• What is Your Soul?
• Is it an Add On Extra?

In my previous post I showed why I believe Naturalism must be false. ^<1> As Stephen Hawking explained, if the material universe is all that exists, then people are only robots. He claimed that is true. However, if Stephen Hawking was only a robot, then his statements are meaningless. He was forced to make those statements by previous events beyond his control.

The conclusion is that each of us has a soul. It is the part of us that is outside the material universe, and is not controlled by cause and effect. This leaves a number of mysteries to explore:

Why does the material universe exist?

The Big Bang theory is a well accepted explanation of how the material universe developed. It does not explain how or why it got started. There was no physics, space, or time before the Big Bang, so physics and the other sciences cannot help.

What is a soul, and how did we get one?

Is it an add on extra? Where did it come from?

Besides human souls, is there anything else outside the material universe?

Do we alone have free will? Are there creatures that are completely outside the material universe?

Is there a theory that could help us understand? It is not found in the physical sciences, since they are based on observing cause and effect inside the material universe, and we need something to explain the part of reality outside of it. The theory would need to explain human souls and the material universe. It must:

• Be consistent with our observations of the material universe.
• Be self consistent. Naturalism is self refuting.
• Be verifiable.

One theory, the only one I know of that fits, is found in Genesis, the first book of the Judeo—Christian Bible. It was first written in about 1400 BC, during the exodus of the Hebrew people out of Egypt, but probably was understood long before that.

According to Genesis:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.  And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 

Genesis 1:1—3, [NIV]HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® by Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved., Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society publisher: International Bible Society

Genesis affirms that God exists. Genesis is not a science text book. That is not its purpose. Its purpose is to explain God's relationship with the material universe and with us. God said, "Let there be light." In modern terms that is the Big Bang. He created it, and exists independently of it. God does not depend on the material universe. The material universe depends on Him.

Genesis divides the creation of the material universe into six days. The order of creation is poetically similar to what we understand about the material universe based on the Big Bang theory. For example, light was created on the first day. The Sun and the Moon were created on the fourth day. That means that "day" in Genesis does not depend on the rotation of the earth beneath the Sun. Rather, it is a poetic description of a sequence of events.

Note: This is not about Darwinian evolution versus Creationism.

On day five God created life in the oceans. On day six God created the wild animals on land. At the end, also on day six:

God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness ... So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.  God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

Genesis 1:26—28, [NIV]HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® by Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved., Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society publisher: International Bible Society

This does not mean God looks like an old man with a long beard. It means that God created us to be like him in specific ways. He gave each of us a soul which makes us more than robots. He gave us logical thinking abilities. He enables us to understand, in part, the logic of his creation. He gave us the ability to converse with Him. He gave us the desire and ability to create.

Genesis begins to answer the questions about something more than physical reality. The material universe exists because God created it. We have rational souls because God created us that way.

Does God exist?^<2> Did He really do these things for us? Can we, in some sense, verify the Genesis creation story? I will explore these things and more in future posts. What do you think? Let me know in the comments sections.

My next post, The Convergence of Science and Theology,^<3> examines the interplay between science and theology.