Yesterday, I attended a secular discussion group on the subjects
of Halloween and the supernatural. I was amazed to hear hardened skeptics speak
about supernatural encounters that they had had. While they wouldn’t allow
these experiences to interfere with their skeptical beliefs and commitments to
naturalism and materialism (the denial of the spiritual), they couldn’t deny
what they had seen.
Several finally concluded that there might not be any
ultimate answers and that life was just about holding incommensurate beliefs in
tension. One even remarked that we need this tension in order to be open to
others and to experience.
But open for what reason? It reminded me of people who
claimed that life was about seeking but also believed that there was nothing to
find – no ultimate conclusions to embrace or overarching wisdom to live by. I
remarked that we had to seek to attempt to harmonize what we know in hope of assembling
an accurate roadmap of reality so that we can navigate it. In order to do this,
we need to answer some basic questions like “Why am I here, and how should I
live my life?” The discomfort was palpable.
Nevertheless, the consensus was that the spiritual world was
real. However, they weren’t ready to consider the possibility that certain
spiritual beings might be evil. I remember how gullible I had been when I first
experienced the spirit beings through the Ouiji Board. Even though the spirits
addressed my girlfriend and me in a vulgar way, I was always ready to give them
the benefit of the doubt. After all, I was convinced that these were evolved
superior beings, and such beings couldn’t do wrong. If I found their
communications crude, it was only because I wasn’t as evolved as they.
These skeptics were also naïve about the spirit world. One
older gentleman remarked that he had visited a witch but came away convinced
that she only meant good. Why? Because she had been nice to him!
I began to think, “What if they asked me why they should
believe in my God, whom they had never seen, rather than the spirits that they had
encountered and the paranormal they had experienced.” What rational reasons
could I give that could complete with what they had already experienced?
This sent me into a flurry of note-taking, but I also
realized that without God’s intervention, there was nothing I could say that
would make a difference. Nevertheless, here is the essence of my notes:
1.
An assembly of spirit beings could not provide
an adequate explanation of this harmonious and benign world. Instead, this
cosmos would reflect a patchwork of their competing objectives.
2.
Spiritistic cultures are not only backward, but
they are also highly violent and self-destructive. If these spiritual powers
were benign and supremely powerful, we should expect that the cultures which
call upon them would be the most advanced and benign.
3.
In contrast, post-Christian Western nations still
remain the most advanced.
4.
Jesus proved His love for humanity by willingly
suffering the worst imaginable death on the Cross, proving that He is the true
Shephard.
Nevertheless, I knew that this answer would be inadequate. However,
I saw something else. Although they were impressed by their experience, they
were also spooked by them and seemed to be determined to maintain a healthy
distance. They were older and therefore more hesitant to embrace this exciting
world then they would have been in their youth. They talked about mediums and
witches but were not ready to go to one themselves.
However, this would change. Jesus prophesied that, in the
end, there will be a proliferation of spiritistic manifestations. Times will be
so difficult and the manifestations so profound that all will be deceived, except
for those who are prepared (Matthew 24:21-24).
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