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Original poster

Mediums - the Christian perspective?

31 replies

sleepychunky · 10/02/2009 13:18

Hi all, hope you can help me. I am a Christian but DH isn't and nor are any of his family. 4 members of DH's family went for individual readings with a medium at the weekend. Talking to them afterwards and hearing how accurate this person was regarding details of their lives he couldn't possibly have known (the sceptic in me always thought they must have done some past research or made the people having the readings fill out some form or something), made me feel very uneasy. I was mentioned by the medium in two of the readings as well (my MIL and SIL), which I'm finding a bit scared about.
They were asking me my opinions on the medium (knowing I'm a Christian) but I found it very hard to explain why I felt the whole thing was dangerous and scary. Can anybody help me with Christian viewpoints/links on the matter of mediums?
Thanks for any pointers!

OP posts:

Iklboo · 10/02/2009 13:23

Sorry, I'm not a Christian but I've had friends who've been to mediums and raved how accurate they are.
When my boss went to one she brought in a tape of the reading and it was amazing how, well, general the point were but she had subconsciously made them fit her life and current situation

I'm not suggesting that this is the case with your relatives but it's something to bear in mind

bloss · 10/02/2009 13:43

Message withdrawn

Original poster

sleepychunky · 10/02/2009 15:40

Thanks bloss, trust me I have no intention of going anywhere near them myself. I just wanted to know how to back up my beliefs and I wasn't sure where the right verses were in the Bible.

OP posts:

lisaofpalatine · 10/02/2009 15:44

ialways thought that mediums and witchcraft was kinda under theheading of false gods!

purpleduck · 10/02/2009 15:58

I wouldn't classify myself as Christian, but I do believe in God.
I think with things like that that I make my decision based on what the intention is, and what the outcome is.
I do think that it can be a gift to help people - I don't think God gives people these abilities by accident.

That's just my view!

KayHarker · 10/02/2009 16:09

What you're looking for specifically is in Deuteronomy 18. This is a good link to some different translations.

MaryBSnowing · 10/02/2009 16:14

Or you could look at Acts 16 verse 16 onwards, the story of the girl with powers of divination. Whilst I would not suggest that all Mediums are possessed by demons, it certainly would suggest they were not seen in a good light.

AMumInScotland · 10/02/2009 16:43

Not exactly a Christian viewpoint (though I am one), but I'd agree Ikiboo's point about the generalness of what they usually say. People who believe in mediums will take what they say and apply it to themselves - skillful ones can also make statements in a way that people will almost always agree with, while feeling that the medium has said something very profound and relevant to them individually. It's like the things which magazine horoscopes say - if you read them, you'll always see things which apply to you, even if you read one for a completely different sign, or one from 6 months ago.

So, I don't believe they are meaningful and accurate, but I also don't believe that they are demon-inspired either - just a lot of flannel, dressed up to sound convincing.

Not sure if you'd be able to convince your DH's family of that though!

UnquietDad · 10/02/2009 16:44

Just so we're clear, the atheist viewpoint is generally also that they are a lot of flannel dressed up to sound convincing. Phew, we agree on something...

AMumInScotland · 10/02/2009 16:51

Had to happen eventually

Alambil · 10/02/2009 19:01

UQD however will you cope?

I'm with bloss on this one... I'd take it one step further and bind any spirits that entered your DH and his family at the time of the readings in order to stay spiritually sound and safe; but that might just be me

Original poster

sleepychunky · 11/02/2009 11:55

Thanks everyone, will check the references again. But how do you explain what the medium said to my sister-in-law the second she walked in, without any prior meeting and the medium knowing nothing other than her first name? He said "The Australian girl who jumped wants you to know she's really sorry for all the pain she caused". My brother-in-law's girlfriend (before my SIL obviously) was an Australian who committed suicide by jumping off Charing Cross Bridge a few years ago. SIL knew her as they all worked together, and the period after her suicide was very difficult for them all.
It was things like that which got me particularly thinking, as that is no way a general statement which could apply to anybody; it was specifically related to my SIL and it was the first thing the medium said to her without any other discussion.

So they can't be making it up, so how do they know? Has God given them this gift but they aren't using it for His glory, or is it something from the Devil, or is there another explanation?

OP posts:

Original poster

sleepychunky · 11/02/2009 11:58

Actually - bloss, it's 1 John 4 that I'm looking for. Thanks

OP posts:

bloss · 11/02/2009 23:04

Message withdrawn

cornsilk · 11/02/2009 23:08

They lead you to tell them things. Have you seen Derren Brown? He can work out all sorts of things about a person just by studying body language tricking them into telling him things. It's baloney.

Technofairy · 13/02/2009 01:18

Hmmm. I believe in God but am not a church going Christian and I have visited a medium. I was extremely sceptical before hand but there is no way that this woman made generalised statements that I just made fit.

The day after I collected the antique bedroom furniture that my Gran had left me I was upstairs alone sorting it out and putting clothes away. I suddenly from nowhere felt the most oppressive, uncomfortable sensation that truly made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I've never felt anything like it before or since and nor would I want to. I ran at the speed of light downstairs to a bemused DP who thought I was utterly bonkers. I made him come with me everytime I needed to use the loo for the rest of the evening! It was six months later when I visited the medium. Within minutes of the session starting she said 'Your Gran is here and she's saying sorry.' I ask why, she'd always been very loving and I could see no reason for her to apologise. 'She's sorry she frightened you in your bedroom' she says 'she just wanted to hug you and she got too close to you so you could feel her and she frightened you. She just wanted you to know that she loves you.' Yes, it freaked me out but I'd love to know how she worked that one out by reading my body language!

If it was a demon as I'm sure someone will suggest, feeding both me and the medium, then it didn't work cos all it did was reinforce my Christian beliefs which helped me when I lost my Dad and DS had cancer.

Maybe it's just me but I fail to see why a loving God wouldn't allow us to receive messages of hope and love from those who we have lost and care about at times when we need them.

spookshowangel · 13/02/2009 01:59

i`m a christian in the sense that i believe in god nd jesus. but i dont believe that thet bible is the world of god. so i think thatb other stuff is possibly from god. though i do believe that u need to be v carefull when it comes to the occult.

jemart · 13/02/2009 14:16

Occult things very dodgy indeed, not to be dabbled in without good reason. Can't really imagine what a good reason might be either...

believer07 · 15/02/2009 11:05

It is FORBIDDEN. In the Bible it is called NECROMANCY, King Saul went to the witch of zendor to summon up the spirit of Samuel who duly appreared (allowed by God). But after this King saul lost his mind.

I would not touch it with a barge pole. The spirits you are getting when you get into this sort of thing are not your dead relatives they are other spirits.

believer07 · 15/02/2009 11:12

If you want to know something, why not ask God. How come you always have to PAY these people, they are leeches making money off the back of grieving people. Follow the money.

UnquietDad · 15/02/2009 11:15

Alternatively, trust your common sense and ask neither a charlatan nor a made-up deity.

believer07 · 15/02/2009 11:37

Well DAD I would go for the common sense over the charlatan, but God over the common sense...LOL

jemart · 15/02/2009 14:40

Asking questions of made-up anything is a bit batty, asking questions of real things quite a different matter. Some folks do believe in God and take comfort in asking his advice.
Don't go round bashing other peoples beliefs UnquietDad.

UnquietDad · 15/02/2009 14:43

"Asking questions of made-up anything is a bit batty"... well, quite...

EachPeachPearMum · 15/02/2009 16:25

It was actually the Witch of Endor....

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