Christians
& Psychic Abilities
You
hear some people talk about “psychic abilities”. What does the Bible teach
about such things? We know that Jesus Christ is the incarnate God and there are
incidents where the Scriptures state that He knew people’s thoughts, without
them speaking He knew what they were thinking. Parapsychology would call this
the power of ESP (Extrasensory Perception).
It was J.B. Rhine that coined the phrase “parapsychology”.
Certain psychologists in the 1930’s had an interest in what we might call
“super capabilities” or “psychic powers” which are said to be found someplace hidden in the human
mind. For Christians this was a controversial issue and it still is today.
Christians ask: “Does God give humans such capabilities? Have they been proven
to truly exist?" As far as scientific proof of such capabilities of a person
having ESP, this has not been solidly proven.
We know that people have had premonitions and even certain
dreams which come to pass. Are these mere guesses? What about intuition? Many
of you who have read our articles under the subject of “The Science of Christian Thought” know that we interpret “intuition” differently perhaps than
many do. We (The Ancient Antiochene Church of God) do in fact believe in
psychic abilities.
As Christians we do not believe in trying to contact the
dead. Nor do we participate in so called séances. We do not pray to dead saints
or “mother Mary” either. We do, however, believe in special spiritual gifts.
Having stated that, we must be careful about how we truly
understand this topic as Christians. The New Testament Bible proclaims that
there are supernatural gifts given to some by God which include “healing”,
“prophesying”, “spiritual discernment”, etc. Can somebody be gifted with such
gifts and misuse them? We say yes. We are all held personally responsible for
the gifts that God has given us.
We understand the “gift of prophecy” may manifest itself in
different ways. One person may be able to predict future events, another may be
given insightful understandings of Biblical prophecy not seen before, another
may only have an actual dream, or vision of some sort that gives a warning or
clarifies something. Some may be given actual insights about what others are
thinking (ESP). All of these manifestations should be used to share the Gospel
of Jesus Christ, help others, and glorify the Lord.
Presbyter King has manifested the gift of prophecy in more
than one way. We must never think that a person who has such gifts is more
important or “greater” than another. Many who do not have such gifts may
develop them, according to God’s will, through prayer and study. No matter what
our personal gifts are they must be used to glorify God.
As far as “spiritual awakeness” or proper “intuition-development", we teach that a person must first be a true Christian and
understand the commandments of God, in light of the New Covenant. The Christian
must be grounded in the proper understanding of moral correctness to be able to
properly discern and allow for clarity of intuition. Christian “right” and
“wrong” must be thoroughly understood. Any moral distortion will create
delusional intuitivity to manifest. We, as Antiochene Christians read and
mediate on the Large & Small Catechism as found in the ‘Book of Concord’
with the Bible to properly develop this skill. Again, if a person is morally
off, their ability to do anything properly is distorted.
We also recommend that everyday you take a walk in a
pleasant place. We also recommend self-introspection and meditation throughout
the day if possible but especially before you go to bed. This along with much
prayer is important to staying alert and aware of who you are in the God
Family.
We hope that you continue to study or talks, messages, and
articles here at “The Shepherds Way & Nugget of Truth”. Make your first
priority to study God’s word and remain in prayer. Do not forsake the gathering
of yourself together with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
We always pray for all who study here. Keep your Bible’s
with you at all times.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
AACG (December 30th 2025)
