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BOOK REVIEWS Green, Joel B. Body, Soul, and Human Life: The Nature of Humanity in the Bible. Studies in Theological Interpretation. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008. Pp. 240. Paperback, $19.99. Firing another salvo in the on-going monism-dualism debate, Joel B. Green in his new book Body, Soul, and Human Life, presents his ontological monism, a rebuttal against anthropological dualism in general and against the holistic dualism in Body, Soul, and Everlasting Life by John W. Cooper in particular. Green’s anthropological monism, which “coheres well with Nancey Murphy’s argument . . . and with Charles Gutenson’s perspective” (179), merges biblical evidence with advances in neuroscience and views personhood in terms of biography rather than substance. In a telling way, the title, Body, Soul, and Human Life, mimics Cooper’s Body, Soul, and Life Everlasting. Over the years Green and Cooper have been arguing over the merits of monism and dualism. In their well documented 1 clashes they accuse each other of misinterpreting Scripture and of misrepresenting the other’s position, claims which are not unfounded. Their main point of contention is over the issue of the intermediate state, something Green denies and Cooper affirms. Green’s new book continues their academic exchange. Following a survey of Christian anthropology, Green builds his case for science and against philosophy, claiming that we already use science as a hermeneutical filter (21). Through this filter he finds that since the substantive view of the soul is not supported by scientific data, it must be the result of eisegesis: “situating our exegetical work in relations to the neurosciences has the potential to liberate us from certain predilections that might guide our work unawares and to allow questions to surface that might otherwise have remained buried” (28). Green’s low view of philosophy and high view of science has brought him to a dangerous concession. Although he goes to great lengths to assure us that he is not letting 1 John W. Cooper, Body, Soul, and Life Everlasting: Biblical Anthropology and the Monism- Dualism Debate, 2d ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000); Joel B. Green, “Eschatology and the Nature of Humans: A Reconsideration of the Pertinent Biblical Evidence,” Science and Christian Belief 14 (2002): 33; Joel B. Green, “Body and Soul, Mind and Brain: Critical Issues,” in In Search of the Soul: Four Views of the Mind-Body Problem, ed. Joel B. Green and Stuart Palmer (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2005); John W. Cooper, Response to “In Search of the Soul: ‘I Don’t Think It’s Lost,’” paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Christian Philosophers (Philadelphia, November, 2005); and John W. Cooper, “The Bible and Dualism Once Again,” Philosophia Christi 9 no.2 (2007): 459-469. 149
150 ٠ JBTM Vol. 6 No. 2 the Proclamation of the Gospel the science control the hermeneutical agenda, the latter parts of the book undermine his claim. Green explores the central anthropological issue of human identity in the second chapter. He challenges the dualistic mainstay of ‘parts’ and builds a case for how the soul cannot be the seat of personhood. He dismisses the claim that the soul is a distinct entity because neuroscience can demonstrate physiological characteristics typically associated with the soul. He concludes, then, that “if the capacities traditionally allocated to the ‘soul’ . . . have a neural basis, then the concept of ‘soul,’ as traditionally understood in theology as a person’s ‘authentic self,’ seems redundant” (45). Recognizing that the biblical evidence on this issue is somewhat ambiguous, Green correctly points out that the difficulty occurs because of the way we have to contend with different languages, different audiences, and different purposes of the Bible. He knows well that nowhere in Scripture does anyone set out a scientific description of the human constitution. Resting on this, he calls for academic integrity and warns against improper linguistics and dubious hermeneutic practices (59-60). In chapter three Green argues against the typical challenges to neuroscience. He does this through an examination of neuroscientific findings in light of Peter’s, James’s, and Paul’s views of the affects of sin on humanity. He concludes that these biblical writers described human freedom in terms of service to God rather than freedom from service to sin. He also discusses challenges to theology from neuroscience. Through examples of scientific experiments, Green draws daring conclusions that challenge some commonly held beliefs, such as genes play only a marginal role in the development of personality (76-77) and conscious free will is an illusion (80). According to his research, free will is a function of the brain, which is constantly developing: “from birth, we are in the process of becoming, and this ‘becoming’ is encoded in our brains” (85). Because our brains are constantly changing, we cannot reduce personhood to a physical characteristic (87); therefore, personhood should be based on biography and relationship. From this, the New Testament scholar is led to deny the “traditional” doctrine of human free will: “it appears that the distance between evolutionary psychology and biblical faith on the question of free will is less than traditional views might have allowed. . . . This is because theological use of biblical texts has sometimes exaggerated the perspectives on freedom proposed by those texts” (103). The correct way, he claims, to view human capacity for choice is by reforming ourselves as the people of God, by returning to the biblical example of a Christian faith community, something facilitated by neurobiology. Chapter four brings Green to the climax of his book and where he is most explicit in his critique of Cartesian dualism. He shifts the conversation from questioning the existence of the soul to questioning the necessity of embodiment. To do this, Green presents ‘embodied conversion’ as he finds it in Luke-Acts. He finds that “if the neurobiological systems that shape how we think, feel, believe, and behave are forever being sculpted in the context of our social experiences, then in a profound sense we must speak of personal (trans)formation in relational terms. Our autobiographical selves are formed within a nest of relationships, a community” (116). Here, Green’s view of biology informs his view of theology; therefore, he is led to challenge the orthodox understanding of conversion. Instead of an ontological change, Green proposes that conversion entails the rewriting of one’s autobiography. Personhood is not found in a detachable soul but in one’s relationships (129). When someone converts, his or her community changes, and the
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JBTM VOL. 6, NO. 2 THE PROCLAMATION
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Section 1 The Character of Preachin
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Expository Preaching & the Mission
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Preaching The Forest And The Trees:
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The Holy Spirit in Preaching Jake R
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Apologizing To Postmoderns: Develop
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Forms of Humor in the Sermon Humor
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Humor In Preaching ٠ 73 the sermon
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Rethinking The Value Of Metaphors I
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The Resurrection 1 Corinthians 15:1
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Page 120 and 121: God’s Bailout Plan John 3:16 Rev.
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Page 128 and 129: The Yoke’s On You Matthew 11:28-3
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Page 134 and 135: Reaching the Culture and the Nation
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Page 166 and 167: Issues in Baptist Polity, Pt. 2 Vol
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