Present Everywhere, Sustaining Life

Image: Annie Spratt

As a divine person, there is nowhere we can flee from the presence of the Spirit (Psalm 139:7). Therefore, by the Spirit, God “fills everything in every way” (Ephesians 1:23) and is “over all, and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:6). On account of this, Hendrikus Berkhof correctly recognizes that “insofar as the Spirit is the name of God in action, nothing short of the whole creation can be the field of his operation.”[1] This would necessarily include the human brain.

The Spirit is present everywhere sustaining life. Expressing this, Christians have sometimes referred to the Father as Creator, the Son as Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit as Sustainer. Likewise, the Nicene Creed, which is regularly affirmed in liturgical churches, affirms that the Spirit is the “Lord, the giver of life.” This, I think, includes within our brains, while we sleep.

The Spirit in the Brain

One might think that what happens in our brains is a “natural” process. But it is not natural, if one means apart from God. Nothing about the human being is “natural” in the sense that we are created and sustained, from start to finish, by God. As Job declared, “the Spirit of God has made me,” and “the breath of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4).

Image: Alexander Possingham

A False Dichotomy

When it comes to issues of science and biology, sometimes people make a false dichotomy by thinking that either God is at work, or “natural processes” are at work in our bodies. It doesn’t, however, have to be an either-or option—both can be true. Similarly, Christians affirm that God is at work knitting each child together in their mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13), even though we learn in health class the natural processes of child development from the point of fertilization, to the development of an embryo, through to a fully formed fetus. Likewise, the Spirit works in and through the natural processes of our brain to renew our brain functions.

“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.” (1 Cor 14:14, NKJV)

The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has made a “fascinating” discovery: Brain Activity declines as subjects speak in tongues.

This research appeared in the November 2006 issue of the journal Psychiatry Research: Nueroimaging.

“Our brain imaging research shows us that these subjects are not in control of the usual language centers during this activity, which is consistent with their description of a lack of intentional control while speaking in tongues.”

The principal investigator, Dr. Andrew Newberg, an associate professor of radiology, psychiatry and religious studies stated “We noticed a number of changes that occurred functionally in the brain… Our finding of decreased activity in the frontal lobes during the practice of speaking in tongues is fascinating because these subjects truly believe the Spirit of God is moving through them and controlling them to speak. Our brain imaging research shows us that these subjects are not in control of the usual language centers during this activity, which is consistent with their description of a lack of intentional control, while speaking in tongues.”

This has been adapted from the report that appeared on UPI/TN Beliefnet (Nov 7, 2006).

Special thanks to Dr. Andrew Newberg for verifying this report, and to H. Murray Hohns for making us aware of this report.

Andrew B. Newberg, Nancy A. Wintering, Donna Morgan and Mark R. Waldman, “The measurement of regional cerebral blood flow during glossolalia: A preliminary SPECT study” Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging 148:1 (22 November 2006), pages 67-71. the-measurement-of-regional-cerebral-blood-flow-during-glossolalia-a-preliminary-spect-study.pdf [available as of Feb 27, 2017]