Today I have decided to write about a topic that afflicts many people but it is often very hard to diagnosed. And above all I believe it affects people who have very strong faiths. Today I am going to talk about schizophrenia. According to the Webster’s dictionary schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder characterized by loss of contact with the environment…expressed as disorder of feeling, thought (as delusions), perception (as hallucinations), and behavior. I believe that some of the greatest religious leaders in the world were afflicted with this brain disorder. Throughout history many people have claimed to have heard God speak to them or they have seen angels or other paranormal activity. Their belief in having these experiences are so real that persons affected with this illness cannot tell the difference between reality and delusion.
I had a friend once that used to tell me some very outlandish claims he swore to me they were true. To me of course they sounded so far fetched that there was no way I could possibly believe in them because there was no evidence to support his claims. One day he told that he had been a witnessed to a student being thrown out of a moving school bus in the middle of a highway. On another occasion he said that during one of his missions he had been asked to fly a helicopter, even though he had never taken any flying lessons! In spite of the fact that I drilled him about both stories---never admitted to me that they were false. And that is what a schizoid will always do--deny reality no matter how much evidence you present to them that it is false. My friend’s other side was that he was very devoted to his religion. He was ultra dedicated---many would say fanatical. Most schizophrenic people find refuge within their religion. To them their religion is very comforting. And it can be therapeutic, which is what they sometimes do need. However, there is a dangerous side to this. I believe that Jim Jones was a schizophrenic. He made thousands of people believe that his teachings, although contrary to the bible, were true and the only way towards salvation. It is very easy for the average truth seeker to fall prey to these wolves in sheep’s clothing. The bible says that in the last days, the very elect would be deceived by them.
3 comments:
I appreciate your post but I can't help but think about the pitfalls of rationality:
Logic and rationality go so far but ultimately, our faith is supernatural and necessarily involves believing in supernatural events which defy logic and rationality. For instance when a group of men gathered and fire descended upon them at Pentecost, witnesses from this event describing what they had seen would likely be diagnosed crazy in our times.
Or, what about Moses and the splitting of the Red Sea or the plagues upon Egypt.
Many people call Christians crazy, because we have a belief of the supernatural. Jesus is supernatural. But even though we cannot see the wind, we know it exists and we feel its presence around us. In the case of the Holy Spirit, we feel its fire burning inside.
Holding tight to the Bible and accepting it as our model of faith and practice helps us to discover wolves in sheeps clothing, but our rationality and logic is not superior to the Word of God in such discernment. The Bible has many mysteries of prophecy and supernatural events that our rationality cannot grasp. Furthermore, mental assent to ideas and logic does not necessarily lead to experiencing the power of love and relationship.
Our rationality is very limited. I can know so many things in my head, but never live them out and truly be transformed by the Gospel of Christ.
Your right. I am not dismissing the miracles of the Bible. I just believe that not every supernatural occurrence is "natural" or that it comes from God. Thank you for your post. I appreciate it.
God bless
Nice post! I have a friend who is ' borderly' schizophrenic too. I can relate to that.
As for signs and wonders, I guess God is performing them. He is an all wise God. that He performs them only where it is required and not where it s not required for growth in faith.
In India, miracles happen as mush as they did when Jesus was around. Only thing is that those miracles happen among the tribals - who do not know right from left. They need a miracle to get to faith and God performs there a plenty. The tribals need it too...as they are illiterates and it would be long for for them to get a Bible translated into their language and then actually read it.
Such signs and wonders do not happen where there is more education and where people have capability of choosing to accept or reject gospel. We have the Bible and it is more of reformation for us than drastic changes (they do happen, but not necessarily).
This is what I have learnt and understood. And I look back and thank God for not performing some of the signs and wonders that I badly sought!
Our God knows!
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