The Reality of Parapsychology — part 4, Remote Viewing in the Bible
This is the latest in a series which disputes the claim made in an article by Jack Vance entitled ‘People Still Believe in Psychic Powers Despite the Evidence’.
In the first article I discussed the CIA’s successful remote viewing project for defence purposes called Stargate. It’s interesting to note that this is not a modern practice, and that according to the Bible this was already happening in ancient times, at least on one occasion. Given the date of writing, it isn’t possible to guarantee the authenticity of this, but it is nevertheless interesting.
This is the story of Elisha’s servant, found in the Second Book of Kings chapter 6. The situation is as follows. The king of Aram is at war with Israel and makes various plans. Unfortunately for him Elisha has ESP abilities — which we would now call clairvoyance, thus the ability to view remotely — and keeps warning the king of Israel about what the king of Aram is up to. Suspecting a traitor in his own ranks, he interrogates his officers, who tell him that there are no traitors, rather that “it is Elisha, the prophet in Israel, who tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber”. The king’s response is to send an elite force to surround the city where Elisha is staying. The next morning Elisha’s servant gets up, goes outside and sees the siege.
Understandably perturbed, he calls out to him, “Oh no! Master! What will we do?” Elisha replies, “Stop being afraid, because there are more with us than with them!” Obviously the servant does not know what Elisha is talking about, so Elisha prays, asking the LORD, “Please make him able to really see!” And so when the LORD enabled the young man to see, he looked, and there was the mountain, filled with horses and fiery chariots surrounding Elisha!
What are we to make of this? It does not matter whether the incident ever happened historically, or is intended to be taken literally. The author wants us to understand that there are certain people who can live in, or tune in to, a different reality. Also, that certain other people (the servant) can live in the world and be completely unaware of what is really going on. In this instance, there is a paranormal reality lying behind his consciousness, to which he does not normally have access. It requires a ‘divine’, that is a paranormal intervention, in order for him to see it.
It is my hypothesis that modern skeptical (materialist) scientists can be compared to Elisha’s servant before the Lord’s intervention. They are completely unaware of, and have no reason to suspect, what is actually going on all around them, albeit at a different level. It is interesting in this context that the term clairvoyance means clear-seeing.
==========================================================
I hope you have enjoyed this article. I have written in the past about other topics, including spirituality, metaphysics, psychology, science, Christianity, politics and astrology. All of those articles are on Medium, but the simplest way to see a guide to them is to visit my website (click here and here). My most recent articles, however, are only on Medium; for those please check out my lists.
