A Religious Perspective on Psychotic Disorders

[SoCalSmurf]

It is said that this image miraculously appeared on fabric December 12, 1531.

It seems that whatever invisible angelic being responsible for this work had only rudimentary talent at best. One would think that heaven would have produced something a little more refined.

I guess, even in heaven, a really good artist is really hard to find.

All the scientists who have examined it over the years, and their has been many, confirm that it is not of this world and could only be supernatural.

That could only mean one thing......

The earth has much better artists.

You need not attempt to insult my intelligence. lol

 

[hobelim]

It is said that this image miraculously appeared on fabric December 12, 1531.

It seems that whatever invisible angelic being responsible for this work had only rudimentary talent at best. One would think that heaven would have produced something a little more refined.

I guess, even in heaven, a really good artist is really hard to find.

All the scientists who have examined it over the years, and their has been many, confirm that it is not of this world and could only be supernatural.

That could only mean one thing......

The earth has much better artists.

You need not attempt to insult my intelligence. lol

You insist that a poorly executed painting miraculously appeared out of thin air in the 1500's and you are claiming intelligence?

 

[SoCalSmurf]

It is said that this image miraculously appeared on fabric December 12, 1531.

It seems that whatever invisible angelic being responsible for this work had only rudimentary talent at best. One would think that heaven would have produced something a little more refined.

I guess, even in heaven, a really good artist is really hard to find.

All the scientists who have examined it over the years, and their has been many, confirm that it is not of this world and could only be supernatural.

That could only mean one thing......

The earth has much better artists.

You need not attempt to insult my intelligence. lol

You insist that a poorly executed painting miraculously appeared out of thin air in the 1500's and you are claiming intelligence?

Examining NASA engineers and a Nobel Prize winning scientist in chemistry, among others, all agree that it could be nothing but supernatural.

 

[hobelim]

It seems that whatever invisible angelic being responsible for this work had only rudimentary talent at best. One would think that heaven would have produced something a little more refined.

I guess, even in heaven, a really good artist is really hard to find.

All the scientists who have examined it over the years, and their has been many, confirm that it is not of this world and could only be supernatural.

That could only mean one thing......

The earth has much better artists.

You need not attempt to insult my intelligence. lol

You insist that a poorly executed painting miraculously appeared out of thin air in the 1500's and you are claiming intelligence?

Examining NASA engineers and a Nobel Prize winning scientist in chemistry, among others, all agree that it could be nothing but supernatural.

Supernatural ? lol,, seriously? doesn't the fact that it displays the talent of a less than average artist give you even an inkling that such a claim is preposterous?

Look at it. Its mostly two dimensional and out of proportion with some creepy guy thats supposed to be an angel lifting up her skirt while she just happens to be holding rosary beads. Give me a break.

How can anyone possibly be so gullible?

As if scientists were never paid never paid to arrive at false conclusions or some parish priest who is already peddling godflesh would never deliberately lie to revitalize the economy of a town in the middle of nowhere by winning a place on that coveted pilgrimage bucket list.

 

[SoCalSmurf]

God is not evil...He would not create a brain that sees and hears evil spirits that are not really there.

Sometimes God, Jesus and the angels will reach out to help the person being tormented by the dead and the devils. This is why some schizophrenics claim to have heard and/or seen them.

 

[hobelim]

God is not evil...He would not create a brain that sees and hears evil spirits that are not really there.

Of course you are right. God would not create a brain that sees and hears evil spirits.Humans are born with a clean slate.

A devil certainly would take that clean slate and cripple it for life.

The problem of hearing evil voices is the end result of may years of mental disintegration that begins when one despicable person tells another, usually a child, a bunch of garbage and claims that it requires great faith to believe because it is too magnificent for the human mind to comprehend. Either they just accept it or they are beaten into submission. Then they also teach that any rational question or objection to the mental assault of that preposterous claim is a demonic attack from satan himself, an invisible disembodied entity, as real and impossible to escape from as their own thoughts; an enemy of the so called truth, the pile of garbage they are filling your head with.

As a consequence every rational thought or intelligent objection in their own mind to that garbage, their only hope for salvation, would seem to that person to be an external demonic attack. The more the person doubts in private what they have been tricked into professing belief publicly the more their thoughts become disordered, cognitive dissonance takes hold and the brain is set against itself to the point where all thoughts that cause doubt in those ridiculous beliefs are morphed into one or many distinct evil and malicious personalities dwelling within one confused mind, terrified over itself, that has over the course of decades systematically swept itself clean of every coherent thought leaving their emotions, unrestrained imagination, and fears to run amok.

Its basic brain washing techniques that one person or people conspire and use to control another person or people that can destroy the rational foundation required to comprehend anything making their victims easy prey for every foul and loathsome beast and bird in the hierarchy of hell... Only people resisting demonic possession, resisting death, have auditory or visual hallucinations. The perfectly possessed are just perfect phonies who only love and practice deceit, revel in pretense, and keep the devils coffers and dungeons filled...

The ancient people called it sorcery or demonic possession, the demon being the deceitful person taking over and controlling the thoughts and lives of others who have been deliberately stripped of their intellectual defenses.

 

[SoCalSmurf]

"As of 2014, the underlying causes of schizophrenia are not known with any certainty, according to Mayo Clinic. The disorder tends to run in families, though some cases occur without a family history of the condition, leading researchers to conclude that the disorder is caused by some combination of heredity and the patient's environment."

"Whatever the underlying cause, the proximate reason for the symptoms of schizophrenia are believed to be traceable to an imbalance in certain neurotransmitters, specifically dopamine and glutamate, that interfere with the brain's normal operation. According to PsychCentral, structural differences exist between the brains of schizophrenics and those of people with no trace of the disorder. Whether these differences are a cause or effect of schizophrenia is not known for sure. Developmental neurobiologists, researchers who specialize in the way brains develop in fetuses, have suggested that schizophrenia may be the result of fetal brains forming inappropriate connections during in-utero development. In this model, the abnormal connections lie dormant until they are acted upon by the hormonal changes associated with puberty, which then triggers the symptoms of schizophrenia. Regardless of environmental factors, a strong correlation exists between family members with schizophrenia, especially identical twins, and the risk of developing the disorder."

References:
Mayoclinic
Psychcentral

Those who do not develop schizophrenia do to drug abuse such as children are frequently around others such as family who have evil spirits in their lives and the spirits will sometimes go to the familiar child. This covers the hereditary factor.

What the schizophrenic mostly hears and sees are the dead (humans without God in the afterlife). It has far less to do with demonic possession.

 

[hobelim]

What the schizophrenic mostly hears and sees are the dead (humans without God in the afterlife). It has far less to do with demonic possession.

As I said, the subject of demonic possession is not about the invisible spirits of the damned (no such thing) invading another persons mind. The damned are not invisible, neither is the fruit of their spirit.. It is about one despicable person or coven of people dominating, fleecing, and controlling others through specious and deceptive means, mind control.

The only 'voices' a person can 'hear' in their own brain are the scattered thoughts of their own mind which had been deliberately confused and abused since birth by the unscrupulous in this buyer beware society..

 

[SoCalSmurf]

Here is a reversed photograph of what I believe to be the face of a demon in an orb.

 

[Divine Wind]

"As of 2014, the underlying causes of schizophrenia are not known with any certainty, according to Mayo Clinic. The disorder tends to run in families, though some cases occur without a family history of the condition, leading researchers to conclude that the disorder is caused by some combination of heredity and the patient's environment."

"Whatever the underlying cause, the proximate reason for the symptoms of schizophrenia are believed to be traceable to an imbalance in certain neurotransmitters, specifically dopamine and glutamate, that interfere with the brain's normal operation. According to PsychCentral, structural differences exist between the brains of schizophrenics and those of people with no trace of the disorder. Whether these differences are a cause or effect of schizophrenia is not known for sure. Developmental neurobiologists, researchers who specialize in the way brains develop in fetuses, have suggested that schizophrenia may be the result of fetal brains forming inappropriate connections during in-utero development. In this model, the abnormal connections lie dormant until they are acted upon by the hormonal changes associated with puberty, which then triggers the symptoms of schizophrenia. Regardless of environmental factors, a strong correlation exists between family members with schizophrenia, especially identical twins, and the risk of developing the disorder."

References:
Mayoclinic
Psychcentral

Those who do not develop schizophrenia do to drug abuse such as children are frequently around others such as family who have evil spirits in their lives and the spirits will sometimes go to the familiar child. This covers the hereditary factor.

What the schizophrenic mostly hears and sees are the dead (humans without God in the afterlife). It has far less to do with demonic possession.

You OP says causes aren't known, but now you admit there are indications for some such as Schizophrenia.

There are many mental disorders. Some are physical, some are mental or brain chemistry. Some are understood, some less so. However, like physical diseases, while the causes aren't fully understood, there are treatments which alleviate suffering.

FWIW, I do not believe a loving, all merciful God would inflict innocent people with evil nor allow evil to take them like we often see in the movies. Therefore, I think the idea of "demonic possession" to be pure bullshit.

 

[SoCalSmurf]

1 Samuel 16:14. But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

This is considered by the Catholic Church to have been Temporal Punishment for Saul's disobedience.

All creation is under God.

Jesus and the Apostles would cast out demons.

 

[Divine Wind]

1 Samuel 16:14. But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

This is considered by the Catholic Church to have been Temporal Punishment for Saul's disobedience.

All creation is under God.

Jesus and the Apostles would cast out demons.

Healing people be it from disease or "demons" still healing.

Let's not forget that the Gospels were not written by Jesus nor, probably, by any of the Apostles plus they were written decades after the events, up to 100 years IIRC.

 

[SoCalSmurf]

The original authors of the four gospels are the Apostles...Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John.

 

[Divine Wind]

The original authors of the four gospels are the Apostles...Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Actually, not. Who Wrote the Four Gospels of the New Testament? An Introduction to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Do you also believe the Earth is only 6000 years old? That God flooded the Earth to over the top of Everest? If that last part was true, how could Noah, his family and all the critters survive the temperature and lack of oxygen at 36,000+ feet?

 

[SoCalSmurf]

I do not really have an opinion on how old the earth is.

 

[Divine Wind]

I do not really have an opinion on how old the earth is.

The Bible infers 6000 years. Is the Bible wrong? What about the Flood and 36,000 feet?

 

[SoCalSmurf]

I would believe the bible before I would believe others. I find no errors in scripture. You must be a genius if you find error in scripture.

 

[Divine Wind]

You are free to believe God is evil and will inflict innocent people with demons, but I believe God is all powerful, all merciful and all knowing.

 

[SoCalSmurf]

I believe that God is all powerful, merciful, and all knowing as well.

 

[SoCalSmurf]

You are free to believe God is evil and will inflict innocent people with demons, but I believe God is all powerful, all merciful and all knowing.

I do not believe that God is evil. A person can do an evil and not be evil. God is not all merciful. Otherwise hell would not exist.