Creationists and evolutionists have a long history of animosity toward each other. Some creationists see the theory of evolution to be a direct attack on the existence of God. Some evolutionists would agree. For instance, naturalists such as Stephen Jay Gould could become apoplectic at the suggestion that evolution is a teleological process (see The Embryo Project Encyclopedia’s general review of Gould’s views on evolution).
Interestingly, both creationists and evolutionists can be equally dogmatic about metaphysical beliefs. Creationists have used biblical scriptures and worldly observations, such as the complexity of the eye, to prove that God exists. Evolutionists have used the laws of evolution acting over hundreds of millions of years to account for the eye’s complexity as proof that God does not exist.
The quadrune mind model does not endorse either conclusion. As a secular model of spirituality, QM cannot make any metaphysical claim for the existence of God, as traditionally described. As a secular model of spirituality, QM does not make any claim against the existence of God, as traditionally described. Both traditions take a dualistic approach to reality; QM does not. God and the Universe, mind and the body are all of one essence in the quadrune mind model. From this axiom, a “natural” sequence of events must have followed for us to exist. This sequence may, or may not, have involved a “metaphysical” influence, which also would be considered “natural” by the quadrune mind model of spirituality.
A force brought energy into existence, figuratively speaking. (See the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy’s discussion of Metaphor and Cognitive Linguistics). Energy morphed into subatomic matter. Subatomic matter gave rise to atoms and molecules. Molecules aggregated into gaseous blobs. Gaseous blobs coalesced into stars. Stars expelled matter into space, some of which accreted into rocky planets. A planet brought forth RNA molecules. RNA generated viruses and bacteria. Life as we know it!
QM proposes a panpsychistic philosophy of reality. Panpsychism is the view that “mentality is fundamental and ubiquitous in the natural world” (see the SEP’s discussion of Panpsychism). This ontological argument necessarily follows from QM’s definition of God: God is the force that brought the human brain into existence, the same force that brought the human mind into existence (see SEP’s discussion of Ontological Arguments). The body and the mind are one. There is no animate body without the mind. There is no sentient mind without the body. One force, one reality. There is no Universe/God duality. There is no Human being/holy duality.
Selected Resources.
Barnstone, W. (Ed.). (1984). The other bible: Jewish pseudepigrapha, Christian apocrypha, Gnostic scriptures, Kabbalah, Dead Sea scrolls. New York: HarperSanFrancisco.
Chalmers, D. J. (Ed.). (2002). Philosophy of mind: Classical and contemporary readings. New York: Oxford University Press.
Churchland, P. S. (1986). Neurophilosophy: Toward a unified science of the mind/brain. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. [Churchland is credited with coining the term “neurophilosophy.” Churchland is a militant reductionist regarding the existence of certain mental states, contrary to the quadrune mind model. On the other hand, she does recognize evolutionary conservatism of brain structure, somewhat similarly to the quadrune mind. (See her website for her perspectives on neurophilosphy.)]
Kuhn, R. L. (2020). Closer to truth: The greatest thinkers exploring the deepest questions: Cosmos. Consciousness. God.
Leeming, D., & Leeming, M. (1994). A dictionary of creation myths. New York: Oxford University Press. [Creation stories from Gaia to Big Bang. Some archaic language; e.g., “Eskimo”].
McGreal, I. P. (Ed.). (1995). Great thinkers of the Eastern world: The major thinkers and the philosophical and religious classics of China, India, Japan, Korea, and the world of Islam. New York: HarperCollins.
Richards, R. J. (2008, November 5). Haeckel’s embryos: fraud not proven. University of Chicago.
Shettleworth, S. J. (2010). Cognition, evolution, and behavior (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.