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Current Course Offering
Modern research is uncovering more and more detail of what our brain is and how it works. We are living, thinking creatures who carry around with us an amazing organic supercomputer in our heads.
But what is the relationship between our brains and our minds—and ultimately our sense of identity as a person? Are we more than machines? Is free-will an illusion? Do we have a soul?
Brain Imaging Scientist Sharon Dirckx lays out the current understanding of who we are from biologists, philosophers, theologians and psychologists, and points towards a bigger picture that suggests answers to the fundamental questions of our existence. Not just "What am I?", but "Who am I?"—and "Why am I?"
Participants in this study will not only gain valuable insight into what modern research is telling us about ourselves but will also encounter a work that challenges, from a Christian perspective, the idea that we are merely material beings living in a material world.
Use distributed reading guides to work through Am I Just My Brain? on your own.
Use distributed reading guides to explore Am I Just My Brain? with co-workers, congregants, neighbors, family, and friends.
Join a discussion group led by Trevor Eppehimer of Hood Theological Seminary that meets one hour per week during the course of the study. Discussion groups are now being formed at the following places and times:
- Mondays 10:00-11:00am EST on Zoom (10/5, 10/12, 10/19, 10/26, and 11/2) (Currently Full)
- Tuesdays 1:00-2:00pm at Sacred Heart Catholic Church (Salisbury NC) (10/6, 10/13, 10/20, 10/27, and 11/3) (Currently Full)
- Wednesdays 11:00am-12noon at First Presbyterian Church (Salisbury NC) (10/7, 10/14, 10/21, 10/28, and 11/4) (Currently Full)
- Fridays 1:00-2:00pm at Trinity Oaks Retirement Community (Salisbury NC) (10/9, 10/16, 10/23, 10/30, and 11/6) (Currently Full)
The Messinger-Williams Community Education Initiative at Hood Theological Seminary is an extension of the Hood Theological Seminary’s Messinger and Williams Family Chair in Theology and Ethics. Its mission is to facilitate explorations of topics related to ethics, community, faith, and meaning-in-life for the general public. Courses are free and open to all.
