• Heart
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • HEART

      This important organ of the body pumps the blood (in which is the soul or life) to nourish the body cells.—Lev. 17:14.

      All emotions affect the heart. An editorial in Health magazine of February 1966 stated: “Diseased thinking, diseased feelings (emotions), and diseased wills can contribute actively to the development of cardiac disorders.”—Page 3.

      However, not only do all emotions affect the heart, but there is also evidence that the heart, in turn, affects the emotions. That the heart plays a role in forming the personality of its owner is also indicated by certain medical views. The book Emotions and Bodily Changes, by Flanders Dunbar (Columbia University Press, 1954), page 332, reports: “[Ludwig] Braun says in effect: Anxiety is an inner tactile sensation bound up with a special end apparatus, located in the cardiac tissue, which is well supplied with sensory nerve endings. . . .

      “W. H. von Wyss, in a very interesting article, tends to consider the heart the organ of expression not only for anxiety, but for all affects [feelings or emotions]. He says:

      “‘Psychic processes, especially emotions, have a bodily resonance and, vice versa, bodily processes have a psychic resonance. . . . Since circulation is that function the cessation of which means instantaneous termination of life, the heart has become one of the most important organs of inner expression. It is for this reason that the heart has such close relationships with the emotional life and has become the symbol of what is really individual in man, the symbol of his virtues and vices. It is the study of these relationships which brings us to the borderland of our knowledge, to the question of what in the last analysis binds psyche and soma [body] into a unity.’”

      Noteworthy, also, is the report by psychiatrist Dr. Donald T. Lunde in 1969 that a significant percentage of persons receiving heart transplants have become psychotic soon after surgery, while a number of others have exhibited at least temporary emotional disturbances.

      THE HEART’S SIGNIFICANCE

      In the Bible “heart” is the designation for the seat of affection and motivation. (Ps. 119:11) That the “heart” is what motivates the mind and course of action is illustrated in the report concerning the preparation for and construction of the tent of meeting in the wilderness. “Everyone whose heart impelled him,” all “whose hearts incited them,” contributed materials, skill and labor. (Ex. 35:21, 26, 29) God’s spirit acted on the hearts of Bezalel and Oholiab to teach, and to do the fine work required.—Ex. 35:30-35.

      Because of its motivating force the heart focuses attention on what the person really is inside, so that the apostle Peter could speak of the “secret person of the heart.” (1 Pet. 3:3, 4) In Bible usage, the “heart” is considered separate and distinct from the “mind,” associated with the brain, although allowing for close interrelation, interplay and interdependency between them. The mind, as the term is applied in English usage, is the intellect or the information-gathering and knowledge center. It thinks and reasons on information and reaches conclusions. However, the heart greatly affects the individual’s actions, at times overruling the judgment or conclusions of the mind. The mind may, from experience and study, have information tending overwhelmingly to direct it to a particular conclusion. It may even have the logic and reasoning that point all one way, recommending a certain course. But if the heart has no desire to pursue that course and steadfastly refuses to do so, the individual will make a decision contrary to what the mind offers. By thus selecting between optional courses and fixing on one of them, the heart of man is said to ‘make plans,’ ‘thinking out his way.’ (Prov. 16:9; 19:21) This is particularly the case in moral or spiritual matters. The mature, Scripturally trained heart and mind will be at unity, not divided in devotion. (Mark 12:29-33) The Scriptures reveal this aspect of the heart’s importance, as will be seen in the following consideration.

      INCLINATION OF THE HEART OF IMPERFECT HUMANS

      Adam, although endowed with a good heart, and with a mind capable of perfect reasoning, let his heart be enticed (Job 31:27; Jas. 1:14, 15), rejected the truth and turned away from God. Consequently, all humans, the offspring of fallen Adam, have been conceived in sin and brought forth with error. (Ps. 51:5) Before the Flood men in general had hearts inclined only to bad; they had no desire to listen to Noah the “preacher of righteousness.” (Gen. 6:5; 2 Pet. 2:5) After the Flood, God said: “The inclination of the heart of man is bad from his youth up.” (Gen. 8:21; compare Proverbs 22:15.) The Israelites in the wilderness followed this bad inclination, for they kept ‘going astray in their hearts.’—Heb. 3:7-10.

      The heart can be treacherous

      God’s estimation of hearts is right. He told the rebellious nation of Judah: “The heart is more treacherous than anything else and is desperate. Who can know it?” Then, in answer, he said: “I, Jehovah, am searching the heart, . . . even to give to each one according to his ways.”—Jer. 17:9, 10.

      God’s statement about the heart’s treachery, quoted in the foregoing paragraph, constitutes a serious warning for those seeking to please God. One may have been a Christian for many years, have a fine knowledge of the Bible, and feel confident that he can safely handle any situation that may arise. Yet, although he knows full well in his mind that an act is wrong and specifically condemned by God’s law, his heart may be enticed. (Jas. 1:14, 15) He may enter into sinful action, his heart even inventing justifications at the very time he is sinning. He may presume on God’s loving-kindness, saying, ‘God is very merciful and will forgive me on account of my fleshly weakness,’ at the same time continuing his wrong course. He is like the wicked one who “has said in his heart: ‘God has forgotten. He has concealed his face. He will certainly never see it.’”—Ps. 10:11; Heb. 4:12, 13.

      An example of treacherous action by the heart is that of a person drawn into fornication by unwise, unguarded association with one of the opposite sex. He is “in want of heart.” (Prov. 6:32) Afterward his conscience may bother him and, when he is away from the enticement of the moment, his mind may