What is the Christian perspective on deceptive brain messages?

Material vs. Immaterial

It should be clear from Scripture that there is a part of you which is immaterial, and will "live on" once your body is dead. This is commonly referred to as your "spirit". Part of your "material self" is your body.

Are there other parts to you, such as your soul, mind, and/or heart? Some say yes, some say no, but regardless, the point I want to make is:

• There is a part of you which is not material, referred to as your spirit

• There is a part of you which is material (or "physical"), including your body

Clearly your brain is part of your body, and is material; If we chop it up a bit, you'll have trouble thinking straight. But even if the brain dies, along with the body, the spirit will live on.

Interactions between the Physical and the Spiritual

It should be obvious that the spiritual can influence the physical; God spoke the universe into existence, angels are recorded in Scripture as slaying men, your free-will influences the choices you make in your body, etc. And then, of course, there are the numerous examples of demons influencing people in the Gospels:

"But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him" -Luke 4:35

The question is, can the physical influence the spiritual? It would seem that the answer is "yes", at least in some cases;

"So it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him." -1 Samuel 16:23

If nothing else, surely we must concede that the spiritual is aware of the physical, and responds to it - at least sometimes. This should be clear from prayer, sorcery, casting out demons, blood sacrifices, occult practices, etc.

But this "impact" must not be assumed to apply to every situation. If I lose a leg or an arm, I am not suddenly "less", spiritually; that should be proof enough that not everything that happens to a person physically directly impacts them spiritually.

Christian responsibility

Christians are called to rule over their bodies:

"I discipline my body and make it my slave" -1 Corinthians 9:7

...and not to be ruled by their bodies/flesh:

"For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please." -Galatians 5:17

But ultimately our war is not against the physical, but against those things which influence the physical against the will of God:

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." -Ephesians 6:12

In other words, Christians have a physical "aspect", which will tend toward sin if not "ruled" and forced to submit to the will and ways of God. This is not due to natural forces, but spiritual forces, which influence the natural as a sort of default. We are called to control our physical "self" via our spiritual "self" in partnership with God's Spirit.

Conclusion

The spiritual realm is real - this is evident from passages about demons influencing people in Jesus' day. Yes, modern psychologists would call these things medical conditions, but remember, they presuppose naturalism, and don't accept the truth of Scripture. Perhaps what they are seeing is that there is a physical change with such conditions, but in light of the knowledge that the spiritual certainly does impact the physical, that should not be surprising. But one should not assume that a physical change is the cause of the condition, or that a physical treatment is the best solution.

Analysis of Dr. Schwartz View

With regards to the need to "rule over the brain", Dr. Schwartz seems to be saying the same thing in a more scientific way; that we must use our mind (which he distinguishes from the brain) to control what our brain does. His emphasis seems to be on the idea that your brain is not in control of your mind, as secular, naturalistic psychologists suppose, but rather, that your brain should be controlled by your mind. If I understand him, this seems to be correct, since his usage of "mind" seems to be akin to the Christianese term "spirit".

However, his methods (Steps 2-4) rely on attributing the brain's activity to medical conditions, rather than spiritual influences, which seems naive from a Biblical perspective, as I have just explained. In his view:

"these things are caused by mis-firings in their brain" -(his words)

As I have explained, I believe this is an unwarranted assumption. However, for all practical purposes, his methods may very well be effective on some level despite the theological error in that statement. But it would be wise not to discount the spiritual cause of this natural "cause", if that makes sense. As he admits, a complete cure of the condition is rare:

"what you can do is get it to the point where you can really manage it, and manage it in ways that it really doesn't have very significant impact on your life anymore"

In contrast, when Jesus "healed" or "cast out a demon", the person was cured of the resultant condition.