Originally posted by Elena:
EF: I accept it <the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ> as a matter of faith. Because of that, the evidence is irrelevant.
The evidence is irrelevant? Elana, do you believe that Christianity is indeed a "blind faith" rather than a reasonable faith? As a Christian, I think the evidence is very relevant. However, the evidence is more historical in nature than scientific. You cannot prove Christianity is true, but there is certainly a wealth of logical evidence in its favor. That is what Christian Apologetics is all about.
But if Christianity were merely a faith, why would you believe this one? Why not Buddhism? Why not the non-judgmental spiritism? If I were to choose a religion because of what I wanted to be true, I would not be a Christian. While Christianity does teach that God offers grace towards all of us sinners, it also teaches that there is a day of judgment and hell that awaits those who do not repent and turn to Christ. If I believed what I wanted, I would believe in the non-judgmental god of the spiritists or something like that. But I can’t believe that because the Bible says it is false and that Jesus is the ONLY way to the true God (and, indeed, Jesus is the second person of the Godhead incarnated). If the Bible is not the final authority of arbitration on spiritual matters, then what is? Or is your view the liberal view that the Bible is “inspiring” but it is not inspired. Maybe the Bible contains truth but it is not THE standard of truth God has left for mankind to aid man with the help of His spirit to know the truth? Maybe Jesus was merely a misguided Jewish rabbi who didn’t really die on the cross for the sins of mankind and was resurrected the third day but instead was thrown into a pauper’s grave and was eaten by stray dogs like some of the “Christians” in the Jesus Seminar would have us believe?
The Bible also says that divination and witchcraft were acts of rebellion against God and carried severe penalties... why? Because people who do such things that are not slick magicians or hucksters but actually do have supernatural gifts did NOT get those gifts from God. They are demonically possessed (not a very PC thing to say in the modern world, but that is the truth).
Any person who is a Christian must believe that the Bible is true, especially the New Testament. That is where we learn about Christ. I believe in demons not only because the Bible says they are real, but because Jesus said they were real and even cast out demons. Jesus even conversed with Satan. Now either Jesus knew what He was doing and talking about or He was a fraud and can’t save anyone.
Now, back to dowsing. Try to imagine yourself in my position. But you are put in test to try something you think is pretty hokey. You are given this plain old forked branch that was just cut off a tree and told to walk over a certain area. You laugh to yourself and tell yourself this is pretty stupid because everybody of any intelligence knows that dowsing is faked and there is nothing in nature on a calm day that can make a branch bend down. It must be a trick, and you are going to prove that it doesn’t work for you and your relatives are just playing a joke on you.
Can you imagine, even for a moment, what that must be like to see and feel something you know can’t be real happening right in front of you? In your own hands? If you had a stick in your hands bends over with a very tangible force when approaching a particular area, what would you conclude?
I can conclude that the force was either natural or supernatural. There is NO natural reason for an end of a light stick to pull down MUCH greater than the force of gravity then something supernatural or paranormal is a reasonable conclusion that anyone has proposed. The only relatively “natural” explanation that I know of is that we are all endowed subconsciously with ESP and psychokinetic powers and that somehow those powers were released that day. I don’t buy that for a second, but that is the closest explanation I have ever heard to being a “natural” phenomena and that was a paranormal rationalization. So if there is no natural explanation… even a wildly theoretical one… then there is something unnatural happening… or should I say supernatural. If a source is supernatural, it can come from God or the demons. If the action is expressly forbidden in the Bible, which divination is (and dowsing is considered a type of divination), then its source must be demonic because God is not going to condemn divination with one hand and turn around with the other and grant you that power.
This is a simplification, I know. But it at least outlines some of the basic thoughts and guidelines for Christians. I believe that all forms of divination will continue to elude scientific scrutiny because the intelligences behind the acts love to keep us confused.