It feels like a confession, but I’ve always been fascinated with the paranormal. Near Death Experiences (NDE’s), Telepathy, quantum consciousness, UFO’s, ghosts, etc., etc. The problem has always been finding objective sources to ponder such anomalies.
In case you haven’t noticed, there’s extremists on both sides — those who will believe anything and those who will believe nothing. I think I fall somewhere in between.
But finding research that falls “somewhere in between” is difficult. Last year I read, Files from the Edge, subtitled “A Paranormal Investigator’s Explorations Into High Strangeness.” The book was framed as an objective report, but the more I read the more I realized the author was anything but objective. He was a believer, and it showed. I’m currently reading another book on the subject, Fringe-ology. As many of these books, Fringe-ology is described as an objective inquiry. I’m about half-way through and, thus far, I’d have to say, surprisingly, that’s true. There’s tons of science and math and weirdness in Fringe-ology, which has made this enjoyable reading for me.
As a Christian, I am faced with another set of problems when researching the paranormal: Evangelicals flatly deny it. Common consensus has psi, telepathy, telekinesis, etc., as either
- Sinful, or
- Satanic
Those are your two options.
When I was a young Christian, I stumbled into this debate rather innocently. I’d read Watchman Nee’s The Normal Christian Life and benefited greatly from it. I began studying Nee’s other writings until I was warned by some leaders in the church I was attending (an Evangelical church with some Charismatic leanings) that Nee drifted into the occult. The book in question was The Latent Power of the Soul in which Nee speculates that Adam possessed “soulish” (or psychic) powers and, after the Fall, those powers were suppressed.
For the record, I have not read The Latent Power of the Soul. But as a young Christian, what was even more fascinating was the ensuing brouhaha that erupted. It was spearheaded by Dave Hunt’s book The Seduction of Christianity in which Hunt asserts that a vast deception is occurring in Christian ranks; faith teachers, faith healers, psychological theory, humanism, and positive thinking are all parts of a devilish scheme to deceive the masses. Nee’s writings were cited as part of this Satanic stratagem.
Subsequently, our church removed all of Nee’s books — as well as those by James Dobson, Robert Schuller, the positive confession crowd, etc. — from our book store.
Some thirty years later, I look back with regret. What a great teaching opportunity that would have been! Instead, it was over-reactive and demonized a lot of people. To this day, it’s hard to find balanced treatment of psychic phenomenon and abilities in Evangelical churches. Really, it’s hard to find ANY treatment. It’s almost as if one’s concession in the paranormal is just a step closer to “the dark side.”
But is paranormal phenomenon really that cut-and-dried?
As I wrote in my Afterwards to The Resurrection, (which you can read HERE on Google Docs),
[Conceding spiritual phenomenon] might trouble some folks. The larger issue, as I see it, is coming to grips with the world we live in. Scripture paints a universe of vast mystery, teeming with intellects (visible and invisible) both good and evil, and phenomenon beyond our wildest imaginings. This is why the Bible contains wondrous stories – stories we often take for granted — about miracles, visions, reviving corpses, warrior angels, talking mules, fiery chariots, demonized swine, tongues and prophecies. We simply live in a supernatural world. The downside—paranormal phenomenon does not always fit tightly into our theological framework. Deal with it.
I wonder that it all comes down to that — our “theological framework.” We Western Christians sometimes think that everything has to fit, that everything is explainable in black and white terms. There’s no more room for mystery. You’re either (1) a Believer or (2) a Skeptic. It’s either (1) Satan or (2) God. And everyone knows “Near Death Experiences, Telepathy, quantum consciousness, UFO’s, ghosts, etc., etc.” are NOT of God.
Are some psychic powers sinful or Satanic? Yes! Are some paranormal occurrences deceptive and demonic? Absolutely! But are all of them? That’s what I’m not sure of. And I feel guilty about it.
Weird, Mike. I’ve been thinking about this for the last few years and I was wondering why there haven’t been any cohesive Christian response to paranormal activity. It’s all been some form of the “it’s Satanic” reason.
Not that I necessarily disagree with you, but has anyone thought through possibility that some paranormal activity is simple natural phenomenon we haven’t been able to explain yet?
Good question, Jay.
That tends to be my take on some of it.
I was one who used to be quick to believe stories of the paranormal. And, well, truthfully, I suppose I still am, but I see these things in a much different context now. Before I thought they were all “good” manifestations, but as I do more research into the occult, I’ve come to the shuddering conclusion that satan’s great deception is much greater than I ever could have imagined. He has much power when it comes to deceiving us through false spiritual experiences. His ability to subtly decieve and lead someone astray one small step at a time is also more keen than I ever imagined.
As my eyes have opened to the extent of the deception, it’s been unnerving. I could become afraid and begin seeing demons behind every bush, but the proper, healthy reaction, I think, is to become more devoted to God, re-affirm my belief in the Bible, pray more, consider the consequence of every decision and every thought.
It seems one of the tendencies of Christians is to avoid the idea of satan altogether. Studies seem to show many Christians don’t believe in satan at all. I understand the desire to push satan to the periphery or out of the picture altogether, because the whole notion of his existance is uncomfortable and scary. However, I don’t think it’s possible to fully mature as a Christian without also understanding satan’s nature because of what I said above. When one truly understand the stakes of the battle we are in, it makes one want to cling to God all the more. It also makes Jesus’ sacrifice that much more amazingly profound.
Test the spirits. Test them again. And then test them some more. With no knowledge of how satan works, or with a complete dismissal of his reality, how can one test? How do we know if this paranormal experience is from God and that is not? We have to have studied the nature of God and ALSO the nature of satan. Even then it’s a tricky tight rope.
Since I want my fiction to mirror reality, and because I believe people absolutely need to have an understanding of both the light as well as the dark, I will contintue to portray both in my fiction as accurately as I can. The story I’m currently working on is about kundalini energy masquerading as the Holy Spirit. There is paranormal in it, and on first glance the story may seem to some as Christian bashing, but on careful reading, I hope readers will understand my final point that just because a supernatual experience happens in church, that doesn’t mean it’s from God.
That’s my long way of providing a roundabout “answer” to your original question. It has to be judged on a case by case basis, and the accuracy of one’s conclusions will depend on how mature (or immature) they are in the area of discernment.
Jessica, thanks for this thoughtful, balanced perspective. I definitely don’t want to minimize the potential demonic elements involved here, and hope I don’t appear to be doing that. I think the Scriptural injunction to “Test the spirits” goes both ways. We are not just to test phenomenon because it might be evil, but because it might not be. Thanks for commenting!
I too read Watchmen Nee early in my spiritual walk. The Normal Christian Life is still of great value to me. However, Latent Power of the Soul, does reflect Nee’s isolation from spiritual accountability. Like often happens, his disciples, in particular Witness Lee, devolved into something approaching cultic status.
Wow, didn’t know that about Nee. I agree with Jessica, above, because I’ve seen what happens when people get unduly obsessed with ghosts, etc (thus the inspiration for my NaNo novel, Otherworld). I do take a very strong view on ghostly appearances, this based on lots of Biblical (and not EXTRA-Biblical) research into demons/ghosts, etc. The question is, WHY would God let spirits come back to “make amends,” etc? Why would He need to use spirits to do this? He’s the one who’ll set things right, not the one giving us missions from the undead.
I could go into alien appearances, but that will doubtless tick more people off! But I’d say, don’t say “Evangelicals flatly deny it.” Some evangelicals are fully aware of supernatural powers, and they have the gift of discernment of spirits. BUT for some evangelicals, pondering the satanic powers out there and all their possible manifestations is just NOT what they need to spend their time doing. It’s not their spiritual gift. And it can open the door for Satan to trap them in their fears. Not everyone enjoys reading paranormal Christian fiction. But some people do, and can handle it. I’d say with confidence that some CHRISTIAN EVANGELICALS read it (Frank Peretti, anyone?).
I realize that you’re not sure if ALL psychic appearances are satanic, Mike. But please don’t discount those who do believe that they are. The key is to read the Bible and make logical deductions based on the instances mentioned in Scripture, and to ask for the Holy Spirit’s help in understanding it. AND what to mess with and what to leave alone, for each Christian.
Thanks, Heather. I probably could have been less categoric than saying ALL Evangelicals flatly decry the paranormal. However, I do think the predominant view among Evangelicals is that events / experiences like the ones I’ve listed are satanic. There is little wiggle room in our theology for ghosts, psi, or the likes. Also, you might want to read the entire article on Google docs I quoted from as it pertains to my view on ghosts and why I wrote a benevolent one into my novel.
Just read it! My take on your three examples would be this:
The witch of Endor was SURPRISED to see an actual dead person there. I’d say that Samuel was an exception to the rule, allowed by God. The other stuff she’d been mediuming with was demons. The key fact is that she was shocked to see something other than what she’d been dealing with.
Jesus made it clear that he was different from a ghost. He had a new body, which could travel through objects. I think this gets into an inter-dimensional reality we don’t understand yet. I don’t think our new bodies will be 3-D only. I’d also maintain that Moses and Elijah had similar bodies–wouldn’t that make sense?
I’d have to respectfully disagree and say that if you ever see a ghost, your first impression would be WHAT? FEAR (I’m thinking the name Mr. Cellophane is meant to underscore this thought?). This is not ever a good thing (except fearing God and fight-or-flight, perhaps!). Also, I surely wouldn’t listen to anything a ghostly being said to me. How easy to mislead people down the wrong paths! Galatians 1:6–“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.”
Having grown up in a house that was said to be haunted, I do have some second-hand experience with this stuff. Fact is, when my grandma moved into that “haunted house,” she prayed over it and recognized what she was fighting against. There haven’t been ghosts in that house since.
Heather, a couple of quick rebuttals: (1) Even if “Samuel was an exception to the rule,” which I’m not so sure is a good concession, his spirit still existed somewhere other than on earth, he had a knowledge of what was occurring there, and he came back to visit. (2) Even though “Jesus made it clear that he was different from a ghost,” He did not rebuke them for believing in ghosts. Jesus’ new body is more an example of what a glorified, risen human will be like, than what a disembodied one is. An additional question to ask in this regard is, how could “Moses and Elijah [have] similar bodies” to Christ’s seeing that the Final resurrection has not yet occurred? this begs the question as to what state they existed in. (3) There’s no doubt about the Scriptural admonition to resist ANY being who “preach[es] any other gospel.” Question: a.) What if a ghost doesn’t come with a message? and b.) What if its message somehow aligns with the Gospel (as Samuel’s ghost did)? Just a few questions. Thanks fr reading that article.
Interesting questions…I’m sure we could go round and round on this one! I have no doubt that Samuel came back to visit, but my take is that he was different from what she was used to.
Jesus probably wouldn’t rebuke them for believing in ghosts–it more common to see them at that time, I’ve no doubt. But it was clear he wasn’t your normal spiritual being, since he ate fish, etc, as you said–he was in that glorified body. Just because he didn’t rebuke them doesn’t mean he accepted their take on spirits, etc.
Good question on Moses/Elijah. I think there must be some way God can make the dead visible, but again, that’s the EXCEPTION and these guys were obviously important dudes in this story (same as Samuel). So he showed them to the disciples that way, for a purpose–to verify the identity of Christ.
AND if a ghost doesn’t come w/a message? Isn’t it going to bring that sense of fear on MOST people it showed up for? Just don’t think that aligns with how God works. I’ve no doubt its message could align with Scripture…look at how Satan tempted Jesus. He uses Scripture any which way he can (often out of context!). All the more reason to be wary.
Many people seek out those ghostly experiences so they can feel closer to the supernatural (often while denying the power of God). I maintain that in the supernatural world, there are no “neutral” powers/spirits out there.
What I gathered from Seduction of Christianity was a concern for Christians using tactics which originated in Shamanism. My interpretation of the Bible is that we shouldn’t seek any spirit aside from the Holy Spirit, and to make our supplications to God through Jesus alone. How that works with telepathy and all that is beyond me. I wouldn’t say flat out that characters with telepathic abilities is misleading because I don’t see that anywhere in Scripture. I guess the question is where they are getting their powers from. I did find an interesting quote in Isaiah 28:18 where Israelis are condemned for making covenants with death. Make of that what you will. Can we take a genetic approach to that ability? I guess so, but I have trouble with the evolutionary advancement angle because I see us going in the opposite direction since Adam’s fall. I have a SF novel where telepathy is genetically engineered. The motive behind it is for warfare, which analyzes a new form of slavery, but isn’t in and of itself sinful as far as I’m concerned.
There is often an off-putting arrogance to people who have been enlightened to the cryptic world. They are different, set apart, further down the path to God than the rest of us. The Indian Brahmans are like this–and many of them have been shown to be hucksters. I don’t doubt the paranormal world, but I must make sense of it this way: some of it is of God, some from Satan, and some is unexplained natural phenomenon. Take telekinesis, for example. Perhaps there is a magnetic force in the atmosphere (chi) that, when harnessed, can do amazing things. I’ve had weird convergences, in which I’ve thought the same thoughts as somebody else at the same time, from a distance–usually with my husband. Is this coincidence based off of shared experiences, or is one of us sending messages to the other? I don’t know, but I think I will remain an open-minded skeptic about all of these things, and there are certain lines that I will never, ever cross.
Does de ja vu fall into paranormal? Because my family has debated what that is for years. Also ghosts. My mom found a story about some prominent Christian pastor (I want to say it was Jonathan Edwards, but I’m not sure) who saw a well-dressed man looking into the windows of their old, old house, and nobody else could see him. He kept it to himself for years, even though he saw this man over and over. Then one day he and his daughter were walking to their house, and they saw the guy on the upper balcony, looking in the windows, and his daughter asked, “Who’s that man on our roof?” She and him were the only ones who could see him.
My Mom also points out that when Jesus was walking on the water, and the disciples thought he was a ghost, Jesus didn’t say that there’s no such thing as ghosts. He only said that he wasn’t one.
When it comes to that, I do think that alien abduction experiences and ghost hauntings are demonic (especially after reading Chuck Missler’s book on the topic). But I think there’s also a large gray area that nobody touches, like de ja vu or strange things like teleportation (remember when the Spirit caught away Philip and moved him somewhere else?) I do happen to think that those would have been our abilities before the Fall, and we retain echoes of those, and a longing for them. It’s why we love spec fic. 🙂
My theory on that Jon. Edwards experience is this: Satan knows how to freak anyone out. Some people aren’t vulnerable to ghostly sightings, some are. Even GODLY people. I was shocked when I read Susanna Wesley’s bio…her husband was a preacher and he was NOT so godly in the way he acted toward his family. We’re all human, and we all have weak spots.
I’ll point out again that our American culture is deliberately removed from the supernatural. We’re entrapped in our technology, scientific explanations, etc. But paranormal things happen all the time in third-world countries. A friend from Africa told me that people near where she grew up instinctively knew that ghosts were bad.
Oh, and one more theory on the Jon. Edwards thing–maybe an angel? But angels usually have a message to give or are actively protecting someone.
Kessie, I’ll throw something in for your family to ponder about the whole deja vu thing. About 7 years ago I drastically shifted my diet using a plan that is meant to heal out of whack neurotransmitters and to balance blood sugars. (Sugar Addict’s Recovery Program) I went 4 years straight without a bite of chocolate, for instance. I’ve never had deja vu since I shifted my diet. In my past sugar eating and SAD (Standard American Diet) days, I experienced deja vu now and again. Literally…I cannot remember my last deja vu moment tho, it’s been so long, and I can’t say that I miss it.
This is just something I’ve observed, and I’d like to know “why”; however, it gives me a hunch that deja vu is partly due to some biochemical imbalance.
That’s so interesting, Jessica! Of course, if we’ve watched The Matrix, we know what deja vu REALLY is, right? Hee.
That’s interesting. We’re kind of health-food nuts, too, and my mom and I have been more or less off sugar for quite a while now.
The kind of dejavu I mean is the kind where you see something in a dream, and then it happens years later. Completely inconsequential stuff, like I dreamed I was trying to untangle a hose from a pile of wood sticks. Then a few months later, I was at a friend’s house, trying to untangle a hose from a collapsed wooden fence, and I remembered the dream. I also dreamed about the house we moved to and how there were kids there I didn’t know (I had two brothers born while we lived there).
Just one of those subjective things we can debate endlessly and never reach an answer. It’s fun to think about, though.
Kessie, adding to the deja vu thoughts: Some have suggested it may relate to the nature of time being more fluid and less linear. So in some ways we are looping back on ourselves. The Bible seems to support a less rigid view of time. For instance, because God created time, He must exist outside time, indicating different possible dimensions of time (a view corroborated by much contemporary physics). Interestingly enough, some “real-time” things are linked to “eternity.” For instance, Scripture says God “chose us before the foundations of the world” and that Christ was “the Lamb slain before the foundations of the world.” This means historical events might be tethered to something… that already happened or is playing out on another Level. I don’t know. All that to suggest that deja vu MAY be related to our experience of time.
I like the idea that it has something to do with our perception of time. I don’t think time is very linear at all – I go for the wibbly wobbly timey wimey sort of explanation with God being outside Time, making time rather relative and not necessarily linear – and that’s an interesting thought about deja vu perhaps being related, that I hadn’t heard before.
(But as for deja vu myself, I always think it’s something I dreamed – I’ve had some pretty vivid moments where I could swear that I’d dreamed it before)
Speaking of time & things not allowed to be done in books, I’ve actually heard the perspective that timetravel stories are wrong if the characters can change history… I’m guessing that’s a Calvinist worldview (predestination, etc). I wonder if this is why we don’t see a lot of Christian timetravel stories?
Ah, you beat me to the wibbly wobbly timey wimey line! 😀
When my brother was studying physics, he said that if you could time travel and you changed history, you would actually create an alternate timeline and you could not return to your own timeline because you had looped away from it. Badly explained, I can’t quite remember how it worked. It was complicated.
Wibbly wobbly timey wimey should come into every conversation about time. XD
I think that’s connected to the string theory? Maybe? Kind of like in Quantum Leap?
At the very least, they are material. Siddhis, mystic powers, psychic powers, are not of God, they are material. Whatever in the world distracts us from the service of God, I think, can be deceptive and demonic, especially that which makes us think highly of ourselves and our ability to ‘be god’ so to speak. However, to one surrendered, such powers can mean little to nothing whether one possesses them or not. The fascination and distraction, superstition, fear, all of that I would say is a thing that distracts from love of God.
It’s important to recognize that this stuff does exist. Kundalini exists and can wreck your energy. Sorcery exists and works. Black magic exists and works. For me it took meeting sorcerers and raising kundalini and experiencing the fallout to NOT be confused and charmed by confidence, power, and the ability to change reality on levels that I didn’t know were possible. In fact I was able to see how very hollow it was, and I lost any taste for it.
The difference between matter (however subtle and seemingly unexplainable) and spirit is an important difference.
This reminds me of some story concept I tried to come up with right before graduating high school, called Snaptrigger, just about a young man with a psychic ability to produce “psychic bullets” by manipulating his hand as a kid would act like his hand was a gun. That kid would also happen to have a very strict religious mother teaching him that anything dealing with psychics (and other things like that) were Satanic. The story was to explore what was Satanic and what could be (or even should be) considered a Godly miracle. Personally, I’ve been intensely interested in the supernatural and the paranormal since I can remember (maybe it has something to do with hearing disembodied signing in my very first memory as young boy in the middle of the night and looking at the moon), and that intense fascination has never stopped.
Mike –
Just my recommendation: You need to read The Latent Power of the Soul. It is short (like 50 pages or something) and you will be shocked how far it is from what it has been portrayed as, although I suspect you already had some inkling that it was misrepresented. I’ll put it this way: the themes in Resurrection would have pleased Nee, if he was into such stories.
It isn’t a source of New Age seduction for Christianity: it is a rational, biblical explanation for why evil – which creates nothing – nevertheless seems to be the source of spectacular and miraculous power. I wonder if Watchman Nee had used the more typical Western term “mind” instead of “soul,” if anyone would have ever accidentally drawn the conclusion that Nee had gone off the rails based on that book.
Nee, again, and again, and again, identifies Satan as the source of the corruption, but not the creator of the miracle, when it comes to the paranormal. It is an interesting, reasoned, cited and biblical argument. His thesis may or may not be wrong, but the slander against Nee as somehow a false and misleading teacher is exactly that: slander.
I’m not kidding: you could probably get 50 posts out of the Latent Power of the Soul!
Sorry, but I must disagree. Consider this from p. 15 of the Latent Power of the Soul:
Adam was a superman with abilities at least “a million times” greater than ours (p15) and “possessed [of] a hidden ability which made it possible for him to become like God.
Witness Lee drew all of his foundation teachings from that little book. His Local Church movement that came to the US was marked by various questionable doctrines. But most notable to teachings drawn from Latent Power of the Soul is the whole “little gods” doctrine of Benny Hinn and many others.
That’s way out of context. Have you read the whole book? The author is ferociously critical of anyone who attempts to tap into this theoretical “latent power,” staunchly opposed to anyone who prays to the “god in their room,” and rejects the practice of psi, even “Christianized” psi or all sorts of other paranormal practices, not because they are demonic in origin, but because they are of the “natural” soul, broken and corrupted by the Fall.
I believe that you, like a lot of critics of the book, simply don’t understand it. If you think he’s talking about “tapping into” some New Age power, he’s not. He’s talking about the danger of tapping into that – not because it is empty and ineffective, but because it can be effective but is always morally wrong.
Now, whether he’s right about Adam’s native, sinless abilities or not is a matter of biblical debate, I suppose. But it isn’t a heresy to advance the fairly common notion that Adam, pre-Fall, was endowed with some fairly remarkable abilities, or that, in restored resurrection in Christ, that there might be a restoration of those abilities.
It certainly isn’t heresy to warn against attempted to practice those areas.
For several reasons, I disagree with Nee’s details: I think he is too quick to condemn, completely, a person’s natural ability to “read” people in identifying their needs. He is very strict about prayer and music. His points about prayer and hymns (that people who “pray to people for their benefit” and people who get jazzed by hymns, but not the Holy Spirit).
However, if you read the Latent Power of the Soul and can’t see it as a flat out condemnation of the “feel good” music and “prayer to people” garbage of Benny Hinn and others, you’ve completely missed the boat. Maybe Nee or his people implemented false doctrine elsewhere, but I can’t see how his critique of emotional materialism fits into that.
This isn’t the place for theological arguments and I have no desire to hijack Mike’s excellent post. I have read Latent Power of the Soul a number of times. Even downloaded it to my NOOK to read again after your response. Please understand, heresy is your word not mine. My point was that, as so often happens, disciples carry a person’s teachings in directions the teacher never intended or envisioned. That’s why there is such irony that the Word-Faith movement so often quotes Nee.
But more in conjunction with Mike’s article; Nee is a good case study of what happens when we hypothesize about things that aren’t explained in Scripture. Writing about Adam’s possible pre-fall super-powers in fiction would be one thing – but writing about it it in a non-fiction work with no solid Scriptural backing puts one on shaky ground indeed. I’ve have read several great novels that imagine the pre-fall and pre-flood world. But more than one believer I know has turned what was imagined in a novel into hard doctrine. Big mistake.
Heresy is my word, which is exactly what Benny Hinn profits from. If Nee’s work is a straightforward teaching that mirror’s Hinn, then it would be heresy, too.
I’m not sure how you discriminate between “speculation” and exegesis at this point. Nee’s understanding for the pre-Fall condition comes from a fairly plain reading of Genesis – the fact that Adam was given dominion over all of creation, that he named the animals before him, etc.
Now, his theory may be wrong, but what is your biblical basis for determining that he merely “speculates” about the pre-Fall condition, while Augustine or Luther actually study?
I never judge leaders by their followers, unless that leader’s words match the follower’s deeds. I haven’t read any of Nee’s other books, aside from Normal (I think – I actually don’t remember it well), so I have no idea what he intended for the Word-Faith people to do or believe. What I do know is that Latent Power doesn’t express what many attribute to it.
Perhaps it is poorly written, or from a confusing point of view, or something, but anyone who leaves that book thinking it is a good idea to rely on your native powers to tap into the new age of positive thinking or anything like that, they are simply wrong. The entire book is an argument against that, and we are left then to determine what is really the difference between relying on one’s own understanding and being “in Christ.”
Word-Faith movement also quotes Jesus. Does that mean Jesus speculated too much?
I’m looking The Spiritual Man on my shelf right now and I have read many of Nee’s books including his moving biography. His works can ramble a bit and his followers tended to filter out of his writings what they wanted to see. (Don’t we all to some extent.
Exegesis (which Luther did for the most part) examines the very words and setting of Scripture. Eisegesis extrapolates theories not necessarily backed by the Scripture itself. Nee is speculating what and how Adam was able to name all the animals, for example. All we know is that he did. How long it took, how he did, what whether it took some soul power that has been lost through the fall is speculation. Nothing wrong with speculation. We just need to be careful to clearly label it when approaching Biblical subjects.
We really aren’t as far from each other as you may think. That’s what a get for making a blanket statement without better explanation.
Actually Tim, far from hijacking this post, your guys exchange is helpful. Thanks!
I don’t get why Adam has to be superhuman to name animals? The original Hebrew indicates there was a length of time between Adam’s and Eve’s creation. This doesn’t come through very well in the English. Adam had time on his hands. Our “plain reading” is often too plain.
I have varied beliefs on this. It’s well-known among my family and close friends that I have a degree of what some people would consider psychic insights. I can see things coming but mostly sense shifts in time. Ive known that people were going to have children, etc.
I do NOT converse with any entities and don’t predict future things for people. But I can walk into a house and “know” that someone there will die soon. The worst that ever happened was visiting the World Trade Center in 1997 and having a panic attack. Back then I put it down to the fact that so many people worked there I was just sensing all the various personal tragedies. On 9/11 my mother and sister both called and said “this is what you were reacting to.”
Now I have no idea where this comes from and it’s not particularly useful. Only one time have I ever had a “don’t get on that flight tomorrow” type of moment. So it’s not like I could’ve prevented 9/11. (which my brother calls my Obi Wan Alderaan moment.) it’s just that I can tell there’s another layer beyond that which we typically see.
Several people have theorized that this has something to do with my death as a child. I had pneumonia at 8mos and had my heart stop several times. I don’t know that I was ever ‘dead’ for more than 45 seconds. I remember none of it. But I can simply say that I’ve always known what would happen ‘next’.
I have always considered this personal quirk to be spiritually neutral, much like my love of asparagus and loathing of meatloaf.
I have also considered much of the Protestant and Anabaptist church’s resistance to the paranormal as a cultural reaction against the saint-and-relic aspects of Catholicism.
It’s funny, though, sometimes Protestants shy away from Catholic “mysticism” like exorcisms while they themselves are neck deep in demonology. Relics aren’t much important any more. Even the Shroud of Turin, which many Protestants also believe is real, hasn’t received official blessing of the Roman Catholic church. They have said that relics, even if they happened to be real, pale in comparison with Christ and the revelation of the Bible. Reason I mention this is that you reminded of an interesting book I read recently, The Truth about the Shroud of Turin by Robert K. Wilcox. If it is real, it isn’t a Catholic relic, but a Christian one.
And Christian spiritual gifts are…what?
The entire premise for Christian faith rests on the existence of the supernatural.
Remember the devil can’t create anything – only corrupt. My own weird theory is they are vestigial abilities from before the Fall; an awareness into spiritual dimensions that has been largely lost due to sin. (think of being able to see across the full spectrum of light as opposed to simply what we term the ‘visible spectrum’)
Any ventures into those realms/tapping of those abilities outside of the covering of God and the context of the Blood and Redemption brings us into contact with deception. Hence the demonic activity.
What if the supposed “large percentage of the brain that we don’t use” originally allowed us to live and experience life (and God and nature and relationships…) with a richness across wavelengths we can only glimpse at now?
Just my .02 rupees
This is very close to the thesis that is shared by the Watchman Nee book that Mike mentions. While I don’t buy into it (for example, I think Nee’s estimates of pre-Fall power are not wrong, but unnecessarily high based on the biblical evidence he alludes to: I don’t think, for example, it takes one million times more power than I currently possess to rule the planet or to identify and name all the animals.
More power? Yes. A million? I don’t think so, considering how we have had, in our lifetimes, for example, dictators that ruled over populations in excess of 10% of the global population. The whole of the Oxford English Dictionary was provided in great part by one insane man… but this is all a quibble over estimates: Nee’s theory is certainly interesting, and contrary to its popular rejection by heresy hunters, it does not say what many of them think it says.
Never read W.N’s book. And despite the fact I wanted to be Spiderman when I was a kid, I’m not going to speculate on ‘Pre-Fall, holy-X-men superpowers’.
We all realize life is more than the physical component. We’re aware of spiritual dimensions, connections, dynamics even before our salvation. God touched some of those chords to bring us to Himself. We are still aware of them – hopefully more attuned to them – after salvation and conversion.
The death sentence judgment for sin obviously meant more than a dramatic decrease in physical lifespans. It must have a parallel on all levels of existence: cognitive, physiological, spiritual …
Experiences in spiritual areas outside of Christ, this far down the Armageddon road, end up mislabeled and distorted, and become a conduit for deception and demonic insinuation. I’m not lighting candles and sketching a sidewalk-chalk pentagram here either; I’m saying the remnants of the original intent have become so skewed, that we’re like the blind men groping the elephant at this point.
The devil can only pervert what God made. What is the difference between passion and porn? It isn’t sex and sex isn’t “evil”. What is the difference between being a steward of God’s creation and being a card-carrying member of the Earth Liberation Front? Nature isn’t “evil.” What is the difference between telepathy and a word of knowledge? It’s isn’t the spiritual dynamic. It has to to with Context and the Creator.
“Test the spirits.” (1 john 4:1) Supernatural phenomenon isn’t inherently evil. Like radio waves you can tune ’em to whatever channel you want to listen to. Salvation puts you on God’s frequency.
“What is the difference between telepathy and word of knowledge?”
Interesting question. I was a very creative person before I came to Christ. My talents — some of which I consider spiritual gifts now — were no less God given then as they are now. The issue was who / what they were yielded to and used for. Could telepathy be a word of knowledge empowered by and used for something / someone other than God?
“Could telepathy be a word of knowledge empowered by and used for something / someone other than God?”
Yeah, pretty much.
So the original fall was Satan tempting Eve with the fruit from the tree–OF KNOWLEDGE . All along that angel of light has known deeply that what attracts us most is knowledge, information, things beyond ourselves. So if we’re going to be deceived, what better way than by something appealing and natural and so very mimicking of God?
I steer clear of seances, Ouija boards, pretty much anything that offers knowledge through communication with spirits. As for my own quirks they are definitely emotive as opposed to informative.
Extremely thoughtful post, Mike. I appreciate your willingness to write about this very subject.
I think this might apply to old folklore and legends, as well, things that are harder to evaluate than modern tails of telekinesis, ghosts, or clairvoyance. I’ve wondered for some years now if the only explanations we should allow for old mythologies of gods, fairies, trolls, water spirits, etc. are (1 they were fake, and borne out of a psychological instinct for mankind to speculate about the spiritual world, or (2 demons were behind them.
Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m going to look for pixies under dandelion leaves, or start trying to conjure Anubis to see if he really exists. It only means that I wonder if old myths were entirely demonic or spun out of our imaginations, or if there might be a more nuanced story behind them. Just because the Bible only seems to mention demons and angels, that hardly means they are the only “species” or “communities” in the unseen world. And to be honest, I’d love to find a side of the supernatural that would make “Hellboy II” and “The Mummy” look like documentaries. 🙂
I’m with you, Mike. My other two books are secular. However, with the 3rd I’ve gone in two new and different – so it seems – directions. Two of the problems I’ll be dealing with are psychic powers and ghosts. I’ve recently rediscovered my Christianity, so I want to incorporate that, but I also want the book to be interesting. And like you, I’ve always been fascinated with the paranormal side of things.
the supernatural and the fallen nature occupy the fallen realm of the demonic.
Never, ever, get involved with any “soulish” or intuitive experiences. The believers new language is now the revelation of the anointing.
You are putting yourself into very, very, dangerous territory.
You’ve got it backwards.
The supernatural is not the domain of the demonic. Demons occupy the supernatural, not the other way around. The supernatural is an aspect of creation: did Satan form the supernatural?
Yes, we are clearly warned against the practice of magic, but not because “things contain badness.” Creation is good. Sin is the subtraction of good – a missed mark – a corruption.
We occupy territory taken by the enemy. We can’t possibly put ourselves into more dangerous territory than what we’ve been born into.
Very funny xdpaul.
You do not understand the truth.
Well, that was of no help whatsoever, neither true nor edifying nor informative.
Just throw up your hands, say he’s completely misled, and walk away. Yeah, that’s taking a courageous stand for truth.
Just by his response it is obvious that he has neither experience or knowledge. It is so far from the truth that it is silly. I agree that it would have been better to just not respond. I am weary of uneducated believers, if even he is a believer.
Also, I noticed that you only responded to my comment and didn’t try to answer him.
It say’s “don’t answer a fool according to his folly, but answer a fool according to his folly.
You have “talked the talk” but I see no action on your part. Is there any difference between us? No. Do you understand what he is talking about and have experienced firsthand both the fallen realm of the supernatural of which mankind is born into-the supernatural?
Do you know the difference between the natural person and the regenerate individual or how this process occurs?
Do you understand the difference between intuition and the revelation of the anointing.?
Perhaps this conversation is not meant for him but for you? God orders our steps, even into the pages that we look at.
Let me hear your theory and perhaps all of us can gain wisdom.
I’ve had a few experiences like Katherine Coble’s. Only thrice has the experience been anything close to useful. I didn’t ask for the experiences, and I still don’t.
I enjoyed the Watchman Nee book when I read it four decades ago. If I remember correctly, an iffy thing (as all my strongest memories are false) he said that we were not to seek after such things, but only to pursue God, and not to use techniques that stir up our (soulish?) desires. Or maybe that’s what I concluded for myself.
I think that seeking after psychic experiences is likely dangerous, but having them as you try to serve God in your daily life is either a blessing or no big deal.
Your memory of the book holds true! That’s pretty good for someone who read it in kindergarten! 😉
xdpaul: *snicker*
Just so xdpaul knows, I agree with this assessment.
After being raised in the occult and being adept in the relationship with a familiar spirit who is the source of contact in the fallen or supernatural realm via the fallen nature of the soul by the faculty of intuition, ( I was 22 when I was found by God).
I can say first hand what it is in contrast to being a regenerate believer.
Watchman Nee wrote the “Latent Power of the Soul”, which book I believe you may be referring to.
It is an issues of “source”. Whatever is of the fallen nature of the soul is by definition “sin”. The human soul: mind, will and emotions is the natural man.
At the transformation by regeneration, the soul is disconnected from governing the individual and the human spirit is awakened being integrated with the Spirit of God. The “two” become one Spirit. This is the nature of the child of God: the Spirit.
Repentance from dead works (the milk of the word) and faith toward God is the first of the elementary principles of Christ, the Spirit.
Our life is now summed up within the revelation of the anointing as being the source for (Spirit), mind, emotion and will.
He, the Spirit, replaces the natural expression of the soul in nature and in essence we now have the Spirit’s mind, emotion and will that is bot6h working within and through our lives.
I’m a late comer to this discussion. Like you, Mike, I’m somewhere in between. I grew up in the 1970s and watched everything I could on the paranormal. Today, as an evangelical the possibilities it presents is still very intriguing. But as you note, the evangelical community is quick to adopt either secular rationalist arguments against it, or religious prohibitions, lumping such things in with “forbidden” new religions like Paganism, or Western esotericism (labeled “the occult”). I’m doing research for a possible article on evangelicals and the paranormal for a peer-reviewed academic journal on religion, and found your piece of interest. Thanks for raising the issue.