S5 E1: Season 5 Backstory and Ground Rules

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Season 5 launches with this episode! Season 5 will cover the supernatural and paranormal from a Spirit-led perspective. This is going to be a challenging and interesting season! In this episode, Glenn explains the backstory of Season 5, and some of the ground rules he will follow for the season.

The Bible will be the source of truth for this season, even though extra-biblical books and podcasts will be discussed. As Glenn points out in the ground rules, kindness will be displayed when discussing other podcast hosts or authors.

This episode has a transcript. If your podcast player does not support transcripts, please go to the Transcripts section of https://spiritledhope.com/ . These transcripts have been edited for accuracy and are typically of higher quality than those produced automatically by many podcast apps.

Transcript

S5 E1 TRANSCRIPT 

BACKSTORY AND GROUND RULES

INTRODUCTION

Hello everyone and welcome to Spirit-Led Hope. My name is Glenn Erichsen, and in this episode, we are discussing:

     THE SEASON 5 BACKSTORY AND GROUND RULES

Thank you for joining me as we start Season 5. I enjoyed taking a summer break but now it is time to settle down and create some new episodes.

Season 5 is going to be very different than the prior 4 seasons. That is because for part of the season we are going beyond the Bible, and I will explain more about that later. In this season, we are going to look at the supernatural and the paranormal. As we do this, we are going to do our best to view the supernatural and the paranormal from a Spirit-led perspective. I have no idea how that is going to look. To be transparent, I am still processing a lot of the stuff I have been studying. I want this season to be useful, and not just a rehash of what is already out there. Whether I succeed in that or not, I think it should be an interesting season!

BACKSTORY

You might be wondering why Season 5 is headed in this direction. I originally thought we would be doing systematic theology, or even artificial intelligence, this season. But this direction seems right to me and ties in very well with the first four seasons. We have already talked a lot about the supernatural and worldviews, and I have no doubt that Season 5 will build on some of the things we have already talked about.

Looking back, I can see that the seeds of this season were planted in early 2023. A podcast came out called, “The Exorcist Files.” I do not even remember how I found it, but after hearing the first episode, I wanted to hear more.

“The Exorcist Files” is a collaboration between a Catholic priest, Father Carlos Martins and an executive producer, Ryan Bethea, who is a Protestant Christian. On this podcast, which is audio only, voice-actors reenact some of the stories surrounding the exorcisms performed by Father Martins. But that is not what appealed to me. 

From the priest’s perspective the goal of the podcast is to serve as a vehicle in which Jesus and Catholic theology can be presented. That is what I was interested in. I did not know much about Catholic beliefs, but the podcast has been helping me see where Protestant and Catholic beliefs merge or diverge. The show also has guests, and they address topics related to religion, science, and the supernatural. All of those topics are interesting to me.

When I started listening to “The Exorcist Files,” I had this moment where I was aware the Holy Spirit wanted me to pay attention to what was being said. It was a curious moment for me…because I was already interested in the podcast. But I realized that God wanted me to become aware of areas in which I did not know much. So, I started paying more attention to the “The Exorcist Files” and that exercise began to point to other podcasts that I would normally never have listened to.

For example, there is another podcast called “Blurry Creatures.” “Blurry Creatures” started out as a show to talk about Bigfoot. And by Bigfoot, I mean the mysterious, hairy, man-like creature who supposedly lives in the wilds of North America and is often called Sasquatch. In fact, the Pacific Northwest where I live is supposed to be prime Sasquatch territory.

That is not a show I would have normally listened to. But imagine my surprise when I was listening to the first episode, and one of the hosts of the show claimed that one of the main reasons he believes in Bigfoot, is the Bible. That was very surprising to me.

And that show led to other books and podcasts. And all the while, as I read and listened, funny things began to happen. These topics I was studying kept popping up in conversations. And that was evidence showing me how much hunger there is to know about the supernatural and the paranormal. This hunger is not limited to any specific group. There seems to be a universal interest. Many people are interested in learning all about it and accept it as true. But there are also groups whose mission is to deny it and prove that it is false…that there is no such thing as the supernatural or the paranormal.

And many of these conversations happen in the Church just like in other places. What I can clearly see, is that this universal interest in the supernatural and paranormal is of great importance to Christians. If you have listened to Season 1 and 2, you know that the Bible does present and assume a supernatural worldview. There is no getting around it. Our faith in God is a belief in the supernatural.

However, that does not mean that every supernatural or paranormal experience is endorsed by God. Speaking as a Christian, it is up to us, as people with a supernatural worldview, to understand God’s perspective on these things and live our lives in accordance with God’s wishes...through a Spirit-led life. 

And that is the backstory of how we got to the topic for Season 5.

A FEW DEFINITIONS

One of the things I learned right away is that the definitions of “supernatural” and “paranormal” seem to vary depending on who you talk to. And this can be frustrating. I thought I would solve the problem by looking up the definitions in the Webster dictionary, but that was not as helpful as I thought it would be.

For example, the Webster dictionary describes the adjective form of “supernatural” as “of or relating to an order of existence beyond the visible universe especially of or relating to God or a god, demigod, spirit, or devil.”

And that fits with how I typically consider and use the word “supernatural.”

But then Webster goes on to say that the supernatural is “a departing from what is usual or normal especially so as to appear to transcend the laws of nature.”

That seems to me to be a bit fuzzier. If a magic act in Vegas appears to transcend the laws of nature, does that become a supernatural act? I would not say it does, but this definition leaves a lot of room for something to be called supernatural.

What about paranormal? What does it mean? Well, the Webster definition was straight to the point. Webster defines “paranormal” as “not scientifically explainable.” And that seems fine, until Webster links paranormal directly with, you guessed it, “supernatural.”

So where does that leave us? Do the two words mean the same thing? After looking at many examples, I do not think they do. I would say that when we talk about “the supernatural,” we are talking about things that transcend natural laws entirely. This will apply to God, miracles, angels, and demons…these are the things we have typically talked about in this podcast. Science does not have the tools to investigate these things directly. There will always be an element of faith present.

“The paranormal,” on the other hand, might be explainable by science...someday. For example, there are videos of unidentified objects moving through the sky. Those videos allow us to study these objects using tools of science. If a sample of hair from Bigfoot is obtained, we can apply scientific measurements to that hair. The paranormal is not outside of the realm of scientific inquiry and might be explainable in the future.

That is my understanding of the two words, and I will loosely follow that understanding. But even there, we need to be flexible. For example, you can watch videos about ghost hunters doing their things with electronic measuring devices. But what if it turns out that ghosts are demons? Some might consider ghost hunting a paranormal activity while others will make the case that ghost hunters are actually engaging in a supernatural activity.

The bottom line is that, in this podcast, we will be flexible and not worry about precise definitions when we see the paranormal and supernatural overlap.

There is one more word we should consider and that is “preternatural.” Webster defines “preternatural” as something “beyond what is normal or natural.” There is no necessary implication for anything divine or spiritual.

I recently visited the small town of Forks in Washington State. You may recognize this as the town featured in the Twilight novel series which was turned into five movies.  In case this is new to you, the books (and movies) are about vampires and werewolves. Vampires and werewolves have strength and abilities beyond what normal humans have. And yet, vampires and werewolves are not considered divine or spiritual beings. So, we call these types of abilities preternatural.

And with that, I am shaking my head. I never thought we would be talking about vampires, unidentified flying objects, and ghosts on this podcast. I do not know what to say, other than a life with God is not boring!

GROUND RULES

Because Season 5 is so different, I want to give a few “ground rules” of how we are going to look at these topics.

The first thing we need to realize is that we are going to be looking at material that is extra-biblical…in other words, we will look at material not found in the Bible. We are going to discuss things like books and podcasts that are popular today. We will also look at ancient writings that are not considered in the canon of Scripture. For example, we will look at the book of Enoch, which is referenced in the Bible, but not part of it.

But just because we are looking at material not in the Bible, I do not want you to think that we are ignoring the Bible. In fact, it is just the opposite. We will use the Bible to help us evaluate how to view and think about the extra-Biblical material. No one needs to worry that I have been abducted by aliens and had my brain swapped out. This is still a podcast based on the truth of the Bible and a relationship with God through the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit.

Another important ground rule is that we will be generous and kind wherever and whenever people are involved. I already mentioned Father Martins and Ryan Bethea of “The Exorcist Files.” I did not name them, but I also mentioned the hosts of the “Blurry Creatures” podcast. It would be easy to go down a rabbit trail and find areas of disagreement with these shows and criticize the hosts. But we are not going to do that. We may disagree with some of the things said, but we will do it in a respectful way that promotes dialog and does not shut it down.

An obvious place to see this is with Father Carlos Martins. In “The Exorcist Files,” Father Martins presents Catholic views that I do not believe are supported by Scripture. In fact, there are protestants who confidently assert that a person who practices Catholicism is not truly a Christian. I am going to try and not get caught up in that debate in Season 5. I would rather deal with supernatural and paranormal beliefs on a case-by-case basis and avoid too many rabbit trails. Father Martins and I may disagree on some topics, but I am not going to vilify him or treat him unkindly because he is Catholic and believes differently than I do. 

It has been very interesting for me to listen to the Catholic perspective since I knew so little about it. There are times when Father Martins has talked about Jesus in a way that was almost word-for-word something I have said before or wished I would have said. And then, he will say something that sounds so bonkers to me I do not know how he can believe that. But in listening to him, I am confident that he genuinely pursues God in the way that seems right to him and that he believes is supported by Scripture. So, I believe it is important to be respectful to him and speak kindly about him, even in our disagreements that are significant.

This approach I am taking will become very obvious when we talk about another podcast called “The Telepathy Tapes.” “The Telepathy Tapes” is hosted by a filmmaker and director named Ky Dickens. “The Telepathy Tapes” presents paranormal cases where non-verbal autistic children supposedly communicate through telepathy. This podcast caught the imagination of thousands of people and rapidly became one of the most popular podcasts. 

Now, in this podcast and its companion “The Telepathy Tapes Talk Tracks,” there are some promotions of mediums who speak to the dead. Most Christians with some knowledge of Scripture will recognize this as an area which God has placed “off limits” to us. But I do not believe that we should speak poorly of Ky Dickens because of this. 

I do not know her motivation for the podcast. I think that she is genuinely interested in the autistic community and believes she is helping them. I believe there is also financial motivation. I also do not know if Ky Dickens considers herself a Christian or not. The point is I want to foster communication with people like Ky Dickens so they can see the love God has for them and possibly see where some of the things she promotes, are not helpful.

What I am hoping to do is embody Ephesians 6:12 which says:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.

Ephesians 6:12 CSB

I am worried about the battles with supernatural forces, not people.

To be clear, being kind and respectful to people does not mean that I will passively go along with whatever they say. In fact, I will try to be very clear where I believe differently based on the Bible. Kindness does not automatically mean agreement. We can passionately disagree but still love people well. I hope this makes sense to you and you can see what I am trying to do.

Another ground rule is that I am not trying to become an expert in every supernatural or paranormal field. There are people who spend much of their spare time studying aliens, conspiracy theories, Bigfoot, you name it. That will not be me. I will try to study enough so that I can provide useful information, but I will admittedly have a level of ignorance on several of the topics. I believe that my time is better spent serving God and others in the way that he has equipped and called me. Being a Bigfoot hunter does not fall into that category.

That said, I believe I will be able to help us understand how to live a Spirit-led life even when confronted with our own ignorance about supernatural or paranormal events.

And finally, my last ground rule is to be cautious when it comes to using rigid dogmatism. The universe is a very large place, and I am confident I do not know everything there is to know. Some paranormal topics are mind boggling. Where the Bible is silent, or where we are uninformed, I believe we should be careful about which convictions we carve in stone. We can be passionate in our relationship with God and be open to learning something new. We do not need to be afraid because the truth of Scripture will help us evaluate the supernatural and paranormal, even if it is something outside of our normal experience.

CLOSING

In our next episode, we will be doing a little more groundwork for the season. We will be looking at two contrasting Christian worldviews.

As always, you can send me comments, suggestions, or questions, by email at glenn@spiritledhope.com, or simply use the Contact Form at spiritledhope.com. That is spiritLEDhope.com. You can also send me a one-way text message by going to the episode show notes and clicking on the link with your smart phone. If you find these episodes useful, please spread the word and share them with your friends.

As we begin Season 5…

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  

Until the next episode, take care.

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