God and Nature 2026 #2
The Importance of the Central Nervous System
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By Shawn Arstein
Written in antiquity, Scripture contains references to the heart as the core of a man. Though research as early as 300 BC explored the nervous system (1), common understanding of its most basic functions remained a mystery until the mid-1600s. Revisions based on biblical scholarship improve translations, and at times incorporate shifts in cultural norms and strengthen truth. Yet medical descriptions within Scripture remain unchanged. For instance, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Ps 37:4 ESV) makes sense since the heart represents the core of man. But training a person to “delight in the Lord” can be made easier by an understanding of the nervous system.
Modern research shows that the central nervous system performs the functions we associate with emotions. Advances in imaging, synapse elucidation, depolarization research, and psycho-social dynamics argue for the centrality of the central nervous system (CNS). Practically speaking, the CNS affects mood, motivation, memorization, pain, pleasure, action, response, love, and fear—and it also regulates the heart. When Christian teaching engages with this research, Scripture stories have greater depth.
Written in antiquity, Scripture contains references to the heart as the core of a man. Though research as early as 300 BC explored the nervous system (1), common understanding of its most basic functions remained a mystery until the mid-1600s. Revisions based on biblical scholarship improve translations, and at times incorporate shifts in cultural norms and strengthen truth. Yet medical descriptions within Scripture remain unchanged. For instance, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Ps 37:4 ESV) makes sense since the heart represents the core of man. But training a person to “delight in the Lord” can be made easier by an understanding of the nervous system.
Modern research shows that the central nervous system performs the functions we associate with emotions. Advances in imaging, synapse elucidation, depolarization research, and psycho-social dynamics argue for the centrality of the central nervous system (CNS). Practically speaking, the CNS affects mood, motivation, memorization, pain, pleasure, action, response, love, and fear—and it also regulates the heart. When Christian teaching engages with this research, Scripture stories have greater depth.
By combining spiritual formation with our medical knowledge of the CNS, we can forge lives free from fear. |
Within Scripture, we can see imagery evocative of the CNS in the relationship between the created order and the spiritual realm. Visually, the structure of the nervous system—the miles of nerve threads running through the body that form branches that connect body parts from head to toe—can be seen as an illustration of how God “is over all and through all and in all” (Eph 4:6 NIV) as individuals and within his body. Functionally, when a hand feels the heat of a stove, the feet, along with everything between it and the hand, pull away for protection. These body parts instantly communicate to every cell within the body—through the connection of the CNS—to keep a person safe. Jesus Christ, in an equivalent but spiritual “nerve system,” instantly engages the members of the church to act and react.
During a college event 20 years ago, I listened to a missionary from Africa recount a night of prayer: “Awakened by pain one night, I learned days later that a missionary friend of mine living abroad felt no pain as he endured torture. As I bore his burden in prayer, my friend stood fast in his faith...” As the human temple represents the heavenly temple (Heb 8:5), the human nervous system informs us of God’s ability to communicate instantly and comprehensively in the spiritual realm.
Scripture abounds with what we can see as neurobiological interactions with the spiritual realm. At the Fall, Adam manifested neurological instability that included anxiety, fear, and a heightened awareness state. Adam answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid” (Gen 3:10 NIV). When examined closely, Scripture reveals these fear responses on Adam and Eve’s part: fight (add clothing as armor), flight (run to hide), and fawn (blame-shifting). The story of Cain exudes CNS instability as well: fight (anger and murder), flight (denial), freeze (downcast and panic) (Gen 4:1–12).
Adam’s rebellion altered his nervous system both physically and spiritually. We read, “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Gen 2:17 NIV). To grasp this text, we must define the word “to die.” The key lies in the term “naked” in verse 25. Severing the Spirit from the image of God left a CNS stripped of a protective myelin layer—imagine having a short in a wire— and an animated but spiritually dead corpse. They looked alive but the connection with God vanished, producing the vulnerability of nakedness. Simultaneously, the knowledge of evil spawned anxiety, fear, and chaos: reactions that magnify the feelings of exposure. Nakedness demanded a response, and fig leaves provided the first coping strategy—an attempt to feel stable.
Epilepsy, the apparent condition depicted in Matthew 17:15–20, suggests the interaction of the spiritual realm with the central nervous system. When Jesus returns to the crowds of people after his Transfiguration witnessed by three of his disciples, he is approached by a man. “‘Lord, have mercy on my son,’ he said. ‘He has seizures…’” (v. 15). “Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment” (v. 17). Jesus’ disciples, who had tried to do the same, asked him “‘Why couldn’t we drive it out?’ He replied, ‘Because you have so little faith’” (vv. 19–20). One way to read this is that removal of the demon, an evil spiritual influence, restored normal function of the nervous system. As a pharmacist who formerly worked on a hospice ward, I attest that occurrences of spiritual override of the CNS manifest in hospice settings routinely. Patients incapacitated by dead nervous systems receive temporary lucidity and limited mobility.
Addiction, a physical manifestation of a CNS gone haywire, diminishes when treatment combines physical and spiritual strategies. Recent updates of the clinical definition of addiction opted for broader terminology than dependence and addiction. By adding levels of severity, negative behavior patterns such as cussing, binge eating, and road rage fit criteria for low-level presentation. By recognizing instability at diminished severity levels, treatment may provide solutions for individuals exhibiting cyclical shame cycles—periods of control followed by setback.
Connecting practices from secular and spiritual communities and recognizing physiologic imagery within Scripture empowers lives to connect with Jesus. The power of addiction decreases with stabilization, and the four spiritual formation practices of silence, fasting, gratitude, and worship calm the CNS and help accomplish the goal.
The fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22–23) and spiritual formation practices settle the nervous system as well as build nice people. Spiritual formation battles with evil for control of the CNS and results in changed behavior. Fixing the nervous system, though, requires a journey: “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:22–24 NIV).
Engrams—structures in the body that store memory—enable change (2). Whether changing the sequence of muscles pulling the body from a heat source or what memory the mind retrieves when perceiving a certain smell, rewriting engrams alters the way we think, respond to, and process life. Intimately connected with the CNS, engrams make freedom from bondage possible by changing our reactions, such as from anger to sadness. To change an engram requires effort and thousands of repetitions. In Christian terms, it requires daily engagement by picking up your cross.
The CNS—the brain, the spine and the nerves running through the body—impacts every aspect of life. It interacts with the world through the five senses, it regulates hormones and chemicals that affect emotions, and it powers the heart.
Consider how spiritual formation can positively affect lives:
By combining spiritual formation with our medical knowledge of the CNS, we can forge lives free from fear. The language and imagery of Scripture impacts understanding. Yet resistance to incorporate concepts of anatomy and physiology impairs our connection with the Trinity and limits strategies for personal transformation. Our identities—scientists, pastors, professors—congealed at some level as protection. Let Christ have your fear; embrace his identity for you.
References
1 Bay, N. S. Y., & Bay, B. H. (2010). “Greek anatomist Herophilus: the father of anatomy.” Anatomy & cell biology, 43(4), 280-283.
2 Tonegawa, S., Liu, X., Ramirez, S., & Redondo, R. (2015). “Memory engram cells have come of age.” Neuron, 87(5), 918-931.
As pastor of ReignMakers Forge, Shawn Arstein provides discipleship training for the broken and beaten down, and those whose coping strategies appear successful. Through his groundbreaking podcast, "Empowering the Damascus Man,” along with his curriculum and book, "Crushing the Serpent,” he has shared this vital message. Trained as a pharmacist, he integrates a scientific understanding of central nervous system physiology, addiction, and recovery with personal experience and faith—shaped in part by his own back surgery and recovery.
During a college event 20 years ago, I listened to a missionary from Africa recount a night of prayer: “Awakened by pain one night, I learned days later that a missionary friend of mine living abroad felt no pain as he endured torture. As I bore his burden in prayer, my friend stood fast in his faith...” As the human temple represents the heavenly temple (Heb 8:5), the human nervous system informs us of God’s ability to communicate instantly and comprehensively in the spiritual realm.
Scripture abounds with what we can see as neurobiological interactions with the spiritual realm. At the Fall, Adam manifested neurological instability that included anxiety, fear, and a heightened awareness state. Adam answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid” (Gen 3:10 NIV). When examined closely, Scripture reveals these fear responses on Adam and Eve’s part: fight (add clothing as armor), flight (run to hide), and fawn (blame-shifting). The story of Cain exudes CNS instability as well: fight (anger and murder), flight (denial), freeze (downcast and panic) (Gen 4:1–12).
Adam’s rebellion altered his nervous system both physically and spiritually. We read, “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Gen 2:17 NIV). To grasp this text, we must define the word “to die.” The key lies in the term “naked” in verse 25. Severing the Spirit from the image of God left a CNS stripped of a protective myelin layer—imagine having a short in a wire— and an animated but spiritually dead corpse. They looked alive but the connection with God vanished, producing the vulnerability of nakedness. Simultaneously, the knowledge of evil spawned anxiety, fear, and chaos: reactions that magnify the feelings of exposure. Nakedness demanded a response, and fig leaves provided the first coping strategy—an attempt to feel stable.
Epilepsy, the apparent condition depicted in Matthew 17:15–20, suggests the interaction of the spiritual realm with the central nervous system. When Jesus returns to the crowds of people after his Transfiguration witnessed by three of his disciples, he is approached by a man. “‘Lord, have mercy on my son,’ he said. ‘He has seizures…’” (v. 15). “Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment” (v. 17). Jesus’ disciples, who had tried to do the same, asked him “‘Why couldn’t we drive it out?’ He replied, ‘Because you have so little faith’” (vv. 19–20). One way to read this is that removal of the demon, an evil spiritual influence, restored normal function of the nervous system. As a pharmacist who formerly worked on a hospice ward, I attest that occurrences of spiritual override of the CNS manifest in hospice settings routinely. Patients incapacitated by dead nervous systems receive temporary lucidity and limited mobility.
Addiction, a physical manifestation of a CNS gone haywire, diminishes when treatment combines physical and spiritual strategies. Recent updates of the clinical definition of addiction opted for broader terminology than dependence and addiction. By adding levels of severity, negative behavior patterns such as cussing, binge eating, and road rage fit criteria for low-level presentation. By recognizing instability at diminished severity levels, treatment may provide solutions for individuals exhibiting cyclical shame cycles—periods of control followed by setback.
Connecting practices from secular and spiritual communities and recognizing physiologic imagery within Scripture empowers lives to connect with Jesus. The power of addiction decreases with stabilization, and the four spiritual formation practices of silence, fasting, gratitude, and worship calm the CNS and help accomplish the goal.
The fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22–23) and spiritual formation practices settle the nervous system as well as build nice people. Spiritual formation battles with evil for control of the CNS and results in changed behavior. Fixing the nervous system, though, requires a journey: “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:22–24 NIV).
Engrams—structures in the body that store memory—enable change (2). Whether changing the sequence of muscles pulling the body from a heat source or what memory the mind retrieves when perceiving a certain smell, rewriting engrams alters the way we think, respond to, and process life. Intimately connected with the CNS, engrams make freedom from bondage possible by changing our reactions, such as from anger to sadness. To change an engram requires effort and thousands of repetitions. In Christian terms, it requires daily engagement by picking up your cross.
The CNS—the brain, the spine and the nerves running through the body—impacts every aspect of life. It interacts with the world through the five senses, it regulates hormones and chemicals that affect emotions, and it powers the heart.
Consider how spiritual formation can positively affect lives:
- Reading, writing, memorizing, and other engagement with Scripture gets embedded in engrams. A CNS controlled by the Spirit draws goodness and wisdom to mind and overwrites trauma.
- A believer focused on the simplicity of God loses familiarity with the world. Like attracts like. A CNS at peace goes into the world unfazed by its lure, for the world no longer feels right.
- Coping strategies bathed in the Spirit diminish fear as new engrams build in us the nature of Jesus and reveal our true self.
By combining spiritual formation with our medical knowledge of the CNS, we can forge lives free from fear. The language and imagery of Scripture impacts understanding. Yet resistance to incorporate concepts of anatomy and physiology impairs our connection with the Trinity and limits strategies for personal transformation. Our identities—scientists, pastors, professors—congealed at some level as protection. Let Christ have your fear; embrace his identity for you.
References
1 Bay, N. S. Y., & Bay, B. H. (2010). “Greek anatomist Herophilus: the father of anatomy.” Anatomy & cell biology, 43(4), 280-283.
2 Tonegawa, S., Liu, X., Ramirez, S., & Redondo, R. (2015). “Memory engram cells have come of age.” Neuron, 87(5), 918-931.
As pastor of ReignMakers Forge, Shawn Arstein provides discipleship training for the broken and beaten down, and those whose coping strategies appear successful. Through his groundbreaking podcast, "Empowering the Damascus Man,” along with his curriculum and book, "Crushing the Serpent,” he has shared this vital message. Trained as a pharmacist, he integrates a scientific understanding of central nervous system physiology, addiction, and recovery with personal experience and faith—shaped in part by his own back surgery and recovery.