?The works I have done you can do??Jesus

DURING THE time of Moses and up to the time of Jesus Christ, people with extraordinary mental powers, such as the ability to interpret dreams, heal the sick, foretell the future, read other people?s minds and cast out evil spirits, were considered to be miracle workers specially chosen by God. Today?s modern Christians consider them evil and disciples of the devil.

What accounts for such a turn-around of attitude toward what we now call psychic or paranormal powers? I would blame ignorance or lack of proper information about these things and religious bias as the main reasons for such a drastic change.

During the Middle Ages, the masses were kept ignorant of many things; only the elite, the priesthood and the aristocracy were literate. The masses were kept from knowing things, except what the religious authorities wanted them to know. They could not question the authority figures, they could only obey and submit themselves completely to whatever was asked of them to believe.

Despite the advances in literacy and spread of information due to the invention of the printing press and now the Internet, the prevailing attitude of today?s Church officials regarding things of the mind and higher consciousness are still regarded with suspicion rather than awe. People with tremendous psychic powers are feared and often ostracized rather than admired and respected.

The Christian Church, it seems, has never outgrown its medieval thinking about people with paranormal or extraordinary abilities. During the Middle Ages, the Church even institutionalized the persecution and execution of people who were considered ?witches? by establishing the dreaded Inquisition. It was mandated to seek out, prosecute and burn at the stakes any person, whether man, woman or child, who exhibited such powers, because they were a sure sign of being in league with the devil. Such powers were considered evil because of the mistaken belief that such powers could only come from the devil, not from God.

How the venerable Church fathers arrived at such a conclusion defies all known laws of rational thinking. Why, even Jesus Christ displayed many of such powers during his lifetime on earth, yet he was not considered to be in league with the devil.

Paranormal skills

What are some of these paranormal or psychic powers demonstrated by Jesus Christ? Let?s name a few of them:

Telepathy or the ability to read minds. The Bible says: ?He knew men?s hearts,? and there were also several passages saying explicitly that he knew what the other people, especially his disciples, were thinking.

Teleportation. He is seen with some people and suddenly he would disappear and be instantly elsewhere. He also displayed such powers when he and his disciples were out into the sea some 3 miles away. When they were about to go back, Christ stepped into the boat and immediately they found themselves on the shore. This passage can be found in (John 6:16-21).

Psychic reading. He displayed this mental power when he told the Samaritan woman at the well about her personal life which he could not have known by normal means. He told her she was living with a man who was not her husband and that she had five husbands before this. (John 4:18) Isn?t this an example of psychic reading or telepathy?

Paranormal healing. Of all psychic or paranormal powers demonstrated by Christ, healing was the most numerous one. In fact, he did so many healing miracles that it is a wonder why healing was not made one of the sacraments by the Catholic Church, whereas because of the single act of being at a wedding in Cana, marriage became a sacrament. Why not a sacrament of healing?

See Mark 1:40-41, in which Jesus heals a leper for his faith, Luke 7:1-10, in which He heals a centurion?s servant, and Matthew 4:23, which ascribe to Jesus the power to heal any disease or sickness.

Materialization. He fed 5,000 people with only a few pieces of bread and fish. He could only have done this by materializing them. (Matthew 14:13-21) There are spiritual people living today who have also demonstrated their power of materialization or the ability to make things appear from nowhere. One of them is the Indian spiritual guru Satya Sai Baba and the Sri Lankan guru Swami Premananda, whom I met in Manila. I have also witnessed many materializations done by our faith healers and psychic surgeons.

Levitation. He demonstrated this power by walking on water. And he even made St. Peter do the same, who succeeded in doing so until he lost his faith and sank. He had to be pulled up by Christ himself, asking: ?Why did you doubt?? (Matthew 14:23-31)

Precognition or foretelling the future. He demonstrated this psychic power at least twice. First, when he told Peter: ?Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.? And the second time he told the future was during the last supper when he announced to the startled disciples: ?One of you is going to betray me.? Both these events took place exactly as Jesus had predicted them to happen.

A priest told me once that Jesus could do all those miracles because he is God. But in the Bible, Jesus said: ?The works that I have done you can do, and much more than these.? (John 14:12).

Note: One-day Basic ESP & Intuition Development seminar in Davao City on Aug. 28, call Jess Saplala at 09178313649. The next Soulmates, Karma & Reincarnation seminar will be held Aug. 14, 1-7 p.m. at Rm. 308 Prince Plaza I Cond., Legazpi St., Greenbelt, Makati. Call 810-7245; tele-fax 815-9890; e-mail jaimetlicauco@yahoo.com.