Implications of Brain Research for the Church

The exploding neuroscience research within the last two decades has significant implications for clergy, seminary professors, university religion faculty and pastors-in-training. The research detailed in this book poses questions and suggests answers for such theological topics as conscience, innate knowledge of God, human nature, the place of emotion in theology, the development of Christian virtues as habits of faith, and the transfer of faith into action. Knowledge of certain of the brain s functions can help theologians and preachers learn how to translate theology into the language and experience of the people. If preachers want to establish Biblical messages in long-term memory, they also need to be aware of the brain s limitations and focus on a single, appealing theme. The pastoral ministry can benefit from using the brain s neural circuitry to balance the use of the right and left hemispheres and to develop skills of empathy that can help clergy read the mind and heart. These wide-ranging implications also suggest important questions for theological educators to explore in their ministry.