All unhappiness rooted in sin?

[tonyrey]

If unhappiness is something natural/chemical in your brain then we cannot control it! Mental activity cannot be reduced to biochemical processes.
Otherwise we wouldn’t exist! The self is not a brain which controls itself…

I used to but now I control and even eliminate it by hypnotising myself. Why can’t there be interaction between the mind and the brain?

BTW It is important to distinguish the sensation from the fear of pain. It becomes more bearable if you do that rather than rush to the pharmacy…

 

[tonyrey]

I believe that much unhappiness arises from trying to extract happiness from lowly worldly pleasures. True happiness comes from God, through the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit!

I entirely agree, Robert! Although we shouldn’t fall into the trap of Puritanism and despise all pleasure…

 

[tonyrey]

Unhappiness is the absence of serenity, sadness the absence of contentment. Sadness and serenity, never exclusive one to the other, coexist peaceably as dispositions of mind and soul only when the underlying grief, anxiety, desolation or distress finally runs its course. Only when the cross is accepted does unhappiness retreat. The sadness continues. The Christian can be serenely sad.

Wise words! Even Jesus was tempted to despair on the Cross but He prayed to His Father and promised the thief they would soon be in paradise.

 

[CHRISTINE77]

Oh yes, Jews believe in sin. We are not Buddhists. However, the focus should not be how sinful we are but rather in changing our behavior in a more positive direction. If one wallows in one’s sinful nature, then guilt will emerge, and the latter may inhibit us from changing.

Great things can come from a guilty conscience. It’s good to have a well developed sense of guilt, otherwise this world would be full of psychopaths.

 

[tonyrey]

Great things can come from a guilty conscience. It’s good to have a well developed sense of guilt, otherwise this world would be full of psychopaths.

That is where many atheists’ view of reality is defective. They regard Christians as obsessed with sin and rarely think of their own vices and defects yet the only way to develop as a person is to be realistic and try to be more considerate - not with vague intentions but examining our own behaviour objectively. Socrates was right when he referred to the Delphic maxim “Know thyself”. Most of our unhappiness is caused by pride, envy, vanity, jealousy, ambition, indifference, laziness, selfishness and lack of compassion. Atheism is in fact the result of intellectual pride which leads to the dogmatic presumption that God cannot possibly exist…

 

[meltzerboy]

That is where many atheists’ view of reality is defective. They regard Christians as obsessed with sin and rarely think of their own vices and defects yet the only way to develop as a person is to be realistic and try to be more considerate - not with vague intentions but examining our own behaviour objectively. Socrates was right when he referred to the Delphic maxim “Know thyself”. Most of our unhappiness is caused by pride, envy, vanity, jealousy, ambition, indifference, laziness, selfishness and lack of compassion. Atheism is in fact the result of intellectual pride which leads to the dogmatic presumption that God cannot possibly exist…

I agree with some or most of what you are saying here, but not with your last statement. Might not atheism be the result of intellectual HONESTY rather than pride? In other words, atheists claim that G-d does not exist not because that assertion gives them a right to do whatever they want, but rather because, according to their way of thinking, there is insufficient evidence to prove the contrary. Most atheists I know are not selfish and they have moral values and a sense of responsibility toward others. I would not use the word “pride” to characterize their feelings about themselves or others.

 

[meltzerboy]

Great things can come from a guilty conscience. It’s good to have a well developed sense of guilt, otherwise this world would be full of psychopaths.

For some yes, while for others no. For the latter, I think a “well-developed sense of guilt” may result in paralyzing them so that they make no positive changes in their lives.

 

[STT]

I used to but now I control and even eliminate it by hypnotising myself. Why can’t there be interaction between the mind and the brain?

BTW It is important to distinguish the sensation from the fear of pain. It becomes more bearable if you do that rather than rush to the pharmacy…

Because soul is immaterial and has no location, so it cannot be on intact with matter to cause a change. Etc.

 

[tonyrey]

Because soul is immaterial and has no location, so it cannot be on intact with matter to cause a change. Etc.

Your belief that the soul cannot be related to the body in any way implies a degree of knowledge no one possesses…

 

[CHRISTINE77]

For some yes, while for others no. For the latter, I think a “well-developed sense of guilt” may result in paralyzing them so that they make no positive changes in their lives.

That’s the modern model. I think people who have a well-developed sense of guilt are more sensitive and compassionate toward others. They know that “there for the grace of God go I”. They know that they are far from perfect and need God in every aspect of their lives.

Well at least people who believe in God. As for those others, you are right. They have no one to turn to except psychologists and drugs!

 

[CHRISTINE77]

Because soul is immaterial and has no location, so it cannot be on intact with matter to cause a change. Etc.

The soul is connected to the body. In some cultures, they burn the body after death, so the soul will not hang around the dead body, but go up to the spirit world where it belongs.

 

[tonyrey]

Your belief that the soul cannot be related to the body in any way implies a degree of knowledge no one possesses…

Of course “no one” doesn’t apply to God.

 

[STT]

Your belief that the soul cannot be related to the body in any way implies a degree of knowledge no one possesses…

Cause and effect are local things. Soul has no location. Therefore we are having a problem in our hand that how soul can affect the body and vice versa.

 

[Vic_Taltrees_UK]

As we - including our souls - are comprised by many elements of form and matter coming together, soul touches location.

I’m basically with Tonyrey’s earlier response no 6.

God has a wholesome ambition that we should have wholesome ambition.

 

[tonyrey]

Your belief that the soul cannot be related to the body in any way implies a degree of knowledge no one possesses.

“we” only applies to those who apply human categories to reality as if they have insight into its origin, value and purpose…

 

[CHRISTINE77]

Cause and effect are local things. Soul has no location. Therefore we are having a problem in our hand that how soul can affect the body and vice versa.

Soul is located in the body until death.

 

[meltzerboy]

Soul is located in the body until death.

Descartes believed the soul was located in the pineal gland of the brain. Probably not!
But weren’t there some pseudo-scientific studies that captured the soul leaving the body upon death? In any case, this idea is part of Jewish thinking as well. It is also thought in Judaism that the soul leaves the body temporarily when we sleep.

 

[CHRISTINE77]

Descartes believed the soul was located in the pineal gland of the brain. Probably not!
But weren’t there some pseudo-scientific studies that captured the soul leaving the body upon death? In any case, this idea is part of Jewish thinking as well. It is also thought in Judaism that the soul leaves the body temporarily when we sleep.

That’s interesting! Can you cite your source?

 

[tonyrey]

Cause and effect are local things. Soul has no location. Therefore we are having a problem in our hand that how soul can affect the body and vice versa.

Having no soul or mind is a far greater problem for anyone who understands that the body is incapable of understanding anything! How do you solve that paradox (self-contradiction)?

 

[STT]

The soul is connected to the body. In some cultures, they burn the body after death, so the soul will not hang around the dead body, but go up to the spirit world where it belongs.

How soul which has no location can be connected to the body?