Triune Brain

My comments in purple:

Triune brain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The triune brain is a model proposed by Paul D. MacLean to explain the function of traces of evolution existing in the structure of the human brain. In this model, the brain is broken down into 3 separate brains that have their own special intelligence, subjectivity, sense of time and space, and memory[1]. The triune brain consists of the R-complex, the limbic system, and the neocortex.

7K says: What I'm going to do here is a little wild, edgy, outside. I came across this "triune brain" in Ken Wilber's very interesting book A Brief History of Everything. Wilber pulls together a kind of holistic evolution that includes the biological world, the psychic world, and the spiritual dimensions in his insightful writings. "Evolution", in this sense, can simply be thought of as progressive development, no matter how you square that with scripture.

In Wilber's cosmos, the triune brain is a remnant of evolution, that basically took place in three stages: 1) The R-Complex (reptillian ~ first observed in that stage of evolution) that includes the brain stem and cerebellum and controls instinct, muscles, balance and automatic functions; 2) The Limbic System (mammal stage) that displays the development of emotions and instincts and the avoidance of pain and approach of pleasure; and 3) The Neocortex (higher mammals)that controls thinking, reason and speech.

That is, the brain has 3 regions that can be said to govern the most basic to the most sophisticated operations in humans.

In theology, God is, by many, believed to be composed of 3 persons or manifestations: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Others dislike this representation because they emphasize that God is one, and that the three-person idea invites a perversion of the Godhead. Either way, though, both theories still say "God is one." And both sides have to admit that God is characterized in scripture in these three ways. We call that Trinity concept the "triune God." It doesn't mean three separate gods: it means one God with a three-dimensionality.

Whether God utilized evolution or special creation to form this human brain ~ this central engine of the human who is "made in His image" ~ the brain has these three aspects to it.

The Father is like the Neocortex, in that He speaks and reasons and thinks it all into existence, and controls it from His supernal position in His cosmos. Jesus is like the Limbic System, in that He identifies with us in our emotions, instincts, pains, and pleasures. He is God as one of us, the High Priest who is in tune with our infirmities. Finally, the Holy Spirit is like the R-Complex, and is in control of the organism we know of as the Church.

Okay, maybe that is too wild. But these kinds of relationships exist within the framework of God's design. No harm done in THINKING about it (using my neocortex, of course).