HEARING GOD SPEAK

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

Eli1

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2022
4,788
2,071
113
46
It does get very convoluted and seems to hang on yes- a contradiction, much like an atheist saying everything comes from nothing, since nothing cannot create something, and the beliefs promoting maya say nothing really exists, since everything that an individual experiences can be presented as a chain of transient combinations, making the continuity of the observable existence just an illusion.
Exactly !
 

Eli1

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2022
4,788
2,071
113
46
Seems to me there is reference in the Bible that there was 'wisdom' from the East. They sure went down the sewer. I remember even here in US the 'guru' with all the Rolls Royce's. Finally deported I think. I have also had some personal involvement with people espousing eastern philosophy.
This isn’t even about that. It’s about giving some logical reasons of why one thinks that imagination in your head is different from reality.
As @Magenta pointed out this would lead to many logical fallacies.
 
Aug 2, 2021
7,317
2,048
113
There's an important side-topic to this. Bear with me for a moment:

If we look at how the mind processes written language, we see that there are generally 3 parts that memory draws upon. There is 1) the visual appearance of written characters, 2) the auditory pattern that fits with those images, and 3) the meaning of the words.

Basically:
1) Sight
2) Sound
3) Meaning

If you practise enough, you can recall the meanings of things without silently repeating the words in your head (subvocalization). The supression of subvocalization is a technique used by some to help speed-read.

It is possible to have a meaning directly conveyed without sight or sound. So even if someone hasn't directly heard the voice of God, it doesn't mean that there has been an absence of direct communication. Someone can have a meaning 'downloaded' directly into their mind without the sensation of sound or "hearing".
CASE in POINT = Romans 2:12-16

For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law 13(for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; 14for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) 16in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.
 
P

persistent

Guest
It does get very convoluted and seems to hang on yes- a contradiction, much like an atheist saying everything comes from nothing, since nothing cannot create something, and the beliefs promoting maya say nothing really exists, since everything that an individual experiences can be presented as a chain of transient combinations, making the continuity of the observable existence just an illusion.
The idea of nothing or nothingness was sort of a focus for me for some time. I would try to 'imagine' that nothing existed. And it is such a contradiction that really muddles your brain. Made me think of the 'therapy' known as 'sensory deprivation', which I never tried but understood to be a tank of water to float in and sealed. Made me think of 'blackouts' from alcohol or drugs. I imagine with date rape drugs and so many court cases involving these the testimony of some would also confirm the senses being totally 'missing'. But back to 'nothingness' I would also consider the 'Chinese' yin & yang and think of Einsteins' E=mC2...and reading Hennig Genzs' book 'Nothingness' , subtitled, 'The Science of Empty Space', I can see where people come up with some strange ideas. I don't fault them. I want to say it was Sheldon Glashow who coined the term 'Big Bang' was critical of the person, Georges LeMaitre, originating the theory of how the Universe came to be. I believe Sheldon Glashow also mentions how some of his best teaching was done after smoking Hashish. All these bits of 'trivia' add up. The Bible is THE BOOK OF TRUE FAITH AND WORD OF GOD but lots of people think they can read into it all of the ways God brought into existence things seen & unseen... Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:))))))) Another book 'The God Particle', gives the impression that soon man will discover or unveil the secrets of the universe....Genesis 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. Richard Feynman is another interesting character in science along with the fellow who said "I Have Become Death" and he was denigrated by others who were interested in perpetuating even better ways to destroy....Teller....But as Roseann Roseanna Danna would say, "It's always somethin'' I left out John Wheeler......he may be alive and reasonable.
 

Eli1

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2022
4,788
2,071
113
46
The idea of nothing or nothingness was sort of a focus for me for some time. I would try to 'imagine' that nothing existed. And it is such a contradiction that really muddles your brain. Made me think of the 'therapy' known as 'sensory deprivation', which I never tried but understood to be a tank of water to float in and sealed. Made me think of 'blackouts' from alcohol or drugs. I imagine with date rape drugs and so many court cases involving these the testimony of some would also confirm the senses being totally 'missing'. But back to 'nothingness' I would also consider the 'Chinese' yin & yang and think of Einsteins' E=mC2...and reading Hennig Genzs' book 'Nothingness' , subtitled, 'The Science of Empty Space', I can see where people come up with some strange ideas. I don't fault them. I want to say it was Sheldon Glashow who coined the term 'Big Bang' was critical of the person, Georges LeMaitre, originating the theory of how the Universe came to be. I believe Sheldon Glashow also mentions how some of his best teaching was done after smoking Hashish. All these bits of 'trivia' add up. The Bible is THE BOOK OF TRUE FAITH AND WORD OF GOD but lots of people think they can read into it all of the ways God brought into existence things seen & unseen... Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:))))))) Another book 'The God Particle', gives the impression that soon man will discover or unveil the secrets of the universe....Genesis 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. Richard Feynman is another interesting character in science along with the fellow who said "I Have Become Death" and he was denigrated by others who were interested in perpetuating even better ways to destroy....Teller....But as Roseann Roseanna Danna would say, "It's always somethin'' I left out John Wheeler......he may be alive and reasonable.
You’re going over many topics here and a lot of history, some are true and some are untrue.
‘The question is simple : Is reality different from our own imagination?

Case in point : You, I and many others in this thread have seen extraordinary things which cannot be explained logically.

Now Person A says : What you saw is not real and you imagined it in your head.

My response would be : How do you know that you’re not imagining typing in an Internet forum right now?

Depending on the level of denial, Person A might say things relating to touch, sight and smell which contradict their own position of objective reality and then ultimately after a lengthy discussion might say that reality is not real.

And if you say that reality is not real you are basically proving a Creator because a Creator can reveal things according to His will, to people all the time.
 
P

persistent

Guest
You’re going over many topics here and a lot of history, some are true and some are untrue.
‘The question is simple : Is reality different from our own imagination?

Case in point : You, I and many others in this thread have seen extraordinary things which cannot be explained logically.

Now Person A says : What you saw is not real and you imagined it in your head.

My response would be : How do you know that you’re not imagining typing in an Internet forum right now?

Depending on the level of denial, Person A might say things relating to touch, sight and smell which contradict their own position of objective reality and then ultimately after a lengthy discussion might say that reality is not real.

And if you say that reality is not real you are basically proving a Creator because a Creator can reveal things according to His will, to people all the time.
An understanding of how others see things and perceive reality is vital.
 

Eli1

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2022
4,788
2,071
113
46
An understanding of how others see things and perceive reality is vital.
This is very true but saying that supernatural experiences are only in your head, is typically an atheist response based on my experience dealing with these types of topics.
So through logical reasoning you can show that the atheist is incorrect.
 
P

persistent

Guest
Depending on the level of denial, Person A might say things relating to touch, sight and smell which contradict their own position of objective reality and then ultimately after a lengthy discussion might say that reality is not real.

And if you say that reality is not real you are basically proving a Creator because a Creator can reveal things according to His will, to people all the time.
Lots of people aren't capable of comprehending certain 'facts'. Some have perceptions which are not based in reality and it is difficult to convince them otherwise. And 1 Corinthians 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
 
P

persistent

Guest
This is very true but saying that supernatural experiences are only in your head, is typically an atheist response based on my experience dealing with these types of topics.
So through logical reasoning you can show that the atheist is incorrect.
Man is not a logical being. More emotional
 

Eli1

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2022
4,788
2,071
113
46
Man is not a logical being. More emotional
This is a completely different take but during my discussions with atheists they tend to pride themselves in the logic and reasoning which is what I use to prove to them that their reasoning is not logical.
 
P

persistent

Guest
So through logical reasoning you can show that the atheist is incorrect.
Find a photo of Richard Oppenheimer in his later years and see what science does to a person of logic. You can see it in his face
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
60,343
29,591
113
This is a completely different take but during my discussions with atheists they tend to pride themselves
in the logic and reasoning which is what I use to prove to them that their reasoning is not logical.
LOL so true! (y):giggle: And to knock down that line of their defense is somewhat vital
because it is on it that they hang pretty much everything else, which is, of course,
their pride of life, and the crux of the very thing that keeps them closed off from God.


Some I spoke with would say things like, we believe based on emotional reasons which we should not trust being that they are simply a matter of chemical brain reactions, to which I would ask, why, then, do they even trust their own thoughts? Since they are the same.
 

Eli1

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2022
4,788
2,071
113
46
Find a photo of Richard Oppenheimer in his later years and see what science does to a person of logic. You can see it in his face
You’re now going into a different subject again and I don’t consider Science an enemy. To me, science glorifies God.
Science is not this independent evil thing. Science is us humans asking HOW questions and many scientists in history who belived in God were Christians. In fact even today they exist. Francis Collins is one of them.
 

shittim

Senior Member
Dec 16, 2016
13,815
7,790
113
Seems to me there is reference in the Bible that there was 'wisdom' from the East. They sure went down the sewer. I remember even here in US the 'guru' with all the Rolls Royce's. Finally deported I think. I have also had some personal involvement with people espousing eastern philosophy.
the Indian guru whose group tookover Antelop Co.?
Man is not a logical being. More emotional
Spirit, Soul and Body.
Emotions being of the Soulish realm
 
P

persistent

Guest
That too!!!!!!!?????Easier said than done
Some of these atheists an
You’re now going into a different subject again and I don’t consider Science an enemy. To me, science glorifies God.
Science is not this independent evil thing. Science is us humans asking HOW questions and many scientists in history belived in God were Christians. In fact even today they exist. Francis Collins is one of them.
We may need to agree to disagree here. Our level of science is so far below God's capabilities is pathetic. It is mans' pride which makes him think he has 'superior' capabilities..Genesis 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
 

Eli1

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2022
4,788
2,071
113
46
Some of these atheists an

We may need to agree to disagree here. Our level of science is so far below God's capabilities is pathetic. It is mans' pride which makes him think he has 'superior' capabilities..Genesis 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
Well of course science or our level of knowledge can’t match God.
‘This is a fact that science says about itself. It says that science or human knowledge has limits so cannot and will not know everything.
 
P

persistent

Guest
Some of these atheists an

We may need to agree to disagree here. Our level of science is so far below God's capabilities is pathetic. It is mans' pride which makes him think he has 'superior' capabilities..Genesis 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
For example....Can you travel from your location to say my location in an instant. Maybe you will once you figure out the secrets of Quantum Entanglement
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
60,343
29,591
113
For example....Can you travel from your location to say my location in an instant.
Maybe you will once you figure out the secrets of Quantum Entanglement
That is something certain shamans believed they could do, even leave this "reality" altogether.

Which seriously made me wonder: where did they go when they left? o_O:unsure::geek: