1) The document discusses the evolution of human consciousness and theology from early stages of undifferentiated unity with nature to the development of self-consciousness, language, and the construction of religious and social worlds. 2) Key developments included the emergence of the "theological idea" as humans sought to understand their origins and place in the world, as well as the many religious traditions that arose around 4000 BC-700AD as responses to existential anxiety. 3) The evolution of human intelligence and science both informed and was informed by changing theological conceptions, with ideas like neurotheology emerging more recently to study the relationship between the brain and religious/spiritual experiences.

1. World
I
Module
III
NEUROTHEOLOGY
AN
INITIAL
DISGRESSION
Prof.
Francisco
De
Paula

2. III. NEUROTHEOLOGY
AN INITIAL DIGRESSION
The intellectual and moral culture of humankind is nothing other than the
history of a deep insecurity which hopelessly condemns it to a permanent
state of metaphysical anxiety.
This anxiety is rooted in man’s condition of being a self-conscious
creature, who having lost his animal innocence, finds himself forever
clinging to security and creating religious, moral and social worlds of his
own making in the hope of regaining his lost innocence.
MORGENTHAU
The Dilemma of Scientific Man

3. Neurotheology
• VERY EARLY, our senses were not educated
enough to judge the sequential and spatial
passing of images, sounds and sensations in our
existence: our intelligence was disassociated
from experiencing life, was not able to translate
its incipient observation of the world into the
complex significance of human symbols.
• There were no boundaries separating us from
this natural world.

4. Neurotheology
• Man’s social history began when he
emerge from a state of undifferentiated
unity with the natural world to become
aware of himself as an entity separated
and different from nature and the men who
surrounded him.

5. Neurotheology
• The synthesis and subsequent development of both
language and self-consciousness has been
responsible for the construction of man’s theological,
political, economic and social culture.
• The history and cultural manifestations of man’s self-
consciousness, have served as the foundation of the
immense edifice of his civilization.
• Anyone who knows that he knows is also conscious of
his individuality, self-consciousness and solitude.
• Through history, man’s intelligence has been in charge
of alleviating this solitude by creating religious, political
and economic worlds.
Prof.
Francisco
De
Paula

6. Neurotheology
• Insecurity and astonishment
result from our reflection and
contemplation of our origin and
transcendence, as well as
from our symbolic and
representational observation of
the world.
• We have attained this
representation by the internal
language of our rational
development for introspection,
and the external language
expressed in our capacity for
gregarious communications.

7. Theological Idea
• The evolution of our intelligence
in the historical context of
humanity and the absence of
today’s religious culture, gave
origin to the intellectual
construction of our first
“theological idea”.
• The “theological idea” as a
concept has had determining
influence on man’s life on earth,
constituting the ideological
paradigms of his culture, his
relation to nature and to his
fellow men.

8. Evolution of Consciousness (Hegel)
• Hegel asserts that religion is related to the evolution of
consciousness.
• He considers it has three levels,
– the first, the moment of universal perception in
which God is conceived as universal
undifferentiated, infinite and real.
– the second, is where God and the “I” God outside
the “I”, gives birth to the personal conscious
separated from him, and
– the third is the resort of individuality, in which the
human separation and alienation are transcendent
by the notion of salvation.

9. The God Experience
• “The perception of what is sacred is an element in the
structure of the “conscience”, and not a stage in the evolution
of its development”. (Mircea Eliade)
• For all individuals, the temporal lobes are the origin of
religious or mystical experience. Michael Persinger, canadian
neuropsychologist.
• “The God Experience” is an artifact of transient changes in the
temporal lobe (Persinger, 1987: 137). It is an adaptive
mechanism that compensates for the human capacity to
anticipate future aversive stimuli, above all, death.
• Although helping to preserve the sense of self, “the God
Experience” also fosters passivity, and it could easily prompt
unreasoned decisions that lead to nuclear disaster.
(Persinger).

10. Human Observation and Theological Ideas
• Theological studies tell us that man’s different
religious manifestations have been constricted
from well differentiated process of human
observation:
– an external one, whereby nature’s
phenomena are only perceived and
contemplated (naturalistic) –occurring in the
limbic stem-, and
– the internal, dealing with introspective
speculation (rationalistic) –present in the
cortical-thalamus.

11. Human Observation and Theological Ideas
• Both processes permitted the mental
formation of two great “theological ideas”:
– those which sustained speculation about
this theological ideas only by
contemplating the symbolism and magic
of the forces evident in nature (limbic
stem), and
– those which, using logic, constructed a
rational and intellectualized
representation of divinity (cortical
thalamus).

12. Neurophysiology and Culture
• Julian Jaynes (1976), recasts the
whole humankind’s religious history
in terms of the interplay of
neurophysiology and culture.
• Jaynes argues that self-reflective
consciousness arose only as
recently as 100 B.C.E. Before then,
humans beings possessed a
BICAMERAL MIND.

13. Neurophysiology and Culture.
• Sacred scriptures (the Bible. The
Koran, the Vedas, the Popol Vuh,
etc.) constitute humanity’s
theological and moral heritage.
• In the course of their development
they denote, the level of
development of their narrator’s
conscience or self-consciousness:
– or a primitive state that
expresses the mere
contemplation of a symbolic
perception of the universe;
– or the relational, evolved and
self-conscious development of
their own narrative.

14. The Quest for God
• Aristotle proposed “form” as the origin of “everything”. God, is,
“pure form”, the primary and ultimate cause for the universe.
• Instead, Aquinas proposed to attain the intellectual
reconciliation between the Aristotelian theological analysis
and the biblical tradition of revelation.
• The rational exercise dubito, ergo cogito, cogito, ergo sum (“I
doubt, then I am, I am, then I think”) led Descartes to confess
his doubt of the contemplative fact of his own observation,
and then proceeded to pursue self-discovery through the
purely “rational” exercise of speculation about his thought.

15. The Unity of Thought and co-participation with God
• “The enlightened” thinkers,
John Locke, George
Berkeley and David Hume,
excitedly identified as “the
adulthood of human
philosophy”, were focused
on revising the
examination of the mind’s
speculative methodology
and the nature of its
recently discovered
subjectivity.
• Even in the abstract field of Theology, “the unity of thought” was
proclaimed, as well as the notion that ideas were conceived to co-
participate with God in the creation of the external world.

16. Morality in the Theological Conception of the
Universe
• Kant, an intellectual practically
contemporary to the “enlightened
thinkers”, influenced by Hegel’s
philosophical legacy regarding the “unity
of the spirit” in the shaping of human
culture, introduced a new ingredient, a
revolutionary one at the time, in the
theological conception of the universe :
“morality”.
• Morality, implicit in the normative idea of
God, is conferred to man together with
his liberty, and becomes manifest in the
balance, aesthetics and in the
“intentional” and “purposeful” aspects of
nature.

17. Self-consciousness
• Kant proceeded to reorganize the epistemological study of
man basing it on the attributes which he declare to be
outstanding in terms of “perception”, “intelligence” and
“reason”, considered also to be analogous to the “interior
experience” (introspection) of the world, as well as to the
complementary synthesis of both.
• For him, constituted a unified and supreme explanation of
God.
• Kant subordinated his extraordinary explanation of human
knowledge and theology to the former phenomenon of man
attaining self-consciousness.
• “Self-consciousness has been and will be increasingly
more important in the future evolution of our
intelligence.” (Kant )

18. Reactions to these speculating and
Rationalistic Constructions
• “Contemplative Existentialism” ,
initiated by Kierkegaard.
• “Empirism” , represented by
Bertrand Russell, expressed the
need to reconstruct the bases of
language from a “universal
mathematical logic” that could
forever exclude any possibility of
ambiguity. This trend, was also
called “logical positivism”: rejected
metaphysics a priori, limiting the
reach of its investigation to mere
scientific demonstration.

19. Evolutionary God (Nietzsche).
• The collection of paradigms
pertaining to this theological and
rationalistic thought in Western
civilization maintained, the
metaphysical idea embodied in the
explanation and understanding of
the existence of God, but also, in
incorporating him into the scientific
and historical world that discovered
him.
• This discovery suggested the
innovative theological possibility of
an evolutionary God (Nietzsche).

20. Human Conception of the Origin the Universe
(Espinoza)
• Espinoza opens new roads of
theological argumentation by
proclaiming that, in the human
conception of the origin the universe,
two alternatives were possible: the
mental and the material.
• Either one of these roads could lead to
the reconciliation of the religious
concept of rational God with the
theological notion that is based on the
contemplation of nature.
• These ideas reincorporated the
influence of Darwin’s intellectual
evolutionist legacy into the field of the
biological development of species, as
well as Hegel’s contributions on the
dialectic evolution of thought.

21. The Evolutionary Origin of the Spirit:
Teilhard de Chardin
• In the middle of the 20th century, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
expounded an extraordinary hypothesis in an effort which
took him most of his life.
• He states the evolutionary origin not only of human
intelligence but of the spirit, which, through man’s
emerging “planetary conscience” arrives, during its last
stage of evolution, at the “omega point” of the
“theosphere”.
• This thesis seems to confirm the importance, of the
evolution of man’s cognitive conscience. This process
corresponds with man’s own transcendence. (like Henri
Bergson stated)

22. Western Synthesis of Human
Theological Thought
• This fundamentally Western
synthesis of human
theological thought, together
with the development of our
intelligence and science –and
by virtue of it-, indicates that
the theological conception of
our philosophical tradition was
clearly constructed from an
understanding of the human
spirit and was always directed
toward it.

23. Hindu’s General Concept of the
Evolution
• In the Hindu myths and legends, the general concept of the
evolution of the spirit had already existed for over five thousand
years.
• The Hindus learned that the soul (atman) of all living things under
creation (including man), is always subject to an inescapable
process of spiritual evolution.
• This process advances to extend itself to the limitless infinity of
time (dharma) through a successive progression of reincarnations
as part of a stepladder to perfection, which culminates in the
spiritual union with God (Brahaman).
• At the end of this path, such a union permits the liberation of our
earthly state (Nirvana), enabling the discovery of man’s “internal
I” (self-consciousness), as well as the simultaneous disclosure of
his own transcendence.

24. The Idea of Divinity Creates
Civilization.
• In the historical context of his transformation, man has persistently
fought to alleviate his existential anxiety for as long as the
appearance of his self-consciousness was recorded, which
brought with it the peculiarities characteristic to his culture.
• Through its rituals and archaic mythologies, and in the context of
a sacred “ambiguity”, man’s culture shed light on truly efficient,
universal and compassionate answers regarding his original
insecurity when faced with the phenomenon of self-discovery.
• Housed within the recently created mental space of his
intelligence, in time, these answers developed the idea of divinity,
which depending on the time and culture, conferred man with the
motive, and the moral and spiritual strength to create civilization.

25. Religions
• In the context of man’s theological
evolution, it is interesting to observe
how in a relatively short period of
humanity’s existence, confronted with
the millions of years of his evolution, -
approximately 4000 BC to 700 AC- all
great religions emerged.
• They were founded by men who in their
respective and coinciding histories, after
a prolonged period of fasting and
meditation, had, a revealing
“illumination” regarding what seemed to
be a new state of moral consciousness
that would enable humanity to live in
peace

26. Manicheism
• One of the most interesting
philosophical-historical chapters of
our theological heritage was the
Manichaeism doctrine ,
established during the third
century of this era.
• Manichaeus thought that
insecurity constituted the origin of
man’s notion of having an
imperfect nature as well as his
dualistic and antagonistic
condition regarding good and evil,
which could only be transcended
by achieving self-knowledge.

27. Apocryphal Version of the Bible s
«Genesis»
• Manichaeus illustratively included an
apocryphal version of the Bible’s “Genesis”,
which reads:
– “Matter urged Ashaqrum and Narmrael to devour
the product of their abortions, and having thereby
incremented the light in their bodies, they mated
and conceived Adam and Eve. Adam, who was
born of the unconscious state of the animal which
was destined to be the savior of, was then awaken
to consciousness by the grace of Jesus. In this way,
he opened his eyes and grasped the divine origin of
his soul”.

28. Apocryphal Version of the Bible s
«Genesis»
• In the context of the history
of self-consciousness, this
Manicheanist mythological
episode is an outstanding
example of the recurring
importance that man’s self-
knowledge has in the
possibility of his achieving
self-transcendence.

29. Cities of God
• Among others, the prophets of Israel, Buddha in India,
Confucius and Lao-Tse in China, Jesus in Palestine and
Mohammed in Arabia, not only coincided in the central
philosophical ideas they preached, but also in the models of
cities they proposed for politics, economy and social co-
habitation on which they were to found the moral tradition of our
civilization.
• These cities, “belong to God”, as San Agustin claimed, and
adopted parallel systems of conduct based on the moral
premises of their religion in order to meet the preservation
needs of a new and more complex society.
• By innovating, the cities slowly substituted the biological code of
behavior of natural selection, -of survival of the fittest-, by the
attributes dictated by conscious selection, such as competence,
love, compassion and self-renunciation.

30. Altruism and Solidarity
• The evolved and characteristically
human phenomenon of altruism
emerged from this social co-
habitation, which seemingly
contrary to the “rule of selection”
that made evolution possible, can
only be explained in terms of a
need for “solidarity within the
species”.
• Eventually, this solidarity becomes
an indispensable percept in
human co-habitation in order to
guarantee our survival

31. Revolutionary Dictums
• Jesus established the revolutionary dictum “Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself”, recovering it
from Jewish humanism (Leviticus 19:18), as a
golden rule of conduct.
• While in the Koran, Mohammed proclaimed
“Charity must go to the needy, to orphans and to
beggars”.
• In Hinduism, the maximum about equality reads
“In pain as in love thou shalt see your neighbor as
thyself”.
• Finalmente, among the writings of Confucius we
find “Do not bring on to others what thou do not
want to be brought on to you”.

32. The Development of Religions
• The profane interpretation of each religion had a
considerable influence on the civilization of its time in
terms of the social organization of human life.
• In the Western world, the soul is perceived as the
transcendental substance of our individuality.
• In the East it is conceived as blended with nature’s
eternal and universal spirit.
• The traits characteristic to each human culture have
risen from these structural differences in the
development of their religions: while the Judeo-
Christian biblical tradition established the divine
mandate of man’s power over nature, the skepticism of
the Chinese Tao exhorted man to become
subordinated to nature showing absolute respect for it.
Prof.
Francisco
De
Paula

33. Conflict between Human and
Divine
• In terms of man’s aspiration to attain knowledge, it is
indeed intriguing to notice how in the holy scriptures of
different religions there is a recurring appearance of the
perpetual and ancestral conflict between what is human
and what is divine.
“Then, it will emerge the brain who will investigate the
brain, theorizing about what it does, then it theorizes,
discovering what it does when it discovers, thereby
becoming modified by knowledge forever”.
(Patricia Churchland)

34. Self-perception and New Social
Agreement
• Since man’s life traveled parallel to the road
of possibilities in this self-perception, it left an
inerasable and recognizable trace of his
insecurity in his religious culture.
“I would state confidently, that only in the extent in
which we develop our conscience and intelligence,
individuals as well as collectives, the sole idea of
our responsibility in relation to our survival will
simultaneously appear in the form of a new social
agreement for humanity.” (Buckminster Füller).

35. New Social Agreement
• Although this probable option
of achieving a new social
agreement for humanity, may
not be represented
specifically by a religious or
doctrinaire organization, its
statutes will surely contain the
sum of the moral principles
regarding universal co-
habitation, which by being
accepted, have become
consensual in the diversity of
our civilization.

36. Sacred Forms and Social Currents
• Emile Durkheim expounded the idea
that man’s sacred forms are always
influenced by social currents, and that
they, in turn, are always dependent
on religious ideas.
• Religion is always relevant in the
sense of having a regulating function
in humanity’s behavior and ethical
acts, particularly when we know that
sacred forms are especially efficient
for the psychological effects of social
control and for the normativity of the
law in human communities.

37. Theological Ideas and Human Conduct
• Weber established a sociologic vision of the
transcendence and consequences that theological ideas
have on the development of human conduct.
• An example of this relationship is the outbreak of a
revolutionary religious movement in the late sixties in
Latin America called “Theology of Liberation”, which
emerged from the dispossessed and forgotten “basis” of
the pyramidal stratum of human organization in Latin
America.

38. Human Culture and the Need for
Peace, Justice and Development.
• Hugh Grotious asks provocatively:
– Has the “religious, profane and sacred
configuration” of human culture
(neurotheology) been necessarily
correct in terms of satisfying the
immense need for peace, justice and
development required for man’s
survival in this new era? – Evidently
not.
• A quick view “of the facts” will suffice to see the sad state of
political, economic and social affairs in the present world,
especially in regard to the chapters of the human drama
dealing with poverty and environmental deterioration.