If someone claims to have had a supernatural experience is it fair to assume they're being delusional (more)..

Question

...just because you've never experienced the same?

For the record, I am not religious. I usually assume people are being a little loopy if they claim to have heard the voice of God. I'm just wondering if it's "fair."

Answer 1

No. It is not fair to judge someone unless you were there or have walked a mile in their shoes. You do not know what they saw or what they went through.

Answer 2

It's fair to assume whatever you like, since they are the ones having those experiences, and outside assumptions have very little impact upon them. Are religious and supernatural experiences the same thing, btw? Is seeing a ghost the same thing as hearing the voice of whomever?

Answer 3

Everyone who has had such an experience can't be compared to one another. There are stranger things on Heaven and Earth. You have never had Deja Vu or a foreboding feeling? I'm not sure what you mean by the voice of God - that I would say is delusional.

Answer 4

I think that most are being honest, but are still deluded.

I have had supernatural experiences, I have found that I called them supernatural because I was born again at the time and that belief fit in perfectly with my faith.

Now that I have moved on and am an Atheist, I see the experiences differently. I understand what they really were and don't blame myself at all for believing the way I did.

I was deluded though, not maliciously.

Answer 5

no it doesnt mean their delusional even though they see things. I say 4 ghosts at the foot of my bed on more then one occasion. Some people are prone to paranormal sightings because to the enities you are like a light at the end of the tunnel and it just happens to be that person. As fair as the voice of god i have no clue.

Answer 6

All phenomena could properly be defined by way of technological expertise. If it hasn't been defined yet, this is going to in due time as quickly as we make greater medical breakthroughs. replied prayers: accident. listening to 'god's' voice: Delusions, mistaking a valid for words, or maybe hallucinations. each and everything could properly be defined, and diverse issues that the Bible talk approximately have already been defined, yet people of religion ignore related to the reality.

Answer 7

If something occurs in your mind and you attribute it to reality -- that's delusion. By definition, supernatural experiences occur outside of objective (physical) reality. If a person experienced something supernatural and asserted it was an entirely mental experience, they would not be delusional. For example, if a person ingested LSD and experienced a convincing hallucination, they would not be delusional if they attributed the vision to exotic chemistry. If that person insisted his hallucination was real (part of objective reality), THAT would be delusional.

Some people (maybe most people) are fully capable of experiencing subjective experiences which are not directly linked by our five senses to objective reality. Such experiences are NOT delusion. When that person insists their subjective experience is real, meaning a part of "reality," THAT is delusion. It's perfectly normal to experience a vivid mental life. To insist such a subjective experience is real -- that it is actually part of objective reality -- IS delusional.

Answer 8

no, it's not fair to assume someones elses experience that you have not witnessed cannot be accurate

I fully believe it possible just as I believe that some people lie about it while others have experienced phenomenon

*edit* would you still consider them "loopy" if they held a PhD and were revered in their field?

Answer 9

Everyone has different experiences. If you are not a believer, why then would you want or have an experience w/ God. God doesn't shove himself on people that reject Him. If you want a relationship and experience w/ God then you need to accept Him into your life. I agree, no one has the right to say that a spiritual experience doesn't exist just because they have not experienced it themselves. Thanks for your question.

Answer 10

No, it's not fair, but such claims ARE a basis for using discretion in order to determine the truth of something.
First you need to understand that when sincere Christians who are seeking God say "God told me" or "I heard the voice of God", they may not (and indeed probably do not) mean that they heard His audible voice. God speaks to us through His word and others, etc.
Second, in regard to discretion, we need to understand that there are those who will say God told them this-or-that simply to get their own way, or to excuse their behavior.....so we must look at their 'claim' in light of the Truth of scripture. For example, anyone who says "God told me to beat my kid" is not making a claim that matches the word of God, so they're using God as an excuse to do something wrong.

Answer 11

I don't know. I asked a question about my elderly mom being ill and thinking she saw a person with wings. There were some really rude answers from she is wacko, to she is drinking, to she is taking Percodan. I just wonder why people feel the need to inflict hostility and boorish answers when someone is asking something. I wish if you did disagree, you would find compassion to at least not say anything as to strike out and hurt someone. Who am I to say she really did not see something?