The Soul: How We Know It's Real and Why It Matters

J.P. Moreland's "The Soul: How We Know It's Real and Why It Matters" ("The Soul") is a popular level treatment of Dr. Moreland's long-term project on consciousness, a defense of substance dualism, the existence of God and natural theology, intentioned to inform the Church and combat naturalism. This is analogous to Dr. William Lane Craig's four academic books exploring the issues of God and time whereby Dr. Craig also finalized his academic research by publishing a somewhat accessible and popular level treatment of his academic program in his book: " God and Time: Exploring God's Relationship to Time,"The predecessors to The Soul are Dr. Moreland's "Consciousness and the Existence of God: A Theistic Argument," and "The Recalcitrant Imago Dei: Human Persons and the Failure of Naturalism," two incredible books meant for both an audience of Dr. Moreland's peers and graduate students conversant with metaphysics, philosophy of mind and Dr. Moreland's essays and other mediums that argue for substance dualism. Both of the latter books are not meant for a general reading audience, but The Soul is the exception.Those readers familiar with Dr. Moreland's works and passions know that substance dualism and the soul are primary themes in approximately one-half of his writings. In The Soul, Dr. Moreland has succeeded in bringing down to earth many of the concepts an unfamiliar reader would normally grapple with when reading his materials, especially because of the terminology that is involved. For example, in my other review of "Loving God with Your Mind: Essays in Honor of J.P. Moreland," a few of the reviewers were put off by the difficulty reading the essays written in honor of his work, especially his work on the soul. No hubris is intended, and I would recommend the reader to look at my reviews of the above-referenced book as it places J.P.'s entire program in a context that is easy to understand and imbibe.For those conversant with JP's academic writings, I do not recommend purchasing The Soul unless you plan on using the book for Sunday school, High School/College Ministry or even first year course for undergraduates. The reason is that you have read this material before, at a much more technical level.(Conversely, those of you that are conversant but have not read for some time, The Soul can be used a primer that enables you to read or re-read the two books referenced above. This is more true of chapters 3 and 4 [they are somewhat technical but Dr. Moreland has honed his arguments so they flow much easier, especially such as those that were set forth in his book "Body and Soul," that was written prior to the books referenced above]. As stated herein, each chapter does have a structerd outline and self-contained glossary making the contents easy to memorize).Additionally, The Soul is anything but guilty of being a cut-and-paste marketing byproduct. Quite the contrary as Dr. Moreland desires to teach those unfamiliar with these issues at a level they can understand, and give them a basis to continue learning by simplifying these issues for a general audience that have little to no knowledge on these matters without being simplistic is no easy task, but Dr. Moreland has accomplished just that--an intoxicating clarity. This book comes with my highest recommendation and those interested in this subject matter must have this book for their personal libraries.Having read Dr. Moreland's books for the past 20 years, including the two books referenced above, I enthusiastically read the Soul in its entirety over the weekend. That is, it is one of those rare books that is an absolute pleasure to read. Again, the real point is not to iterate that I am a smart guy, but the level of difficulty The Soul exemplifies. Dr. Moreland significantly simplified its contents as The Soul's target audience are those readers that have little to no knowledge about the biblical basis for the soul, the nature of the soul, biblical and non-biblical arguments for the soul, and the importance of the soul in the context of the present culture war, especially against the worldview of scientific naturalism or theists that reject substance dualism (e.g., the problem of consciousness).In the past, Dr. Moreland has published a similar and much more compact book on the soul for RZIM ministries. The Soul also unpacks issues and themes about being human, virtue ethics and character cultivation in addressing issues of heaven and hell that all Christians ought to feel a moral incumbency to learn, know and inevitably teach this subject matter to others. The mere fact that Dr. Moreland has devoted so much time to this issue over the last two+ decades should give both the fan of Dr. Moreland and the curious readers serious pause as to the import the themes this book are meant to serve.(It should be mentioned that The Soul is not a historical anthology--it is a straight-forward teaching on the biblical and philosophic arguments for the soul, specifically `Thomistic Substance-Dualism.'). For those readers interested in an up-to-date and accessible history of the soul, I recommend "A Brief History of the Soul," by Stewart Goetz and Charles Taliaferro (2011). This latter book is a tad more difficult and I would recommend reading The Soul before tackling the historical issues. I also recommend reading Dr. Moreland's very important essay 'The Physical Sciences, Neuroscience, and Dualism' that contains arguments for substance dualism; and, more importantly, Dr. Moreland argues and shows how "scientific data [and research] play virtually no role at all in philosophy-of-mind literature,'" [emphasis added] (pg. 845). This essay can be found in another incredible resource: "The Nature of Nature: Examining the Role of Naturalism in Science" edited by Bruce Gordon and William Dembski. In tandem with Dr. Moreland's almost prophetic insights contained in the previously referenced essay, the reviewer can now find newly released books on neuroscience, written by non-theist neuroscientists that corroborate Dr. Moreland's arguments. If you can locate this essay without purchasing the latter book--although this is another fantastic resource that belongs in your library--you should gain a full mastery of substance dualism and be prompted to teach others).In closing, The Soul is fairly small, the 5 chapters are rich concise, and for those that may still have some difficulty tackling or understanding the content of the chapters, each chapter contains both a it's own review of the contents, including a glossary that defines important terms (JP places an asterisk next to the words that carry the most importance [e.g., the definition of functionalism] that require a definition) so the reader can gain a mastery of the chapter's content if they happen to be unfamiliar with these very important issues. That is, this is a book that is to be practiced.Although The Soul has enormous utility in imparting the knowledge, there are also many collateral issues Dr. Moreland touches and one may end up telling themselves "after all these years now I understand that argument."The reviewer can glean the chapter contents from Amazon as they are not iterated in this review. Dr. Moreland has done a favor for those unfamiliar with substance dualism and the importance of consciousness in the battle against scientific naturalism. Dr. Moreland's The Soul makes these issues accessible to everyone, and it is concurrently the best primer on the market to date.

"The Soul" by J. P. Moreland is an intense reading experience with moments of enlightenment. It is not for the casual reader as it goes into great depth. The arguments are sound and logical and I found some good answers to questions I've had for a while.You see, no one ever taught me that I had a soul as a child. It wasn't until my thirties that the reality of my soul became apparent to me. It took me a while again to realize that I was responsible to choose where my soul would go after death. When you realize you are really a soul in the school of life you become much more aware that you should concern yourself with spiritual growth. This is part of the maturing process.It is with that said that this book discusses the realities of heaven and hell. It also briefly discusses a few near-death experiences.The truth is learning about the soul is a fascinating process. Although sometimes J. P. Moreland gets a little technical in his explanations. Before reading this book I had no idea about substance dualism or epiphenomenalism. Well I had some ideas about what these meant but had not put names to the beliefs.Chapter three is a bit intense. Yikes. You really can skip this chapter and not have a problem reading the rest of the book. I felt the book really got started for me around page 137. There is key information about what the soul is and that is really what I was looking for when I decided to get this book.So if you are willing to slog through a lot of philosophy and intense explanations you may find what you are looking for as I did. I think this book will improve upon further readings. Just becoming familiar with all the words in the glossary at the end of each chapter will bring great understanding.Last but not least, there is a short explanation about animal souls but no animal heaven is mentioned. Children who have near-death experiences often talk about seeing animals in heaven.So I found this book rather challenging for the most part as the author brought up so many different concepts to consider. This is not easy reading but may be worth your time if you are really serious about learning about the soul. This is one of those books I will keep and read again.~The Rebecca Review

J. P. Moreland is one of the top thinkers in the world on mind / body issues. He has thoroughly examined the arguments for and against the existence of the soul and he presents the essence of those arguments in this book.In this book we get a detailed tour of the soul showing the different components and functions it has.He looks at the scriptural data, showing that the Bible assumes and affirms substance dualism.He then examines the philosophical case. Some of this was definitely above my head, but there was plenty that was very accessible and useful. The difference between brain states and mental states was clearly and convincingly set out showing that we are not reducible to merely physical beings. Several arguments are laid out and explained that provide positive proof that we are embodied souls.Moreland shows that the data from neuroscience really has nothing to say on the debate of whether the soul is real. The fact that neuroscientists have come to believe in the reality of the soul without there being any conflict with the experimental data shows that whatever neuroscience can do, it can't disprove the existence of the soul.Moreland then looks at some of the wealth of Near Death Experiences that have been recorded. These NDEs include examples of verified remote viewing, which are inexplicable on a physicalist view.The conclusion of this book shows why this debate matters so much as Moreland looks at the subject of heaven and hell, drawing from scripture as well as NDEs.He tackles some of the objections to the doctrine of hell such as universalism and annihilationism using philosophical and moral reasoning as well as scripture. He uses the theory of middle knowledge to provide an answer regarding the fate of the unevangelised.I found this book a profitable read, albeit very taxing at times. I would only recommend it to those who are really interested in the subject. The casual reader will likely not stick at it, but if you are wanting to learn and prepared to work then this book repays the time and effort.

Esse livro faz uma abordagem sucinta sobre a existencia alma humana e demonstra com facilidade que o ser humano não é apenas matéria, mas possui propriedades transcendentes.

A very helpful book by one of the best and most trusted on the subject.