Knowing things in your heart

It's a shocking thing when you start to ponder a question silently to yourself, wondering if anyone knows the answer, and a few days later, someone in your RSS feed points you to a four-part video series answering it. I was thinking about scripture and how most people today agree that scripture is a mixed bag. Some of it is true in the literal sense and other parts are vaguely metaphorically poetically true, in the sense that the play Romeo and Juliet can teach us "truths" about the human condition and maybe even inform our decision making about how to lead more prosperous lives even though the events in the play are themselves fictional.

Side note: the problem with this point of view is that once you admit that, you acknowledge the necessity of turning to an outside source for determining which parts are which (usually the scientific method) then you can dispense with the scripture entirely and still be just as well off when it comes to knowing how the world actually works.

I was especially curious about the phrase "God hardened Pharaoh's heart" (Exodus 9:12) which had popped up a few times in different places. The problem seems to be that it implies that our hearts make choices, and not our brains as modern science teaches us. And I was extremely curious to know if the authors of these books actually believed what they were writing as literally true or if they were using the word heart as a vague substitute for soul or personality in general, since that tradition continues linguistically to this day.

Enter TruthSurge to answer for me. I was hoping the answer would be vague and open to interpretation, but it seems crystal clear. These authors had no clue whatsoever that the brain was the part of the body that did the thinky bits. Go ahead and take a look:

Yes, it's taken me a while but here is part 1 of my examination of the heart and kidneys as the centers of emotion and cognition. Did the authors of the Bible use figures of speech or were they merely writing what they literally believed?

Continuing to examine the beliefs of ancient cultures and specifically those Bible authors with regard to the mind, thoughts, cognition and just where they thought these mysterious things originated. As always, music composed/performed by me.

Continuing to examine the evidence that supports the claim that the Bible authors believed the heart (and kidneys) were seats of thought, cognition, emotion, etc.

Concluding the examination of the Bible authors' beliefs that the heart and kidneys were the storehouses of emotion, thought, etc. Another tidbit from the fourth century is interesting and was mentioned by YTer Vlad Tepes and I thought I'd just pasted it up here so it would remain and be more visible.

h/t Friendly Atheist.