Dualism (Identity)

by dhw, Wednesday, April 01, 2015, 19:45 (3523 days ago) @ Balance_Maintained

TONY: To get straight to the crux of your argument here, it seems that you are hung up on Christ's spiritual body, as opposed to our physical bodies, and it's relevance to NDE's. The answer to this dilemma is exceedingly simple, so simple in fact that I did not think it needed to be expounded upon. My mistake.-First, the analogy I made was meant for humans. Yet, it is just as applicable to spirit creatures. At least according to the bible, Angels (spirit creatures) are similar to humans in almost every respect, except for the nature of the composition of their bodies. They are conscious, have emotions, work, are creative, feel lust, envy, jealousy, even pride. When Christ was resurrected to a spiritual form, he was no longer dead. He was every bit as alive as you or I, and in fact more so in some ways. The major difference was the form of life. When he was dead, he was dead. They still follow the same basic principles that we do. They are comprised of information, energy, some form of body, and presumably, some analog to the brain. This is all very well documented throughout the bible. Angels that grew lustful and came down to earth; Jacob wrestled with an angel; and angels(demons) will be killed according to the book of Revelations. If spirit creatures were dead, how could they be killed?-All of this may seem simple to you, and so you will have to forgive me for my stupidity, though clearly David has problems following it too. I understand perfectly when you say that when Christ was resurrected to a spiritual form, he was no longer dead. That is the process NDE-ers also believe they experience. But what spiritual form is it? In your account above, you move from “When he was dead, he was dead” to “They still follow the same basic principles that we do.” This sequence makes no sense to me unless you are saying that Christ was an angel, which you define as a spirit creature. You say that spirit creatures have some form of body and brain, so if Christ was an angel, he did not have a human body. (If he was not an angel, what is the relevance of angels to our discussion?) However, in your response to David, you say: “If their spiritual body is destroyed, they die. If they alter their form to a physical human form, and the physical body is destroyed, they die.” On both counts, then, whether he had an angel body or a human body, Christ died, in which case, when he was dead, he was dead. And that should have been that.-So to simplify matters, just to make sure I am following you correctly, two more questions: 1) Was Christ an angel, a human being, or an angel who altered his form to a physical human form? 2) When he appeared to the disciples in a non-physical form, after his spiritual (angel) or human body had died, together with his brain or brain analog, exactly what was resurrected?
 
David's response to you is highly relevant to the subjects of NDEs and dualism, but I'll await your answer before making any further comment.