That powers beyond what are normal have enabled people to perform extraordinary deeds is well established. Brian Inglis notes: “Paranormal phenomena are now closer to formal recognition than they have been since medieval times—when they were considered to be as natural, even if not so predictable, as any other of nature’s forces.”
There are, for example, masters of the martial arts who can exert what they call ki power. “Learn to flow your ‘ki’ or mind by concentrating on the One-Point [lower abdomen] and stretch your arm out,” instructs Black Belt, a martial arts magazine. “Pretend the water or power is flowing out from the one point through your arm and finger.”
“As long as one continues to train his ‘Ki,’” Black Belt says, “his students will never surpass him. The founder of Aikido [one of the martial arts], Master Morihei Uyeshiba, is over eighty years old, but as yet, no one can face him. He is capable of throwing twenty strong men simultaneously. He has become stronger and stronger as he grows older. . . . One must accept ‘Ki’ as an addition to your five senses.”
But is the human mind really the source of such extraordinary power? Does it enable persons to perform exploits that cannot be scientifically explained?
Humans are not the highest form of life. The Bible reveals that long before God created man and woman, he created a multitude of spirit sons, invisible angels. (Job 38:4, 7) Later, one of these began to oppose God, even slandering him, thus becoming Satan (opposer) and the Devil (slanderer). In time, other spirit creatures joined Satan the Devil in his rebellion, forming an organization of rebellious angels, or demons. Are these demons the ones responsible for the paranormal phenomena of occultism?
Yes, they are! In pre-Flood days these spirit “sons of the true God” were able to materialize fleshly bodies and live on earth. (Genesis 6:1, 2; Jude 6) But since returning to the spirit realm, their contacts with humans have been limited to causing the paranormal phenomena that have been so common throughout the history of mankind.
God’s command to Israel of old highlights an important reason to shun the occult. “For everybody doing these things is something detestable to Jehovah.” (Deuteronomy 18:12) The inspired Christian Bible writers agree with this fundamental truth. The apostle Paul lists the “practice of spiritism” as one of the “works of the [fallen] flesh.” (Galatians 5:19, 20) And the apostle John penned God’s warning that the portion for “those practicing spiritism . . . will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur. This means the second death.”—Revelation 21:8.
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