What is "Mind" According to the Scriptures?
I have been thinking lately a lot about so-called "Artificial Intelligence" and androids and in order to really understand them and the deception that will accompany them, it is imperative that we understand Biblical anthropology, that is, the make-up of a human being according to the One who made us.
The Bible teaches that we are body, soul, and spirit. The scripture tells us that the word of God "pierces even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit" (Heb 4:12). This teaches me that by means of study of the word of God we can distinguish between what is a soul and what is a spirit. Furthermore, there is mind and heart as components of the human person.
So this is not simple. Before we can say what is different between an android and a human being, we must have a good understanding of what is a human being! So at first I wanted to try and tackle the question of mind, asking, "What is a mind?" both in itself and in relation to these other components of a human being.
The first thing that strikes me is that the Bible speaks of "the thoughts of the heart" but not once "the thoughts of the mind". Biblically, thoughts come from the heart. The heart is where reasoning happens (Luke, 5:22||Matt 9:4). The Bible also speaks of "the imaginations of the thoughts of the heart", sometimes positively (1 Chron 29:18) and sometimes negatively (Gen 6:5).
The thoughts of the heart are identified with one's purposes (Job 17:11, Heb 4:12). The thoughts of the heart are not always known to one (Dan 2:30), and the thoughts of the heart do not always know the contents of the heart itself (Isaiah 10:7)! So unintended purposes or unconscious programming may be hidden in the heart, subtly controlling the flow of thoughts to bring about an end unknown and unexpected by the person. This might make one think of the psychological theory of the subconscious.
The reason I turn from inquiring about mind to inquiring about heart is because at first I began searching the scriptures for the word "mind" and trying to understand what it means. The conclusion that began to form is that mind refers to purpose or intent. It is the context or framework of a goal or plan in which thoughts are placed and interpreted. I think this is very much the common understanding of what a mind is: something like a screen on which thoughts are projected. The mind experiences the thoughts. The mind doesn't think the thoughts but rather experiences them as they are thought in the heart (see bold text above). Or rather that the thoughts of the heart produce imaginations which are projected onto the screen of the mind. Therefore the mind is part of the soul, the self-awareness of the creature. But more on this later.
The problem, however, with seeing the mind as this kind of a framework or screen is that intentions and purposes are clearly stated as "the thoughts of the heart" (Job 17:11, Heb 4:12). Yet perhaps this is not a problem at all because the thoughts of the heart are interpreted by the mind, in other words, they are perceived or experienced according to the mind of the person. In other words, a thought of the heart is experienced according to the person's purpose, and thus it might be said that the purpose belongs to the thought itself although the purpose actually belongs to the mind as a property thereof, yet the thought cannot be experienced apart from the mind. Thus the thought is experienced in the context of the person's purpose and so it seems that the thought itself has that purpose intrinsically. Does this do violence to the following Biblical statements?
"My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart." Job 17:11
"For the word of God is...a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Heb 4:12
Let us answer, 'no' for the moment at least. So then we have an understanding of the mind. It is the part of the person that experiences thoughts by receiving them into the context of the person's conscious purposes and intents. It is thus part of the soul, which is commonly considered to be the composition of 'mind, will, and emotions.' I agree partly with this assessment except as I study more about 'mind' I find will and emotions folded into it already. The Bible, for example, speaks of a "willing mind" (1 Chron 28:9, 2 Cor 8:12) and emotions certainly have an impact on the will and also are closely associated with purposes and intents.
If something is done of a "ready" or "willing" mind, it means that this action is in accordance with the purpose of the mind. This is why Paul says to Philemon,
"But without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly." Philemon 1:14
Paul is saying that although his suggested course of action will benefit Philemon, Paul does not want this benefit to be forced on Philemon unwillingly but wants to persuade him of the right course so that his obedience will be by his own choice.
So we see that when someone acts according to their will, it is according to their mind. When they act against their will, they are acting 'without' or 'outside of' their mind. To be 'out of one's mind', therefore, means to consistently act against one's own purposes which further means that one is acting against one's will, or "by necessity". This means there is some compulsive force acting upon the person that is distinct from the person themselves. Now we begin to learn something about demonic possession, although this "necessity" might be caused by any of several other agencies, including circumstance. However, when the exigency is explicable, we do not generally speak of a person as being 'out of their mind'.
As for emotions, disordered emotions affect the will and mind. If we take the will as an ally of the mind, which is the well-ordered case, then disordered emotions run contrary to the will and cause a person to act 'out of their mind'. Disordered emotions cause a person to act contrary to their purposes and intents. Rightly-ordered emotions work harmoniously with the will and mind to advance a person's purposes. This is what Paul desires for Philemon and what David prays for his son Solomon:
"And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind:" 1 Chron 28:9a
A perfect heart also speaks to well-ordered emotions because being perfect, it is single rather than divided. Rightly-ordered emotions are not confused and warring against each other or shifting one moment to the next but they are working in concert with the willing mind to accomplish the man's purposes, in this case the service of the Lord.
So the will is really the position of a mind relative to a proposition. Since mind contains the notion of purpose and intents within itself, will is simply the attitude of that mind towards thoughts that come. Those things that 'fit' with the purposes of the person will meet with a willing mind in that person. Those things that do not fit with the purposes of the person will be found to be outside that person's mind. Emotions might be, then, the experience of the interaction of a thought with a mind, the experience of a thought meeting with a willing or unwilling mind, the experience of finding a thought either within or without the mind, and the experience of the other thoughts that result from and explain this finding. This would mean that emotions do not come from the heart directly, which is in process prior to the mind, but from the mind as a result of experiencing/thinking the thoughts of the heart.
This explanation fits very well with most of the Scriptures I have read on the matter of the mind, but there are some that would seem to pose problems, such as 2 Cor 9:7 which says that a man purposes in his heart. This would seem to contradict the claim that the mind is the seat of purpose in a man. But if, as just stated, the heart is prior in process to the mind, we might discover once we study the question of, "What is the heart?" that the purposes and intents which are intrinsic to the mind are determined first of all by the heart.
Thank you for reading.
The Bible teaches that we are body, soul, and spirit. The scripture tells us that the word of God "pierces even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit" (Heb 4:12). This teaches me that by means of study of the word of God we can distinguish between what is a soul and what is a spirit. Furthermore, there is mind and heart as components of the human person.
So this is not simple. Before we can say what is different between an android and a human being, we must have a good understanding of what is a human being! So at first I wanted to try and tackle the question of mind, asking, "What is a mind?" both in itself and in relation to these other components of a human being.
The first thing that strikes me is that the Bible speaks of "the thoughts of the heart" but not once "the thoughts of the mind". Biblically, thoughts come from the heart. The heart is where reasoning happens (Luke, 5:22||Matt 9:4). The Bible also speaks of "the imaginations of the thoughts of the heart", sometimes positively (1 Chron 29:18) and sometimes negatively (Gen 6:5).
The thoughts of the heart are identified with one's purposes (Job 17:11, Heb 4:12). The thoughts of the heart are not always known to one (Dan 2:30), and the thoughts of the heart do not always know the contents of the heart itself (Isaiah 10:7)! So unintended purposes or unconscious programming may be hidden in the heart, subtly controlling the flow of thoughts to bring about an end unknown and unexpected by the person. This might make one think of the psychological theory of the subconscious.
The reason I turn from inquiring about mind to inquiring about heart is because at first I began searching the scriptures for the word "mind" and trying to understand what it means. The conclusion that began to form is that mind refers to purpose or intent. It is the context or framework of a goal or plan in which thoughts are placed and interpreted. I think this is very much the common understanding of what a mind is: something like a screen on which thoughts are projected. The mind experiences the thoughts. The mind doesn't think the thoughts but rather experiences them as they are thought in the heart (see bold text above). Or rather that the thoughts of the heart produce imaginations which are projected onto the screen of the mind. Therefore the mind is part of the soul, the self-awareness of the creature. But more on this later.
The problem, however, with seeing the mind as this kind of a framework or screen is that intentions and purposes are clearly stated as "the thoughts of the heart" (Job 17:11, Heb 4:12). Yet perhaps this is not a problem at all because the thoughts of the heart are interpreted by the mind, in other words, they are perceived or experienced according to the mind of the person. In other words, a thought of the heart is experienced according to the person's purpose, and thus it might be said that the purpose belongs to the thought itself although the purpose actually belongs to the mind as a property thereof, yet the thought cannot be experienced apart from the mind. Thus the thought is experienced in the context of the person's purpose and so it seems that the thought itself has that purpose intrinsically. Does this do violence to the following Biblical statements?
"My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart." Job 17:11
"For the word of God is...a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Heb 4:12
Let us answer, 'no' for the moment at least. So then we have an understanding of the mind. It is the part of the person that experiences thoughts by receiving them into the context of the person's conscious purposes and intents. It is thus part of the soul, which is commonly considered to be the composition of 'mind, will, and emotions.' I agree partly with this assessment except as I study more about 'mind' I find will and emotions folded into it already. The Bible, for example, speaks of a "willing mind" (1 Chron 28:9, 2 Cor 8:12) and emotions certainly have an impact on the will and also are closely associated with purposes and intents.
If something is done of a "ready" or "willing" mind, it means that this action is in accordance with the purpose of the mind. This is why Paul says to Philemon,
"But without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly." Philemon 1:14
Paul is saying that although his suggested course of action will benefit Philemon, Paul does not want this benefit to be forced on Philemon unwillingly but wants to persuade him of the right course so that his obedience will be by his own choice.
So we see that when someone acts according to their will, it is according to their mind. When they act against their will, they are acting 'without' or 'outside of' their mind. To be 'out of one's mind', therefore, means to consistently act against one's own purposes which further means that one is acting against one's will, or "by necessity". This means there is some compulsive force acting upon the person that is distinct from the person themselves. Now we begin to learn something about demonic possession, although this "necessity" might be caused by any of several other agencies, including circumstance. However, when the exigency is explicable, we do not generally speak of a person as being 'out of their mind'.
As for emotions, disordered emotions affect the will and mind. If we take the will as an ally of the mind, which is the well-ordered case, then disordered emotions run contrary to the will and cause a person to act 'out of their mind'. Disordered emotions cause a person to act contrary to their purposes and intents. Rightly-ordered emotions work harmoniously with the will and mind to advance a person's purposes. This is what Paul desires for Philemon and what David prays for his son Solomon:
"And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind:" 1 Chron 28:9a
A perfect heart also speaks to well-ordered emotions because being perfect, it is single rather than divided. Rightly-ordered emotions are not confused and warring against each other or shifting one moment to the next but they are working in concert with the willing mind to accomplish the man's purposes, in this case the service of the Lord.
So the will is really the position of a mind relative to a proposition. Since mind contains the notion of purpose and intents within itself, will is simply the attitude of that mind towards thoughts that come. Those things that 'fit' with the purposes of the person will meet with a willing mind in that person. Those things that do not fit with the purposes of the person will be found to be outside that person's mind. Emotions might be, then, the experience of the interaction of a thought with a mind, the experience of a thought meeting with a willing or unwilling mind, the experience of finding a thought either within or without the mind, and the experience of the other thoughts that result from and explain this finding. This would mean that emotions do not come from the heart directly, which is in process prior to the mind, but from the mind as a result of experiencing/thinking the thoughts of the heart.
This explanation fits very well with most of the Scriptures I have read on the matter of the mind, but there are some that would seem to pose problems, such as 2 Cor 9:7 which says that a man purposes in his heart. This would seem to contradict the claim that the mind is the seat of purpose in a man. But if, as just stated, the heart is prior in process to the mind, we might discover once we study the question of, "What is the heart?" that the purposes and intents which are intrinsic to the mind are determined first of all by the heart.
Thank you for reading.
