Outline of a Proposed Paper for the Orthodox Christian Conference on Psychology and Psychotherapy.
1
INTENT
"Man, with respect to his nature, is most truly
said to be neither soul without body, nor...body without soul; but is composed
of the union of body and soul into one form of the beautiful” (Saint Methodios
of Olympus, On The Resurrection, 1:5)
The purpose of this paper is to examine the roots of what we call “sin” from a perspective which takes into account more fully the understanding that “sin” ultimately means the misuse of our energies.
While I realise
that, at this conference, I may be preaching to the choir about the need for
greater cooperation between clergy and mental health care professionals, I feel
that it is necessary for a hierarch of the church to address these matters.
Even in our era there are too many superstitions and mythologies surrounding
mental health problems. Because of this we have seen some serious tragedies even
in the past few years.
Because we use
the metaphor of the Church as a spiritual hospital, we need to call upon our
clergy to follow the dictum of Hippocrates of Kos who said of the medical
profession, “above all do no harm.” If we consider the church to be a spiritual
hospital and the priests to be spiritual healers, then surely we must also
apply this dictum. A certain amount of knowledge and awareness are necessary in
order accomplish this. Allow me to give some examples in which this dictum was
most certainly violated as superstition and ignorance prevailed.
(1) A man with whom I had been at seminary had developed a bi-polar condition. He was, nevertheless, ordained to the priesthood. When he was in a manic phase he caused chaos and disorder. In the depressed stage he caused less damage but did not function well. He went to a spiritual elder who forbade him to see a psychiatrist. The elder told him that psychiatrists are evil and promote Satan. Further the elder assured him that his problem consisted in demonic possession and all he could do was to keep an extreme fast and do many prostrations. This spiritual elder also told the priest’s children that they should never listen to anything their father said because he is possessed by demons. The amazing thing is that the priest has not committed suicide by now.
(2) You will all be familiar with the event in northern Romania in which a schizophrenic woman was killed by a priest who was attempting to cast out a supposed demon. He had tied her to a cross and placed her in a very cold room. The hapless victim died of hypothermia. Fortunately, in this case the priest was arrested and prosecuted.
(3) The third incident that I wish to use as a preface to my presentation also involved someone that I knew. He was ordained to the diaconate as was I and another friend. We were shocked to receive news that this mutual friend had attempted suicide and was in hospital. The two of us mutual acquaintances went to see him. After some time he revealed to us the reason for his attempt to take his own life. He was gay and was completely unable to have sexual relations with his wife. One of us asked him why he had got married or at least why he had not discussed the situation with the woman before he married her. He told us that he had discussed his sexuality with the bishop during confession, and the bishop told him that if he got married this would no longer be a problem for him. "Get married and I will ordain you. Don't worry about your sexuality because it will change once you get married."
(4) Three years ago, a Russian immigrant was brought to the monastery, in great despair. She had not been able to have Communion since she converted from Communism to Orthodox Christianity. Why? As a fifteen year old girl at a Comsomol Camp (Communist Youth Camp) she had become pregnant. The Commissar of the camp sent her to an abortion ward, telling her she would have to have an abortion. Later, when she converted, she went to confession with a young priest in Pochaev Monastery. He was outraged that she had had an abortion and told her that she must not have Communion up until the time of her death; only then could she have Communion before she died.
We read a
special prayer for her so that she would feel that this epitimia had been
removed, and gave her Communion on the following Sunday. The young priest was
far too rigid, even fanatical, and certainly inexperienced. Had the woman made
a free, simple choice on her own to have an abortion, it would have been a
different matter, but even then, one must weigh every issue and each person
individually according to various circumstances. This woman was being destroyed
spiritually, and eventually would have simply given up altogether under the
burden of an unjust and destructive guilt.
(5) There is something else that is, perhaps, worth noting with regard the treatment of clinical depression. While prayer and Holy Communion are certainly helpful in dealing with depressions, the question arises that, in terms of a clinical depression, what physiological matters must we be concerned with. For example, if left without medical intervention, does a person with a clinical depression experience and irreversible atrophy of the hippocampi? What other physiological circumstances must be taken into account? Will prayer alone change the degree of serotonin uptake or alter the dopamine cycle?
We have seen
clergy diagnose psychiatric illnesses as “demonic possession,” and prevent
sufferers from seeking appropriate medical care.1
This is
because they exteriorize too much of the human condition and do not take into
account the unity of soul and body, and the fact that there are often
physiological aspects to the manifestations which by themselves could be
classified as “sin.” All clergy should learn the boundaries of their competence
and feel free to commend a person to a professional who does have competence to
deal with their particular issues.
It is these
circumstances, too, that I wish to examine briefly in this presentation.
2
PREFACE
“In
what instance can the flesh possibly sin by itself, if it does not have the
soul is preceding it and inciting it? For as in the case of a yoke of oxen, if
one or the other is loosed from the yoke, neither can plough alone; so neither can soul or body alone effect
anything.” (St Justin the Philosopher, On the Resurrection, 8
At
first, the title, The Neurobiology of Sin may sound peculiar, and yet all sin
has a neurobiological component simply because every emotion, passion and
action that human being manifest arises from neurobiological processes, no
matter by what means one is negatively tempted or altruistically motivated to
the good.
It
is said that Anthony the great coined the term “psychotherapy” and the Orthodox
church has used the idea of psychotherapy from the beginning. The development
of the mystery of confession and repentance had the intention of being a part
of the healing process, that is, the spiritual/psychological healing of the
individual. This use of confession and repentance depended upon the priest who
heard the confession having time to hear a complete confession and talk with
the person who was confessing. It also depended on the clergy not having the idea that confession was a
mystery of “penance.” Penance essentially means punishment not healing. In
Greek, this Mystery was always called "Metanoia," which means
repentance, not penance. In earlier times the word “epitimia” indicated a
healing medication rather than a form of self-atonement. Prostrations, for
example, were understood to be a type of the death and resurrection of Christ
and thus any death and resurrection of the soul, that is, I die with Christ, I
rise to life, I die to sin, I rise to Christ. This epitimia is especially
healing in leading one to full repentance, as it involves both the body and the
soul together. Eventually, an epitome became little more than a callisthenics
intended as a form of punishment or self-induced pain. It use of confession in
a psychotherapeutic sense seldom ever occurs in our era. While I do not wish to
in any way denigrate the psychotherapeutic value of a proper confession and
true repentance, it is necessary to look at the reality of how these mysteries
or “sacraments” of the church are understood and used over the last few centuries.
Most priest have not been trained to try to spot possible physical or
psychiatric illnesses during confession, and often inappropriately deal with
manifestations that can be classed as sin, but which may arise from such
illnesses that need to be recommended to a doctor.
Since we are discussing the neurobiology of sin, allow me to present the basic definition of sin that I am employing, as well as a brief reflection on an understanding to sin that can be quite destructive. I also wish to clarify the way in which I am using the term neurobiology and how I am proposing to tie it together with an understanding of sin and healing.
3
DEFINITION OF SIN
It's elementary, my dear Watson, “Behaviourism” is obsolete.
We said earlier that he purpose of this paper is to examine the roots of what we call “sin” from a perspective which takes into account more fully the understanding that “sin” ultimately means the misuse of our energies. Far too often in the teaching of both Orthodox theology and pastoral care, we neglect the foundational concept of the uncreated energy of God and the creative energy of mankind. And yet sin is really the misuse of our energy, and “vice” is the habitual misuse of our energies. It is my contention that priests who hear confession, and Orthodox Christian psychotherapists should give far more attention to this fundamental reality of our theology.
Too often “sin”
is thought of in an abstract manner, as something that comes to us externally,
or as a character defect which can be corrected by an act of will or by a
repertoire of spiritual exercises. There is no doubt that temptations can come
to us from “outside” and that spiritual disciplines are of prime importance in
dealing with the misuse of our energies which constitutes “sin.” It can,
however, be destructive if we create categorical boundaries in dealing with
this spiritual condition of any person. The word “passion” means “suffering”,
it does not mean “sin.” This is of great importance because when we are dealing
with the category of sin, we are also dealing with inner human suffering.
Suffering is something which needs to be healed, not punished. Consistently
attaching guilt to human suffering can be extraordinarily destructive.
"Sin"
as it became understood in the post-patristic West,2 is a poor
translation of the Greek concept it is supposed to represent. Consequently, it
expresses inadequately the Scriptural idea it is used to render. This is no
fault of the English language, which is sufficient for any theological
concept; rather it is a reflection of the theological and, perhaps, linguistic
inadequacies of the Scholastic era in the Latin world, from which the concepts
were derived.
The term in Greek means "to fall short of
the goal, miss the mark, fall short of one's destiny." This term is
rendered in Latin as "sons," "sontis," which means "guilt; guilty," and has
a forensic significance. It is expressed in English as "sin." We can
see already that there is an important difference here. The terms used in Holy
Scripture ('amartia,
etc.) refer to something far greater than the Latin term used to translate it.
The Latin term (and the understanding usually given to the word in English) is
legalistic and juridical, and understood in a forensic sense.3
Perhaps, also, the absence of an awareness of the meaning of the concept of “energies,”
both as Paul uses the word, and as the holy fathers have explicated it, is
responsible for the misunderstandings. Sin is the habitual misuse of our
energies, and the re-orientation of the soul toward God through Jesus Christ
has to do with the struggle to discover and use our energies in a proper
manner. In both Orthodox theology and physics, “energy” is about relationship.
We know God through His uncreated energy, which we call grace. Our
relationships with other human beings involves the proper use of our created
energies. Perhaps this is the underlying meaning of Christ’s two great
commandments which, He said, are the foundation of all the law and the
prophets, “love the Lord your God with your whole being, and your neighbour as
yourself.” This can be accomplished only through the proper use of our
energies. We can love our neighbour "as ourselves" only if we have
empathy for his suffering and sorrow as well as his joy. Legal, juridical guilt
is not the issue. It is the sense of alienation from God, from others and even
from ourselves that causes the sense of guilt.
Ironically, the
juridical concept of sin also lowers and degrades the concept of morality. If
sin is only a violation of the law, then morality consists only in obeying the
law. Such morality could not contribute to one's salvation, but could only render
one as hypocritical as the Pharisees and as alienated from Christ as was the
rich young ruler (Mt.16:19-12).
This is not to suggest that there is no guilt in sin, and we
will discuss this later. The essence of sin should also not be understood as a
contravention of God's will in a legalistic sense, nor to fall below a given norm of
behaviour. To sin means to violate God's will in this sense, that "God
wills all men to be saved." ( )
Since the "goal," "destiny" and "mark" for
which man was created is full communion with God, to partake of the Divine
Nature (theosis)
(2Pet.1:4), sharing in His glory and immortality, then "sin" (as a
noun) means to fall short of the destiny of theosis (participation in God). Death, then, may
be called "the sin of the world," since death is both cause and
result of missing the goal of the immortality which results from union with
God. The Apostle expresses this concept of sin when he says that "all have
sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Rm. 3:23) (that is,
"everyone has missed the mark and fallen short of the goal of man's
destiny, which is to participate in the glory of God" — theosis). All mankind, therefore, is
"sinful" and each one is a "sinner" because in the life of
all and each, they fall short of the destiny for which they were created.
"Sins" are those things we do which openly manifest and reinforce our
separation from God, or "falling short." All
sin is "mortal" sin, because all sin separates us from the source of
immortality — God. Indeed, even our virtues can be sin if they somehow separate
us from God, for instance, through pride taken in our virtues. True faith,
then, is an unconditional orientation of the whole person toward the will of
God.
God does not
punish man for his sins and sinfulness in this life, or even in the life to
come. We forge our own destiny. That which we call "hell" is our own
creation. We may experience it already in this life and, by our own choices,
experience the fulness of it in the age to come.4 God has set as the
destiny of all people;
immortality, participation in the glory of the Godhead, the joy of the
all-embracing Divine Love. God has set this as our destiny and not only taught
us how to attain to it, but in Christ has made it clearly possible for us to
arrive at it. Because of his sins, man always falls short of this destiny, but
because of Christ Who, as true human, arrived at this destiny and attained to it for all
mankind, (Rm.5:12) we can inherit it anyway by choosing to strive for a life in
Christ (Rm. 3:24-30).5
Setting
categorical boundaries with regard to behaviour can create many problems. If we
adopted such a simplistic notion it would be, in the first place, not an
Orthodox concept. In the second place "sin" understood in this way
would not be healed but rather corrected by mere punishment and an act of will
with no place for grace and the power of repentance as a radical turning around
of our perspective and life. We would end up with mere behavioural correction
or a “rectification of one’s ideology.” Since, however, sin consists primarily
in alienation and the missing of the mark or goal of “the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,” (Phil.3:14) by
means of the habitual misuse of our energies, something greater and more
organic is involved. "Missing the mark" is not a sufficient
definition because it is not the dynamic but a result of something. The dynamic
is the misuse of our energies. This involves the whole psychophysical person.
We have to look to something more deep, more all encompassing and profound than
simply “breaking a law.” Until Allow me to present the concept of sin from
which I am drawing my perspective. I will preface this by saying that behaviour
that we class as sin can arise from or in conjunction with physiological and
psychiatric conditions that cannot be treated by repentance, epitimias or
prayer alone. Indeed, in some circumstances, a person cannot even be held
"guilty" for such sins. We must also be aware that this habitual
misuse of our energies can form psychological, even psychiatric conditions.
Faith and Moralism:
Moral outrage is often a form of confession because we hate most in others what we fear most in ourselves.
Faith does not
consist in coming into an accord with a collection of facts or doctrines; faith
is an orientation of the soul toward the will of God. With this concept in
mind, we should be alerted that a moralistic ideology about sin is not only
inappropriate but even completely negative.
If sin
ultimately means alienation from God through the misuse of our eneregies, then
its cure, true repentance, must consist in a radical re-orientation of one's
mind, soul and life toward Jesus Christ and His great moral imperatives.
However, we are speaking about true morality and not moralism or a moralistic
ideology which prevents us from examining psychiatric and physiological causes
for behaviour that might be classed as sin. Moralism can be quite destructive.
It can act like a narrowing of the intellectual arteries and be manifested in
cruel and harmful ways.
Understanding sin as a misuse of our energy makes it clear that we must look for psychological and psychiatric contributions to such behaviour. We cannot always conceive such concepts as “sin” and “sinfulness” in abstract, metaphysical terms. We must be willing to look at neurobiological constructs in making assessments regarding serious matters and those actions and patterns of behaviour which are not successfully dealt with through normal confession and spiritual disciplines. This should in no way be seen as undermining the effectiveness of spiritual disciplines and of proper confession itself. Confession and ordinary counselling can satisfactorily help to resolve most of the issues that confront people on a daily basis. Some temptations, such as marital problems, etc. require more time, but they can often be resolved in dialogue with a wise and experienced priest.
4
NEUROBIOLOGY AND SIN
"And
this is the course and ground of justice, that since the actions of body and
soul are common to both (for what the soul has conceived, the body has carried
out), each should come into judg-ment... for it would seem almost inconsistent
that...the mind guilty of a fault shared by another should be subjected to
penalty, and the flesh, the author of the evil, should enjoy rest: and that
that alone should suffer which had not sinned alone, or should attain to glory
not having fought alone, with the help of grace." (St. Ambrose of Milan)6
When we suggest that there are neurobiological circumstances underlying inner human suffering, actions and behaviour that we refer to as sin, and psychiatric conditions, we can expect to be criticised by some, even brutally. Nevertheless we must have the courage to openly discuss such matters. We must think outside of categorical boundaries, not only in the sense of neurobiology but also in the whole scope of human behaviour. In pursuing this we will not find ourselves in discord with the holy fathers.
We
have now developed a knowledge of the operations of the brain and the mind
which should preclude the resort of superstitions and mythologies in dealing
with the human condition. In my view, it would be patently immoral for us to
continue to do so. We are aware that multiple personality disorder does not
constitute possession by a legion of demons, but rather can arise from severe
childhood abuse. We know that such trauma can actually create alterations in a
persons DNA. Exorcisms will not cure this condition. We have discovered that a
tumour in the brain can create paedophilia, as in the case reported on 29 July
2003. A normal, respected school teacher suddenly began to have sexual impulses
toward young girls and younger women. He spoke about committing rape and had
made advances toward his young stepdaughter. Because of severe headaches which
occurred while he was in jail awaiting trial, doctors discovered a sizeable
tumour pressing on the right frontal lobe. When the tumour was removed, the
paedophilia disappeared. There have been other cases, and this indicates that
such physiological conditions can affect moral behaviour and judgment. In 2005,
a similar case was reported, and this time it was a woman who became
compulsively driven toward teenage boys. Similarly, cerebro-spinal lesions,
brain tumours or cysts have been found to be responsible for nymphomania in
women, and the male equivalent in men. Of course, this is not always the case,
but such physiological possibilities should always be kept in mind, and
appearances of such problems should be referred to a medical doctor in addition
to the prayers and spiritual disciplines applied. Even in ordinary
"sins," one should think of the psychological possibilities. I one
had a Greek priest remark sorrowfully that he had a very pious altar boy who
had been unable to receive Communion for three whole years because he could not
get through an entire year without masturbating at least once (the boy had just
turned 16). Aside from being a bit shocked at the naivety of the priest, I
asked, "But did you ever ask him the important question about
masturbation?" "There is no question. It is a horrible, dirty sin!"
He replied. "No, no, there is a very important question. You must always
ask if the young person is having violent fantasies while masturbating. Violent
fantasies, or fantasies of degradation. In fact, I think these are the only
questions. If a young person has violent sexual fantasies while masturbating,
you should implore them to discuss this with their doctor. You might, in this
way, catch a serious psychiatric issue in its formative stages rather than
waiting until he plays out such fantasies later." The Greek priest could
not even understand what I was suggesting.
Passions as inner human suffering
The word “passion” means suffering, it does not mean “sin.” Suffering is something that needs to be healed or at least alleviated, not punished. The human passions are forms of emotional and psychological suffering that can often be experienced even as physical pain or discomfort. A passion is generally a normal emotion which has become so powerful within one that it begins to cause real suffering. Fulfilling such a passion can become an addiction not so much because it elicits responses from the reward mechanisms in the brain as from the fact that it eases or alleviates the suffering. Sometimes the sinful action resulting from a passion is committed not so much out of desire as from bitterness.
From
a spiritual perspective the most potent method for dealing with a given passion
is the use of the “Jesus prayer,” used together with the prayer rope. However,
there is a clear biological basis to these passions and some of them require a
medical or psychological intervention as well as that which is provided by
prayer and other forms of spiritual struggle. There is a danger in the idea
that the passions and other human conditions which are deemed “sinful” are
simply matters of will or demonic influences. I would like to point out the
relationship between the way the Desert Fathers understood the guarding of the
mind and the actual physiological process of a stimulus that enters the brain.
I think that this is important because orthodoxy does not accept an
anthropological dualism between soul and body. Moreover, when we become aware
of this relationship we are better prepared to encourage a cooperation between
the priests and mental health care providers. We are also better prepared, as
priests, to guide the people in their struggles.
Briefly,
the Desert Fathers taught us that when a temptation enters the mind it is
nothing, it is not a sin and is not yet even a thought. However, this
temptation then passes through a series of stases in which we first begin to
become cognisant of it and then become aware, interpret, come to an
understanding of it, and then either accept or reject this thought. If we accept
a temptation then it becomes a mental sin. We will begin to take pleasure in
this thought; it is now fully manifested as a sinful action even if we do not
fulfil the temptation physically (Mt.5:28). The next step is putting this in
context and setting it in memory. We need to fully bring our conscience into
play in this step. If we commit this thought or temptation to our memory as
something pleasant and to be repeated, we can build it up in strength so that
it becomes an addiction. It can also then become a compulsion and manifest
itself in very destructive ways. We might see some of the most terrible
manifestations of this principle among what the police refer to as “progressive
skinners,” a behavioural evolution among paedophiles in which they progress
from child pornography to active abuse to killing, sometimes dismembering their
victims.
Now
let us compare these schemata with what actually does take place. Briefly, when
a stimulus enters the brain goes to the hypothalamus. From there the signal goes
to the amygdala region. This occurs without any thought and the reason for this
is that an instant reaction may be necessary without any time for reasoning.
This is what the holy Fathers meant when they said that this initial signal was
not sin, really nothing. Next the stimulus proceeds through the regions of the
neo-cortex, and we find the order to be fairly close to what the Desert Fathers
understood. While we will assert that the conscience must be brought into play
in this process, we will not define the conscience at this time. At the end of
this process, when the stimulus is being prepared for long-term memory
potentiation in the hippocampi, we should work to train ourselves to have
reference to our conscience during this process also.
We
can see that there is a clear neurobiological element in what we call
temptation and in how we decide to respond to this temptation. This will be
true of everything that we refer to as “sin.” Let us look briefly at some other
common threads in this. The end of the system of development for a temptation,
as expressed by the Desert Fathers is the frontal lobe. This is the area of the
brain that gives us control, regulating our behaviour and making it possible
for us to postpone gratification. In using the prayer for the “guarding of the
mind,” we are striving to give this rational area of the brain dominance over
the emotional brain. Since we humans have a “bidirectional neural system,” we
are capable of doing this. In ordinary neurobiology we will recognise this same
feature with regard to the frontal lobe. I would like to suggest that the early
fathers had some vague notion about what we call "neuroplasticity,"
and had an idea the focussed use of the Jesus Prayer actually helped to retrain
elements of the mind. They would not have held any such concepts in these
terms, but there was some understanding that changes in the "mind"
could be made. It seems that this was forgotten by many in later times, and
counting the knots on the rope became more important than what had been called
by the early fathers "mental work." While it may not be necessary for the average believer to
understand this, it is helpful to know what we are trying to accomplish in a
physiological sense. Some clergy and faithful are concerned that when something
involves ordinary physical processes in the body this makes them unspiritual.
Many people wish to divorce the spiritual from the physical, but this is
Gnosticism and not Christianity. The soul and the body always work together.
One reason that many teenagers lose control in regulating their behaviour and
in modulating gratification is that the mylenisation in the frontal lobe is not
complete until the mid-20s. Consequently, the full function of this regulatory
area of the brain does not fully functioning. The prayer of the “guarding of
the mind” is designed to help us strengthen this area of the brain. Of course
there are many other aspects to the guarding of the mind but this one is quite
significant. In this regard, it is helpful if a spiritual father takes this
into account in giving an epitimia in confession.
Many
times compulsive “sins” need psychological and/or psychiatric intervention in
resolving problems which are neurobiological. About 12 years ago a lengthy
research project was conducted at the University of British Colombia into the
problem of kleptomania – not the kind practised by governments but the kind
that form an obsessive-compulsive disorder. fMRI scans used in this research
demonstrated an area of the brain which, in those who suffer from kleptomania,
was over-firing and receiving extra glucose. At the end of a successful
therapy, this area of the brain was no longer overdosing in glucose and
over-firing. In this case it is doubtful that spiritual exercises alone could
have helped much in defeating this “sin.”
GENDER ISSUES:
Sexuality
and sexual orientations are another set of issues which need to be examined
carefully. This is also an area that is heavily clouded by fear, ideology and
sometimes real anger. These emotions often prevent sincere, scientific and
productive discussions about the matter.
The
recent incident with Olympic athlete Caster Semenya brings this to the
forefront in a dramatic way. The arguments about whether sexual orientation is
genetic or "chosen" can hardly be tenable in such a case. Ms Semenya
is quite simply both male and female. She has both ovaries and male testicles,
although both are concealed inside her body. We must also come to grips with
the reality of transgendered people because this situation is a valid clinical
condition. The question and a answers cannot be dealt with on the basis of
erroneous “Behaviourism” or knowledge that we did not have when opinions were
formed about it. We are now aware that phtalates and other pseudo-estrogens
feminise male foetuses while still in the womb. It is generally forgotten, when
speaking of environmental effects, that the womb is an environment. We must take the womb into account when
we are speaking about environmental effects and stimuli. Since we know that about
30,000 babies are born each year with an indefinite gender, and since, at least
in Canada, transgender is understood as a true clinical condition (gender
harmonisation surgery is covered by the Health Care system), we need to take
these matter seriously rather than risking driving someone to suicide. This
reality is exacerbated by various pollutants such as pseudo-estrogens. I have
seen this suicide outcome a few times. Theologically, there are two clear-cut
and definite genders. In reality and in medicine, this is not the case. While
many religious people are deeply disturbed by the fact that "female"
is the default gender and the default brain wiring, it is nonetheless the case.
Things can go quite amiss in an XY chromosome foetus as the Wolffian Duct
begins to express itself. Sever androgen insensitivity syndrome (and CAIS) is a
major one, and we do not even know all the consequences of simple and moderate
AIS. There are simply too many unanswered questions about such things as
premature stop codons7 and frameshift
mutations relating the Wolffian Duct to allow us to fall into ideological or
dogmatic pronouncements about gender variations. It may be that looking for
same-sex orientations in brain structures should begin in the Wolffian Duct
rather than only in the brain. The very possibility that there is a
neurobiological factor in sexual orientation should alert us that we need to be
extremely careful in how we approach the subject, and that ideologies simply
will not do.
There
are many debates about what kind of human conditions and behaviour are genetic.
This debate includes various forms of mental illness and physical disabilities.
At one time, almost any mental illness would be thought of as a demonic
possession and Down's syndrome children were often killed because they were
considered to be either a bad omen or a demonic replacement. In ancient Rome, a
child born with either indefinite gender or dual gender was considered to be a
bad omen and was drowned. Many of the debates about what is and is not genetic
display an ignorance about the way genes work. Let's take the case of cystic
fibrosis, for example. This is clearly a genetic condition, and yet there is no
gene that exists for the purpose of producing cystic fibrosis. This does not
even mean that one of the parents had this illness dormant within them. In fact
there is a gene which is supposed to produce a protein specific for an
intercellular pump, regulating the salinity within cells. If that gene is
either malfunctioning or has not been activated by an epigenetic switch then
the body will begin to produce and build up mucus deposits which will
eventually suffocate the victim. The gene does not create cystic fibrosis, it
simply does not produce a protein which it is supposed to produce. The absence
of that protein creates a situation in which cystic fibrosis develops.
Consequently, arguments about what is and is not genetic, unless they are
carried out among highly qualified professionals are useless and often shaped
by ideologies.
HAPPINESS AND REWARD:
The
reward centres in the brain not only give pleasure when we receive a special
gift or engage in some normally gratifying act. The reward centre can also
produce this sensation when we get revenge or see someone we dislike fail or
suffer; we can receive pleasure from this same brain area if we have spread
malicious gossip or slander and it has been effective. It is this area of the
brain which leads us into addictions. The “prayer of the guarding of the mind”
has taken this into account although it does not define long-term memory
potentiation (some the early monastics would have had no way of identifying).
This is why the “Jesus prayer” with the prayer rope can be so effective in
struggling with addictions when it is used in conjunction with theraphy. I have
found it to be most helpful in cases where married men have become addicted to
Internet pornography. But, of course, I advise them to also install
"NetNanny" on their computers and get rid of their usernames and
passwords. Talk theraphy is still a necessity in all these matters.
Hyperreligiosity, extreme spiruality and Spiritual Delusion (plani; prelest):
Those of us who have dealt with sufferers from schizophrenia are well aware that, in a florid state, these people can be hyperspritual, and sometimes can be quite convincing and even sound wise and patristic. Indeed, I have seen some evidence that those who go to Mount Athos and other monastic enclaves return with their spiritual agendas having be set by a florid schizophrenic who appeared to be an Elder. Hyperreligiosity and extreme spirituality can often arise from an overactive temporal lobe or angular gyrus. This is almost certainly the source of the spiritual delusion that we call plani or prelest. The are all situations that require interventions and therapy of one form or another. Hyperreligiosity can often pose not only a mental, but a physical danger to others, as we have seen so often in the past. Jonestown is but one example, but we have seen incidents of a parent killing their entire family in the belief that they were saving them from Antichrist or from spiritual disaster. These conditions cannot be divorced from neurobiological circumstances and require psychiatric intervention as well as prayer and counselling within the Church.
DEFAULT MODE NETWORK
I do not intend to discuss the DMN beyond saying that it is a significant and largely unexplored aspect of neuro-activity which may hold the answer to many behavioural issues, and we need to take it into account and follow developments in research about this construct.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE CREATED BY MISPLACED GUILT
AND GUILT COMPLEXES.
Finally, I want to invite attention to something that you are all aware of. The profound psychological damage that misplaced and chronic guilt can cause. We do have to be careful not to be extreme in dealing with the confessions of the faithful. What are often referred to as "guilt complexes" can be the result of patent spiritual abuse by Elders, spiritual fathers and confessors. Realising that one is guilty of something is one thing, having this turned into a neurosis is quite another. Our role is existential. We should try to help a person take responsibility for those things which they can actually be responsible for, not crush their personhood with fears and complexes that make them psychologically ill. We know of many cases in ascetic literature where an unhealthy, neurotic striving for self-atonement tears a persons mind. The idea that one has committed a sin which God cannot forgive unless we inflict either physical or emotional suffering on ourselves is in itself an illness that needs to be healed, although we do have Elders who encourage the illness. We have, even in our own era, learned that some spiritual fathers are recommending a form of self flagellation as a mode of spiritual struggle. However, self-flagellation is ultimately just another form of masturbation and, if habitually practised, can lead to it becoming a form of sexual addiction. Spiritual abuse is a form of malpractice and should be treated as such. This is most evident in the occasions when a Gnostic view of marriage is taught and imposed on a couple by means of spiritual authority, leading to divorces, anger, adultery and deformed marriages.
1.
Another situation that
priest should be carefully aware of is the manipulative skills on many persons
with a mental illness. It is very difficult even for a trained person to avoid
being manipulated in this way. In illnesses such as borderline personality
disorder for example, the priest can really do nothing to help effect a change
or cure for the person. The best we can do is to be supportive on the person’s
primary care giver, and encourage the very few and arduous forms of
psychotherapy that are available such as dialectic therapy. In fact, we seem to
be encountering an increasing number of such cases.
2.
The ancient Church
fathers in the West had the same understanding of these matters as did the holy
fathers in the East. It was only with the acceptance of Augustinian
neo-Platonism and Aristotelian rationalism (coupled with certain Gnostic influences)
that heretical concepts of these matters began to shape the Latin and later
Protestant understandings. See, for example, Michael Azkoul, Ye Are Gods, Synaxis Press (2004).
3. The secondary meanings of the words
occurring in the Masoaritic text of the Hebrew Scripture (O.T.) notwithstanding, there is no forensic
concept in the ideas of sin expressed in Scripture.
4.
See St. Mark of Ephesus,
Ten Refutations,
(see SBO, pp - ); Romanides, John, Dogmatiki kai Symboliki Theologia tis
Orthodoxon Katholikis Ekklesias (pp.13-14); Kalomiros, Alexandre The River of
Fire (St. Nectarios
Press). On the actual nature of hell and punishment, see The Nature of
Heaven and Hell According to the Holy Fathers (Synaxis Press).
5.
KJV, etc., translates
incorrectly. The following is a correct rendering of the text: "All have
sinned, falling short of the glory of God, but are made righteous freely by His
Grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a
sacrifice to make us one (with Himself) through faith in His Blood. He did this
to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His Divine forbearance, He overlooked
all the sins which had previously occurred. This He did to demonstrate at the
present time that He is righteous and the One Who bestows righteousness upon
the one who has faith in Jesus. What then becomes of our prideful boasting? It
is ruled out. On what principle? Good works? No, but on the principle of faith.
For we maintain that a man is righteous by faith apart from works of the
law." (Rm. 3:23-28).
6.
On Belief in The
Resurrection, para.88.
7.
Stop codons are
nucleotides within messenger RNA that signal terminations of transcriptions.
Misfiring stop codons can deprive DNA sequences of essential proteins because
segments of the amino acid chain are not being created.
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