Posted on 06/14/2009 10:06:21 AM PDT by OneVike
In today's technological age, it might seem silly for intelligent people to consider a spiritual world where beings we cannot see might exist. Oh it's fine to read books and watch Hollywood movies about the afterlife and spirits that roam the netherworld but that's all make believe, not the real world. In the real world we are taught that reality consists of what we can touch, taste, see, hear, smell, and that the spirit world is for those weak minded individuals who use religion as a crutch to get through the day. But what if I told you that scientists have concluded that there is a strong possibility that a parallel universe really does exist? Now, as a Christian I do not need proof that a spirit world exists, but it is my belief that God wants us to do our utmost to understand what it is He has Created. That being said, the Spirit World is an aspect of God's Creation that we can only speculate upon just as Rene Descartes, the father of modern day philosophy did. Descartes admitted that God was the Creator of the world, but he believed that the spiritual world existed solely in the minds of men. So I guess the question would be, does a parallel spirit world exist, or is it just a figment of our fertile imaginations?
I would suggest that in order to properly answer that question, we need to first realize that God gave us a mind and the ability to think on a level with Him, if only we allow ourselves to put the silly notions of men aside. One silly notion is that reality
(Excerpt) Read more at norcalblogs.com ...
I hope there is. I believe in God. I do worry, however, that death may just be a shutting out of the lights / existance. I hope that we continue on as ourselves.
It addresses this very topic.
Most excellent!
And yes, there is indeed a 'spirit world'...
A better question may be, “Is there an infinite number of parallel spirit worlds?”
(Talk about having the opportunity to learn from one’s mistakes!)
Death is much more than a 'shutting out the lights'...
..death is eternity...either with God or separated from Him.
I’m an agnostic.
Yes there is a spirit world.
Maybe the shallow, material world is dominated by elements detected by our five senses, but as individuals and families, our lives are mostly influenced by love of each other and of God, our battles of conscience (between what we are told and perceive as good and evil), and our deep hunger for interaction with the Divine.
Most people I know are already living in the eternal world...very few (and those seem to exist only in movies and fiction) live purely sensual lives.
Please note that I don't mean to say that all who are now living in the eternal are living Godly lives...many seem to have already cast their lot with Satan (think Democrats).
(Psa 139:13 NIV) For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
(Psa 139:14 NIV) I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
(Psa 139:15 NIV) My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
(Psa 139:16 NIV) your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Now does this sound like an Entity that drop kicks you to Planet Earth, in a family of who knows what, married to a thing a ma bob, and let’s you lie down, close your eyes, and that’s it.
Uh, don’t think so.
When you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, then you are a part of that spirit realm, and then you realize the real reality is there, not here. This is preperation for that realm, which lasts forever. This mess is temporary.
Or....Josh McDowell's More Than a Carpenter (a small in size book)
or..CS Lewis...Mere Christianity
God bless!
In the movie Andromeda Strain, the nurse technician climbs into a backless suit connected to a flexible tube that enables her to function in the clean room. That is how I envision the relationship of the “spirit world” to our “reality world.” Our spirits have simply climbed into our reality suits.
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm956866304/tt0066769
Anything C.S. Lewis is worth it.
There is a saying that comes to mind.....
“For those that believe, no explanation is necessary.
For those that don’t believe, no explanation is satisfactory.”
I started wondering about the spirit world after witnessing the deaths of three of my grandparents. I was there while all three took their last breath and they all did the same thing in the last minutes of their lives. They all called out to their mother and talked to them like they were standing right there. This happened when they were at the point where they couldn’t communicate with the people in the room and were breathing very shallow. It really got my attention and I’m a believer but not very religious.
“I hope that we continue on as ourselves.”
Hmmm. I hope to do better. The defective corporeal shell that I’m currently trapped in, would be a real “booby prize” if I was eternally saddled with it.
Where, when, and however we end up, we are all “bobsledding” directly towards it, so we’d better make arrangements.
ping
I stick to the idea of Descartes: The spiritual world is inside our brain, but unfortunately sometimes I reduce my spiritual world by watching TV.
Thanks for the ping!
Think now where you want to spend eternity!
You won't have a 2nd chance after it happens.
-Ayn Rand
If reality consists of what we can touch, see, hear, and smell, does that mean that nothing existed before we were born and nothing will exist when we die?
“If reality consists of what we can touch, see, hear, and smell, does that mean that nothing existed before we were born and nothing will exist when we die?
This does seem to the public perception of history.
God is a state of mind, and of matter. That is the message.
This does seem to be the public perception of history.
Sorry.
No.
When my father in law passed he also called out to his mother. He told us he could hear her calling to him.
I touch, see, hear, and smell in my dreams. Are my dreams real?
I live in a small brownstone in Boston. There are only a few apartments here. A number of years ago two old men lived here, Bradford and Jim. They were friends and had lived in this building for years with Bradford's apartment directly above Jim's. I knew both of these guys and considered them friends.
Brad died of colon cancer and within a week I saw something that I can not explain. I was in Jim's room in the middle of the day, bright sunlit day and no - we were not drinking. I was facing Jim and directly behind him was his kitchen sink. The faucet handle on my left turned on: it simply turned and water came out of the faucet as it normally would. Jim saw my reaction as I said “ Jim - the faucet - “ and he said “ Oh, its doing it again. “
He walked a few feet to the sink and turned it off. He said it had been happening since Bradford died and that he was also hearing a thumping on his ceiling coming from Bradford's room. Brad used to thump his cane on his floor when he needed Jim's assistance.
I never heard any thumping ( and I am grateful for that ) but I saw what happened in Jim's room. I saw it happen as clear as day.
When pressed, even scientists will admit that it is foolish to rely on our senses and our perception of the universe when understanding nature.
Nature is becoming more and more abstract as we learn more about it.
One night I was awaked by a dream where some female entity was kicking and pinching me while asking "Why did you divorce my baby?". I gave the answer, and that drean entity chuckled and made a comment about "the old family problem". The next day my ex-wife called to inform me that her grandmother had passed away during the night.
Several years later I had a drean where a strong male entity gave me the same sort of treatment. When I gave the answer he said, "Hmmmm. Just like her mother". The next day my ex-wife called to tell me that her father had passed away during the night.
I have several more interesting incidents like this. There is no doubt that there is a spirit world, and it can indeed interact with our world.
Leviticus 19:31 - "Do not turn to ghosts and do not inquire of familiar spirits, to be defiled by them. I the LORD am your God."
I'll bet Joe Biden used to watch Descarte on TV...did he come on right after the FDR show?;-)
I don’t know if it’s a good or a bad thing, but I don’t really want to be anything other than myself in this life or the next. Anyway, I’m probably worrying away a beautiful day out there. I’ll have plenty of time to be dead. The living days are short.
Maybe you should put a lock on the bedroom door of your dreams.
ive been fortunate to experience the spiritual world first hand as well as thru my toddler son experiencing visits from an uncle who died years before he was born...
it’s there, it’s real....
learn from it, God created us as more than just fleshly beings...
Old Bradford probably needed you guys to take care of something for him...
I don’t think these speculations are bad, as long as we continue to realize that the total nature of creation will remain a mystery to us, in our present state.
In fact, each advance in science has not only answered age-old questions but always opened a window on creation that represented more questions than we even knew to ask before.
I enjoy the speculation and I believe that there is nothing that is really supernatural - only some things presently beyond our understanding.
But at the end of the day I am still comfortable knowing creation remains a mystery that I will never completely fathom. That’s O.K.
Bradford had been divorced for many years and as I understood his wife had been fooling around on him. Never once saw a relative visit him although a number showed up after his death. I never even saw them while he wasted away in the VA or at home.
Very interesting man. Had been involved in the diplomatic corp, had told a story about how Hitler had straightened out Brad's crooked bow tie during some function. He gave me a few photos from the function but they were stolen from me later. During the war he was in the army and participated in D-Day.
we’ve been having some strange things happening in my family here of late. Light switches going on and off and familiar voices being heard in other rooms when no one else is in the house.
I don’t have a clue what to make of it, and yes, Ive heard the voices.
Ive been reading up on this and the closest answer I can come up with is we have a poltergeist.
I have just spent too much time thinking about what comes next.
As is typical with most people.
Try to spend more time thinking about where you were before
you were born.
Either life’s adventure continues after death in another form, another place or death is the onset of an eternal dreamless sleep. Either way we will be ok. I personally believe the adventure continues with God.
The funny thing is that, in our arrogance, we view ourselves as the most advanced beings in the universe. And since we can’t apply man made scientific methods to the spiritual world then we view it as akin to ancient mythology. But in our entire solar system, an ant is an absolutely incredible being,far more advanced and complex than anything on any nearby planet, asteroid, comet or even our own star. In the ants world, he will never be able to experience or comprehend many of the things that surround him through his senses. But if he were to evolve into some human like being, more and more of the actual world will be evident to him through his enhanced perception of reality, even though he was never able to comprehend what was always there.
Is this a house you recently moved into?
Bump
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