Consciousness Can Only Be Explained Biblically

Peter Russell, prolific author and public speaker, gives exceptionally lucid lectures on the nature of consciousness. And it is amazing how in their discussion of consciousness Russell and others come close to acknowledging a biblical God, even referring to consciousness as fundamental – but invariably falling short of giving Him the glory. They do not seem to understand that consciousness is illogical apart from a Person who is conscious of something. We are reminded of the psychologist Koffka who said that ground without a figure is no consciousness at all. Similarly, our finite existence is meaningless apart from the infinite ground of a transcendent, observing God. Simply stated, reality in the absence of an image is no reality at all. Given its discrete and expectant nature, an image is the very process of creating and maintaining the finite.

Russell speaks of consciousness as if it were God, even on occasion referring to it as “God” – but then always stops short of acknowledging the God of the Bible. How, we might ask, can consciousness exist apart from an observing person? For something to be conscious, there must be an image – and if an image, there must be a person who observes it. Russell even refers to God “light” just as the Bible does. And yet a Person, as contrasted with matter, is too unscientific for their worldview.

Why is matter almost universally accepted as fundamental? As the Bible warns, we have fallen away from the truth of God in order to worship created things as opposed to the Creator[1] Why are naturalists so adamant that their philosophy is correct and that religion is obviously very primitive and naïve – to the point where they are now claiming child-abuse if parents teach their children the Gospel of Jesus, even contemplating legislation to punish Christians for such abuse. Given the image-mediated, person-centeredness of the human brain, it is probable that what they are doing to our children is true child abuse — exactly as prophesied[2] — to the point where the Bible is now being labeled as hateful and divisive. Materialism and its brainchild evolution lie at the root of this development, despite violence being on the rise in schools — it must be noted, in direct proportion to the exclusion of God. (See the final essay, “Gender Confusion and the Collapse of America,” for an understanding of the social mechanism generating this violence – a mechanism proving that the Bible is the authentic Word of God.)