The Brain and the Spirit: Unlocking the Transformative Potential of the Story of Christ

by Gena St. David

Publisher:

Cascade Books

, 2021

The Brain and the Spirit invites readers to embark on a practice of listening to the Christ story through the earpiece of neuroscience. After many years steeped in brain science, the author had an unexpected encounter with a theologian, James Alison, whose trust in God and forgiveness toward others appeared to defy neurobiological explanation. How did his encounter with the Christ story produce in him the Christlike responses that it did? This question launched the author on a thrilling quest to listen to the scriptures and take up questions of creation, humanity, sin, Jesus, salvation, the Spirit, and the body of Christ, to hear what might get amplified by our ever-expanding understanding of the human brain. Readers are invited to eavesdrop on the twists and turns of the author's story and take up their own practice of listening to the Spirit, scripture and theology through the earpiece of neuroscience, and to become curious how the Christ story may spark trust which unlocks our brain's capacity to engage reality with relationality, kindness, creativity, and access to joy.

Praise for The Brain and the Spirit

“St. David is a thoughtful observer and generous teacher who is always asking how we might say ‘yes’ to the Spirit. This book is an answer: beautifully imagined, beautifully written, at once deeply theological and deeply scientific, this faithful attempt to reconcile our brains and our souls will offer beauty to anyone who reads it.”

—Greg Garrett, author of A Long Long Way: Hollywood’s Unfinished Journey from Racism to Reconciliation



“St. David takes us on pilgrimage through the brain of a Christian, pointing out where neurons are firing and where transformation is happening as the good news does its work. Her curiosity, creativity, facility with neuroscience, and deep affection for the elements of the Christian faith are all on display as she helps us see why trust, forgiveness, and integration in Christ are also patterns of an emotionally healthy life.”

—Anthony D. Baker, Professor of Systematic Theology, Seminary of the Southwest



“The consummate storyteller, with the elegant aesthetics of ancient tapestry, the dramatic romance of a symphonic maestro, the contemplative energies of desert amas, and the mathematical insights of a quantum physicist, Gina St. David integrates neuroscience, Scripture, art, poetry, and theology to grapple with how we perceive God, signal trust, and embrace the capacity to forgive. Dr. St. David's lyrical, intimate, rhythmic style of quiet listening and inspired writing makes reading the systematic theological categories of creation, humanity, sin, Christ, salvation, Spirit, and the body of Christ (church) meaningful and accessible. This volume, which engages autobiographical, contemplative spirituality is a must-read for academicians and laypersons alike interested in the connections between lived spirituality, contemplation, trauma, and stress management toward embodied forgiveness, where one loves with an open heart.”

—Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan, author of Baptized Rage, Transformed Grief: I Got Through, So Can You



“In a time of rampant distrust and widespread trauma, this is a book we desperately need. Gena St. David combines scientific savvy with spiritual insight to help us imagine what healing, trust, and transformation can look like. She carries us along as she makes her own story a bridge between the narratives of Scripture and the insights of science. She is a gifted writer, a first-rate storyteller, and a careful researcher. I’ll never see my brain the same way again! If all truth is God’s truth, then St. David is helping the rest of us pull diverse pieces of that truth together in unexpected ways. Readers who enter from the world of psychology will be invited to contemplate the mystery that exceeds observation. Readers who enter from the world of spirituality will be invited to engage the science that can explain us to ourselves and make us more compassionate toward others. Reading this book is an invitation to joy.”

—Scott Bader-Saye, Academic Dean, Professor of Christian Ethics and Moral Theology, Seminary of the Southwest



“In this beautiful, healing book Gena St. David shows the spiritual and material are so interwoven it becomes impossible to draw a line. The human brain displays a structural capacity to reconfigure itself and its dynamic relations to the world in response to sacred Scripture. St. David retells the biblical story in key topics and episodes, laying out multiple examples of scriptural revelation both modeling and producing human well-being through changed connections in the brain. As she aptly quotes, ‘What fires together wires together!’ This book is an acutely timely, revolutionizing account of biblical narrative from the perspective of neurobiology and its profound potential to integrate and practice new modes of human life, away from reflex violence, punishment, and trauma. . . . A vital addition to emerging theological accounts of transformative humanity.”

—Anthony Bartlett, theologian and author of Theology Beyond Metaphysics



“I am offering a Hemingway-inspired six-word story of this beautiful book: Neuroscience and God, trusting restoration: a tapestry. St. David has woven together two worlds which are, too often and unnecessarily, divided. Her work explores the neuroscience of emotion, healing, trust, and reconnection with nuance and clarity, while interweaving biblical and spiritual depth with poetic thread. Whether you are called to this work through the spirit, the science, or both, it promises to open your curiosity, stir your ability to listen deeply, and awaken your capacity for reconnection.”

—Juliane Taylor Shor, founder of IPNB Psychotherapy

Product Details

• Title: The Brain and the Spirit: Unlocking the Transformative Potential of the Story of Christ
• Author: Gena St. David
• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Print Publication Date: 2021
• Logos Release Date: 2021
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9781725275102, 9781725275096, 9781725275089, 1725275104, 1725275090, 1725275082
• Resource ID: LLS:9781725275102
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-12-06T12:45:22Z

About the Author

Gena St. David is Associate Professor of Counselor Education and Director of the Loise Henderson Wessendorff Center for Christian Ministry and Vocation at Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas.