No, I am saying what modern science says, our kidneys affect our central nervous system.
I am uncertain whether or not the Neolithics would have distinguished between the kidneys proper and the adrenal gland sitting right on top of it. Adrenal problems are often emotional problems Cushing Syndrome causes Moodiness, irritability, or depression. What I am saying is that I can understand how they would think the kidney are responsible for emotions. All that is, is misinterpretation of cause and effect, something we moderns are not completely polly pure on either. Consider the H, pylori and ulcers issue. The poor guy was telling everyone that stress didn’t cause ulcers, H. pylori does. But no one believed him. It took years for his idea to be accepted. That too was mix up of cause and effect.
So here is the thing Christy, You effectively clucked your tongue at the stupidty of kidneys being involved in emotions and cognition. The Neolithics had said they thought the emotions were in the kidneys, yet kidneys can affect emotions. It is odd that you are not also criticizing the Bible for beleiving that thinking lies in the heart as well. I looked up Ps 73:21 which is on the page you refer people to says this: "When my heart was embittered, and I was pierced within;" Translating this as kidney doesn’t mean one thinks with kidneys "When my heart was embittered and I was pierced in my kidneys." Maybe he had back pain. But was his heart really embittered? What does an embittered heart look like–I could use this to say the Bible is silly, but I could also say, it is a euphemism like the Mandarin word for brave–Da Danzi–Big Gall bladder. All languages have euphemisms about body parts.
Jeremiah 11:20 But, O YHWH of hosts, who judges righteously, who tries the feelings and the heart, let me see Your vengeance on them, for to You have I committed my cause."
It was the translator who decided to equate kidney with feelings. Translating it without that bias says:
Jeremiah 11:20 But, O YHWH of hosts, who judges righteously, who tries the kidney and the heart, let me see Your vengeance on them, for to You have I committed my cause."
Remember, kidneys of animals were removed in the priestly rituals, and Jeremiah might have been referring to that. see Lev. 3:1-4. You give no thought to this, preferring instead to see the Bible in the worst possible light. If Jeremiah was talking about God judging the kidneys of sacrificed animals, then this verse says nothing about feelings. In my mind, your autopilot default position is to chose the most awful interpretation possible for the Bible when other options are possible. Why do this?
A possible example of selectively choosing the worst for the bible problem, You only pick on the Bible for its use of kidney. What about the heart? We no more think with the heart than with the kidneys? But you didn’t criticize the Bible for using another non-cognitive organ. Is it perchance because we still talk about our heart being broken by a romantic partner, or say 'in my heart, or in my gut, I feel we should do xyz?" The heart clearly shows the euphemistic nature of these verses you sent me to in that article. Clearly these are euphemisms and the same for the Hebrews. When someone says, "My gut tells me we should do this." Does that mean they are thinking in their intestines? Why not criticize moderns for doing that if it is ok to criticize Scripture for it? It seems double minded to criticize the ancients for their euphemisms, but not also criticize moderns for the same thing! In my opinion, accommodationalists are awfully close to atheists. Yall use the same arguments I heard from atheists back in my crisis of faith. Indeed, I can hardly tell the difference except that yall believe in God in spite of all these problems and they don’t believe in God because of all these problems. . Gotta go. leaving in 30 m. Yall take care.