Abraham Maslow, in his book, Motivation and Personality, acknowledges that a simple "instinctive" analysis of human nature will not work. Still he asserts that the basic needs of humanity are "instinctoid" in nature. Asian philosophy says that in humans the "instinct" of the natural animal morphs and becomes "human desire."

Thus, in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna teaches the warrior Arjuna that "there are three gates leading to the hell of self-destruction for the soul--lust, anger, and greed. Therefore, all should abandon these three." (Chapter 16 verse 21).

This discussion affirms that in both Theological and Psychological literature we find that the "dark" side of human nature is rooted in the "animal" or the material. Theological literature tends to paint this animal versus spirit dichotomy in black and white terms. Whereas modern psychology, at least as influenced by Maslow, treats human desire as a hierarchy of needs which in some sense build on each other toward the spiritual. But what can't be ignored is that the "animal" is a necessary part of human experience and motivation.

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Eric Z. Lucas is an alumnus of Stanford University (Creative Writing Major: 1972-1975), the University of Washington (1981: BA English Literature and Elementary Education) and Harvard Law School, J.D. 1986. Since law school he has been a public (more...)
 

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