We live in a physical and material world. Yet, I know there is more to life than the physical and the material. Even science now posits multiple and parallel universes, coexisting in the same space but existing in different dimensions.
All life in this physical and material world follow the same cycle of birth, growth and death. Yet, I know that my life does not end in death but will go on forever. The physical and material world is intelligible and governed by certain laws and reason. Yet, the deepest truths I know go against the grain of reason. In the physical and material world, what I give away I lose. the food I give away is no longer available to me and the money I give away is no longer mine. Yet, when I give away that which is not physical nor material, I do not lose it but on the contrary multiply it. Like, I give away and share my talents like my capacity for learning or my ability to play games, I do not lose those abilities or capacities but on the contrary I make them stronger and I become better at them. The more I give away love, the more loving I become. The more I share my happiness, the more abundant my happiness becomes. The more forgiveness I give, the more forgiving I become.
Christ came to live in this physical and material world we live in. He was born, grew up, did his thing and was put to death. But throughout his life, he kept on teaching us there is more to life than this physical and material world. There are more truths and realities we can learn beyond our reason. There are realities and existences beyond what we are experiencing now. And he has promised all of that to us. The more I think about these things and the more advanced I get in years, the more these things make sense to me.
‘I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgement: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgement, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.’
John 16:5-11
Mind and Matter in essence are different with the mind having the attributes of the soul. Theory of dualism (Descartes).
You are right, Sig. Descartes’ “Cogito ergo sum.” laid down the foundations of a dualistic type of philosophy which saw man as being composed of body and soul. Descartes is recognized as the Father of Modern Philosophy and was among the prime intellectuals that espoused Rationalism, which gave birth to the scientific approach/method. Descartes accepted the existence of the soul. It is kinda ironic that modern-day Science has all but discounted the soul as merely an illusion of the human mind and of our sense.