bythemethod.com blog

Perhaps the biggest question any of us has to face is the about the existence of the soul. Is there something about us that lives on after death? Is there something in us that is not just physical but which can reach out to something beyond the physical.

Some scientists want us to believe that the only thing that is real is the physical world. If you can’t poke it with a stick then it doesn’t exist. Of course they go further than wanting to poke things with a stick but this is the essence of the argument. Then others seem to think that the physical is just an illusion. Who is right?

Well – of course what I am going to say is just my opinion but I think it is worth exploring the question.

If you can replicate a spiritual feeling in some other way does it mean that we have proved there is no such thing as the spiritual?

This is one of those problems that many scientists hang ona nd which seems to spook a lot of people who are undecided. The simple truth is that this does not prove anything other than that the spiritual things of life have an impact on the physical. Anyone who has ever studied a major religion will know that this is a basic truth taught be nearly every religion going. Being able to make you feel spiritual by poking part of your brain with a stick (sorry I had to get the stick in again) proves nothing.

You might well say that when someone watches a film and they fall in love with the main character this proves that love is not real because watching the film brought out the same feelings as love (of course love is much more than a feeling anyway but hopefully you are getting my point). Or to put it another way: if you read a war book and you get feelings of revulsion reading about a dead body this means that there are no dead bodies in real wars because we can simulate the feelings in other ways. Nonsense.

As my old logic professor used to say: “nonsence is nonsence whichever way you look at it”.

Is there something other than the physical world?

No one can prove there is and no one can prove there is not. So ultimately this will boil down to making a choice. You can choose to believe or not believe – sometimes called faith.

Sometimes people will try and refuse to make the choice, but the way they live and think betrays the choice they have made (but are too afraid to own up to).

I’m told that the vast majority of people in the world do have some kind of belief in another spiritual world. Some Atheists try to make out that all these people are just ignorant morons but this is simply not true. Many of the people who have a faith are very intelligent and have considered all the arguments in detail.

But at the end of the day this can only be a choice – to believe or not.

What evidence?

Well if you want empiric scientific evidence then I’m afraid you will be disappointed. This is just because science is all about discovering the physical world and so no scientific experiment is going to discover a spirit (unless it turns out the spirit is something physical of course).

But if we want the kind of evidence that is delivered in a court of law there is plenty. There is endless amounts of personal testimony. If one person says something you might doubt them or think they are mad but if thousands says something is true then you have to start taking notice. If lots of very sensible people who you trust says something is true then the balance of believing starts to become overwhelming.

Now I don’t know who you trust and just because nearly everyone says it is true doesn’t actually mean it is. But as I said before this is ultimately a matter of choice – your choice.

For me it is all about Jesus

Some people say that your faith is just a matter of where you are born and in some cases this is no doubt true. However I am one of those people who made a choice for myself. It is true I had Christian parents but they never spoke to me about their own faith. I was also at the time not going to a church. I did believe in spiritual things – because I had made my choice – and I wanted to find out more.

I looked at the great religions and I considered taking the spirituality without beliefs route but ultimately they were all very unhelpful to me. It was reading through and thinking about the teachings of Jesus that I started to believe that Jesus was the only one with any real truth to what he was saying. More normal than any others and yet with a simple truth of faith and a God wanting to forgive swayed me in his direction.

An awful lot of rubbish talked about Jesus

Ever since it’s earliest days people have been talking a lot of rubbish about Jesus. The church has been as guilty as anyone for doing this but thankfully every now and then a revolution happens in the church and they discover the real Jesus again. It happened when the early church got together to make the creeds and put the new testament together. Thank goodness they got rid of a lot of rubbish back then. It was not a cover up and it was not down to the whims of one powerful man it was the church purging itself of those ideas that were not from Jesus. This happens again and again in the life of the church. No religion or science has ever been as critical of its own believes as the church has throughout its life. I’ve been at the leadership end and I know first hand just how serious the church takes being true to the teachings of Jesus.

Now no doubt like me you have watched all the latest “top” scholars (they aren’t by the way) telling us how the discovery of some new forgotten gospel proves the church wrong. These are just wayward people who wouldn’t be heard unless they made a controversial statement, and so keep telling T.V. producers (who then see the chance of a bit of fame and fortune) about their amazng new discovery, who then make T.V. programs claiming to prove the truth. They don’t. No T.V. producer is much interested in the real truth because it doesn’t make money for them. You may like to know that the church has known about these so called hidden gospels for a very long time and they have been studied in detail but found wanting.

Sorry I’m starting to rant a little.

There is an awful lot of rubbish talked about Jesus but I have come to love him and what he says gives me hope.

Is there a spirit?

Yes – I believe the weight of evidence is overwhelming.

Can we poke the spirit with a stick?

No – it is not physical.

How do we find out about spiritual things?

Listen to people who are spiritual but also look for what makes sense to you.

Personally

For me the greatest spiritual teacher (and also my friend by the way) is Jesus. I would recommend him to anyone.

But you must make your own mind up.