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BOOK REVIEW, PHYSICS OF HEAVEN, PART 6

by Karl Kemp
6/06/2020 / Book Reviews

7.4. FURTHER DISCUSSION REGARDING SUPPOSED COUNTERFEITS. (This section builds on 7.0. in this Book Review/Paper.) I'll quote the paragraph that Welton has on page 49-50 under the heading "Counterfeits to Reclaim": "I have found throughout Scripture at least 75 examples of things the New Age has counterfeited, such as having a spirit guide, trances, meditation, auras, power objects, clairvoyance ["Clairvoyance is the ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or physical event through extrasensory perception" (Wikipedia).], clairaudience ["Clairaudience means psychic hearing" (taken from the internet)], and more [a lot more; he mentioned he had found 75 examples]. These actually belong to the church, but they have been stolen and cleverly repackaged. These examples have been included to stretch you and get you thinking differently about some of the ways that we have reacted when we see the counterfeits. Now whenever you see counterfeits [which, according to his understanding, would cover essentially everything supernatural that is done in the New Age/occult world, since these things were all supposedly stolen from God's kingdom], I hope you will ask yourself these questions, 'What is that a counterfeit of? What is its source? How can I have the authentic?"

I have already mentioned that I believe Welton is seriously misunderstanding what is happening in the New Age/occult world. The New Age/occult world is no place for Christians to go to learn things and receive help here at the end of the age. Essentially all of the occult things that Satan's kingdom has been doing throughout the history of man are original with him and have not been stolen from God's kingdom. We have already discussed demonic spirit guides, trances, and healings to some extent. I believe it is clear that these things were not stolen from God's kingdom. It's true, of course, that God can, on occasion, guide us by His angels, but that is totally different than having a demonic spirit guide on a rather permanent basis. And it's true that on occasion, as God wills, His apostles, prophets, and other believers have experienced trances and that God does a lot of healing by many different methods, but that doesn't mean that Satan's healings are counterfeits of God's healings. For one thing, many of Satan's healings involve taking away sicknesses, etc. that he has put on people.

Let's briefly consider some of the ways that those in Satan's kingdom/the occult obtain knowledge, wisdom, direction [which can be called "divination"] help, healing, etc.; it is clear and quite significant that all of these ways were/are forbidden to God's people; they were not counterfeits of the workings of God and His kingdom (cf. Lev. 19:26; Deuteronomy 18:9-14 ((I'll quote these verses from the NASB: When you enter the land [the land of Israel] which the LORD [the four capital letters show that the Hebrew word is "Yahweh"], you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. (10) There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire [child sacrifice to offer worship and seek the help of demons], one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft [which covers divination, trances, healings and a whole lot more], or one who interprets omens [which includes discerning the future by interpreting omens/signs], or a sorcerer ["a person who claims or is believed to have magic powers; a wizard" (taken from the internet)], (11) or one who casts a spell, or a medium [for demons to communicate through pretending to be the spirits of people who have died], or a spiritist [I'll quote what Merrill Unger says on the meaning of this Hebrew word (Unger's Commentary on the Old Testament (Vol. 1), "one who possesses supernatural knowledge through communication with the evil world of supernaturalism."], or one who calls up the dead [necromancy]. [[I'll quote part of what P. C. Cragie says under Deut. 18:10-11, "...a comprehensive list of the types of religious and magic functionaries who were to be forbidden in Israel. The exact significance of all the terms employed is now uncertain, but the emphasis of the list is to be found in its character as a blanket prohibition of all types of divination, magic, and consultation with the spirit world, such as would be typical of the religion of the Canaanites" (The Book of Deuteronomy [Eerdmans, 1976], page 260).]] (12) For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable things the LORD your God will drive them out before you. (13) You shall be blameless before the LORD your God [by believing the things they were required to believe and doing the things they were required to do and not doing the things they were forbidden to do.]. (14) For those nations which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so."))

Divination includes such things are analyzing the entrails of a sacrifice, information obtained directly from demon spirits, necromancy (which includes information obtained from demons impersonating those who have died), Ouija boards, crystal balls, tarot cards, astrology, reading tea leaves, casting lots, etc., etc. Casting lots is one thing that God's people did do in the Old Testament on occasion (we don't find casting lots for direction in the New Testament after the Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost), but I doubt that Satan even stole casting lots from God's kingdom. Again, it is very important that we have the right perspective on these things: I believe we must understand that it is totally off-limits for Christians to go to the New Age/occult world (or science, with an emphasis on quantum physics) for anything we need to supplement what God has already supplied. However, a dominant point of the Physics of Heaven is that we should be risk-taking explorers looking for things that we need there. I am highly motivated to write this Review/Paper.

8. CHAPTER 6, "GOOD VIBRATIONS," BY ELLYN DAVIS (pages 53-63). First I'll comment on page 52 that is titled "God's New Sound Is Coming." I'll quote part of what they [Ellyn Davis and Judy Franklin] say here (it is surprising to me): "...we got the idea to find out what Christian leaders might think about our suspicion that not only is God up to something new, but this new 'something' may involve sound, frequency, vibration, or energy.

We began interviewing all the [Christian] leaders we could find, and were amazed to discover we weren't the only ones crazy enough to be exploring these subjects. [Based on what they go on to say, it is obvious that the only leaders they could find to interview were a rather select group of Christian leaders.] Every leader we interviewed had already been exploring the realms of frequencies, vibrations, and quantum physics. So we were in good company, even if we were all a little strange. ...." They went on to ask their readers to share "what you have discovered in your own journeys into the realms of sound, light, vibrations, frequencies, energy, and quantum physics."

A big part of chapter 6 of The Physics of Heaven, which we are discussing, is devoted to meet the need of her readers "to have a basic understanding of sound, light, and energy to appreciate the topics presented in the following chapters. For one thing she speaks of "sound vibrations [traveling] through air, water, and even some solid materials." So it is clear she is speaking of physical sound. She takes several pages to discuss the electromagnetic spectrum, going from radio waves on up to x-rays and gamma rays. She probably knows this, and it isn't important for her chapter or my paper, but what she says about black holes isn't fully accurate: On page 60 she says, "Many things in space emit X-rays, among them are black holes, neutron stars...." Actually, x-rays, and the rest of the frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum, cannot escape from the extremely powerful gravitational attraction of black holes, but what can be observed are the x-rays emitted from very hot things close to the black holes.

"...other prophets are finding that sound, color, and light have healing frequencies in them. What if there really are 'good vibrations' that God has imbedded into everything He created and we just need to be open to experiencing them? ... Could it be that there are things that we can better understand about God through things He made such as vibrations and frequencies" (page 54)? I don't believe we are going to learn things that will help us become faithful Christians who are walking in the truth, righteousness, holiness, and power of God by grace through faith. As I have mentioned, God has already revealed the truth we need to know and given us the authority and power to live in His will and to do the things He requires us to do. I don't believe anything we learn from the New Age/occult world or science, including quantum physics is needed or is able to supplement what we have been given in new-covenant salvation.

If we were walking in line with God's Word and by His Spirit by faith, we wouldn't need to be looking elsewhere for the victory or for things that will enable us to have the greatest possible revival. Every true end-time revival will come by God's grace, not by something we learn or receive from the New Age/occult world or science. I'm not discounting that science can develop new healing techniques and things like this, but the New Age/occult world or science is not going to help Christians walk in the truth, righteousness, holiness and power of God with the victory over sin and demons. I believe we insult God by looking to the world for the things that we need to be humble, powerful, effective Christians. Israel always got in big trouble with God when they looked elsewhere than to Him for help that only God could provide, very much including looking to other religions and the occult world or the armies of other nations. And God wants us to look to Him first and foremost for healing and other things that we need too.

9. CHAPTER 10, "SPIRITUAL SYNESTHESIA," by LARRY RANDOLPH (pages 95-106). The authors of this book comment that this "chapter was adapted from an interview with Larry Randolph." I'm not making an attempt to cover nearly all that Randolph says here. He says a lot, but, if I understand him, not much that I can agree with. "... I'm weary of sermons and teachings that only restate our need for transformation. What I'm hungry for is to experience something fresh from heaven. Now! Not later!" (page 96). I could agree with Randolph if he was putting the emphasis on our being transformed by the grace of God in Christ to living in the truth, righteousness, holiness, and power of God through understanding the gospel of new-covenant salvation that centers in the all-important atoning death and resurrection of the Lamb of God; and the outpoured, indwelling Spirit of life, righteousness and holiness; and walking by faith in line with this truth of God's Word with the victory over sin and demons for the glory of God. Randolph may agree with this, but he seems to put all the emphasis on supernatural experiences that don't have much to do with the heart of the gospel, which is being greatly distorted in our day. WE CERTAINLY CANNOT ASSUME THAT MOST CHRISTIANS IN OUR DAY UNDERSTAND AND ARE LIVING IN LINE WITH THE BASICS OF THE GOSPEL OF NEW-COVENANT SALVATION. And I have to disagree with many things he says in this chapter. I'll give some examples.

In his next sentence Randolph says, "For several years, I have been praying about the purpose of this 'new sound' and what it might look like." It is significant that the Bible doesn't prophesy of this "new sound," including a new sound in the last days before we are glorified. I believe God wants to manifest His presence in our midst in these last days, but it seems clear to me that many are so busy seeking the supernatural that they are opening themselves up to the devil's supernatural. (We desperately need God's supernatural, and He is the One we must look to.) They even justify looking to the New Age/occult world for help. Randolph, like some other writers in this book, is doing some of this as the following excerpt shows:

"... Perhaps the most significant thing we can do to position ourselves for the 'new sound' is to start recovering the truths that are currently held captive by many unbelievers. Many New Agers, for example, have already begun to explore the phenomenon of synesthesia [[I'll quote part of what Randolph says on the meaning of this word, "Synesthesia, meaning, 'to perceive together,' causes a person neural (adjective; "of a nerve, nerves, or the nervous system") pathways to be cross-wired in such a way that their five sense interact with each other. This unusual mingling of their senses allows them to hear colors, smell numbers, taste sound, and so forth" (page 97). Is this what we need?]] and are desperately trying to 'tune in' to multiple realms of spiritual reality. In a small measure they have succeeded in this spiritual quest. [It seems to me that our being interested in this quest of the New Age demonstrates that we have strayed to a significant extent from Christian reality.]

So what does this mean for us? I believe that many of the spiritual discoveries of the New Age movement could be likened to the time in the Old Testament when the Philistines stole the Ark of the Covenant from Israel. In both cases, then and now, that which belongs to the church fell into the hands of unbelievers. So in order to posture ourselves for the next move of God, like King David, we must take back what is ours. Certain dynamics such as synesthesia, quantum physics, and 'vibrations' are God-stuff, and we must not be afraid to seize what belongs to the Creator of all things.

However, I suspect that many have a fear of being deceived by things they may not understand. [We should be afraid to go places we have been commanded not to go. As we continue, Randolph continues with what he said in his last paragraph and seriously misrepresents what happened in ancient Israel regarding getting back the Ark of the Covenant and how this justifies our going to the New Age to supposedly take back what the enemy has supposedly stolen.] Like Israel in the Old Testament, they are quick to relinquish anything that appears different or 'spooky' in the spirit realm to the hands of the Philistines. [Because of all the sin in Israel/Judah, God allowed them to be defeated in warfare against the Philistines and for the Ark to be captured. However, it didn't take long for the Philistines to realize that the Ark was too hot to handle so they sent it back to Israel (see 1 Sam. 4:1-7:2).] In which case, we need the spirit of David and declare, 'I'm taking back what belongs to God!' " (pages 103-104). I won't quote any more of what Randolph says here, but I need to make the point that what Randolph says here offers ZERO support for the idea that we need to go to the New Age/occult world to take back what has been stolen from God. Nobody, including David, went to the Philistines or the occult world to take back what had been stolen. (And the Ark wasn't really stolen: God was judging sinful Judah). As I mentioned, the Ark of the Covenant was returned to Israel. The Philistines returned it because God was cursing them in obvious ways, and it didn't take the Philistines long to decide they needed to return the Ark to the people of God, even including a "guilt offering." (See 1 Sam. 5:1-6:21.)

I'll quote a paragraph from page 97. I cannot agree with what Randolph says here. For one thing, he, like several writers in this book, is fixated on "sound." He says, "Recently, I've been pondering the similarities between the sound of God's voice in Genesis and the sound of a heavenly wind on the day of Pentecost. I began to realize that just as the sound of God's voice to Adam was merely an introduction into other realms of encountering God, those in the upper room also heard a sound that opened them up to other realms of supernatural phenomena. What they heard [sound] caused them to see fiery tongues, which caused them to feel drunk, which, in turn, caused them to speak in a heavenly language. So the sound of wind which they initially heard seemed completely unrelated to what they saw, experienced and released."

I believe what Randolph said here requires a thorough response. He didn't mention the giving and receiving of the Holy Spirit, which is the most important thing by far that took place on that occasion. I don't believe it is true that the sound of the wind "caused them to see fiery tongues, which caused them to feel drunk, which, in turn, caused them to speak in a heavenly language." The "noise [sound] like a rushing mighty wind" that accompanied the Lord Jesus' pouring out the all-important Spirit on the Day of Pentecost didn't cause those other things. The noise/sound and the tongues of fire and the speaking in a heavenly language resulted from the often-prophesied, all-important giving/pouring out of the Life-Giving, Righteous, Holy Spirit that is a big part of what new-covenant salvation is all about.

The all-important atoning work of the Lamb of God opened the door for believers to be forgiven AND to receive the often-promised Spirit. The Life-Giving, Righteous, Holy Spirit enables us to be born again and to live in the righteousness and holiness of God. His "fire" (note the "tongues of fire") destroys sin and drives out demons. Many verses prophesied of His all-important sanctifying/purifying work that drives out sin and demons (cf., e.g., Isa. 32:15-17; Ezek. 36:25-27; Matt. 3:11-12 and note the "fire"; Matt. 12:28), and many verses in the New Testament speak of His sanctifying/purifying work (cf., e.g., Rom. 2:29; 8:2-14; 15:16; Gal. 5:16-25; 2 Thess. 2:13).

I'm not suggesting that the noise/sound like a rushing mighty wind that filled the whole house where they were sitting [Acts 2:2] wasn't significant. For one thing, the Greek noun pneuma that is often translated "Spirit," referring to the Holy Spirit, also means "wind" and "breath." (See John 3:8; pneuma is used of the Spirit and the wind in John 3:8. However, pneuma was not the noun translated "wind" in Acts 2:2.) The noise/sound like a rushing mighty wind added an intense awesomeness to the occasion, and it is possible that that noise contributed to gathering together a large number of Jews who were in Jerusalem, including large numbers of Jews who had come to Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost. However, apparently "this sound" of Acts 2:6 just refers to the speaking with tongues mentioned in 2:4.

It was the all-important coming of the Spirit, not the sound like a rushing mighty wind, that resulted in the things spoken of Acts 2:3-4: "and there appeared to them [the "gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons" in the upper room (Acts 1:15)] tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. [They could have received the all-important new-covenant Spirit without the tongues of fire, but the tongues of fire served to powerfully demonstrate the all-important sanctifying/purifying dimension of the new-covenant Spirit's work.] (4) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance."

I need to discuss one more detail that Randolph mentioned in his paragraph. He said that the sound "caused them to feel drunk." I have already said that I don't believe the sound resulted in/caused any of the things that took place on the Day of Pentecost, but we need to consider whether those Christians really were feeling (and acting) drunk. Many in our day interpret Acts 2:5-15 that way, but, in agreement with many commentators, I believe they are misunderstanding what Luke said here. Notice that Acts 1:5-12 indicates that many of the Jews who were gathered were astonished and quite open to what God was doing. (Acts 2:41 shows that after Peter preached that day "there were added about three thousand souls.") They were intrigued by the speaking in other tongues/languages, especially because they were hearing them speak with supernatural (it was obviously supernatural) tongues/languages that, on that occasion, were languages that the hearers understood, and it was understood that those speaking with tongues/languages didn't know the languages. And the tongues/languages "were speaking of the mighty deeds of God" (Acts 2:11).

However, that positive response to the supernatural tongues/languages wasn't the only response, which isn't surprising. I'll quote Acts 2:13, which speaks of Jews who were rejecting what God was doing on the Day of Pentecost: "But others were mocking and saying, 'They are full of sweet wine.' " In Peter's sermon, which starts in the next verse (2:14), he said (in Acts 2:15), "For these men are not drunk, as you [addressing what the "others" of Acts 2:13 had said] suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day [nine in the morning]." It wasn't that the Christians were acting drunk (but they certainly were manifesting joy), but these "others," at least most of them, were not open to the Lord Jesus Christ and the things that were happening.

I'll quote a closely related paragraph from Randolph's page 98 and then several closely related sentences from his page 102 (I cannot follow his reasoning on "sound" and "vibration" and "synesthesia"): "However, if sound is vibrational, then we must understand that it can stimulate our other senses. What if the men and women at Pentecost had only embraced what they heard? It's possible that they would have missed God altogether. Instead, after hearing the sound, they were willing to allow that sound to create a synesthetic response in them. [I don't believe this sentence, or the next sentence, describes what happened at all.] Through this cross-wiring of their spiritual senses, the neural [nervous system] pathways of the spirit realm created a myriad of spiritual encounters."

Now from his page 102: "... Clearly, one of the greatest revivals in human history - the vibration of heaven in Acts - set all kinds of things in motion. Why? Because the 120 believers in the Upper Room didn't get hung up on sound alone. They let the sound take them somewhere else [As I mentioned above, it wasn't the sound that took them somewhere else.], triggering all their senses to the point that they were drunk from the vibration. [I don't believe this is an accurate description of what happened, not at all, but it fits an emphasis of Randolph's chapter.] ...."

I'll include one last sentence from Randolph that may help show how he is greatly overstating "sound." "... Through the 'sound' of God's voice, divine energy was released, splitting the atoms [Splitting atoms hardly explains what God was doing when He created our universe.] and forming a heaven and earth suitable for the habitation of created man. ..." (page 96). The point I want to make here is that although God's voice was a significant aspect of creation, the idea wasn't that His voice embraced within itself the power of creation. For one thing, God the Father created everything that was created through His Son (e.g., John 1:1-3), and we cannot skip the all-important infinite wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit in creation. It gives a very wrong impression to speak of God's voice (sound) accomplishing the work of creation itself by its inherent vibrational power.

10. CHAPTER 11, "STRANGE THINGS ARE AFOOT," BY ELLYN DAVIS (pages 109-119). Davis says that quantum physics (which deals with energy and matter at the atomic and subatomic level) has discovered that some strange (unusual, unexpected) things take place. "Because of the great deal of 'strangeness afoot' in quantum physics, it has inevitably attracted metaphysical interpretations. Most of that interpretation has leaned toward using quantum physics to reinforce eastern mystical beliefs about the nature of the oneness and the power of human consciousness to create and manipulate that reality" (page 113). We don't need any of that!

On page 114 she mentions that "Several early quantum physicists were inspired by mystical ideas, including Niels Bohr, Wolfgang Pauli (who worked with Carl Jung [who was a psychoanalyst who had a spirit guide] on the theory of synchronicity) and Erwin Schrodinger. Later quantum mysticism became a part of mainstream thought when Deepak Chopra's 1999 book Quantum Healing used quantum concepts to propose his theory of psychosomatic healing." He is a prominent leader in the New Age/occult world.

Davis went on to mention the 2004 New Age film What the #$*! Do We Know? that "was based on teachings supposedly channeled from Ramtha, the 35,000 year old spirit of a warrior from the lost continent of Lemuria." And the 2006 film, The Secret, that "was based on New Thought teachings from the early 1900s and, like What the #$*!, was influenced by channeled messages from disembodied entities." And "A Course in Miracles, a self-study curriculum which aims at helping its readers achieve spiritual transformation through embracing mystical interpretations of quantum physics. Helen Schueman wrote the book based on what she called an 'inner voice' she identified as Jesus. Over two million copies of A Course in Miracles have been distributed worldwide since it first became available in 1976. We certainly don't need any of this!

There is nothing in this chapter by Davis that would make Christians want to check out the New Age/occult world or begin to justify our going to the New Age/occult world to "extract the precious from the worthless," which is the title of chapter 2 of Physics of Heaven, which was written by her. There is nothing in this chapter that I have seen that offers true Christians anything they need to become maximized Christians. God has already provided everything that we need, and I believe it is clear that God has forbidden us to go there. Her last sentence in this chapter reads, "However, many quantum concepts appropriated by the New Age are actually distortions of Christian spiritual truths as you will discover in the following chapters" (page 116). That last sentence doesn't motivate me at all to check out what the New Age/occult world has to offer either, but I'll read and comment on the "following chapters."

11. CHAPTER 12, "QUANTUM MYSTICISM," BY ELLYN DAVIS (pages 121-131). Pages 121-127 are under the subheading "Metaphysical Interpretations of Quantum Physics." I don't see anything that she mentioned in this chapter that we need. On page 127 she comes to the subheading "Compatibility with Christianity." I'll quote the four paragraphs that she has here: "It's obvious that the New Age has used quantum physics as part of its belief structure. But are any of the ideas advanced by quantum physics compatible with Christianity.

Yes, there are. I think the beliefs of quantum mysticism are compatible with Christianity in many ways but are totally incompatible in a few, most important ways.

[This next paragraph says enough to convince me that the New Age/occult world is off-limits for Christians. The fact that you can find some things in the New Age/occult world that are compatible with Christianity doesn't make it acceptable for us to go hunting there. We don't go to the Jehovah's Witnesses or the Mormons or the Moslems for help, but they have many things compatible with Christianity.] Christians and quantum mystics part ways over four issues: (1) where God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit fit into the picture. [The New Age/occult world doesn't have any room for the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit as they are presented in the Bible. This is, to say the least, a gigantic problem!]; (2) what constitutes sin [For one thing, they have no room for our total, desperate need for the all-important atoning death of the Son of God to set us free from the guilt of sin and from bondage to sin and demons.]; (3) where the Bible fits into the picture [They clearly do not consider the Bible the foundation for what they believe, which is another gigantic problem!]; and (4) what happens after we die. [They don't believe what the Bible teaches about judgment and heaven and hell. I know that reincarnation is a widespread belief among them. And it would be easy to add many things to this listing of incompatibilities.]. I won't go into these incompatibilities here, but you may read them on the website www.heavensphysics.com. [I just went to that website, but that information isn't there (January 2020).]

However, there us much that we can agree on. In fact, as the authors of some chapters of this book have mentioned, all truth is God's truth and there are many precious 'God truths' hidden in quantum mysticism for us to claim as our own. We'll delve into just a few of them in the rest of this chapter." I don't find anything there for us to claim that we don't already have, and, again, I believe it is clear that we have been forbidden to go there.

Her first subsection (pages 127-128) of four subsections deals with the fact that the Bible (especially the Lord Jesus Himself) teaches us that we can change things, etc. through faith. The primary point I want to make here is that there is nothing that we need to learn from the New Age/occult world here. It's true that they speak of changing things, etc. by faith, but they are not speaking about faith in the God of the Bible, or His Son, or the Bible. It is an occult faith. They are doing things by occult, demonic power. The things Christians do are by God's power, and in accordance with His will and for His glory. We are limited to moving mountains that God wants moved. We are not moving mountains by tapping into some power that is built into us as humans or built into the universe.

Her second subsection (pages 128-130) deals with the fact that our "Thoughts and Attitudes Are Powerful." We certainly don't need to go to the New Age/occult world, including quantum physics, to learn this or to confirm this. They need to become Christians because walking in new-covenant salvation by the Holy Spirit is the only way to get our thoughts and attitudes and motivations, etc. in line with God's will.

Her third subsection (pages 130-131) deals with "A Oneness Connection." It is widely understood that the New Age/occult world puts a strong emphasis on the oneness of all things. Based on what Davis says here she seems to accept this belief to some extent. I'll quote one sentence: "We also know that we all share some mystical connection with each other, with all things, and with ultimate consciousness because we've had unexplainable experiences of connectivity like feeling someone else's pain or thinking of an old friend we haven't seen for years and suddenly running into them at a restaurant." God isn't one with the universe that He created and we aren't either. He is distinct from what He has made. However, we are one with God through new-covenant salvation, but we are not one with Satan or his kingdom, and although we live in the world we are not of the world (John 17:14). Again, the New Age/occult world isn't offering us anything that we need here.

Davis' fourth subsection deals with "Different Levels of Reality" (page 131). I'll quote her first paragraph here: "We already know that there are vast unseen realms populated with beings of varying degrees of consciousness and power and that the 'real' dimension of ultimate reality isn't on this earth. The Bible speaks of different 'levels' of spiritual habitation (the third heaven, for example) which could all be different levels of reality. So we should have no problem embracing theories about the 'other side' and multiple dimensions of reality."

Why should we embrace such theories? The Bible teaches us all we need to know about reality: We know, for example, about God the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. We know about the angels that were created by God. We know that two-thirds of the angels stayed faithful to God but that one-third of the angels followed the devil in his rebellion against God through pride. We know that they hate God and do everything they can possibly do to draw mankind from God to their religions and occult world. We know what we need to know about humanity. We know about the fall. We know of God's new-covenant plan of salvation, which is God's full (and only) solution to the sin problem. We are called to repent and submit to God, His Son, and His new-covenant plan of salvation by faith. We know that the day of judgment is coming and that some will spend eternity in heaven but those who will not repent and submit to God and His Son will inherit hell. Again, we know all we need to know, and I'm sure that the New Age/occult world doesn't have anything that we need, and again, God has put everything like that off-limits for His people.

We will finish this Book Review/Paper in Part 7.

http://www.karlkempteachingministries.com Karl Kemp worked as an engineer in the space field throughout the 60s. He became a born-again Christian in 1964. He received an MA in Biblical Studies in 1972. He has been a Bible teacher for 45 years. See the website for more info on his books, papers, etc.

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