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Book: Miracles of the Gods: A New Look at the Supernatural by Erich von Däniken
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Authors: Erich von Däniken
Tags: Religión, General, science, Social Science, Juvenile Nonfiction, Bible, Folklore & Mythology, Parapsychology, Body; Mind & Spirit, Christian Life, Miracles, Visions
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behaved as if he was at home here. 'No, you cannot see Mrs. Quattrini, she has to pray. What paper do you write for? What did you say your name was? ... No, no one can visit her, she doesn't receive anyone, she is talking to the Madonna.' 'Rome,' I said, 'is very obviously keeping its distance from San Damiano.' The Capuchin shrugged his shoulders, as if to say: 'Of course, but ...' He meant that that was the normal attitude the church would adopt; when all is said and done they would have to wait - for years or decades.
In that case what was the ecclesiastical observer doing here? I had been watching him for hours. From whom or what was he supposed to be protecting the old lady, who he said was talking to Mary? She was closely guarded.... When I finally gave up, I heard again the monotonous praying which hung over the courtyard like an enervating curtain of noise. Without a break. 'Who arose from the dead - who ascended into heaven - who sent us the Holy Ghost ...'
For six whole hours it ground out as if unreeled by a prayer wheel. Suddenly I had rather an unkind thought. Was someone in the house playing a tape over and over again?
The Capuchin was quite right. People would wait. For years. For decades. For a century. Only then would 'Mama Rosa' from San Damiano do her bit in confirming the one true church by joining the army of the saints.
I should love to be able to thumb through the list of saints, if there still is such a thing, in one or two hundred years' time. I would probably find 'Mama Rosa's' name perpetuated in it.
***
Ecclesiastical scholars such as the historian and hagiographer Walter Nigg [24] are cultivating the ground in which saints can grow and miracles flourish: Saints personify the Christian existence, they are the best teachers of intercourse with God, and they led us directly to the burning bush. There is nothing more vivid and alive than the saints; they are exemplary men who have God before their eyes as if they could see him.
I have made a summary of characteristic cases of visions with the spectrum of their potentialities.
Should we agree with Franz Werfel, author of the novel about Lourdes The Song of Bernadette? 'For the believer an explanation is unnecessary, for the non-believer an explanation is impossible.' Is it really?
So many visions have been confirmed in Christian countries alone and so many documented in our century that the reactions and judgments of many scholars merely bewilder me. That which is at first incomprehensible and indefinable, that which is not measurable or physically recordable, does not exist. Rationally it can only be a question of mumbo-jumbo and that is something no one talks about.
People should not make it so easy for themselves. After studying mountains of documents, it is absolutely clear to me that subjectively perceived visions have taken place. At the very moment I am writing on 17th April, 1974 someone is probably having a vision somewhere in the world.
The part played by imagination due to religious 'enthusiasm', the effect on what is subjectively experienced of environment, upbringing and outside influences, these are things that call for investigation. The negative point of view of those who deny everything that is not measurable is no longer consonant with present-day research.
It may be attractive to be witty about phenomena which one does not understand or even try to understand in order to provide small talk at parties. The task of proposing new themes, phenomena and
problems for research is left to bolder spirits than mine.
Inquiry and rationalization can suggest hypothetical explanations of the phenomena of visions, but one thing we can definitely prove is which causes of visions can be excluded. Let us begin with the 'Holy Scriptures'.
Chapter Two - Who Really Speaks Through The Bible? - Are The Original Texts 'God's Word'?
More than a hundred thousand million people in this world call themselves Christians. What is it that ties
In that case what was the ecclesiastical observer doing here? I had been watching him for hours. From whom or what was he supposed to be protecting the old lady, who he said was talking to Mary? She was closely guarded.... When I finally gave up, I heard again the monotonous praying which hung over the courtyard like an enervating curtain of noise. Without a break. 'Who arose from the dead - who ascended into heaven - who sent us the Holy Ghost ...'
For six whole hours it ground out as if unreeled by a prayer wheel. Suddenly I had rather an unkind thought. Was someone in the house playing a tape over and over again?
The Capuchin was quite right. People would wait. For years. For decades. For a century. Only then would 'Mama Rosa' from San Damiano do her bit in confirming the one true church by joining the army of the saints.
I should love to be able to thumb through the list of saints, if there still is such a thing, in one or two hundred years' time. I would probably find 'Mama Rosa's' name perpetuated in it.
***
Ecclesiastical scholars such as the historian and hagiographer Walter Nigg [24] are cultivating the ground in which saints can grow and miracles flourish: Saints personify the Christian existence, they are the best teachers of intercourse with God, and they led us directly to the burning bush. There is nothing more vivid and alive than the saints; they are exemplary men who have God before their eyes as if they could see him.
I have made a summary of characteristic cases of visions with the spectrum of their potentialities.
Should we agree with Franz Werfel, author of the novel about Lourdes The Song of Bernadette? 'For the believer an explanation is unnecessary, for the non-believer an explanation is impossible.' Is it really?
So many visions have been confirmed in Christian countries alone and so many documented in our century that the reactions and judgments of many scholars merely bewilder me. That which is at first incomprehensible and indefinable, that which is not measurable or physically recordable, does not exist. Rationally it can only be a question of mumbo-jumbo and that is something no one talks about.
People should not make it so easy for themselves. After studying mountains of documents, it is absolutely clear to me that subjectively perceived visions have taken place. At the very moment I am writing on 17th April, 1974 someone is probably having a vision somewhere in the world.
The part played by imagination due to religious 'enthusiasm', the effect on what is subjectively experienced of environment, upbringing and outside influences, these are things that call for investigation. The negative point of view of those who deny everything that is not measurable is no longer consonant with present-day research.
It may be attractive to be witty about phenomena which one does not understand or even try to understand in order to provide small talk at parties. The task of proposing new themes, phenomena and
problems for research is left to bolder spirits than mine.
Inquiry and rationalization can suggest hypothetical explanations of the phenomena of visions, but one thing we can definitely prove is which causes of visions can be excluded. Let us begin with the 'Holy Scriptures'.
Chapter Two - Who Really Speaks Through The Bible? - Are The Original Texts 'God's Word'?
More than a hundred thousand million people in this world call themselves Christians. What is it that ties
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