Posted on 21 August 2013, 8:46

A friend was impressed with what a supposed communicator had said through a medium, namely that space men had long ago taken residence on the planet Pluto, and that their now discarnate spirits were the source of evil in this world. He says, Fancy that….how very interesting!

A book is published, 47 billion years of evolution. It contains channelled messages describing “the origin of our galaxy 47 billion years ago, and the creation of life 47 million years ago. I haven’t read the book, but I understand that the medium involved was a materialisation medium, and that much of the channelled materials over a period of thirty years was impressive. So impressive it seems, that the highly educated author seems to have failed to consider what science is saying at present,  estimating the age of the Milky Way galaxy as being up to 13.6 billion years, and the creation of life not 47 million years, but 3.6 billion years. The latter estimate is based on two centuries of geological and evolutionary research, with study of the life forms in the various geological periods, stretching back hundreds of millions of years.

Realistically, I suggest that we do not have evidence that even the best of communicators provide incontestable truth. Over the years, I have encountered a number of channelled books purporting to describe the ultimate nature of reality, descriptions at odds with each other, and with what is currently known in science.  The Only Planet of Choice comes to mind, and The Urantia Book.

If psychic research is to maintain any respect it is absolutely essential that we maintain the scientific position of open-minded scepticism, and find ways of confirming or denying the validity of mediumistic communications. And this will mean keeping a public distance from uncritical writings, which unfortunately exist in such quantity as to obliterate reliable writing in the public mind.

Another highly educated scholar writes, “Since the early part of the 20th century, science is known of a (quantum) energy field that penetrates and interacts with the constituents of matter. Since mind or consciousness arises from the flow of fundamental particles (electrons in photons) within the brain, it is a quite tenable hypothesis that the same quantum field could transmit messages of the sixth sense.”  The writer appears to see the brain as the source of consciousness and also to accept psychic phenomena.
In view of the fact that people having Near Death Experiences find themselves fully conscious, memory intact, and apart from the body whose heart has stopped, and given the phenomena of distance viewing, and precognition, what is this talk of consciousness arising “from the flow of fundamental particles… within the brain.”?

The popular A Course in Miracles has millions of people agreeing that God did not create the physical universe, but rather that it is an illusion created by human beings. Many exercises are prescribed to help the disciple disregard this illusion and achieve union with the Absolute.

The Theosophist Alice Bailey wrote many books describing physical/spiritual reality in words supposedly dictated telepathically from a Tibetan monk called Djwhal Khul.

We could add many similar works to the list.

All this makes me want to weep.

How can we in our right minds not question the story of space travellers and Pluto, and ask how this could be substantiated? How can a Ph.D. not check the current scientific view of the age of the universe, and not discuss the discrepancy between his figures and those of current science? How can a Ph.D. accept the reality of paranormal phenomena together with NDE s, and also say that consciousness and mind is dependent on fundamental particles in the brain? What evidence can be adduced to substantiate the claim that the physical universe has no part in the scheme of things, but is a human delusion? Did Alice Bailey ever confirm that there was actually a physical Tibetan monk giving her all this telepathic teaching?

It all makes me want to weep, for important as it is that humanity comes to a more realistic understanding of spiritual reality, this kind of flummery leads us very much astray, and brings the whole of scientific research in this field into disrepute. Psi Pioneers, Victor Zammit, Michael Tymn, and a host of reputable psychic researchers have helped to build up quite a reliable picture of nonphysical reality, limited though that picture may well be.

With regard to Christian cosmology, it is my view much of the picture of reality presented by New Testament can be substantiated by reputable psychic research, and much of its value can be confirmed in the lives of people inspired by its teachings, and that its value is considerably greater than that contained in the writings that I have named. There may be parts of the New Testament that we may want to discard, while other parts may inspire us to a better life. The value of anything in the New Testament should also be tested in practice, as should all other such writings.

It may be asked, who am I to talk, when I have published a book ostensibly describing conversations with St Stephen the Martyr? (Unlikely as it may seem.) In this case Stephen helped to confirm that it was he that was communicating, through speaking a little in his own ancient dialect of Greek in which he gave a number of clues as to his identity. I submitted several years of research into the Greek and its implications to two professors of ancient Greek, who found no basic fault in my work. Stephen himself said that mistakes could be made in transmitting his thoughts through a medium, and that we should find ways of determining the truth or otherwise of what we heard from the medium’s mouth. He had the humility to say that he was speaking from his personal experience, and that what he had to say could be influenced by his likes and dislikes. He was actively discouraging credulity. And a group of us took him at his word, and used various ways to evaluate what he said. In practice we found most of what he had to say to be very helpful, and with his encouraging us in being critical we found him worthy of trust indeed.

Is there some reason why we should not use our critical faculties when reading similar communications through other mediums? We should ask whether we truly understand a communication, whether it has been made by other communicators, whether it has any support from current scientific research, whether it helps us in some way in our spiritual development, whether it is platitudinous or profound, and so on. Sound study involves focusing on something that is said, making a theory or evaluation of that something, and putting that theory or evaluation to the test. This is just what we normally do. Somebody says something, we react, and then we consider whether our reaction is justified. We should employ exactly the same procedure in studying the works of those who would be our spiritual guides and teachers.

Similar considerations should apply with our prayer life, especially when we are praying for guidance. In prayer, people often ask for guidance about what to do in some situation that is facing them. They pray, and they listen for mentally heard words of guidance. When we pray like that, we are behaving like mediums, open to whatever Spirit may impart. In doing so we are faced with the same dilemma as the people we do call mediums: we always have to ask the question, is what we are mentally hearing true guidance, or is it flummery? We are faced with that dilemma because we are both spiritual beings as well as being physical. When we mentally hear words from Spirit we have creativity, depth, and real help. When we hear from our physical mind with its often squirrel cage thoughts, then the still small voice that we hear in prayer will lead us astray. Once again we are faced with the separation of the gold from the rubbish. Here too we must retain our critical faculties.

I wrote disparagingly of A Course in Miracles. But although I consider some of its basic teaching to be questionable, there is also much that is helpful, hence its popularity. Here is a quote:

“Your Friend (Holy Spirit) goes with you. You are not alone. No one who calls on Him can call in vain. Whatever troubles you, be certain that He has the answer, and will gladly give it to you, if you simply turn to Him and ask it of Him. He will not withhold all answers that you need for anything that seems to trouble you. He knows the way to solve all problems, and resolve all doubts.  His certainty is yours.  You need but ask it of Him, and it will be given you.” (ACIM, W-ep.1:2-9. 

When we are truly hearing from Spirit, in our prayers, the above passage can be accepted as valid and true. But we need to find ways of ascertaining whether we are hearing from Spirit, rather than from the machinations of the physical mind.

Michael Cocks edits the journal, Ground of Faith.

Afterlife Teaching From Stephen the Martyr by Michael Cocks is published by White Crow Books and available from Amazon and other bookstores.

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Posted on 04 August 2013, 7:54

“We are participants, sometimes conscious participants, in a psychophysical whole.” “God is in all, through all, and above all.” Two ways of saying just about the same thing. In one way, we would have to say that there is nothing that is not a gift of the Spirit, for all our experiences in the physical are in some sense a product of Spirit.

We do acknowledge this in church worship and especially in Celtic worship when we thank the Creator for all the wonders and mercies that we daily experience. But often we are thinking more narrowly of such spiritual gifts as healing, prophecy, love, and teaching,

From the point of view of some leading quantum physicists there would be agreement that the world apperceived by the physical senses is the product of an indivisible mental realm.

From the point of view of psychic research that focuses on paranormal phenomena, a study of synchronicity, studies in mediumship.  Psychic research with mediums and parapsychology laboratories is very important because it makes very clear that the dimension of spirit is a reality, that there is an afterlife, and that the so-called dead can communicate with and sometimes guide the living, and that post death experiences are something to be looked forward to.

Generally speaking psychic research focuses on interactions between individuals.

In the various branches of the Pentecostal movement the focus has been on speaking in tongues, words of knowledge, and healing. I’ll further discuss this movement shortly.

The mainline Churches on the other hand focus on the corporate: they often talk about Spirit that is in all, through all, and above all,  even though they can be inward looking and parochial. They do affirm that (at least the church) is corporately part of what is called, “the Body of Christ,” and that we perform different functions in that body: St Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 12, writes: “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” 

Those words are usually interpreted narrowly to refer to the institutional Christian churches, but they surely should not be seen as setting any limits to this mystical concept “The Body of Christ.” As said, spiritual/physical reality is an indivisible and interdependent whole. And therefore must include all human beings, whether or not they are conscious of this participation in this Whole.

We should often remind ourselves how utterly dependent we are for our very survival of the cooperative activities of many millions of our fellows, regardless of nationality, religious belief or lack of it, whether we like them or not. On how many millions of people are we dependent for the very language we use, on how many thousands of people are we ultimately dependent for the loaf of bread on the table, on how many thinkers and scientists, how many health workers are we dependent on? Following that line of thought we can see the immense complexity of a vast network of the sharing of gifts in which each of us is involved.

Thoughts about Gifts of the Spirit and social service

If we focus on those gifts which make us aware of the spiritual dimension we will notice that the mainline churches have a hierarchical structure, and tend to focus our attention on spirit mediated through prayer and the sacraments.

Some knowledge of teaching agreed on in the churches is assumed, and at least in the past they have been the glue that held societies together.  The churches have been organised by the better educated, and the more well-off. Focus on those spiritual gifts that are described by St Paul   leads people to be less self-centred.  Often the mainline churches have been very good with caring for social services for those in need.

Often mainline churches have been (usually beneficent) organs for the governance of the state, with strongest appeal to the upper and middle classes. This fact often left working people outside the orbit of such churches. This was true in the 18th century England. The spiritual leader, John Wesley, (below) was amongst those who addressed this problem. Like a previous leader who attempted to prise Christianity out of the hands of the ruling classes, George Fox, founding the Quakers, or the Society of Friends, John Wesley preached the gospel in the open air to tens of thousands of working people. Both men had strong experiences of being “filled with Spirit”, both men vastly enlarged the understanding of the meaning of “the gifts of Spirit,” both reached out mightily to others. I would understand the expression “filled with Spirit” to imply a direct experience of Spirit bypassing the verbal formularies of established religion.

In the 20th century the Pentecostal movement accomplished something similar. Like other forms of evangelical Protestantism, Pentecostalism adheres to the inerrancy of scripture and the necessity of accepting Christ as personal Lord and Saviour. It is distinguished by belief in the baptism with the Holy Spirit as an experience separate from conversion that enables a Christian to live a Holy Spirit–filled and empowered life. This empowerment includes the use of spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues and divine healing—two other defining characteristics of Pentecostalism. Because of their commitment to biblical authority, spiritual gifts, and the miraculous, Pentecostals tend to see their movement as reflecting the same kind of spiritual power and teachings that were found in the Apostolic Age of the early church. For this reason, some Pentecostals also use the term Apostolic or full gospel to describe their movement.

The majority of Pentecostals around the world are found among the poor and the working classes, the same socio-economic groups that gave rise to Pentecostalism in North America early in the 20th century. Strangely, in North America especially, they have not espoused social reform, and their politics has been right wing.

In Sweden, on the other hand, under the charismatic leadership of Levi Pethrus, Pentecostalism became associated with the Trade Unions, and very effective efforts to improve the lot of the workers. Perhaps because of this leadership Pentecostalism has not split up into numerous splinter groups as in other countries, and even managed to establish a national daily paper, Dagen, which continues to this day.

In The Roots and Fruits of Brazilian Pentecostalism, John P. Medcraft writes,  “One does not want to lose sight of the undeniable therapeutic and psychological help Pentecostal believers receive from their beliefs and practices.  W. H. Cesar observes that Pentecostalism is primarily attractive to the lower classes ‘who need greater comfort, a more dynamic religiosity to help them overcome the threat of secularization’. Camargo says that Pentecostalism grows because its congregations create a warm, receptive, small-sized community for immigrants and those largely on the margins of society, teaching them that in Christ all their problems have solutions.  It gives their lives new meaning and generally brightens an otherwise drab existence,  helping to fulfill their needs and aspirations within a situation of change, suffering and marginalization. D’Epinay speaks of Pentecostalism being ‘a communal religious answer to the confusion of large sections of the population, caused by the gnomic character of a society in transition’. Clearly the fact that Pentecostalism has met with such a phenomenal response is because, in market terms, it supplied a demand, from the 1930s onwards, caused by the upheaval of a society in change.”

A similar story could no doubt be written in the rest of Latin America.

As I understand the situation, it would be very good if spiritualists, psychic researchers, Pentecostalists, Christian Scientists (with their emphasis on spiritual healing), and the mainline churches, could be less suspicious of each other, be less one-eyed, more willing to explore and understandings of spiritual gifts afforded by each of the others. Of course, since there is nothing in the universe that is not the result of activity of spirit, there will be no limit to the discoveries of aspects of activity of Spirit. And that was the point I was making at the beginning of this blog.

Interesting links about Pentecostalism, Methodism

Michael Cocks edits the journal, Ground of Faith.

Afterlife Teaching From Stephen the Martyr by Michael Cocks is published by White Crow Books and available from Amazon and other bookstores.

Paperback               Kindle