The Cognitive Organization of Rational Spirituality
by Elisabeth Malsey
1. Preface
In my first report I explored the idea of whether theistic psychology could really be a part of science in today's world. I took all the information I had learned about theistic psychology and Swedenborg and tried to explain my understanding of the concepts and ideas we have been studying in this course. I gave a summary of my history of God from childhood to now. I shared very deep details of my feelings and experiences around God. I also talked about my history of science in school from childhood to now. The point of sharing these two sides of my history was to be able to rationally look at and analyze how the public school system and religion have shaped my understanding of the relationship between science and religion. My conclusion on that matter was that I and most others, have been raised thinking that these two concepts can not and will not coexist.
This is where theistic psychology comes in and bridges the gap between religion and science. I explained what theistic psychology is and I found 10 websites that tied into theistic psychology. The truth is almost all subjects tie into theistic psychology because God can be apart of all sciences not just psychology. Although all the information I have learned about theistic psychology is not completely clear. It is extremely vast with information and one semester would never allow me the time to completely immerse myself into this topic.
My basic conclusion for report 1 was that theistic psychology shows some undeniable, logical and realistic truths about God, the human race, Earth and eternity. Although I have questions there are parts of this topic that can not be denied when using rational thought. I believe this could be a great way of understanding science in the distant future, but our world is just so immersed in scientific theory, tangible evidence and empirical thought and I do not see that changing soon. I do not think that by accepting God into the equation that one has to throw out theory, evidence and empirical thought but rather the opposite should happen. With God in science things should be even more obvious, clear, rational, logical and scientific.
Report 2
The purpose of this report is to take the diagnostic test so that I could better understand the three different phases of thinking that happen in my mind and the minds of others. I explain the test and its significance through out this report. I give examples from the test so that you can better understand what is being asked and how one can respond to each question. I explain the three phases of thinking and give clear examples of how they are used in the real world. My examples are real empirical observations that I have made this school year. I conclude with my thoughts on this report and about my own views on God and science. I also have a note for future generations at the bottom as a way to encourage their process in researching and understanding theistic psychology.
2. Introduction
The Diagnostic test is a type of survey rather then a test. It contains 100 questions and each question has three choices of answers (a-c). The point of the survey is to evaluate the survey taker's thinking on ideas of God, heaven, hell, eternity, spirits, angels, devils, sin, rebirth, reformation, regeneration, salvation, science, Jesus, love, good, truth, wisdom, spiritual enlightenment, higher consciousness, marriage, finite thought, infinite thought, the natural world, spiritual world, the supernatural, and miracles. It seems like a lot of ideas to evaluate but the survey lumps up all these ideas into three phases of thinking. Each one of those topics listed above can be thought about in three different phases. The first phase is dominated with people who may be religious or not, it is the least rational of the three phases. The second phase is usually religious people namely Christians. This phase is considered more mystical and personal. The third phase is dominated by people who believe in the writings of Swedenborg and rely on a rational understanding of God and the writings.
These three phases of thinking are the steps one must take to reach the highest heaven in his or her head. Just as the human race went through these steps so must we. First man was created and could function with a sensuous brain because they were able to see into the natural and physical world at the same time. They did not need a code of correspondences because they could see the direct causes of the spiritual world in the natural world. They were a simple people, yet very content and happy. Eventually the human race fell and thus the split-brain race was born. We became a people of two brains, the right brain for the will and the left brain for understanding. Since sensuous consciousness was no longer God had to make rational consciousness. God had to send down his scripture in way for the people of the time to understand, so he sent the Old Testament to many authors over many years and gave the people a way to understand him through natural means. Eventually the race was ready for the New Testament and God sent this to show a dual universe that relates to each other through cause and effect. At this time he also came to Earth as a human which was Jesus Christ. The final stage was when God allowed Swedenborg to see into both worlds and record what he saw. This was the last piece of the puzzle for humans. Now one has the ability to be rational and grow to the highest level of heaven through character reformation. These three stages of the human race are directly linked to the three stages of the phases of thinking. One must go through these three stages of thinking to get to the end goal.
My understanding of the first phase of thinking is that these people are very materialistic. They can only understand what they observe through the five senses. These people would rather stick to the rules just because, "its the rules". Phase 1 people see the world through many different views. Some of these people may be atheists and believe that there is no God and that the human race exists separately and that the final destination of humans is without God. Others in this phase may be religious believing in multiple gods or believing that God is in everything whether it is human, animal or plant. Some maybe Christians that are complete literalist and take every world of the Bible as law and truth and apply it to their lives as literal truth. They perform ritual and tradition without knowing why. Some people may relay on another man or women as inspiration rather then looking to God or to the Bible. Many people in this category believe that all religious are basically the same and that all good leads to the same ending. All these types of people are irrational thinkers and according to Swedenborg these people generally end up in the last place in Heaven.
I see the second phase being filled with people who are Christians. These people are focused on faith in Jesus and having a personal relationship with Jesus. Obviously there are many denominations in the Christian faith, and I believe some are closer to phase 2 thinking while others are a little closer to phase 3 thinking. For the most part phase 2 thinkers see the world in an inclusive mind set, meaning everyone has the opportunity to repent and go to heaven. They believe that one can and should have a personal relationship with God through Jesus. They believe in the trinity, God the Father, God the son and God the Holy spirit. However those people in phase 3 believe that believing one God that is in the form of three persons is irrational, that is one of the reasons the trinity is categorized into phase 2 thinking. People in this category generally are willing to except mysteries that are irrational and based on faith. They are ok with not understanding all the details and inner workings of the world, because they believe that God is in control and that our minds are not able to comprehend all the mysterious of God. Most Christians use the Bible in a literal way while trying to apply the scriptures to ones own life. Through this interpretation of the Bible most phase 2 thinkers weigh charity, giving, repentance and love as imperative characteristics to have.
The third and final phase is mainly those who are willing to accept the writings of Swedenborg as true divine literature and believe that those writings are the final link to getting to the heaven in ones minds. They believe in dualism, meaning at birth we become a part of the spiritual and natural worlds simultaneously. According to this phase of thinking one believes that we are in the natural world with the ability to be free and to choose what we love. Our salvation lies within our own hands and we are saved based on our character. The character can be regenerated from shunning evil and accepting good and truth. When one accept goods by shunning evil they rise to the top of his or her mind, which is the heaven of there mind. In order to be in ones heaven one must be at the ultimate level of rationality which is the phase three thinking. This phase is being conscious of God's influx of love and good into each person, however God is not in each person but merely gives them his power to use through the vertical community. It is true that this phase like the second phase believe that God was human in the form of Jesus Christ, but phase 3 thinking does not believe it is rational to see God has three persons, instead they see three forms or roles of God.
The overall feel of the diagnostic test is that each question is separate it does not necessarily build with each question. One question will ask one about science and God and then the next will ask one about heaven and hell and the following question may be about the Writings and the Bible. I think it is good that the survey does not build with each question because I think it would make the survey taker develop a sort of pattern that may not represent true thinking. I also thought it was good that when presented with the possible answers one was not told which answer was from which phase of thinking. This was also good so that one did not pick what they ought to pick but rather what they really believe. I thought it was an excellent survey that most likely provides truly accurate results of an individuals main phase of thinking. In order to better understand the type of questions asked, the types of possible responses and what these responses indicate I am going to share five questions from the diagnostic test to show as examples.
29.
What does spiritual salvation consist of?
a.
Salvation is by means of sincere faith in the cleansing power of the
blood of Christ
b.
Salvation is by means of progressive character reformation from evil to
good
c.
Salvation is by means of religious piety sincerely performed until death
44.
Is it rational to think that there is a Trinity of Three Divine Persons?
a.
A valid definition of God awaits further scientific progress on
explaining the universe as an integrated system. It is possible that a
“Trinitarian” system of super-abstractions can act as one.
b.
It is not rational because “three persons” cannot be one person, and
therefore three Divine Persons cannot be One Divine Person. The Trinity refers
to God’s three Divine Aspects as Creator, Redeemer, and Regenerator.
c. The Trinity is a Divine mystery that cannot be rationally comprehended. Our faith is that Three Divine Persons constitute one Godhead.
Response a. is phase 1 thinking because it has no valid answer, only theory that it is possible with scientific proof, to some this seems logical and rational, but if the answer has already been presented in the writings about whether a trinity exists then it is irrational to believe other wise. A choice of response b. represents a phase 3 thinking, because logically God cannot be three people at one time, but it is rational to think that God can have three divine aspects or roles. Finally a c. response indicates phase 2 thinking because it believes that it is ok to not completely and rationally understand divine mystery, but to just have faith that this is how it works.
61.
How do you resolve the fact that Jesus loved one disciple (John) more
than another? Does God have favorites?
a.
John’s personality was more pleasing to Jesus so He could love John
more than Peter or James or the rest. God loves everyone but some people have a
special relationship with God.
b.
Jesus loved the disciples equally and it's only an appearance that he
made distinctions. The distinctions Jesus made were not based on merit but on
reciprocal love. It is John who loved the Lord more than the others, hence Jesus
could give John more love that the other disciples could receive.
c. In every group you have distinctions of leadership and followers. John was evidently a leader who was closer to the chain of command than the other disciples who followed Jesus on a regular basis.
Phase 2 thinking is represented in response a. because it is true that God loves everyone, but that God does have favorites and is able to love them more because of their special personality. Choice b. is phase 3 because it not logical to think that God loves one of us more because of our personality, but that it may appear that God loves someone more then others because that person loves God more then others. It makes sense that the more love one gives to God the more love they will receive, this is what makes response b. phase 3 thinking rather then response a. Response c. represents phase 1 thinking because it is only looking at the natural or material world by distinguishing between leaders and followers. This is a surface response and is not logical.
67.
Can God love an unrepentant sinner?
a.
God knows in advance who will end up in heaven and who in hell, and
therefore he loves the former but hates the latter.
b.
God hates sin therefore when we sin and do not repent He turns away and
cannot love us.
c.
God loves us even when we sin and do not repent, but then He cannot make
us happy and wise like angels.
An a. response in this question would represent phase 1 thinking because it is not rational to think that God knows who is going to heaven and hell and therefore just ignores those who He knows are going to hell anyway. He is a just God and it does not make sense for him to not allow each individual the freedom to choose good over evil. Response b. would be a phase 2 thinking, but in my opinion I think this response would also be a phase 1 response, because it is not logical to think that God hates those who sin and do not repent because God created all and loves all. However response c. is the most logical explanation and therefore is phase 3 thinking. It is logical to know that God loves everyone no matter what, but that it is us not loving God that makes us unhappy and unable to go the highest heaven.
85.
What is the cause of acceleration of a vehicle when the driver presses
the gas pedal?
a.
The gas being released into the fuel chamber.
b.
The driver’s purpose to accelerate.
c. The laws of physics and chemistry.
This question makes it clear that these phases of thinking are not just for spiritual thinking but for every little thought. The first response reflects phase 2 thinking, because it is the literally action of what is going on in the natural world. Response b. is phase 3 thinking because it takes into account the person's purpose and motives that come from the spiritual world. The c. response represents phase 1 thinking because it looks at the surface reason for the cause of acceleration of a vehicle it never takes account of the spiritual world only the natural.
3. Applied Theistic Psychology
In this section I would like to present a few examples from my life where I can see and understand what type of phase of thinking a person is using in there reasoning about certain events, problems and relationships. My first example is from a teacher I have had here at the University of Hawaii, I will not mention his name out of confidentiality but he teaches one of the sciences courses. In the very first lecture of the class he was discussing the beginning of the world and he gave three possible theories. One was that the world was created by God, two was that the world has always been and will always be as it is and the third was the big bang theory and that our world is constantly changing. Right of the bat he said that the theory of God or creationism will never be dealt with or talked about in class because it is not even a theory. He said there is no way to test the theory of God therefore it is irrelevant and a waste of time to even discuss. He said he thought it was fine if people were religious but that God has no place in science, because science is real and God is unknown.
This professor is obviously in the phase 1 thinking. He has completely turned off all signs of God in his life and in this universe. He would rather hypothesis that a random explosion occurred in the universe that mixed the exact elements in the exact amounts to form planets and stars and that over time randomly a small life began and then one day we had humans. I realize that there is truth to evolution, but to say hat God had no part is irrational and illogical. The implications of this mans beliefs will effect the many students he has taught, is teaching and will one day teach. When a student hears an older wiser professor give lectures they tend to believe basically everything the teachers says. This is not always the case, but the point of being a teacher is to influence the minds of students. This is good in some ways but in this example the professor is reinforcing all the things we have learned about how science and God can not be mixed. His irrationality will potentially lead to the irrationality of many others.
My next example is one from two family members. For the sake of the story I'm going to call the wife Sue and the husband Greg. Sue and Greg are recently going through a separation that seems to be leading to divorce. Sue's husband moved out about seven months ago and it seems that things are not looking good for the future. Greg said he is not happy and that he is really confused and depressed and so he moved out. Sue understood but felt helpless to her lost husband, she was unable to reach out to him anymore and feared that he had found someone else. During this time Sue clung to her Bible, and to God. She continued going to her church and she was involved in a Bible study group. The women in her Bible study group had provided her with great support and care. Despite the horrible situation Sue felt the closest to God she had ever felt in her life. She completely trusted that He would lead her in the right direction and that with His great love he would comfort her and encourage her. On the other hand Greg was out trying to find is way by immersing himself into hunting, fishing, volunteer police work and the like. He was hanging out with a friend of his who was teaching Greg how to get rich. Greg felt that by moving on with his life he could finally get his ultimate goal, being a rich wealthy man with lots of stuff to show for it.
These two individuals in my family took very different roads in this situation. Greg was using his phase 1 thinking and that material gain and wealth were the keys to his happiness and that it was ok to leave his marriage in order for him to pursue new dreams. On the other hand Sue was using phase 2 thinking. She was clinging to the scriptures and having faith that God was going to get her through this and giver her guidance. Although the divorce has not officially happened yet I can assure you that Sue is much happier then Greg. Sue of course wants Greg back but she feels that God is right there with her protecting her and leading her. Greg has not felt an ounce happier but insists on continuing his goal. Greg's actions are going to terminate this marriage and effect my whole family. It seems clear to me that Sue has made the better discussion.
My final example is from television. Our homes have been bombarded with "reality television", but the interesting thing is that what we see on these "reality television" shows is not what reality should look like. I watched about 1/4 of an episode of the High School Reunion reality show. Basically the point of the show is to bring back members of a high school class and put them in a house together and watch the drama unfold. On this particular episode they had brought back these three women who had all dated this one guy back in high school. He married one of the girls after high school, but now they were divorced. During the show this divorced couple was trying to reconcile there broken marriage while this other girl, who had previously dated the guy, was trying to win him back at any cost. It was the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. And people watch this show and thrive on the drama. People who find themselves engulfed in reality television, or soap operas for that matter, are people who have phase 1 thinking. It is not rational to gain excitement and suspicion about the problems of others and to use it as entertainment. It seems like a waste of time and thought to watch these shows when there are so many other valuable things to spend time and energy on in this world. I know I have caught myself watching these shows, but I always leave that time feeling empty and sad that these are real people who are totally stuck on themselves or stuck on trivial issues. I believe one of our purposes on earth is to build relationships with people and to encourage and love others and I do not see that happening on reality television shows, therefore it is not logical to be on those shows or to watch them.
It seems clear that one's phase of thinking will and does effect all parts of an individuals thoughts, thus effecting all parts of an individuals life. According to the Writings of Swedenborg God made it clear that at this point in time the only way for a person to get to heaven is to have rational consciousness and the only way to get to rational consciousness to regenerate ones character. So how exactly does one do that. Well to tell you the truth I do not understand all the workings of it, but basically one must become completely conscious of his or her thoughts, good or bad. One must analyze their thought process through any activity, eating, exercising, sex, watching television and so on. By evaluating what phase of thinking you are in, one can see if they are thinking rationally. For example one can pick an activity, like playing basketball and decided before hand that he or she is going to examine the thoughts that are going on in the mind. First of all figure out what phase the mind is in and secondly discover what one is feeling and thinking with in that phase.
In section 15.5.b of the selected reading for this report Dr. James focuses on what I have just talked about as being called, "self-monitoring, or self-witnessing. This involves an active role of physically taking notes on your thoughts and feelings. There are three parts of the mind, affective, cognitive and sensorimotor. Your affective is your will and feelings, your cognitive organ is your understanding and thoughts and your sensorimotor organ is your actions and sensations. Therefore in a particular situation you must look at what you are feeling, what you are thinking and what you are doing. It helps to write down what is going on in each organ of the mind. We are thinking all day long so if one can get hold of those thoughts analyze them, write them down then one is on the path for character reformation. One can not shun evils if they do not even know what evils are inside of them.
The diagram below divides each of the three phases up. There are also six other words under each phase of thinking and after reading through Dr. James book I put these extra six words into their proper category. The first of the six in each category require rational thinking, but in phase one rational thinking can only be done in the natural world. One can only understand what is material and visible. In phase two rational thinking becomes spiritual, it requires a personal and spiritual level of understand of God. And the Bible can become rational because it is God's word. In the third phase Rationality is celestial, meaning from the top part of the mind. Dr. James calls this phase the Particularism phase which I think means one is willing to let go of irrational thoughts of a God in three persons, the idea that prayer can influence God as well as letting go of the personalism of having a relationship with God that ones sees in phase 2.
|
Phase 1 Thinking Natural-Rational Old Testament Moses Ritual Faith Judaism First Heaven |
Phase 2 Thinking Spiritual-Rational New Testament Paul Mystical Faith Christianity Second Heaven |
Phase 3 Thinking Celestial-Rational Writings of Swedenborg Swedenborg Rational Faith The New Church Third Heaven |
The Old Testament and Moses represent phase 1 thinking because they are based on fear of rejection as well as literal interpretation of laws and doctrine. Ritual Faith is included in this because that is what phase 1 thinkers focus on. They participate in ritual because that is what they have been taught, but they do not understand why they do it. A particular religion that represents the Old Testament and may represent phase 1 thinking is Judaism. Judaism is not the only type of religion that fits into this category, but this is the best example from a Westerns perspective. Swedenborg implied that phase 1 thinkers go to the first level of heaven which is the lowest level.
The New Testament is in Phase 2 thinking because it represents a time when a personal relationship with Jesus was formed. Paul was the most influential disciple of Jesus and spread the word to one day become Christianity. This is all phase two because most information found form the Bible is excepted by faith not reason, but Christians often understand that the reason they are following the commandments and other such laws is because it will please God if they obey and that they will be rewarded in this life and in heaven because of their faith and good works. These people would mostly populate the second heaven.
The Writings of Swedenborg are seen as the final step to rational thinking and is therefore represented in phase 3 thinking. The faith in phase 3 thinking is not blind faith like in phase 2 but rational faith that leads to a higher consciousness and understanding of God. This type of rational faith can be represented by the The New Church which focuses on the teachings of Swedenborg as well as in the process of character reformation. These people if truly elevated in their minds will ultimately go the the third and highest heaven.
4. Conclusion
Coming into this class I felt I had most of my views of God and science down. I knew I had many questions but I felt that it was okay to have questions because the universe is so big, how could I ever try and understand it all. All I knew for sure is that I believe in God and that Jesus is my personal savior. Obviously I have learned throughout this assignment that many of my thoughts are phase 2 thinking, but when I took the diagnostic test I had twice as many phase 3 responses then phase 2. I feel that I do have a pretty good understanding of God and science after writing this paper, but I still have many questions that are lingering in my brain. Questions I have thought before but have still never found the answers. Many of these questions are answered in the writings of Swedenborg but I am not convinced of everything yet. My belief in God has grown stronger since being in this class, but my views on particular subjects of God, like Jesus' role, prayer, salvation, the resurrection and such are still lingering in my mind. It is hard for me to imagine that everything I have felt, believed, relied on and had faith in was wrong. It is letting go of those thoughts that are the hardest. I do not know if I would ever be willing to give up my relationship with Jesus.
I'm thankful I have come across this class, because I have always sought after truth and I like being presented with new material so that I can see how it fits into the whole scheme of things. This is completely useful to my life and I plan on continuing to look at the teachings of Swedenborg because I believe they are relevant despite my lack of understanding of some things. The parts I do understand are helpful in my life, like understanding how people who have never heard the scriptures can get to heaven. Understanding how children get to heaven yet still choose to be there. It is helpful for me in my science class to understand what the scientist are saying is true in the natural world but that does not mean God was not part of creation. The idea of marriage and relationships is clear to me through the Writings and I agree with it. My view of the trinity is clearer now. Many ideas have become rational and logical to me.
At first I was not willing to take any part in the material of this class. I was willing to read, listen, and write about it but I was not willing to take it on as truth. The more G20 and I dove into this topic the more I saw that things were adding up and making sense, not everything did, but many things did and my interest was sparked. I decided to peruse these teachings with a clear and rational mind, but it is hard. My convictions and faith in Jesus are so strong and I do not want to disown those beliefs, because God is the leader of my life and I owe him everything and no part of my wants to cheat Him out of proper glory. I want to make sure I am in the right and that I too will be in heaven with God. It is the only purpose for my life and ultimately is my top priority.
5. Future Generations
Do not be shaken in your faith but open your mind to the possibility that all this is real and true. Allow yourself to absorb the information do not let yourself be cheated of rationality. Do not be afraid to question your beliefs, because if you truly seek truth then you will search for it with all your heart. Do not be afraid to ask questions, or email Dr. James, or meet with him or with a small group in the class. Talk to your family about it and your friends see what they think. However your family and friends may become just as confused as you are with out the proper introduction to theistic psychology. Do not be afraid to read more then is assigned, many questions about particular religions and there role with the writings are answered. Rely on your mind to show you what is right and what is wrong. Try and put new ideas into your own words make those ideas your own.