Article for the month of February 2008

A Series of Special Articles by Dr. John Williams
"The Bible is the Text Book of Spiritual Science"
#1. Man has a Spirit, Soul and Body

Key Scripture: II Timothy 5:23
"That the very act of God sanctify you wholly;
and I pray God your whole Spirit and Soul and Body,
be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

1. The Spirit, Soul and Body
Man is made up of three components namely, (1) the Spirit, which gives life to man and access to the Spiritual or Supernatural realm), (2) the Soul (consisting of the (a) Mind which has in memory all experiences of life and all knowledge one has gained, the ability to interpret and understand, the (b) Will which is responsible for making right or wrong and moral and immoral, good or bad decisions and (c) Emotion which is the feeling or the mood of a person, which could be happy or sad, calm or excited, worried or peaceful, tense or relaxed etc), and the (3) Body (with a sense of Touch, Taste, Hearing, Sight and Smell).

The Body
Further there is no need to explain the Anatomy, Physiology or Bio-Chemistry, neither the details of these aspects of the human body with several systems, organs and processes, or how every system such as Skeletal, Muscular, Nervous, Cardio Vascular, Pulmonary, Digestive, Glandular, Renal etc (with several organs in each system) which are intricately intertwined, and collectively function as one total human body. The human body has the following characteristics which make it possible for it to function in the following ways:
• Grow or renew gradually and continuously
• Regulate and protect itself from viral attacks to a very large extent
• Function as a well coordinated or synchronized System with many subsystems
• Self-perpetuate and to continue to exist for thousands of years or from generation to generation with same basic common traits and characteristics, and with the ability to acquire some new characteristics from the environment in which they live
• Be unique in characteristics and nature, while possessing a set of common traits
• Grow in various sizes within a certain range, yet possessing some common traits, features and looks, while having or developing some unique characteristics, appearance and color
• Have the ability to get daily supply of food and build its own dwelling place (nests, holes, houses, dens etc) to protect itself from weather and from their enemies, by escaping or protecting even by camouflaging naturally by its own appearance, color etc., by blending with the natural surrounding in which they live and by escaping from the enemies to which they will otherwise become a prey. At the same time every living creature has ability to find their daily supplies of food from the environment in which they live, overpowering and consuming other living creatures with their greater strength and ability, while the herbivores creatures get their nourishment from its natural surroundings constituted by the trees, shrubs, herbs and grass.
• Live under normal conditions for a certain number of years which is considered and referred to as the life span

2. No sophisticated machine made by man is comparable to a Human Being or any other living creature, created by God in terms of the following:
• Being a living creature
• Being able to perpetually reproduce similar machines, but wears out, become dysfunctional or inoperative, because of a disorder, breakdown, malfunctioning or breakage of some part or the total system.
Suppose we say that a highly mechanized and sophisticated machine, aircraft, automobile or a computer, just developed like that by itself, from a less sophisticated and a smaller piece of machine or a piece of equipment, in a period of millions of years, in course of nature, would any one accept that theory? Even going back into the history of this earth to the stone-age, we find that in the civilizations of tribal people living in jungles, where stones and pieces of wood were used to grind and cook the food for themselves 1000s of years ago, over a period of time, just became more modern or sophisticated electrical and electronically operated cooking appliances such as a blender, microwave oven or electric grill, would anyone with intelligence accept that. However, a similar theory of evolution is easily accepted or believed by intelligent people, just because they do not believe in the Bible as the word of God.

3. The Universe
At this juncture perhaps it is appropriate and in order, to inject some information and explanation about the universe in which the planet earth is suspended in the air, and is revolving at a particular speed in an orbit maintaining the same distance between itself and the sun on one side and the moon on the other side, with the help of the magnetic forces released by the planets, in order to provide light and heat for approximately 12 hours in a day through sunlight and approximately for the same time period in the night, moonlight or varying degrees of darkness.

The research that has been done in the sciences of astronomy etc. as well as the visits of human beings to other planets through spacecrafts or shuttles as well as the research or study made through some sophisticated powerful telescopes which have been used through the years, have only provided very little information about the structure and conditions of the other planets and galaxies. In other words, we are only scratching the surface of some of the planets which are fairly close to the planet earth. Even the information that have been collected through scientific research through the years, is mind boggling. Let us examine a few facts collected about the universe:
• Some clearly identified planets which are closer to the earth, are thousands or millions of miles away from the earth such as Mercury, Pluto, Mars, Jupiter etc.
• Further, it has been discovered that there are many galaxies in the universe and in each galaxy there are perhaps millions of stars and each star is so huge that we cannot measure their circumference or the diameter.
• Another piece of information that would be of interest in this context is something that has been discovered and authoritatively stated by the scientist, which is a fact, that light travels from the sun at the speed of 186,000 miles per second.
• Further scientist say, that if the distance between the sun and the earth becomes shorter even slightly by certain number of miles, even though it is already thousands or millions of miles away from the earth, the extra heat radiated from the sun will make the human existence impossible or difficult at that temperature.
• MORE INFORMATION TO BE ADDED FROM NOTES ON THE UNIVERSE

5. Spiritual Science
It is intriguing to note that 360 million websites are there in the Google Search Engine, and as far as I know this number of websites is far greater than the number of websites on most subjects. This proves the fact that more people are doing research and studies on this subject to probe into the spiritual or supernatural realm or after life experience. It is interesting to note that collectively the websites under this title provide information pertaining to different religions, philosophies and other theories and practices of human beings which do not fall within the ambit or purview of any specific science. This shows there are many areas in a human life which are either mysterious or mystical, but has developed over a period of time in the form of religious beliefs, cultural mores, spiritual or ritualistic practices, magic, philosophies, mythologies etc. One interesting thing I observed in reviewing these websites, is that millions of people are truly searching to find the truth or reality about the universe, God and the life of human beings after death. Many of the findings in these websites also seem to bridge the gap between the religions, beliefs, customs, practices etc, through the centuries. It is interesting to note, that the materials covered in this discipline or ambit of spiritual science are not fully validated and scientifically proved to be formally accepted as a "science" as such, in the academic, scientific or research circles, as yet. Since all the theories of religions, philosophies, astronomy and other mystical beliefs are not accepted as a science in the universities and institutions of higher learning. The scientific mind of human beings does not universally accept the maze of information on the above areas. The information provided thus far will, I am sure be just adequate to comprehend some statements that are going to be made in the remainder of the article about God, man, spiritual beings (good and evil), the universe, religion, Christianity, The Bible, beliefs, reality, life after death, incarnation, heaven and earth, natural and supernatural, miracles etc., about which there are real truths, but they are hidden and they need to be unraveled. Just one more statement has to be added in this context, and that is the subject that we are going to delve into, in the remainder of this article.

6. Life of the human being
All human beings have life and that cannot be denied. But there is no scientific explanation for "Life". When a person dies the medical professionals say that the person is "dead clinically" because of lack of vital signs of life. What has happened to make a living person dead is not scientifically explained. According to the Bible at the point of death, the spirit that gives life to the human beings leaves the human body along with the soul, leaving the body behind on this earth. According to the local custom, practice or religion, the human body is either buried or cremated, because it has no value and future.

7. The Spirit of Man has Godly Spiritual Characteristics
As mentioned in the title of the article, if we read the first chapter of the book of Genesis in the Bible, it is clearly stated that the first man (Adam) was created in the image and the likeness of God. This is a very important statement because it states that we have the image and the likeness of God which helps us to really understand a little bit about God. Putting it in other words, we have the same characteristics and traits that God has. Let us now examine some of the spiritual or Godly characteristics which are explained and portrayed in the Bible, and exemplified by Jesus (God in the form of a man) during his 33 and a half years of life on this earth in the human form. Some of these divine, spiritual or Godly characteristics are listed below:
• Love
• Joy
• Peace
• Long Suffering
• Gentleness
• Goodness
• Faith
• Meekness
• Temperance

These characteristics are listed in the Bible in I Corinthians as the Fruit of the Spirit, which implies that when a person grows and matures spiritually, he will exhibit these characteristics. There are hundreds of other characteristics mentioned in the Bible as God's characteristics or divine nature, but only some samples are given below:
• Creativity
• Wisdom
• Power
• Richness
• Forgiveness
• Righteous Indignation
• Judgment
• Giving Warning
• Predicting the future Prophetically
• Sacrifice

8. The Soul (Mind, Will and Emotion)
These qualities can not be attributed to the body or soul (mind, will or emotion) It is interesting to note the scripture that is quoted underneath the title of the article which says that man has a body, soul and spirit, and soul in turn consists of emotion, will and mind. The fact that man has a physical body and that he has a soul consisting of an emotion, will and mind cannot be disputed or denied. We know it is a fact, and also by our experience.

We use our mind to make decisions and also to store information about everything that we see, hear, smell, taste and touch. Our brain, which has a conscious, a subconscious and an unconscious memory, collectively has the capacity to store information about all that we have been exposed to, and all the experiences that we have had. In addition to that, the mind has the capacity to literally, as the computer does, to store all that we have seen and experienced, like photographs and videos, as attachments in the hard drive in the deeper layers and different areas of our brain, and at the same time it has the ability to bring those scenes to our conscious memory like downloading data and attachments including photographs and videos, from a computer. No sophisticated or advanced computer is comparable to the human mind which we all have. If we, according to one statement made about Albert Einstein, who is perhaps the most intelligent man that ever lived, has used only less than 1/10th of the capacity of his brain, the capability of the human brain created by God is astounding and amazing. If we go one step further to try to fathom or measure the knowledge and the wisdom of God, the creator of man and the universe, it will be just impossible and incomprehensible.

9. The spiritual Realm, Dimension or Qualities
No science gives a full definition or explanation of God or the origin and the capabilities of human beings. At this point perhaps, it will be fitting to throw in a statement to make an attempt to comprehend and to explain some words such as God, supernatural, natural, man, universe, spirit etc. God is supernaturally natural and naturally supernatural, and since man has been created in the image and the likeness of God he is also "supernaturally natural and naturally supernatural". This statement explains and reveals that for God who is divine, almighty, all sufficient, omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient, cannot be defined with the limited vocabulary and intelligence that we have. If we stretch our imagination, we can certainly recognize the spiritual realm which is overlaying the planet earth and the entire universe, and over shadowing every human being. This is the supernatural realm as well as the natural realm, and that is the reason why we have made a statement, that both God and man are naturally supernatural and supernaturally natural. We simply cannot separate the spiritual from the natural. Whether we can validate or scientifically (with a limited knowledge) prove the supernatural or the realm of miracles or not, we know and that we have to accept the fact that miracle, supernatural and spiritual is something real, and the existence and life of the human beings and the universe will bear witness to that.

10. Soul (Mind, Will and Emotion)
By the same token the reality of the man who has been constituted by a body, spirit and soul, and further the fact that soul consists of a mind, will and emotion, cannot be disputed, because it is the reality of the human experience, and this itself reveals and overlaps the spiritual, supernatural and Godly realm, and further, there is no scientific proof or evidence, to dispute the fact about man's emotional experiences, his abilities to exercise his will to make decisions and to act in a particular way, and the fact of human beings having a mind which has the capability to think creatively to understand, to analyze, to interpret, store unlimited amount of information and bring them back to memory, cannot be disputed. When once we understand this statement, logically and scientifically, we cannot dispute or negate the reality and the existence of God, spiritual beings, spiritual truths, supernatural acts, miracles, evil forces or power etc. etc.

11. God, Universe, Human Beings and other Spiritual Beings
Having explained the ramifications and complexities of the God, universe, human beings and other spiritual beings, both evil and good, called demons or devils and angels, their existence and operation in the universe will not be hard to comprehend or accept.

By God's grace I am in a position to make the following statements based on my personal experience with the Lord, years of ministry and a life of faith for over 30 years depending solely on the resources of God for my living and for my ministry without raising funds, without borrowing any money and also at the same time living a very comfortable life, abounding in all good works, enjoying divine prosperity, divine health, divine protection, divine wisdom and divine power of God.
• Having read the Bible
• Having experienced the realities of truths in the Bible
• Having experienced and witnessed miracles
• Having understood the word of God which itself is referred to as something spiritual
• Having loved and experienced love, which is a spiritual attribute of God
• Having gained adequate knowledge and experience in the realm of human will, emotion and mind through the word of God.

12. The Bible is the "Text Book" of Spiritual Science
For any one who is seeking God, practicing any religion, interested in realizing one's full potential, seeking ways to grow spiritually to reach and experience a higher order of life, I would like to state that this first article in the series of articles we will be publishing on the subject of "God, Universe and Man: The Spiritual Science", which will explain, clarify and prove the reality of God, Spiritual realm, Spiritual dimension of man, and the spiritual realm in which God, angels and devils operate. The only book that has the answer to all the questions of man's past and the future, the current events of the world, the future of the world etc. is "The Bible". I want to say again in closing, that "The Bible may be called the Text Book of Spiritual Science, because it contains validated and scientifically proved facts about all questions that intellectual people with scientific mind may ask". As quoted often the Bible which is the word of God is inspired, indelible, infallible and inerrant, and is also able to impart truths which we can never learn about God, about ourselves, about the past and about the future!

13. Proof and Evidence for the Bible
In the remainder of the articles, more specific details will be given from the Bible which can be tested and proved as true through the ample evidence that we have in the form of
• Bible Archaeology
• Bible Geography
• Bible History
• Bible Genealogy
• Bible Prophecies and fulfillment
• Bible Truths
• Bible Evidence about God's interventions on the human scene upon this world
• Bible Evidence about God's miracles performed in the human life
• Bible Evidence about God's appointment of Kings to rule and to guide the people upon this earth
• Bible Evidence about God's prophets to warn and guide the people to live a righteous life and to escape from the penalty of sin
• Bible Evidence about the prophecies given about the end-times, the end of the world, the return of Christ, a millennial rule by Christ along with the saints of God on this earth, the Armageddon war in which Satan and the devils will confront God when in a moment they will be defeated and cast into a bottomless pit, the great white throne judgment of the living and the dead and an eternal life for the holy and righteous people with God in heaven, for ever and ever etc.

14. Conclusion
(What motivates influences or causes the Behavior of a man is the Spirit and the Soul of man.
For the Searching Minds, there are Convincing Facts!
For the Questioning Minds, there are Acceptable and Valid Answers!!)                   

-THE END-