It all begins and ends in your mind.

@kellyjay said
I doubt very seriously this is new for you, but like many things you go on about your heart has been darkened and hardened to truth when it comes to scripture, more metaphors for you to wrap your head around.

Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Proverbs 13:12
Hope deferred mak ...[text shortened]... e stumbles,

Proverbs 27:19
As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.

My heart pumps blood. Same as yours.

@kellyjay said
We are body, soul, and spirit. The thing about metaphors they are there to reflect some truth to make some truth easier to grasp. Therefore, having a metaphor used doesn't mean a truth is not being shared it only means it is being shared through a metaphor. Are the hearts of man and our minds the same thing when it comes to scripture? They are not since we are told that the ...[text shortened]... e stumbles,

Proverbs 27:19
As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.

You really really really need to take a crash course in understanding the use of metaphors in religious text.

@divegeester said
You really really really need to take a crash course in understanding the use of metaphors in religious text.

Look in the mirror.

@kellyjay said
Look in the mirror.

What’s that supposed to mean in relation to what I posted?

It sounds like something an 8 year old might retort in the playground.

@fmf said
Yes, I expressed it poorly at the end. It should have read "All this happens in the "mind" which resides in the "brain". It doesn't happen in the "heart" except in poetry and other metaphorical writing. The "heart" pumps blood. The "brain" is the host of our "mind"; it is the organ where our consciousness resides.

Ok. You seem convinced you know what you're talking about.

Obviously the brain is in the skull, so you think the conscience and mind(one and the same?)are in the brain.

And you adamantly assert that man hasn't a spirit. That the use of the term "heart", metaphorically for the spirit, is false.

How do you know that man, above all other living creatures, hasn't a component that allows him to be God conscious?

You don't know near enough to know whether that's true or not. I don't care how much you think you know. You can't know man hasn't a spirit.

@secondson said
Ok. You seem convinced you know what you're talking about.

I do know what I am talking about, yes.

@secondson said
And you adamantly assert that man hasn't a spirit.

Not so. I adamantly insist that humans DO have something that you characterize as a "spirit" or a "soul" but I don't believe it is your religious beliefs would have you think it is.

@secondson said
That the use of the term "heart", metaphorically for the spirit, is false.

I didn't say that the "heart" is used "metaphorically for the spirit". I am suggesting that consigning religious thoughts to the "heart" as opposed to the place where all thoughts occur - the mind - and then claiming this makes religious thoughts somehow different from other kinds of thoughts and even inaccessible to people who aren't members of the religion in question - is mere sophistry.

@divegeester said
What’s that supposed to mean in relation to what I posted?

It sounds like something an 8 year old might retort in the playground.

It means what you are suggesting is advice you should be taking. What do you
think is occurring when people do use figure of speech to make a point? You
think the reality and truth in the text is meaningless if a metaphor is used, or
are they simply symbolic of something else? Your grand complaint about Hell, you
call a metaphor right, but when asked what is it the writer means then what is the
symbolic language attempting to convey, you said you didn't know. If there is one
of us who is really struggling with metaphors its you of all people here.

@secondson said
How do you know that man, above all other living creatures, hasn't a component that allows him to be God conscious?

Humans have a capacity for abstraction. They also have curiosity - about themselves and the world around them. They also can conceive of their own finite existence. They also have the inclination, in many cases, to aspire to immortality. This is where the "God conscious" thing comes from. Then various groups insist that "God" or a god or gods have revealed revealed themselves to humans. This is where religiosity has its roots.

@secondson said
You don't know near enough to know whether that's true or not. I don't care how much you think you know. You can't know man hasn't a spirit.

You don't know near enough about what I believe and what I have posted about what I believe - at length - if you reckon I don't think humans have a "spirit".

@fmf said
I do know what I am talking about, yes.

Maybe a little relatively speaking, but certainly not everything.

@kellyjay said
It means what you are suggesting is advice you should be taking. What do you
think is occurring when people do use figure of speech to make a point? You
think the reality and truth in the text is meaningless if a metaphor is used, or
are they simply symbolic of something else? Your grand complaint about Hell, you
call a metaphor right, but when asked what is it the writ ...[text shortened]... n't know. If there is one
of us who is really struggling with metaphors its you of all people here.

I could hazard a guess at what the metaphor for the ever merciful Jesus supervising the eternal torture of billions of people in hell could mean. I could be wrong in my guess of course but I would still be correct that it is a metaphor., which is the main point in play here. My ability to interpret the metaphor is irrelevant to it being a methaphor. Do you understand that?

@fmf said
Not so. I adamantly insist that humans DO have something that you characterize as a "spirit" or a "soul" but I don't believe it is your religious beliefs would have you think it is.

You don't "believe" what the Bible says about the soul and spirit, but you don't know for certain whether you're right or not.

@secondson said
You don't "believe" what the Bible says about the soul and spirit, but you don't know for certain whether you're right or not.

I am not a Christian. I have a conception of the human spirit that is non-Christian.