Neuro-reductionism -- we are our brains and our brains are just the inexplicable amalgamation of nerves, chemicals and what nots -- "is the flavour of the week in popular science." DNA pioneer Francis Crick says that humans (and I would think -- that is, if I could think -- all other brained creatures) "are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules." His fellow neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux sums it up even quicker, "You are your synapses."
Hmm. So when Dr. Crick tell his wife that he loves her... does he expect her to believe him? Why? After all, if his description of Man is correct, there is no basis whatsoever for soul, for faith, for morality, for fidelity, or for love.
And what of Dr. LeDoux? Do you suppose that he smiles at a dog chasing his tail? Does he cry when a child is seriously hurt? Does he feel his spirit moved by a glorious sunset or a beautiful piece of music or the sound of a hamburger sizzling on the grill?
Of course they do -- those and ten thousand other evidences of their spiritual humanity. They, like all men, have been carefully, lovingly created in the very image of God. It is something they can't escape, no matter how hard they try to misinterpret the signs of His intelligent power all around them.
And so, despite what they play at in the laboratory, they end up living like what they are -- not brutish beasts, not machines, and certainly not a mixture of chemicals spilled together by convenient accidents over the millenia. They are men, made from miracle and made for fellowship with God Himself.
But the choice is theirs. God has revealed Himself in a myriad of ways, including those wondrous, intricate processes of life and science these fellows study in the lab. But He will not force belief. He leaves that up to us.
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened." (Romans 1)
Neuro-reductionism. It's just another labeling trick, another "God-dodge" that cannot stand up to the test of real life.
