Friday, October 5, 2012

Are We Merely Clusters of Energy?

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

Energy…what is it? Some would answer, “E=mc squared”. Don’t want a mathematical equation… “Okay, energy is the ability to do work.” That is only a functional definition of what it can do—I want to know what it IS. Do you realize that physicists cannot even explain what energy is, and yet a growing number of people believe that energy is ultimate reality, instead of a personal God? The basis of a 1,001 self-help books, wellness techniques and therapies, is this undefined concept, and it is re-shaping our perception of what under-girds both the natural and the supernatural realms.

“Sending prayers and positive energy”…gosh, how many times have I heard, or read on Facebook, a comment similar to that? How many times have you? The sending of positive energy has equaled, and in many cases eclipsed, the pledge of praying to the Living God from a friend to someone experiencing a trauma. Clearly, energy has taken on such a profound and practical significance for countless numbers of people—nothing reveals more about a person’s real, basic spiritual convictions than how they pray—that it has become THE central organizing principle in their worldviews. Hence, it is incumbent for Christians that we understand this issue and sift it through a biblical worldview grid…pulling down strongholds and arguments… that are raised against the knowledge of God (2 Cor.10:5).

Those who research and investigate the supernatural realm—from quantum jumping to spirit hunting—are increasingly seeing ultimate reality in terms of energy. Again, how many times have you heard, or said yourself, that trapped spirits are made of energy? EMF gauges certainly seem to verify that whatever is out there is emitting energy…that much is certain. However, it is a huge leap to go from energy to Energy, where the ultimate source of all reality is this Energy or cosmic consciousness. It has become not only personified but deified as well. This impersonal stuff that we call energy has now become our new god…our new reference point for defining the cosmos, mankind, and our relationship to the cosmos. In the beginning God created (bara—act of personal creating)…,has been replaced by…  In the beginning, Energy has always been there and is evolving….It has become commonplace to believe that we are currently experiencing a quantum leap into a higher form of consciousness or energy, and it is often stated that we are spirit energy in a body, and NOT vice versa. Welcome to Halloween 2012…

As I alluded to, this is no mere dry as dust academic theory, because it has become a paradigm or worldview shift in how one understands who they are, and how to become better at living and being human. Watch the plethora of energy healers attempting to adjust folk’s vibrational levels to harmonize with the vibrations of primal Energy.  And what must be noted with tears, is that often these energy therapies seem to work in terms of affecting vibrational change(what is really happening is not within our scope). May I suggest, though, that we are playing god in this respect, and are opening ourselves to deep demonic intervention. They (demons) are clever, and all it takes is openness to this Energy to potentially begin the possession process. Usually, at some opportune time, the demonic will find some imaginative way to gain permission for entry. We should have known better than to reject God and begin to call energy ultimate reality/god--Energy. Romans 1:18f speaks of the endarkenment, instead of the desired enlightenment, which comes when we deify, make ultimate, or worship any aspect of the Creator’s creation—including one of His greatest creations, which is energy.

To define human beings primarily in terms of energy clustering is to commit the reductionist fallacy. In other words, just because, in some sense, we are made of energy, it does not follow that we ARE energy. Consider a poem which is written in a book. There are levels of defining what that poem is, but we know instinctively that, saying that the poem is a collection of chemicals on a piece of paper, hardly does justice to explaining what a poem IS. Reducing a poem to ink on paper shows the absurdity of reductionism.  Though at the most basic level, this is technically correct, it hardly is the best, and certainly not the most comprehensive definition of a poem. What has happened to the distinctly human aspect of poetry—the expression of deep emotion, with an artistic, metric economy of wordsmithing, which is meant to communicate on a visceral level with others? You may define poetry differently, and much better, than I just have, but certainly this is much closer to the reality of what poetry is, rather than chemicals on paper. How much more horrible to take God’s image bearers and reduce them to matter/energy in motion? And if you are consistent, by rejecting an infinite/personal God, then this nihilistic definition of man is all you are left with.

It is not being intellectually consistent or honest to spell energy as Energy, because the bottom line is that this notion (energy is ultimate reality) implies that there was an impersonal beginning, and by adding upper-case you have imported personality—creating it out of thin air. The only reason why we sense or detect personality with the energy entities, is because they ARE personal beings—demons. Like humans, demons and Satan have a will, intelligence, and emotions. We have not dealt with ghosts per se, in this newsletter, but the concept of ultimate reality that often accompanies the belief in ghosts. In coming blogs we will look at specific examples of this Energy-centric worldview, as well as philosophical, scientific, and biblical problems it encounters. In the meantime, be wary of any talk of tapping into primal Energy or cosmic consciousness. In our weakness, let us cling to the God who was manifested through the burning bush—the infinite-personal God of the bible who has inexhaustible, omnipotent energy and power. The Lord is good…all the time.