Christian's 6th sense?

Question

"If the Christian has discovered a new means of perception, I am perfectly willing to listen to his claim, provided that he is willing to argue for his assertion...I will not limit him to five senses, but he claims to have experienced God, but refuses to explain the process by which he experienced this supernatural being. Has he discovered a new sense? Can it be tested? Can he explain, not only what he claims to know, but how he acquired this knowledge?"

((George H. Smith))

Answer 1

I didn't acquire this knowledge. It was always there. I just had to clear away a lot of the distractions to find it. It's a knowledge, not a feeling, nothing supernatural. I don't know the process any more than you might know the process by which you know you like banana bread or that a sunset is beautiful. It just is. If that explanation doesn't satisfy you, then maybe this "spirituality" stuff isn't for you.

Answer 2

The bottom line on that comes down to this (for me): I don't need to argue anything. I'll discuss it. But I will not argue.

The way by which I communicate or perceive God is how I've made the connection personal. And its my general sense that everyone can make that connection in a different way. So, it may not be able to be duplicated or tested.

Which is exactly Smith's point. Ergo (according to Smith) God doesn't exist. But why does it seem to so infuriate him (and others) that I DO believe in God? Why does it matter so much?

I'm not evangelising to him or this group.

Edit: I agree with Raven, below. A "sixth sense," if you will, is not the exclusive domain of Christians.

Answer 3

Hey, a whole lot of people, both religious and not, seem to have some sort of 6th sense - it shows up here all the time, in people "knowing" why other people do what they do.

Atheists "know" why religious people are religious (insecure, etc.).

Christians (in particular) "know" why atheists are atheists (desire to be irresponsible or immoral), why Pagans are Pagans (deceived by Satan), why Jews are Jews (stiff-necked and stubborn), why other Christians are wrong (don't read the Bible "with the Holy Spirit"), and so on.

There seem to be a whole lot of mind-readers here. It amazes me how many people on R&S have this ability to read the minds, or see into the hearts, of others.

So, it looks to me like the atheists who denigrate psychic abilities are....well, self-denying. And the Christians who condemn psychic abilities are self-condemning.


Based on what goes on here, there's a far larger segment of the population who have a 6th sense than anyone had previously thought.

;)

Answer 4

There's no extra senses involved - if you think about the amazing complexity of any of your senses, you are probably awed and hopefully thankful that you have them. After that it's just a choice of who you thank for them, a God that we can't perceive or billions of years of physics and biochemistry starting at some origin we can't perceive. You are acquiring knowledge about God through your 5 senses if you attribute everything to his designs. Otherwise, you're using the same five senses, but just interpreting what you get from them differently (like there is no God because he is not presented by physical data).

Answer 5

'...but refuses to explain the process...' I can't explain it. I don't know that anyone can.

Can it be tested? Was it 'discovered'? Do I really need to explain it?

I don't believe it can be tested. I don't believe it was 'discovered', but rather shown and given. And no, I don't need to explain it.

I don't believe it is my duty, nor do I believe it is biblically supported to sell what I have been given, to anyone.

I remember one of my days in the Army. I was spending time in God's word, praying, praising God - it turned into this heavy spiritual experience. When I wrapped things up, I left my room and ran into 4 buddies in the hallway of our barracks. 'Big Nasty' as we called him, told me with a strange look on his face that my face was 'glowing'. The other 3 looked at me with fascinated expressions, confirming 'Big Nasty's' statement. They asked what I was doing, and I told them.

They all recognized this odd occurance, and talked about it after the fact. 'Big Nasty' was a good friend. I'd witness to him over and over. We'd talk in great detail, and at great length about my faith. He'd even tell me that he knew he needed to get right with God. He didn't while I knew him. Even with the strange hallway experience, he made no move toward what he acknowledged he needed to do.

'Seek, and you shall find'. If you are seeking, you will find Him. If you're just throwing around fun ideas and challenges, you're just wasting time and space.

Answer 6

Christianity throws out more questions than answers. They are good at telling us we are wrong, but they can never explain why. this is because they don't know.

Answer 7

possibly we produce different experience, yet i might desire to remind you all our 5 senses are detectable in techniques different than our 5 senses. no person has detected this magical non secular realm different than in our minds.

Answer 8

some people can whistle and others can't...some can learn to whistle with practice and others can even do bird whistles....

trying to fully explain how to whistle just doesn't really cover it.....


a child of God knows.....it is a family thing....

Answer 9

1 Corinthians 2:9-16 explains it quite nicely, I think.

Answer 10

You would get the same answers if you asked any religion. Something along the lines of "I have a really strong feeling."