But Where Is the
Soul? 
“But what
shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” -Mark 8:36,37
Are atom,
molecules, elements, and physical energy all there is?
True evolution
and modern science so-called have in common basic materialistic
presuppositions. Materialism is simply
the idea that the “Cosmos is all there is, all there ever was, and all there
will be.” (Carl Sagan) The siren of materialism, which was supposed to explain
everything, seduced the world in the twentieth century, especially during the
social revolution of the 1960’s. Even before the revolution of the 1960's,
materialism had dominated the thought of modern science, and men had wildly
dreamed of being able to explain all phenomenon on the earth in terms of it.
Consciousness itself would be explained in terms of electrical and chemical
impulses. The sober editors of Time Books wondered in the 70's whether or not
the elementary beginnings of consciousness were even then lurking in the
circuits of computer mainframes. Materialism had gained control of the
universities and the legal institutions of America and elsewhere, but the full
implication of that control had not yet been felt. In the generation following
the 60's that impact would be felt with a vengeance.
Evolution: the
Gift of Materialism
Materialism not
only gives us evolution (Man is formed by impersonal forces acting on material
over long periods of time without any design or purpose, but only by chance),
destruction of morals (Material knows no right or wrong. Where there is no
purpose there can be no morality); relativism in law (People are genetically
disposed to behave in a certain way); and irrationalism and subjectivity in
religion (Rationality disappears when purpose is denied, but you can believe in
God if you want to, if it makes you feel good and causes you to be subservient
to all-wise government). Thus are
fulfilled the words of our Lord Jesus quoted above. Although there have been
tremendous material benefits reaped by some because of materialistic philosophy,
the result has been devastating to the souls of men.
Is Matter All
There Is?
Man is not just
a hunk of matter, a machine operating according to physical processes
determined by chance. People know this instinctively. This is the reason that
91% of the American people reject true evolutionary premises. There are some
things about man that just cannot be explained by physical processes.
Materialism cannot explain the difference between Shakespeare and pornography.
We have wrestled with the problem since censorship laws were repealed in the 60's
and 70's, and filth flooded our cities. If matter is all there is, then a book
is something made out of paper and ink, and all books are the same. All movies
are thus the same, and all messages on the internet are the same. You as an individual may choose to follow
your religious delusions in terms of values, but your values cannot be imposed
on anyone else, because values cannot be determined by materialistic
presuppositions. If the Cosmos is all there is, values are simply individual
choices, and at the most give private pleasure. What gives you pleasure might
be quite different from what pleasures someone else. Only the individual can
decide.
Do Genetics
Determine Morals?
The same is true
of morals, for materialism knows no difference between lifestyles. If a man is
simply the product of his genes, then he is programmed by them to behave a
certain way. The sodomite is so programmed, as in the drunkard, the thief, and
the saint. Who is to say that one lifestyle is superior to another?
How Can They Be
Different?
This writer is
the father of identical twin sons. They are genetically the same. When they
were babies, only the most experienced could tell them apart. But how different
they are! I dearly love them both, but anyone who knows them realizes that the
person who lives in one body is not the same as the person who lives in the
other body. Yet they grew up in the same home, ate the same food, were
disciplined alike, and read the same books, listened to the same music, and had
the same friends. How do you explain their differences on materialistic ground?
I would not want them to be the same, even though they are genetic equals.
What is the Soul
of a Man?
What is it in a
man that enables him to discern between the beautiful and the ugly? Since the
materialist revolution, the ugly prevails. The grotesque, the weird, the ugly
gets equal time with the beautiful. Who are you to say that your preferences
are better than someone else? There is no soul in the world of materialism.
Materialism gave us the sexual revolution, for materialism knows nothing of
love, commitment, faithfulness, and honor. “Laugh In” and other comedy shows
routinely made fun of such things, of culture, of decency. Love was defined
downward in terms of momentary physical contact. In the materialistic jungle,
there is no difference between the mating of humans and the mating of fruit
flies.
What is Freedom?
Materialism
destroyed patriotism and love of country. In a materialistic world there is no
difference between freedom and slavery, and wars for freedom become the equal
of wars of totalitarianism. Hitler and Churchill become equal. Wars to maintain
liberty were re-defined as efforts to impose our culture on others. In a
materialistic world, such things as liberty and freedom cannot be defined, and
therefore do not exist. Freedom became redefined in terms of materialistic
pre-suppositions: the right to do as you please, certainly not the right to
think, to worship, to love beauty and truth. It became the right to utter
vulgarities, defy convention, to mock and honor and decency. Television
programs such as “Mash” carried forward the revolution. All men were equal, for
to fight for one cause is as meaningless in a materialistic world as to fight
for another.
Materialism
changes the concept of law. Instead of holding men responsible for their
actions (for who can be responsible for materialist phenomenon?), law became
incessant tinkering with the environment and other materialistic meddling in
people's affairs, in an attempt to program them to behavior that is desired by
a self-appointed elite. Men become obsessed with food, water, air, medical care
for the body, economic equality. Why not, if we are the product of what we eat
and drink? The brave new world comes with government regulation of material.
But the regulations themselves are the product of programmed responses in terms
of evolution, and must be constantly changed and adapted and repealed, for the
regulations themselves are the result of impersonal causes. No one is
responsible for anything. The buck never stops anywhere.
There is no sin
in a materialistic world. Adultery is not a sin, because human mating is the
equivalent of the mating of any other animals, and is reduced to biology.
Blasphemy is not sin, for who can define God in a material world? Murder and
rape are not sins, but are simply the result of male aggression, and natural
tendency that is seen in all the beasts. It is politic to try to restrain such
things, but we understand and are sympathetic. Sodomy is no sin, for the body
rules all in a materialistic world. The morality of the apostle Paul, `I keep
under my body, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should be come a
castaway,” has no meaning in materialism: the body is all, there is no soul to
keep it down and restrain it. Sodomy and other perversions are the natural
result, for where there is no soul, there is no restraint of bodily sins.
Drunkenness, sexual perversions, drug abuse, murder, violence, hatred, are the
end result of the soul being lost.
If man is
defined as the product of chance materialist processes, then the control of the
processes becomes a matter of great concern to him. His mind becomes occupied
with what he shall eat, what he shall drink, what he shall put on. He knows
nothing of the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God, because these
concepts have no value to him. This leads him to conflict after conflict. The
twentieth century has seen some of the most devastating wars in history—as
materialist denominations (fascism, Nazism, communism, socialism) threatened
the very fabric of the world's order.
It is a source
of immense satisfaction to this writer to belong to a great nation that
contended with these evil powers in terms of the values of the soul of man:
liberty, freedom, and faith. God bless America! and may God preserve her from
those very evils she so valiantly opposed in arms and wealth during the 20th
century! By God's grace, America was the bulwark against the utter darkness of
consistent materialism.
All is not well in America, but her record in the 20th century has been glorious.
Where is Equity?
A well-known
story is told about Chief Justice Earl Warren when the segregation of blacks in
our school system was under debate in the Supreme Court. After hearing the
legal arguments about precedent and custom, he is said to have asked, “But is
it fair?” It was on this basis that ultimately the degrading laws of school
segregation were overturned. It was the most famous decision in equity in the
history of the United States, and it was decided on fairness--the sense of
justice that every man feels in his soul. I do not know what other motives
Justice Warren may have had, but I do know that a great deal of abuse was
heaped upon him for his part in that famous decision.
Those who said
the segregation battle was for the soul of America were right. Only by
materialist presuppositions can a man be treated as chattel, bought and sold,
and relegated to servitude because of the color of his skin. Where is the soul
of a church or a nation that relegates human beings to second-class citizenship
and holds them in perpetual servitude, without regard to their choices, but
only on the basis of the flesh?
What Remains of
Quality and Beauty?
Beauty, truth,
love, justice, freedom, morality, worship, and kindness: such things are lost
in the world fabricated by true evolutionists, based upon materialistic ideas.
If any of these remain, it is because they have been “borrowed” from somewhere
else, not from the ideas of materialism. How profound are the words of Jesus,
the Son of God! How very profound was His very presence in this world of ours!
His very presence among us underscored what Moses told Israel in the
wilderness, explaining why God had given them manna for all those years: “Man
does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of
God.”
Truth from the
mouth of God has no meaning in a materialistic world. Words are just a
vibration in the air and mean only what I think they mean. Gibberish and
nonsense, or the beat of drums and the whine of the electric guitar, are as
meaningful, and perhaps even more meaningful if they make me feel good. So the
church dies in irrationalism and lawlessness, for it has lost its soul also. Instead of the ideas of Scripture expressing
the mind of the Spirit, even He is reduced to incomprehensible blather.
“Is not the
life more than meat, and the body more than raiment?” the Son of God asked
(Matt. 6:25). Not in a materialistic world. If the life of man is only animal
life, then all he needs is food. If the body is not the temple of the soul,
then perhaps its most useful purpose is its adornment with gold, silver, and
fine raiment.
“Seek ye
first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” Jesus said (Matt. 6:35), a
most nonmaterialistic statement. It is the kingdom of God in Jesus Christ
through the righteousness of God revealed in the Gospel, which is the power of
God unto the salvation of the soul (Romans 1:16,17).
Wise men still
seek Him.
-----------------
Write:
Pastor C. W.
Powell
Trinity Covenant
Church RCUS
6050 Del Paz
Drive
Colorado
Springs, CO 80918
719-590-1477
mailto:budpow@ureach.com
