New spirituality as an example of emergence in Christian religion

Abstract

Evolutionary theory and its accretion into various theories of emergence, particularly in brain and consciousness studies, are placing increasing pressure on religion’s maintenance of Essentialist or dual-substance explanations of existence as matter and spirit. The meaning of emergence is explored in these contexts and the views of four significant contributors are evaluated: Stuart Kauffman, Philip Clayton, David Ray Griffin, and John Searle. It is discovered that there is no clear standard by which to assess epistemological coherence and consistency between Essentialist and Physicalist viewpoints. Consequently, a ‘guiding maxim’ is recommended which implies a counterintuitive redefinition of the ‘idea of God’ as an emergent property of consciousness as a function of the brain within its own and extended environments. Religious narrative is thus mythologically rendered and spiritual experiences are retained if the being of God is substantiated as the archetype of our own becoming into Christ-likeness.