Psychology 459 March 23, 2006

Psychology 459 March 23, 2006

Purpose of Sacred Scripture

By: Crystal Bulda

TP 1.6.8, By Dr. Leon James, Textbook of Theistic Psychology. Published on Web: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/theistic/ch1.htm#source

Instructions for this activity are found at:

www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy24/g24-oral1.htm

Instructor: Dr. Leon James

I. What mechanisms or methods does God use to communicate with the human race?

A. Religion or non-scientific view

1. God can talk to individuals through an outer and inner voice.

2. Being “inspired” instead of actually hearing God’s voice.

B. Theistic Psychology view

1. God speaks to every individual’s rational mind through Sacred Scripture.

2. Third portion of Sacred Scripture known as the Writings of Swedenborg reveals new scientific revelations foe the modern mind.

3. Almost all of Sacred Scripture consists of sentences not directly spoken by God, yet the entire text of Sacred Scripture is a direct quote from God and is Divine Speech.

II. God’s rational truth is infinite in depth and cannot be comprehended by finite minds, but by our spiritual mind.

A. Humans are only conscious of our natural mind, which consists of 3 sublevels.

1. Highest level the natural mind can think is natural-rational consciousness.

a. Have a Third Testament mentality of society, marriage, family, and human interactions.

2. Intermediate level that the natural mind can think is natural-sensuous consciousness.

a. Have a New Testament mentality of society, marriage, family, and human interactions.

3. Lowest level that our mind can think is with natural-corporeal correspondences.

a. Have an Old Testament mentality of society, marriage, family, and human interactions.

B. There is higher spiritual levels of thinking or understanding consisting of higher order correspondences.

1. Spiritual-natural correspondences

a. First Heaven

b. Conscious in the physical world.

2. Spiritual-rational correspondences

a. Second Heaven

b. Unconscious until resuscitated.

3. Celestial-rational correspondences

a. Third Heaven

b. Unconscious until after our second death in the spiritual world.

III. Where do these spiritual-natural, spiritual-rational, celestial-rational correspondences come from?

A Divine Speech descends to our mind by progressive correspondences downward in rationality.

B. It is the level of correspondences we understand that determines the level of our mentality, consciousness, rationality, and civilization.

C. In the Old Testament, the lowest level of natural-corporeal correspondences about God appears on the surface written about history.

D. In the New Testament, written in natural-correspondences, which is more abstract in rational content that heaven is at a higher rational level of comprehension of God than a physical, earthly heaven.

E. Writings of Swedenborg, by Emanuel Swedenborg, were written in higher order of natural-rational correspondences.

IV. Role of Divine Speech in human life is accomplished through 6 steps of human understanding that corresponds to higher and higher rationality, for evolution of human potential and eternal happiness.

A. Level 1 regulated by “natural-corporeal” correspondences in which that ancient text is written in the Old Testament.

1. External level of relationship with God, relational to the natural world.

B. Level 2 regulated by “natural-sensuous” correspondences written in the New Testament.

1. More rational idea of God caused by Incarnation event.

2. God is understood inside the mind by God’s Spirit.

C. Level 3 is formed by the natural-rational correspondences written in the Writings of Swedenborg.

1. God in now the Divine Human who not only is inside the mind, but forms it and participates in its formation moment by moment, from birth to eternity.

2. Writings provide a conscious view of God’ purpose and methods of managing the created universe.

D. Level 4 is called phase 1 theistic psychology is formed by the spiritual-natural correspondences.

1. Method of correspondences specified in the literal meaning of the Writings and extract higher-order correspondences that are hidden with all Sacred Scriptures as Divine Speech.

2. Enlightened when we rationalize and understand the Writings.

E. Level 5 & 6 are in the unconscious mind, where the second heaven is called the spiritual-rational correspondences, and our third heaven in which our mind is at the celestial-rational correspondence.

1. In the unconscious most inward of our mind, our interior-natural organ of the mind allows new human capacity never before possible for human beings on earth.

2. Virtual heaven capable of conscious representing us to higher order of correspondences of Divine Speech.

3. Receive input directly from the spiritual world.

God’s Communication and our Interior Awareness- On this website, Jesuits explain how God communicates with every individual through an inner voice. This inner voice is an interior awareness of what our behaviors are in our life. God is within us in our life on earth, where he doesn’t speak to us not sensuously but through the movements within our being such as a felt presence or absence, an interior ability to trust, the experience of meaningful insight, the felt conviction that I have sinned, and am forgiven and loved.

Link #2: http://www.daughtersofstpaul.com/growinginfaith/basicqas/prayer/prayercomm_231.html

Prayer as a Communication with God- Pray is seen as a source of communication with God. This site shows what a prayer’s purpose is for, how to pray, why humans pray, and the importance of carrying out this religious ritual. The evidence is backed up with a quote from the bible which gives many reasons on to why prayer is essential. This site is a questions and answers site from the Catholic religion.

Link #3: http://www.eagleflight.org/Expository/godscomm1.html

God’s Communication to Man- Robert Stone preaches how God communicates with each individual. In this first seminar of his preaching, he goes over what sources did we receive our knowledge of God. Robert also explains how the bible is the source in which God speaks to us. The way God speaks to us is through definite phases in which it comes from the mind of God to the acts and attitudes of man.

My Home Page:

www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/459s2006/bulda/bulda-home.htm

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