A way of seeing Scripture and the brain together, by Jerry A. Smith, PhD
Ancient Wisdom,
Modern Brains
Convergences Between Scripture and Neurocognitive Research
Passages of Scripture read alongside the last few decades of research on stress, attention, sleep, relationships, and habit. Honest about what the studies show, honest about what they can't, and practical about Monday morning.
- 36 passages
- 180 practices
- 245 sources
New: the book
Twelve weeks for men on Scripture, science, and a renewed mind
The paper and this site have grown into a book. It takes all 36 passages, groups them three to a week, and goes deeper into the Word and the research, with stories from my own life and the connections that run from one week to the next. Each week gives you a chapter to read, a session for your men's group, and five days of study on your own.
The ground rule
Convergence, not proof
“The verse does not need the study, and the study does not prove the verse.”
When a passage “converges” with a finding, it means only that the human pattern the text describes and the pattern the research measures appear to be the same pattern seen from two angles. Most of the research is correlational, many of the brain-imaging studies are small, and Scripture's claims are larger than any study can test. Every practice here says how strong its evidence is.
Read
The twelve passages
Each pairs a passage with the research, then closes with five ways to live it out.
- 1 Proverbs 17:22 A Joyful Heart and the Immune System “A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.”
- 2 Romans 12:2 Renewing the Mind and Neuroplasticity “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
- 3 Philippians 4:8 “Dwell on These Things”: Attention, Rumination, and Gratitude “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
- 4 Psalm 46:10 “Cease Striving”: Stillness and the Default Mode Network “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
- 5 Ephesians 4:26 “Do Not Let the Sun Go Down on Your Anger”: Sleep and Emotional Memory “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.”
- 6 Mark 2:27 The Sabbath, Chronic Stress, and the Hippocampus “Jesus said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.’”
- 7 Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 12 “Two Are Better Than One”: Loneliness and Mortality “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up . . . A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.”
- 8 Matthew 6:34 “Do Not Worry About Tomorrow”: Worry and the Body’s Stress Response “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
- 9 Proverbs 15:1 “A Gentle Answer”: Co-regulation in Conflict “A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.”
- 10 Matthew 6:14-15; Colossians 3:13 Forgiveness “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”
- 11 1 John 4:18 “Perfect Love Casts Out Fear”: Social Regulation of Threat “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”
- Bonus Proverbs 22:6 “Train Up a Child” and the Neuroscience of Habit “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Ongoing additions
And 24 more since
The paper started the work, and it keeps growing. These additions follow the same pattern, each with its own sources and five practices, grouped by the strength of the evidence.
- 13 Acts 20:35; Proverbs 11:25 Strong evidence “More Blessed to Give”: Generosity and the Reward System “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
- 14 Proverbs 23:29–30; Proverbs 23:35 Strong evidence “I Will Seek Another Drink”: The Craving Cycle “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long over wine, Those who go to taste mixed wine.”
- 15 Proverbs 4:14–15; 2 Timothy 2:22 Strong evidence “Avoid It, Do Not Pass By It”: Fleeing Temptation “Do not enter the path of the wicked And do not proceed in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on.”
- 16 Ecclesiastes 5:10; 1 Timothy 6:6 Strong evidence “He Who Loves Money Will Not Be Satisfied”: Contentment “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.”
- 17 Proverbs 13:12; Romans 15:13 Strong evidence “Hope Deferred Makes the Heart Sick”: Hope and the Heart “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”
- 18 Proverbs 13:20; 1 Corinthians 15:33 Strong evidence “He Who Walks with Wise Men”: The Company You Keep “He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will suffer harm.”
- 19 Colossians 3:21; Ephesians 6:4 Strong evidence “Do Not Exasperate Your Children”: Childhood Adversity and the Developing Brain “Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart.”
- 20 Luke 6:27–28; Galatians 3:28 Strong evidence “Love Your Enemies”: Contact Across the Dividing Wall “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
- 21 James 1:19–20; Proverbs 29:11 Strong evidence “Slow to Anger”: Why Venting Backfires “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.”
- 22 Psalm 62:8; Psalm 142:2 Strong evidence “Pour Out Your Heart Before Him”: Lament and Naming What Hurts “Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.”
- 23 Deuteronomy 6:6–7; Psalm 1:2 Strong evidence “Talk of Them When You Walk”: Scripture Memory and Spaced Repetition “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”
The one example to remember
Hold her hand. Here's what the study actually found.
In brain-scan studies by James Coan at the University of Virginia, people waiting for a possible electric shock showed less activity in the brain’s threat and self-control regions while holding the hand of someone they trusted. The better the relationship, the bigger the effect, and a stranger’s hand did not help (Coan et al., 2006; Coan et al., 2017). Other studies have found that warm touch from a partner before stress lowers blood pressure and heart rate (Grewen et al., 2003), and in one study a partner’s shoulder massage lowered women’s cortisol (Ditzen et al., 2007).
The brain worked less hard because someone was sharing the load. “Bear one another's burdens” (Galatians 6:2). Why the details matter →
About the author
I'm Jerry A. Smith, PhD. I served in the Navy as a nuclear engineer and carrier jet pilot, earned a PhD in Computer Science, and have spent 35 years building technology, most recently artificial intelligence. I'm also part of a Thursday men's group at my church. This project began there, while we worked through Tony Evans's No More Excuses. I don't offer any of it as proof. God's Word doesn't need a lab's permission to be true. It's my walk with Him, shared in case it helps yours. Anything good here is His work. The mistakes are mine.
Reach me at jerry@drjerryasmith.com or 484-678-3518.