True Christian Science

When Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit," He was not transmitting a thought or feeling to them; He was not transmitting something imperceptible, either. He was turning the light back on inside of man…the life of God is the light by which we see! Atheistic scientists do not believe in God because they cannot perceive Him. The reason they can't perceive Him is that their spiritual perceivers (i.e. their spirits) are not working. When Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree, their spirits died—the light went out, and people became spiritually blind.

All around us, even now, are radio waves. One can tune into the classical station (101.1 FM) if one merely adjusts the radio dial to "perceive" the frequency. If the radio is broken, one might not ever know there is a classical station. If another person is completely ignorant of what a radio is, they might accuse someone who tunes into the radio as being "mystical" or "delusional."

Since God is Spirit, it requires that we tune into His wavelength...His frequency...to perceive and observe Him directly. This does not negate the natural world; it transcends it. To observe Him “scientifically” is possible when your spirit is alive and functioning. One must have a properly functioning instrument to see what cannot be seen with the natural senses. If we say the spiritual man is unscientific because he perceives what we cannot see with natural senses, we must also say the astronomer is unscientific because he perceives what we cannot see with the naked eye.

Telescopes, radar and radio tuners are merely tools to perceive what is imperceptible to the natural man. The spirit of man is much like this. Creatures like bats, dolphins and whales use sonar. The killer whale actually takes a sonogram of his observed subject. He can perceive its temperature and heartbeat, and whether or not it is warm or cold blooded. He knows if he does or doesn't like to eat it because of his functioning sonar. The shark, on the other hand, has no such faculty. He has to take a bite to see whether or not he likes his potential supper.

The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord…the ignition of His Life brings light to the soul. If one’s lamp is lit, he is not in darkness. The mature Christian can know the difference between his thoughts, feelings and spiritual perceptions, just as much as he can know the difference between television and radio. He can even come to know the difference between 101.1 FM and 94.9 FM. Not many people tune into the classical station and think they are watching Good Morning America. But then, the insane person might look out the window at nature and wonder if, maybe, he has turned on The Discovery Channel.

Long ago people thought John Colter (the "white man" who discovered Yellowstone) was a liar upon his description of it. They called it “Colter’s Hell.” Atheistic scientists do not believe in God because, like Yellowstone, He is unfathomable to them.

The reason one believes astronomers when they say there are red giants in the heavens, or supernovas, is because astronomers have seen them with telescopes. To deny the instrument is an easy way to deny the discovery. Not to tune in to the classical station's frequency does not nullify the station. It merely keeps one from hearing the music.

The Combining of Two Realms

Pagan philosophers have long admitted to the existence of body and soul (mind, will and emotions). What they most often deny and refute—sometimes violently—is the existence of spirit (because they have no personal evidence of such). Claiming to make scientific observations, they live in the world of speculation. Without the ability to perceive God, people decide truth for themselves (based on observations made exclusively by the fallen, thus warped, body and soul). They argue that no two people see anything exactly the same way. Therefore, all is relative to one’s own standpoint. Each person is the highest authority in his own, small world; he is the center of his individual universe.

I have a friend who believes the secular idea that man is just body and soul…nothing more. He has come to this conclusion, much in the way Charles Bradlaugh came to his ideas: he witnessed people (so-called Christians) touting irrational theories and displaying unstable emotions which they insisted were spiritual…claiming the source of their ideas was God. My friend left the island of mythological madness for the more placid waters of philosophy. False representations of Christianity did not kindle the fire of doubt in him, but they did fan the flames.

My friend does not realize his erratic philosophy is merely another side of the same coin. Pagan mythology and pagan philosophy, though not identical, are nonetheless twins. Cultural and ethical differences are all that separate them. Varied opinions are equal if they are all wrong; a dead rat is just as dead as a deceased mouse. Philosophy and mythology are in the same proverbial boat.

What my friend experienced was more akin to pagan mysticism than Christianity. Claiming to be “faith,” it was a system of unbelief, fostered by the negation of creation and the insistence on fantasy. It was like the toy, plastic food offered by children playing house. There is nothing wrong with imagination, per se, but when one insists his imagination is reality, the game ceases to be innocuous.

When Christian educators teach science, math, and other wholesome subjects, the student at the natural level sees the goodness of God. This establishes and strengthens his faith. It is important to establish in the hearts of students that God is just as much God in the ordinary as He is in the extraordinary. There is a type of reverse secularism, which Christian educators should be mindful of—the defiance of common, ordinary, everyday life; the disdain of practicality. God was just as much God in the carpenter shop as He was on the mount of transfiguration. He was just as holy in the stable, among the cows, as He is in Heaven…and just as spiritual.

That God came down to earth is not the negation of spirit, nor the negation of earth, but the combining, once again, of two realms. Adam was made to be spiritual and physical. Jesus, being the Last Adam, is Son of God and Son of Man. The first Adam lost the function of his spirit, and became a creature of mere earth (soul and body alone). The Last Adam is not only the Lord of Heaven, but Lord of earth as well (1 Corinthians 15:44).

My unbelieving friend had many experiences with believers who might as well have sung Bibbety Bobbety Boo, or When You Wish Upon a Star in their worship services. To them, the Bible was treated as a book of spells; people were always trying to coax the “genie” out of the bottle to make him grant their wishes.

There is no harm in imaginary places like Neverland or C.S. Lewis’ Narnia. They metaphorically represent real places. Christ Himself was the Master of Parables. Stories can aid in getting people to see beyond the natural world. However, in my friend’s experience, it was the imaginary that was proclaimed—not as something pretend, allegorical or even metaphorical—but as reality!

Religion and philosophy outside of Christ is merely mythology and folly. The call of Christian education is to preach and teach Christ. The putting forward of cultures and creeds as absolute, unless they are rooted and grounded in Christ, is the kind of irrational idolatry that fuels the flames of unbelief. When systems of self-righteousness are built out of fragmented truth, they often look so much like Christianity that the average person cannot tell them apart. Like counterfeit currency, it takes close examination to discern sham religion from true Christianity.