Does the Supernatural Exist?
Simply put - no. In this article and in my book, the Lens of Faith, I give the reasons why.
The experience of the supernatural is always linked to the culture in which it occurs. It has been pointed out many times before that only religious believers experience the attacks of evil spirits, not atheists.
One would think that atheists are the most exposed to the attacks of demons. They do not know them and cannot protect themselves from demonic attacks, can they? It turns out to be the exact opposite. A revealing quote from Theresa Bane:
"Professing that the demon showed itself to be real in a number of fantastic ways, such as by demonstrating acts of levitation, causing both people and objects to float around the room or religious symbols and holy icons to burst into flame, and speaking through the mouths of their prey in long dead languages or sharing secrets only the victim could have known. As remarkable as all this may sound, it is even more remarkable that no one has ever managed to record such an event with either convincing still photography or video. These events never occur when a skeptic, non- believer, or openminded third party is present. Nor are these types of people ever victimized by demons; it seems they would be rather easy prey when compared to the devoutly fortified religious individual who would be knowledgeable in how best to confront them. Yet the latter are exactly the sort of people that the infernal habitually afflict. " Theresa Bane - Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures, pages 7-8.
The experience of the supernatural is the subject of many jokes and quips. The famous atheist evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has said:
"How thoughtful of God to arrange matters so that, wherever you happen to be born, the local religion always turns out to be the true one."
The Catholic philosopher Thomas Aquinas believed that those brought up in the forest or among wolves would receive the gospel by miracle. But there is no evidence that they did.
The Christian God, who is supposed to be unlimited, always seems to work in a very limited way. Would it not have been fair of YHWH to give the American Indians or the Australian aborigines some inkling of his "true religion"? Had the colonizers and missionaries in Australia or America encountered even a single tribe that knew the Trinity and the Christian "Messiah" before they arrived, it would have been wonderful evidence for the Christian religion. But they did not.
Most religions have stories about the appearances of gods or other supernatural beings. Yet, none of them seem to have stories about culturally alien gods appearing to them. The apparitions are invariably limited to gods that were already known to them in their culture.
Prophet Muhammad let Muslims know that the dreams would be a continuation of prophecy after his death. Many Muslims receive instructions from Muhammad in dreams for many of life's problems. Egyptian Sufis and Coptic Christians seek visionary guidance and healing from Muhammad and Sufi masters. There is even a woman who claims to have received a full Sufi education without ever attending a Sufi meeting. Her husband, who had no prior knowledge of Sufism, learned it from her. But no Christians or Buddhists seem to receive help from Mohammed or Muslim sages.
Mahayana Buddhists seek help from Boddhisattvas who assist ordinary people in a spiritual way. Boddhisattvas include both earthly people who are destined to become enlightened, and legendary, celestial beings who postpone their liberation from samsara in order to help others. Boddhisattvas are encountered in visions. There are deathbed visions in which both monks and lay people report seeing various spiritual beings, including the Buddha and several Boddhisattavas such as Amitabha Buddha and Kuan Yin, coming from the other world. However, they do not seem to approach Muslims or Mormons.
Many Daoists have received communications from gods or immortals, especially the Immortal Lü Dongbin. They appeared in dreams and held seances in which they transmitted bíographies, devotional instructions, and poetry. This type of séance is still practiced in Daoist circles. Many communications were also used to create new movements within their religion. Neither Sikhs nor Scientologists have received messages from the Immortals.
Epiphanies or apparitions often occurred in ancient Greece, too. Many people experienced physical manifestations of gods in person, either in their waking state or in a daytime vision. The Athenian messenger Filippides had an epiphany of Pan as he was running to the Spartans for help. The Spartan general Lysander had a dream vision of Zeus. The Greeks and Romans slept in the temples of Asclepius in hopes of a divine dream. In the morning, they shared their dreams with the temple priests, who helped interpret them.4 Many Greek heroes had cults after they died, and it was believed they were able to interact with the living, grant wishes, demand soothing, or even appear physically among the living. Apparently, the apparitions of the Greek and Roman gods have stopped as soon as people have stopped believing in them.
Even the Holy Mother who has been known to be a sort of cosmopolitan never appears to non-Catholics.
"To put it simply, Catholics were primed by their cultural background to have visions of the Virgin Mary, whereas Buddhists experienced apparitions of bodhisattvas - but the opposite was never heard of. " Olav Hammer - The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Vol II, 2016.
"If humanity were not, the gods would not be".
Yoruba proverb
Why doesn't the ancient Greek god Dionysus appear to anyone any more? Maybe he and the other Greek gods are in Hades waiting for people to start believing in them again.
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