Battle for the Mind:How You Can Think the ... - Destiny Image

Surviving the Mind Fields 37
Similarly, prescientific Greek theories, which are rooted in theology,
concentrate on the relationship between the mind and the soul, the supposed
supernatural or divine essence of the human person. For example,
Aristotle approached the concept of the soul from an essentially scientific
perspective, employing elements of biology and metaphysics that encompassed
everything from the concepts of substance, form, and matter, to
those of potentiality and actuality. 5 Essentially, while Christians and other
religious faiths have traditionally deemed the soul to be an immortal entity
that lives on after physical death, Aristotle viewed the soul as united with
the living body and, therefore, unable to exist without a host—the body.
He also regarded the soul or mind as the truth of the body. 6 In essence,
initially in God’s primal creation of humanity, the body or the panoply of
flesh was hosting the mind, but it was not antagonistic to the originally
intended relationship of the mind with God. It was sin that contaminated
the flesh and made it antagonistic or hostile to the relationship; thus, now
the flesh, because of sin, has changed—as Aristotle would say—from being
a host to now being a prison warden.
Mind is also the term most commonly used to describe the higher functions
of the human brain, particularly those that are subjectively conscious,
such as personality, thought, reason, memory, intelligence, and emotion.
Modern Greek theories see the mind as a phenomenon of psychology, and
the term is often used synonymously with consciousness.
The Greek concept of “mind” comes from the word phroneo, and it
means “to set one’s mind on a thing.” 7 The Lord says, “You have to set your
mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (see Col. 3:2). We must
set our minds on things above because the mind is seeking to operate in
the realm of its natural environment and not be controlled by the limitations
of sinful flesh. Thus, the intent of the Spirit in its war against the
flesh is to free your mind from being suffocated by the flesh.