Christians begin with the presupposition that God created the universe and created man as a special creation different in kind from both inanimate and other animate creations. In fact, man is so special, the Bible tells us, that he is the very “image of God” (Gen. 1:27). One of these image attributes is the existence of the mind, the ability to think rationally (Col. 3:10), and to act in ways that require moral evaluation (Eph. 4:24). The consistent materialist, who denies God, denies the existence of the mind. For materialistic philosophers, the mind is an “illusion.” In their words, “the brain is a machine. We have no selves, no souls. How do they know? Well, it’s just a matter of faith.”[1] One of the best-kept secrets of science is that it has its share of faith-based presuppositions. In his book The Ten Assumptions of Science, Glenn Borchardt writes:
The highest levels of thinking occur when we realize that thinking begins with presuppositions (e.g., antecedent beliefs unrecognized by the believer). Math states its axioms, logic its premises, and science its assumptions (7).
One of the presuppositions of science is that all that exists is material in nature. In fact, Borchardt lists it as the first assumption of science. Since the mind as distinct from the brain is by definition non