Posted on 08/28/2015 2:30:17 PM PDT by NYer
No, it's because it is clearly not the only rational explanation.
Perhaps your definition of "rational" does not encompass the real world the way it is, complete with Angels and devils, and supernatural phenomena. So what is rational? Is it defined solely as the blindness to not see all of reality? Just curious.
I’m very sorry about the loss of your son, I’ve been down that road also. We lost our 29 year old son 13 years ago. I also experienced that feeling of being held and completely covered, it enveloped me for several months afterward. Due to my being mute and calm, a person I know told me that I was being a stoic through that time. What they perceived as stoicism was faith. We know where our boys are an who they are with, Jesus.
Bless you, Ditter.
Thanks for the ping. Interesting testimony.
Look, this isn't that hard. Even if I accept your premise that supernatural phenomena is rational, it is obviously not the ONLY rational explanation. That was what the author claimed. That it was the ONLY rational explanation, therefore he believed it.
It's not me that's filtering out rational explanations, it's the author.
“That is because you do not know...”
No, it’s because it is clearly not the only rational explanation.
To an irrational person that would be true. Perhaps you also believe that I am not typing on this keyboard right now to post this response. Does your disbelief have any relevancy? No, it doesn’t matter one bit. It simply shows you do not understand or know.
My father, who seemed to be a recovering atheist in retirement and his last years, needed proof of God and unfortunately I was not the right person to show him that proof.
His life experience with christians had not been good and had left a beastly mark on his opinions. Mine, too, in some places.
His "Houdini promised to come back from death and never did" spoke to the nature of our discussions and I regret that I didn't have an answer to satisfy his inner need.
After he passed, I discovered the many books and stories written and told by those who have "died" and came back with a story to tell us.
I read as many as my curiosity needed, but the ones that hit me the hardest were of those who didn't up go to the Light, but took the escalator down.
Each book was like a link in a chain and each read was like pulling up the anchor of my skepticism holding me to cynicism one link at a time.
My Descent Into Death: A Second Chance At Life really got to me and that book eventually lead me to Heaven is Real, But So Is Hell and on to a new chapter of understanding and belief.
I tend to believe that the vast majority of these stories are true as described and that they fulfill prophecy and serve His Purpose to awaken the dead and open eyes to His Glory.
I regret that I didn't know of this material before Dad passed, but I've since come to believe Dad found the Truth for himself.
Whether NDEs are true or merely a simple dream by an untethered consciousness I don't know, but these stories made God real for me and at a level my rational can't reach nor touch and take away.
^^^Praise God!!!^^^
Pearce is a very interesting man. He grew up in the UK, where he was uneducated and became a professional racist. Served time in prison for his racist activities. There his studies converted him reluctantly to Catholicism. Somehow he has managed to become an authority on Shakespeare, Lewis, and Tolkien. He teaches at the university level and has written several successful books, all without a college degree (so far as I have heard). An impressive mind.
I regret that I didn't know of this material before Dad passed, but I've since come to believe Dad found the Truth for himself.
There is no guarantee that any or all of those books might have persuaded your dad's opinion. One gift you can continue to give him is the gift of daily prayer. The graces from those prayers will assist him on his journey, beyond the veil of this world.
From what I've read, I understand how that is true...without really understanding how that is true...if you know what I mean. lol
Fwiw, a few years ago, I would have smiled and nodded in a polite way if you had told me this in person.
But so much has changed in such a short time that I can't seem to be that person anymore.
My mom followed my dad last month after an abrupt, then long decline following his death. My sisters and I have spent these last few years making sure mom was never alone and that one of us always there with her.
I've had time and reasons to come to a different understanding and point of view thanks to life's stormy weather and the many endings of late and supplemented by the material I've been reading.
Now I tend to just believe what you wrote is true and do my best to follow that belief and advice.
(And thanks for the reminder! I'm still at a place where I need them.)
I’m irrational because I can think of other rational reasons for the story. Riiight.
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