Concepts of God (The nature of a \'Creator\')

by BBella , Friday, April 15, 2016, 22:21 (3142 days ago) @ dhw

Dhw: It is a fact that different people have had different experiences of an apparent afterlife, and so it is a fact that diversity is a feature of the hypothesis. But I don't see how you can call it a “scientific” fact. 
> BBELLA: Ok, so better said: It is an indisputable fact that millions of people have differing experiences of the afterlife. Not scientific fact - just an indisputable fact.
> 
> Thank you. Please forgive my pedantry -Nothing to forgive. In fact I appreciate your ability to slice and dice ideas up into tiny pieces as you go. 
 
>And for those who believe in reincarnation (the "heavier state"), as you mention below, there is even the possibility of metempsychosis - living again in another form. I vaguely remember asking you what form you would like to come back in if this is an option, but I can't remember the answer!-I don't remember you asking the question before now, but if there were such a thing as reincarnation, I think I've already went the animal route - probably not that many lives ago - lol! It took me some time to get accustomed to humans in my life, as I came with an extreme affinity for animals and an early distant feeling of disdain for humans that took years to get over. But circumstances and genes could account for that, who knows? So except for possibly a bird, I don't think I'd do the animal thing here (again?). But if there were such a thing, I would hope the possibilities were endless to choose from in many other levels of being, so I have no desire to choose before it's time.-> 
> Dhw: However, “states of being” seems to indicate some kind of spiritual hierarchy that culminates in God. Perhaps you could explain this in terms of our i-dentity?
> BBELLA: just using the small amount of facts I know about what I've heard about the afterlife and trying to make some sense of the diverse accounts and what that might mean - other than the easy answer - hallucinations. 
> DAVID: I can state categorically that they are not hallucinations. No study by any of the authors describes them that way. Having dealt with hallucinatory patients, their thoughts and what they imagine is totally disorganized, and the NDE stories I've heard from patients are quite reasonable and organized.
> 
> I think this is a very important point, and I would not limit it to NDEs. Of course there are undoubtedly many psychic experiences that are fake, or hallucinatory, or just plain misinterpretations of events that do have an everyday explanation. But there are far too many instances - I can think of several even within my own family circle of pretty sceptical folk - that simply cannot be explained or dismissed in such a manner. [...]I certainly do not discount these experiences. But of course one has to distinguish between the facts and people's interpretations of the facts, and since you rightly point out that different people have all kinds of different experiences, we do perhaps come back to solipsism. A Christian's experience of an afterlife may be very different from that of a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist, or a Seventh Day Adventist. And one must also bear in mind that some of these experiences are extremely unpleasant - it's not all peace and love. -Aside from solipsism or any other mental experience, given the fact that there are so many differing accounts of these experiences (though many are uncannily similar) - if you were to go out on a limb for a moment and accept these differing experiences as reality, what do you think would be a good explanation that would fit all of these folks experiences? You do not have to use any known ideas in your answer - you can make up one like I did.