Thread by @word_water_wine

When worldview as a heuristic is the only way we think right action comes about (ie ideas have consequences), we neglect all other forms of virtue and habit formation, structures, and discipleship. The logical part of our brain is not the basis for change of action or belief.

This is why it is so critical to capture the imaginative part of the brain which subconsciously affects the rational capacity. One's deep beliefs are much more basic to change in action than pure rationalization which is often done after the act of belief.

This has massive implications for preaching, teaching, discipleship, counseling, and therapy.

One simply needs to study how the body stores trauma to see how the cognitive side of the brain is ineffective for deep healing.

When a person experiences trauma, the body stores the memories in the amygdala, which is part of the limbic system. This part of the brain limits the effectiveness of cognitive approaches to healing and it separates right actions from rational behavior when traumatized.

A wholistic approach to healing is necessary that includes all aspects of who we are and how different parts of the brain function to provide healing and virtuous action. Habit, discipline, and embodied elements of healing are all necessary to process sin, trauma, and the like.

God created the brain to function and heal in a certain way. It cannot be healed with simply memorizing Bible verses or doctrines or worldviews. That is not how change/healing/action are brought about.

The Bible uses the Liturgy, friendship, community and many embodied, tangible elements to provide humane healing to the whole person from the trauma of sin that all experience, some to much larger degrees than others.

Therapy is another massive tool that can be utilized to effectively bring about healing and wholeness that God wants for us. There are many things we know about the brain now that help us understand how certain forms of therapy are more effective than others for our healing.

All that to say, we are more than cognitive/thinking things. Right action is not motivated through cognition alone. It must be reached thru the embodied subconscious that is gripped by the perceiving/conceiving function of the imagination which overlays many parts of the brain.

This is one of the reasons there is such a huge disconnect btwn church doctrine on the one hand and traditions that focus on the cognitive as the basis for discipleship and their actions/lives. Doctrinal churches often fail to have a wholistic approach to discipleship.

We are embodied, covenantal, structural beings that must have whole life approach to healing and discipleship if we are to love the whole man and reach them with the Gospel of Grace that redeems the whole image of God in him.

The ancients, medievals and Reformers all saw a higher level of knowledge that transcends mere cognition which was necessary for true love and change. We need this too.

Without this wholistic view of the matrix of sin and trauma and how healing relates to our embodiment, we will make several mistakes when discipling others.

Sin is systemic, structural, embodied and deeply permeates all of life. Healing and redemption must likewise answer these realities, even if they are only partially realized before eternity.

We cannot bypass the emotional parts of the brain by merely processing the cognitive truths. We must be safe to process each aspect of who we are in the way we made to move toward wholeness.

@threadreaderapp unroll please