We know very little about consciousness although, according to Martin in Does It Matter?, it should be possible to study it using scientific methods. This would be through collection and comparison of accounts of experiences. Wesley, according to Runyon's The New Creation(page 72f), understood experience to be important in spiritual matters. He did not rule out an empirical approach to spiritual matters because accounts of experiences can be studied.
None of this allows for proof of the myths of any religion but science could, and does, seek regularities between reports of mystical experiences. I am reminded of Sir Alistair Hardy's work on the biology of God during the 1960s. Whilst such reports are undoubtedly subjective, in the sense any experience is unlikely to be sharable on demand, this is not about entertaining any belief people might come up with. Perhaps one of the reasons why there are so many such random beliefs is the scarcity of serious and respectful research into religious experiences.
We should at least entertain the idea that consciousness is present in matter; that matter and consciousness go together. This is in addition to the transcendent consciousness we sometimes call God. The response of matter to conversation with God would be slow and this is one of the reasons evolution takes as long as it does.
Is it possible the Christian doctrine of sin can be attributed to the wayward nature of matter? Survival is a demanding discipline and there must be a struggle between the selfish instinct to survive and the spirit of collaboration that leads to generative development.
Perhaps it is God who challenges matter to work collaboratively. 'You cannot become greater on your own'. Whilst this is speculation, it is hard to see how greater complexity results from the continuous struggle for survival alone. Scientists tend to see altruism as a secondary feature of evolution, but what if we place it equal to competition? Or ahead of it? It may not be possible to work out how it happens, but that in itself is no proof it doesn't happen.
This would certainly challenge the tendency to pull apart matter and consciousness. They are intimately related and theologically we must conclude God loves matter. Contrast God with Satan who is said to be jealous of the prominence given to matter by God.
Matter is the stuff with which the creator creates. It is a challenging material because of its tendency to go its own way (over long periods of time). The whole is brought to a head when we understand those God created in God's image are co-creators with God. Some might argue our record is poor and the power of our sin can be seen in climate change.
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