Abstract
Over several years now, notable research has been undertaken on consciousness from various disciplines in the natural sciences, especially in neuroscience and Christian theology. This paper will therefore attempt to add to the current literature in these areas by addressing briefly the following three main aspects, namely, (1) Presenting a succinct explanation of the various views of consciousness by select scholars. (2) Exploring briefly the question, ‘Is the emergence of consciousness a product of an evolved brain?’ (3) Concisely examining the question, ‘Is consciousness of God and spiritual experiences a divine act and/or a process of an evolved brain?’
Highlights
The purpose of this article is to briefly explore and appreciate the symbiotic nature of the brain and mind and its evolutionary pathway in generating consciousness, especially spiritual consciousness, leading to spiritual experiences.1 The projected model is to do a succinct narrative review of the various views of consciousness by select scholars over the past years, to illustrate that generally it is difficult to apply a proper working definition to consciousness
The current philosophy of animal consciousness will be examined, and a brief analysis on whether consciousness is by divine act or/and by an evolutionary process will be considered
The thoughts on animal consciousness were briefly explored, and it was shown that much research is still required to expand on what current research has to say on animal consciousness and what they may experience
Summary
The purpose of this article is to briefly explore and appreciate the symbiotic nature of the brain and mind and its evolutionary pathway in generating consciousness, especially spiritual consciousness, leading to spiritual experiences. The projected model is to do a succinct narrative review of the various views of consciousness by select scholars over the past years, to illustrate that generally it is difficult to apply a proper working definition to consciousness. There is a common benefit in understanding how they link to further appreciate the relationship between God and human beings from a cognitive perspective, and how, to a certain extent, the mind and brain may generate spiritual experiences Such a study does come with its own challenges, especially since the term consciousness is vague, and seemingly lacks a proper working definition. The renowned cognitive scientist and philosopher David Chalmers presented and published a paper in 1995 entitled ‘Facing up to the Problem of Consciousness’ In it, he pronounced ‘There is nothing that we know more intimately than conscious experience, but there is nothing that is harder to explain’ (1995:200–219). He is further noted for devising the term ‘The Hard Problem of Consciousness’, meaning it is difficult to define conscious experience
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