Bible associates heart to attitude, thinking, righteousness and judgment. The word heart is mentioned 725 times in the bible. The brain is mentioned zero times.
Jesus said, “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of -Luke 6:45”.
God Said “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart” – Exodus 7:3
We know with today’s knowledge in science neither heart has any storage capacity nor thinking ability. The brain is the center of thinking and plays a crucial role in the decision-making process.
Then why does bible gives so much importance to heart and not brain? In order to find the answer, we would have to go back to the culture of the biblical time. The bible was written between BC 1400 and AD 100 (Approximately). The biblical authors wrote the books with the science and culture prevalent in those days. Egyptians believed humans are judged by heart and stored it during mummification process but through the brain away. It is important to note Moses was educated in Egypt.
The fourth century Greek Philosopher Aristotle believed the heart is the most important organ in the body. The Greeks passed on the knowledge to Ptolemy and then to Romans. The new testament was written during Roman’s time in the Greek language. Hillel and his grandson Gamaliel should have great influence from Greek literature as Greek was commonly spoken the language in the 1st century. It’s important to note Paul studied under Gamaliel.
By now we understand the culture during the biblical time was more focused on heart and not on the brain. The proven theories on the brain were not published till 18th Century based on Frog dissection, which is approximately 17 centuries later the last book in the bible was written.
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