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BOOK REVIEW, PHYSICS OF HEAVEN - PART 1: Exploring God's Mysteries of Sound, Light, Energy, Vibrations and Quantum Physics by Judy Franklin and Ellyn Davis

by Karl Kemp  
6/03/2020 / Book Reviews


 

All quotations were taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1995 edition unless otherwise noted. Sometimes I make comments in the middle of quotations using brackets [ ] or [[ ]] to make them more obvious. I am using straight quotation marks ("), hyphens (-) instead of dashes, and a few other things like this because some of the internet sites where I post these articles require it. 

CONTENTS:

1. MY INTRODUCTION AND SOME CONCLUSIONS..... 2 

1.1 I'LL BRIEFLY COMMENT HERE ON ALL OF THE SECTIONS OF THIS BOOK - FOREWORD, INTRODUCTION, AND THE CHAPTERS.....   7

2. "FOREWORD" OF THIS BOOK, BY KRIS VALLOTTON..... 15

3. "INTRODUCTION" OF THIS BOOK, "A GLIMPSE OF THINGS TO COME," BY JUDY FRANKLIN..... 22

4. CHAPTER 1 OF THIS BOOK, "THE POWER OF THE ZERO-POINT FIELD," BY JUDY FRAN­­­­KLIN..... 26

5. CHAPTER 2 OF THIS BOOK, "EXTRACTING THE PRECIOUS FROM THE WORTHLESS," BY ELLYN DAVIS..... 30

6. I'll JUST COMMENT ON ONE PARAGRAPH OF CHAPTER 3 OF THIS BOOK, "VIBRATING IN HARMONY WITH GOD," BY BOB JONES..... 35

7. CHAPTER 5, "AUTHENTIC vs. COUNTERFEIT," BY JONATHAN WELTON..... 36 

7.1. A SIX-PART ARTICLE ON THE INTERNET TITLED "SILVA MIND CONTROL" PUBLISHED BY THE JOHN ANKERBERG SHOW IN 1986.....  43 

7.2. THE BOOK, THE BEAUTIFUL SIDE OF EVIL, BY JOHANNA MICHAELSON (Foreword by Hal Lindsey, who was married to Kim, Johanna's sister; Harvest House Publishers, 1982) [Includes "Further Discussion about Yoga."].....  47 

7.3. SOME COMMENTS ON, AND EXCERPTS FROM, THE 51 PAGE BOOK, WITCH DOCTOR: THE STORY OF ARLINDO BARBOSO DE OLIVEIRIA, BY LESTER SUMRALL.....  57 

7.4. FURTHER DISCUSSION REGARDING SUPPOSED COUNTERFEITS.....  60    

8. CHAPTER 6, "GOOD VIBRATIONS," BY ELLYN DAVIS..... 62

9. CHAPTER 10, "SPIRITUAL SYNESTHESIA," by LARRY RANDOLPH..... 63

10. CHAPTER 11, "STRANGE THINGS ARE AFOOT," BY ELLYN DAVIS..... 68

11. CHAPTER 12, "QUANTUM MYSTICISM," BY ELLYN DAVIS..... 69

12. CHAPTER 13, "KEYS TO TAKING YOUR QUANTUM LEAP," BY DAVID VAN KOEVERING..... 71

13. CHAPTER 15, "THE CLARION CALL," BY BENI JOHNSON..... 74

14. SEVERAL EXCERPTS THAT DEAL WITH THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT/OCCULT WORLD..... 75

 

1. MY INTRODUCTION AND SOME CONCLUSIONS. The book was published in 2012 by Destiny Image Publishers, Inc. The book is solidly tied to Bethel Church, Redding California. Judy Franklin is administrative assistant to Bill Johnson, the Senior Leader of Bethel Church, Redding California. The Foreword of the book was written by Kris Vallotton who is Senior Associate Leader of Bethel Church and cofounder of Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM). Bill Johnson wrote two of the chapters in the book and a section in chapter 14; his wife Beni, who also is listed as a Senior Leader of the church, wrote one of the chapters and a section in chapter 14. ((I won't comment on what Bill Johnson said in this book. Neither one of his chapters [chapters 4 and 16] were written for this book; chapter 4, "Recovering Our Spiritual Inheritance," was adapted from one of his audio series, and chapter 16, "Pulling the Tomorrow of God into Today," was excerpted from one of his books. Most of what he says in these chapters is not directly related to the things I'm interested in for this Review/paper. I won't comment at all on chapter 14 which is not directly related to what I'm interested in for this Review/paper. Most of what Beni Johnson says in chapter 15, "The Clarion Call," is in the same category, but I'll comment on what she said about the sound from heaven on the Day of Pentecost.)) The book is still being sold at ­­­­amazon.com, for example, and in the Bethel Church bookstore. 

One primary reason this book is so important is that Bethel Church is so influential. (This makes my Review/paper all the more important.) And some of the leaders of that church, very much including Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton, frequently speak and minister other places and are often seen and heard on the media. Brian Liebacher, who is the Jesus Culture Director, endorses this book and the ministries of Judy Franklin and Ellyn Davis with a paragraph at the front of the book. I am not very familiar with Jesus Culture, but I know that they are very influential, especially with young people. "Jesus Culture is an American international Christian revivalist youth outreach ministry that was formed at the Bethel Church of Redding, California. Jesus Culture Ministry hosts conferences and operates a record label, Jesus Culture Music, to share its message and spread worship" (Wikipedia).  

It is significant that the things I am discussing in this paper are not at all limited to Bethel Church. They are widespread in the Christian church of our day. Many or most of the writers in this book are not part of Bethel Church. Most, or all, of the writers of this book would fit under the label "prophetic ministries," not that all of the people who fit under that label would necessarily agree with the things that are taught in this book. Another label that would fit most, or all, of the writers of this book is the "apostolic and prophetic movement." 

I believe the gift of prophecy is for today, but not at all on the level of our Biblical foundation. I also believe that God calls some Christians to be apostles and prophets, but again, they are not on the level of the foundational apostles and prophets that God used to lay the foundations for new-covenant salvation. And it must be understood that just because people say that they have been called to be apostles or prophets doesn't make it so, and there is no guarantee that what they say and/or do is of God. I believe that we desperately need the gifts of the Spirit in our day and a pure flow of God's supernatural involvement with His people. It should be super-obvious that the devil shouldn't be the only one working miracles, etc. in our day, and he is working miracles. 

I'll quote the first paragraph on the back cover of the book: "Some of the most influential and prophetic voices of the Spirit-empowered movement have joined together to help you start hearing the sounds of heaven and discovering how natural elements - sound, light, energy, vibration, and even quantum physics - are supernaturally bringing Heaven to Earth." As I will discuss in this paper, I don't believe that these writers are able to demonstrate that "natural elements - sound, light, energy, vibration, and even quantum physics" are supernaturally bringing Heaven to Earth.  

I kept hearing about this book over the past few years, and I recently got motivated to read it and to read some more of what others say about it. I don't know much about Bill Johnson or Bethel Church, but I have to say that I'm shocked by much of the content of this book. Bill Johnson considers himself a Bible-believing evangelical Christian who is willing to push the envelope with the goal of producing more results. He doesn't want to quench the work of God. One thing is very clear; he is highly motivated to see everybody get healed. I believe he is a sincere evangelical Christian, but much of the content of this book is far from solid Bible-based Christianity. 

I want to make it very clear that I am not critiquing the writers of this book or their ministries. I don't have the information or insight or competence to do that. I am limiting myself to critiquing some of the content of this book. Also, it is possible that some of the writers have changed what they believe. For one thing, there has been a lot of serious criticism of this book, but it is still being sold, including at Bethel Church.  

Amazon sells the book and they have 126 reviews of the book. Eighty-two of the reviews are positive; 46 are negative. I agree with a lot that is contained in the lengthy negative reviews that I read. For one thing, they were not rejecting the book because the writers are Pentecostals or Charismatics. As I mentioned, I believe we need the gifts of the Spirit in our day, but we must be very careful that we don't abuse them, which has so often happened. And we must be even more careful that we don't tap into the supernatural of Satan's kingdom, which I believe is happening a lot. I believe this book I am reviewing is helping in a big way to open the door to that very serious problem. There are quite a few critiques of this book on the internet, positive and negative critiques.     

My Primary Concerns as I Write this Review. My primary concern is that the readers of The Physics of Heaven are exhorted to become risk-taking explorers and search the New Age/occult world and modern science, with an emphasis on quantum physics, for things that we need to function at a powerful level, including having an end-time revival that will far surpass what happened at Pentecost. I agree that we need much transformation of much of Christianity in our day, but (in agreement with most Christians throughout the history of Christianity) I BELIEVE THAT WHAT WE NEED IS TO REPENT WHERE REPENTANCE IS REQUIRED AND TO COME INTO ALIGNMENT WITH WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES AND WALK BY THE HOLY SPIRIT! GOD HAS ALREADY PROVIDED EVERYTHING THAT WE NEED! 

God's grace has been provided for us to know what we need to know and to walk in the truth, righteousness, holiness, and power of God with the victory over all sin and demons. We don't need something new. And I believe the Bible makes it clear that we are forbidden to look to the New Age/occult world or to science, very much including quantum physics, for help in becoming what the New Testament calls us to be and to do. It insults God for us to look elsewhere than to Him for the things we need to live in the center of His will, which is what we are called and enabled to do. One thing that we desperately need is to rightly interpret the Bible, especially the New Testament, that will enable us to see that we are called and enabled to walk with the victory over all sin and demons and to appropriate the powerful, sufficient grace of God (through the all-powerful Spirit of God who dwells in all true Christians) that will enable us to be what He has called us to be and to do all that He calls us to do.   

I don't know much about any of the writers of this book, and I would like to believe that some/many of them understand that it isn't right for us to look to the New Age/occult world for things that we need. But I'll quote part of what Ellyn Davis, who is one of the two primary authors behind this book, says on page 18 of her chapter 2, "Extracting the Precious from the Worthless." The title includes going to the New Age/occult world, realizing that much there is demonic and worthless, but looking for the precious things that we need. "They [all of the Christian leaders who contribute to this book] all agree that the next move of God will cause a shift at the deepest level of who we are - perhaps at the very 'vibrational level' that the New Age movement has been exploring. They also all agree that there are precious truths hidden in the New Age that belong to us as Christians and need to be extracted from the worthless." Some writers in this book (as I demonstrate in my Review/paper) believe that by going to the New Age/occult world they are simply taking back things the devil and his people have stolen from God, which supposedly makes it OK. However, I believe it is clear (and I discuss this point in some detail in my Review/paper) that at least most of the supernatural things they are doing originated with the devil and were not stolen from God and His people.    

As I read this book I was frequently surprised by how often obvious misinterpretations of the Bible were used by these writers to support what they were saying. I trust that all, or at least most of the writers, realize the super-importance of the Bible, but it is probably also true that many of them put more of a priority on walking in the supernatural with miracles, revelations, visions, etc. If we aren't careful we can fail to keep the priority on the Word of God. I am reminded of something I heard Kenneth Hagin say: He said that back in the days of the healing/deliverance revivals of which he was a part, that many of the ministers were basing their ministries almost totally on gifts of the Spirit and minimizing the emphasis on understanding, teaching, and living the Word of God. He said he watched many of those ministers eventually fall by the wayside. He also said that he agreed with Smith Wigglesworth, who had a powerful Pentecostal ministry, that we must be people of the Word of God and the Spirit of God, but keeping the priority on the Word of God.   

When I finish this Review/Paper of The Physics of Heaven, I'm going to review the book Experiencing the Heavenly Realm: Keys to Accessing Supernatural Encounters, Expanded Edition by Judy Franklin and Beni Johnson (Destiny Image, 2016), 217 pages. I have read this other book, but I haven't spent much time getting into the details yet. However, I have to say that I am shocked by the content of this other book as much as, or more than, by the content of The Physics of Heaven by Judy Franklin and Ellyn Davis. Maybe I am missing something, but I'm afraid I am not missing much. One of the most shocking things to me is that I haven't seen hardly anyone who has commented on the internet or on amazon.com book reviews who sees any problem with the content of this other book. I desperately want for us to appropriate everything that God makes available to us, and I want to be totally fair to the authors, but, for one thing, it is very important that we don't work things up in the flesh, or, very much worse, end up falling for clever demonic deceptions that are guaranteed to never work for ultimate good, but quite the opposite. I believe we are obligated to check out what is happening. It could prove to be a great blessing for Judy Franklin and everybody else who might be/get involved.  

I'll quote a paragraph from the back cover of Experiencing the Heavenly Realm, adding some comments in brackets: "Discover how to: Activate your capacity to see into the supernatural [[which includes being caught up into the heavenly realm to see, communicate with, and interact with the Lord Jesus. Based on her experiences that she shares in the book, Franklin's experiences went far beyond seeing, communicating with, and interacting with the Lord Jesus: She has also often seen, communicated with, and interacted with God the Father, including sitting on His lap, and with the Holy Spirit, including dancing with Him. Judy leads groups to close their eyes, visualize Jesus, and begin to interact with Him. I don't believe the Bible offers any support whatsoever for doing these things, and we need to know that the occult world has been using visualization for thousands of years to make contact with demons who impersonate people (or other beings, like those who supposedly come here on UFO's, for example) for their evil purposes, including impersonating the Lord Jesus, or Mary.]] Experience a love in the third heaven realm like you have never known before. Be touched and healed by the Lord, emotionally, mentally and physically. [[I believe the things mentioned in these two sentences and the next sentence are readily available to Christians. However, the Bible doesn't indicate that being caught to the third heaven is available, except on very special occasions initiated by God, not to mention seeing God the Father and God the Holy Spirit and interacting with them. Many Christians don't believe God the Father is, or ever will be visible. In agreement with many Christians, I believe the Bible shows that we will be able to see Him after we are glorified and that this is important. (I wrote a paper on this topic, Will We See God the Father after We Are Glorified? It is on my internet site: Google to Karl Kemp Teaching.) And there is widespread agreement that the Holy Spirit is invisible.] Go from knowing about Jesus to knowing Him on an experiential level." I believe we are called to know God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit on an experiential level through the indwelling Holy Spirit. 

 

1.1 I'LL BRIEFLY COMMENT HERE ON ALL OF THE SECTIONS OF THIS BOOK (FOREWORD, INTRODUCTION, AND THE CHAPTERS). Many of them are discussed in much more detail in later chapters of my Review/paper. Some of them are not discussed in later chapters. 

The "Foreword" of the Book by Kris Vallotton. (This Foreword is discussed in more detail in chapter 1 of my Review/paper.) I know that Kris Vallotton's ministry is greatly appreciated by many, and I'm not suggesting that his ministry is not mostly quite good (I don't know much about him), but he missed it here: Whether he intended to do so or not (for one thing, he may not have known much of the content of this book when he wrote the Foreword) he strongly recommends that his readers follow the risk-taking explorers who wrote this book. One major problem is that he seriously misinterpreted Eph. 3:9-10. (Actually, he said Eph. 3:8-9, but he quoted and commented on 3:9-10.) A major problem is that he failed to quote Eph. 3:8 which is part of the sentence and necessary to understand what the apostle Paul was saying, and what he wasn't saying, in 3:9-10.  

What Paul was saying in context was that the mystery of the gospel of new-covenant salvation had been revealed to him and he was sharing this gospel with all that he could, with an emphasis on him being the apostle to the Gentiles. But Vallotton interpreted these verses (along with Rom. 1:20: "Since the creation of the world God's invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made....") to refer to God's revelation, very much including His end-time revelation through the creation: "Creation itself is like heavenly breadcrumbs strategically placed on the path of life to lead us into understanding the depths of God." This supposedly justifies looking to science for the "heavenly breadcrumbs." And then he interpreted Eph. 3:9-10 of the saints - in our day - bringing these things to light. BUT THE APOSTLE PAUL, IN CONTEXT (AS EPH.  3:8, ALONG WITH 3:1-7 AND 3:11-13 SHOW), WAS SPEAKING OF THE FACT THAT HIS MINISTRY HAD ALREADY BROUGHT THESE THINGS TO LIGHT. THE REVELATION THAT WE NEED HAS ALREADY BEEN GIVEN. We don't need to go to science or the New Age/occult world, or to revelation given in our day to get it. There is room for God to reveal some end-time details, but the heart of the gospel has been given and this is where we need to put all the emphasis.    

"Introduction" for the Book by Judy Franklin. Franklin has a serious misinterpretation of 1 Cor. 15:46 which she offers for support of a dominant theme of this book. She says, the "sole purpose of this book is to share what we have discovered so you can go on your own journey with God into the realms of sound, light, energy, vibration, and quantum physics. [These things go with looking to science, especially quantum physics.] Why? Because I believe what the Lord has been showing both of us [her and Ellyn Davis] is the absolute truth that will help us bring God's kingdom to this earth. [This makes this search quite important doesn't it?] The Lord is ready to use sound, light, and energy in ways we never dreamed, but we first have to have some foundational understanding" (pages vii and viii).  

I'll comment briefly on her misinterpretation of 1 Cor. 15:46: "First Corinthians 15:46 says, '[However,] the spiritual is not first, but the natural [things like sound, light, and energy]; then the spiritual [things like a revival greater than what happened at the beginning].' We believe that there's a lot we can learn about God by looking at the natural world. ... We believe that God is revealing things in the sciences, particularly in quantum physics, that can be directly related to the spiritual realm." The problem with her interpretation is that when the apostle Paul said, "the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual" in his context he was speaking of the fact that now we have a natural body, but it will be transformed into a spiritual/glorified body at the end of this age when the Lord Jesus returns. All of 1 Corinthians chapter 15 deals with the resurrection/glorification of our bodies. The thing that initiated this teaching was the fact that some Christians at Corinth were denying the future resurrection/glorification of our bodies. Some thought in terms of getting rid of the physical bodies and being pure spirits, but God determined to resurrect/glorify our bodies.   

Chapter 1 of the Book, "The Power of the Zero-Point Field," by Judy Franklin. She started this chapter with a serious misinterpretation of Rom. 8:18-22. To be brief here, the apostle Paul was prophesying of our being glorified at the end of this age when the Lord Jesus returns, but Franklin says that Paul was prophesying of our being transformed by a "sound from heaven that will literally change the structure of how we think. This new sound will transform us like the transformation spoken of in Romans 12. Our minds will be renewed so that we think like Him and are no longer conformed to this world but conformed to the will of God. [What Franklin said here is a perfect introduction for a dominant point that I am trying to make in this Review/paper. We have already been given the call and the grace to think right, especially in our hearts, and not be conformed to this world. We don’t need anything we could get from science or the New Age/occult world to have and walk in the truth, righteousness, and holiness of God.] Bringing heaven to Earth is our mandate [I don't see the New Testament teaching that we have this mandate. The Lord Jesus will return to save and to judge, and to some extent He will bring heaven to earth in the millennial kingdom. Then, after the great-white-throne judgment at the end of the millennium, He will bring heaven to the new earth in a full sense.] and to do that we need to think more like heaven." (page 2). 

Franklin went on to make a point that is made several times in this book, that the sound of the wind on the Day of Pentecost enabled those early Christians to begin to think right. However, it wasn't the sound that enabled them to think right but the all-important prophesied pouring out and reception of the Holy Spirit. The sound attended the Spirit's coming, but the sound didn't change the believers. 

Franklin says that we all have "zero-point field" power within us. If this natural power that is supposedly built into the universe even exists, there is much doubt that we could ever tap into this power to do anything. Keep in mind that Franklin has already taught us in the Introduction that the natural comes first. The primary point I want to make is that the power (all the power) we need is in the Holy Spirit, not the natural world. (For the record, I doubt that Franklin understands the zero-point field; I don't claim to understand it: A quick look at "zero-point field/energy" on the internet will show how theoretical and controversial this topic is with the scientists.)   

Chapter 2 of the Book: "Extracting the Precious From the Worthless," by Ellyn Davis. This chapter title comes from two lines of Jer. 15:19, but we have a big problem here in that she seriously misinterpreted what is being said in that context. (See my discussion of this chapter in chapter 5 of this Review/paper.) Davis used these misinterpreted words from Jer. 15:19 to support the idea that it's OK for Christians to look in the New Age movement for the "precious" that will help us. She says, "I just wanted to find out if maybe they had found some truths the church hadn't. The strange thing was, much of what I saw and heard embodied biblical principles and could be backed up by Scripture." I believe she is being very much overly generous regarding how much of what they are doing can be backed up by Scripture. She understands that there is very much wrong there at a foundational level that must be categorized as "worthless" - actually it's worse than "worthless," it's demonic. 

The foundation of the New Age/occult world is entirely different than the foundation of Christianity. They don't agree with hardly any, if any, essential doctrines of Christianity, including, for example, what the Bible teaches about God (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), the devil and his kingdom, the fall of man, sin, spiritual death, repentance, faith in God, His Son, and the gospel of new-covenant salvation, the all-important atoning death of the Son of God and His resurrection, the judgment to come, and hell. And they clearly don't believe that the Bible is the very Word of God and the foundation for what they believe. Also, as I discuss in this paper, God's people have been forbidden to look anywhere but God for the things that we need to live in His truth, righteousness, holiness and power, by grace through faith. And we certainly have been forbidden to look to Satan's kingdom for things like healing or revelation/information, or power, or anything else.       

Chapter 3 of the Book: "Vibrating in Harmony with God," by Bob Jones. Bob Jones didn't say much in this chapter that is relevant to the primary topic of my Review/paper, so I won't discuss what he says here, with one exception. I'll comment on his misinterpretation of Isa. 66:2 in chapter 6 of my Review/paper. 

Chapter 4 of this Book: "Recovering Our Spiritual Inheritance," by Bill Johnson. As I mentioned, I won't comment on this chapter. It wasn't written for this book but was excerpted from an audio series, and it isn't directly relevant to the primary topic of my Review/paper. 

Chapter 5 of this Book: "Authentic vs. Counterfeit," by Jonathan Welton. Welton uses the word "counterfeit" some 57 times in this chapter. He says, "Throughout the Bible we see that everything Satan does is a counterfeit of something from God's kingdom" (page 42). And, "This brings us to the most important point of this chapter. If there is a counterfeit, there is an authentic that we need to find and reclaim" (page 42). On page 49, under the subheading "Counterfeits to Reclaim," he mentions that the New Age Movement is a primary place to look for the counterfeits that reveal the authentic, since "they have been trafficking in the church's stolen goods for a long time. I have found throughout Scripture at least 75 examples of things that the New Age has counterfeited, such as having spirit guides, trances, meditation, auras, power objects, clairvoyance, clairaudience, and more. These actually belong to the church, but they have been stolen and cleverly repackaged."  

Welton makes it clear that we want to be careful that we don't end up with a counterfeit instead of the authentic. But he also says, "We need to be much more concerned about reclaiming from the enemy than about being afraid of the deception of counterfeits" (page 45). He encourages us to not be afraid to go there to reclaim the authentic. He says, for one thing, that God is well able to protect us. I don't believe we can rely on God's protection when we are going places where we are forbidden to go. 

A dominant point that I make when discussing this chapter in chapter 7 of my Review/paper is that I don't believe most of the supernatural things that are taking place in the New Age/occult world are counterfeits of God's workings, but rather these are things that the devil has been doing among people from the beginning. Satan has quite a bit of supernatural power to offer those who will look to him. I strongly suggest that the devil tempted Eve with occult power. We have to violate God's commandments to look to Satan and his kingdom for occult, demonic power, revelations, healings, etc. 

Lastly, I need to mention that Welton also includes a serious misinterpretation of the Bible. He wrongly takes the apostle Paul's words of 1 Thess. 5:21 of testing all things and holding on to the good out of Paul's context and extends them to testing the counterfeit in the New Age/occult world, for example, "so we can reclaim the authentic." In context, the apostle was speaking of testing things like prophecies being given in the Christian church. That's quite a difference! What Welton says in this chapter goes along with a prominent theme that is often mentioned in this book. 

Chapter 6 of this Book: "Good Vibrations," by Ellyn Davis. I'll quote the first two paragraphs from what I say in my discussion of this chapter (chapter 8 of my Review/paper): First I'll comment on page 52 that is titled "God's New Sound Is Coming." I'll quote part of what they say here (it is surprising to me): "...we [Ellyn Davis and Judy Franklin] got the idea to find out what Christian leaders might think about our suspicion that not only is God up to something new, but this new 'something' may involve sound, frequency, vibration, or energy. 

We began interviewing all the [Christian] leaders we could find, and were amazed to discover we weren't the only ones crazy enough to be exploring these subjects. [Based on what they go on to say, it is obvious that the only leaders they could find to interview were a rather select group of Christian leaders.] Every leader we interviewed had already been exploring the realms of frequencies, vibrations, and quantum physics. So we were in good company, even if we were all a little strange. ...." They went on to ask their readers to share "what you have discovered in your own journeys into the realms of sound, light, vibrations, frequencies, energy, and quantum physics." 

A big part of this chapter is devoted to meet the need of her readers "to have a basic understanding of sound, light, and energy to appreciate the topics presented in the following chapters." So this chapter doesn't have much to say that is relevant to my primary interest in this book. 

I won't comment on Chapter 7 of this book, "Sound of Heaven Symphony of Earth" by Ray Hughes. For one thing, this chapter was not written for this book but was excerpted from a book of his. There are some things I could comment on that I have to disagree with, but I have to draw the line somewhere. So too for Chapter 8, "The God Vibration," by Dan McCollam (his chapter was excerpted from a manuscript of his) and Chapter 9: "Angelic Encounters," by Cal Pierce. 

Chapter 10, "Spiritual Synesthesia," by Larry Randolph. Many writers in this book put a strong emphasis on all that "sound" can do. Randolph, like a few other writers in this book, speaks of the sound of a heavenly wind on the Day of Pentecost causing the things that followed. (I'll discuss these things in more detail when I discuss this chapter in Chapter 9 of my Review/paper.) For example, "What they heard caused them to see fiery tongues, which caused them to feel drunk, which in turn caused them to speak in a heavenly language." That sound didn't cause the things that followed. The wind attended the coming of the all-important pouring out of the promised Life-giving, Righteous, Holy Spirit of God, which (based on the all-important atoning death and resurrection of the Lamb of God) enables Christians to be born again and begin to walk in the truth, righteousness, and holiness of God with the victory over all sin and demons, accomplishing the will of God. (It is significant that the Greek noun pneuma can be translated Spirit/spirit or wind [or breath].) The tongues of fire, which God enabled the disciples to see, pictured the powerful sanctifying work of the new-covenant Spirit. I won't discuss it here, but although the disciples were obviously filled with joy upon receiving the Spirit, I don't believe they acted like they were drunk. Anyway, the primary thing that took place on the Day of Pentecost was the reception of the Spirit, which Randolph didn't even mention, and the reception of the Spirit, like the other things, very much including the speaking with tongues/other languages, was not caused by the sound. The all-important coming of the Spirit caused the other things. 

Like I mentioned, Randolph didn't mention the all-important coming of the Spirit, but he strongly emphasized the "sound." I'll quote some more of what he said here (pages 97-98): "The bottom line is that they heard a 'sound' like a mighty rushing wind that lead [led] to a number of other different experiences. As stated, the 120 in the upper room heard a sound, which caused them to see something, which caused them to feel something, which caused them to release something.  

So, how can hearing a sound of a wind create such a unique chain reaction? Again, the answer is clear: a heavenly 'sound' can create a heightened level of synesthesia [we'll discuss this word in the fuller discussion of this chapter; based on what I have read, it isn't something that we need] that opens our senses to extreme encounters with the supernatural. As a result we are enabled to experience God with every fiber of our being." I don't follow what he says here. What we need is to receive the Spirit and then walk by the Spirit on a continuous basis in line with the Word of God by grace through faith. 

Randolph says we need "to start recovering the truths that are currently held captive by many unbelievers. Many New Agers, for example, have already begun to explore the phenomenon of synesthesia and are desperately trying to 'tune in' to multiple realms of spiritual reality. ..." (page 103). He goes on to strongly exhort us to take back what has been stolen from us.   

Chapter 11 of this Book, "Strange Things Are Afoot," by Ellyn Davis. I'll just quote the first paragraph from chapter 10 of my Review/paper, where I discuss chapter 11 of the book: "Davis says that quantum physics (which deals with energy and matter at the atomic and subatomic level) has discovered that some strange (unusual, unexpected) things take place. 'Because of the great deal of "strangeness afoot" in quantum physics, it has inevitably attracted metaphysical interpretations. Most of that interpretation has leaned toward using quantum physics to reinforce eastern mystical beliefs about the nature of the oneness and the power of human consciousness to create and manipulate that reality' (page 113)." We don't need any of that!  

Chapter 12 of the Book, Quantum Mysticism," by Ellyn Davis. I'll quote part of what I said when discussing this chapter in chapter 10 of my Review/paper. I believe what Davis says here should suffice to convince Christians they cannot go looking for truth, power, reality, healing or anything else in the New Age/occult world: "On page 127 she comes to the subheading 'Compatibility with Christianity.' I'll quote the four paragraphs that she has here: "It's obvious that the New Age has used quantum physics as part of its belief structure. But are any of the ideas advanced by quantum physics compatible with Christianity. 

Yes, they are. I think the beliefs of quantum mysticism are compatible with Christianity in many ways but are totally incompatible in a few, most important ways. 

[This next paragraph says enough to convince me that the New Age/occult world is off-limits for Christians. The fact that you can find some things in the New Age/occult world that are compatible with Christianity doesn't make it acceptable for us to go hunting there. We don't go to the Jehovah's Witnesses or the Mormons or the Moslems for help, but they have many things compatible with Christianity.] Christians and quantum mystics part ways over four issues [issues of key importance!]: (1) where God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit fit into the picture. [The New Age/occult world doesn't have any room for the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit as they are presented in the Bible. This is, to say the least, a gigantic problem!]; (2) what constitutes sin [For one thing, they have no room for our total, desperate need for the all-important atoning death of the Son of God to be set free from the guilt of sin and bondage to sin and demons.]; (3) where the Bible fits into the picture [They clearly do not consider the Bible the foundation for what they believe, which is another gigantic problem!]; (4) what happens after we die. [They don't believe what the Bible teaches about judgment and heaven and hell! I know that reincarnation is a widespread belief among them. And it would be easy to add many things to this listing of incompatibilities.] I won't go into these incompatibilities here, but you may read them on the website www.heavensphysics.com. [I just went to that website, but that information isn't there (January 2020).]

However, there us much that we can agree on. In fact, as the authors of some chapters of this book have mentioned, all truth is God's truth and there are many precious 'God truths' hidden in quantum mysticism for us to claim as our own. We'll delve into just a few of them in the rest of this chapter." I don't find anything there that we don't already have in Christ for us to claim, and, again, I believe it is clear that we have been forbidden to go there. I discuss what she said in the rest of the chapter in the fuller discussion of this chapter in Chapter 11 of my Review/paper. 

Chapter 13 of this Book, "Keys to Taking Your Quantum Leap," by David Van Koevering. Van Koevering seriously misinterprets 1 Cor. 1:28. I believe it is an obvious misinterpretation. I'll wait to discuss his misinterpretation under the fuller discussion of his chapter. The only other problem I'll mention here is that he takes a page and a half propounding the view that the speed of light has been slowing down. In the discussion of this chapter, I show that that view is clearly wrong. 

Chapter 14, "Whole Lotta Shaking Going On." I won't discuss this chapter in my Review/paper beyond what little I say here. I'll quote the introductory paragraph that the authors (Franklin and Davis) have in italics: "Many men and women of God have experienced physical shaking and 'vibration' and seen bright light when undergoing a deep spiritual transformation. Others have described sensations like electric shocks when encountering God's presence. Here are just a few stories from contributors to this book and others who have had transformative experiences that involved vibrating, electrical sensations, and light.

They go on to quote from Bill Johnson, Beni Johnson, Cal Pierce, Ellyn Davis, Celeste, and John (The last names were not given for Celeste or John). What they share doesn't relate to whether it is OK for Christians to look to the New Age/occult world or science, especially quantum physics, so it is easy for me to skip this chapter. 

Chapter 15 of this Book, "The Clarion Call," by Beni Johnson. I won't comment on this chapter except for the brief comments I'll make here. Beni, like two previous writers in this book, uses what happened on the Day of Pentecost to try to show what "sound" can do. Keep in mind that the subtitle of this book is "Exploring God's Mysteries of Sound, Light, Energy, Vibrations, and Quantum Physics." After quoting Acts 2:1-7, which mention the tongues of fire, being filled with the Spirit, speaking in tongues, and the gathering of many Jews, she said, "Look what a sound from heaven could do: first fruits and harvest! The church started that day, many were filled with the Holy Spirit and fire, and as far as we know, it was the first of the harvest of souls. Look at verses 38-41 of Acts 2" (page 165). She went on to quote part of Peter's sermon and the fact that "that day there were added about three thousand souls" (Acts 2:41). 

It would hardly be possible to overstate the importance of what happened on the Day of Pentecost, but in no way did the sound of the wind do it, or cause it. That sound was just something that attended the all-important pouring out of the promised Holy Spirit. (As I have mentioned, it is relevant that the Greek word pneuma can be translated Spirit/spirit or wind [or breath]. Pneuma is translated "wind" and "Spirit" in John 3:8.) I believe that God could have skipped enabling the disciples to hear the sound, and to see the tongues of fire, without sacrificing any of the glory of new-covenant salvation. (I'm thankful that He didn't skip those things. They add a lot to the scene, but the often prophesied, super-important, totally essential thing was the pouring out and reception of the promised, Life-Giving, Righteous, Holy Spirit, who was given through the all-important atoning death and resurrection of the Lamb of God, that enables believers to be born again for the first time since the fall of man, and to be enabled to walk with the victory over all sin and demons, and to be empowered to take the gospel to the world (Acts 1:8). It wasn't essential for the disciples to see the tongues of fire, but it was essential for them to be sanctified (and empowered) by the fire of God.          

Chapter 16 of this Book, "Pulling the Tomorrow of God into Today," by Bill Johnson. I won't comment on this chapter. It was excerpted from his book, Dreaming with God, and this chapter doesn't directly deal with the things I am interested in for my Review/paper.

 

Part 2 of this Review/Paper will start with the Foreword to the book by Kris Vallotton.

http://www.karlkempteachingministries.com Karl Kemp worked as an engineer in the space field throughout the 60s. He became a born-again Christian in 1964. He received an MA in Biblical Studies in 1972. He has been a Bible teacher for 45 years. See the website for more info on his books, papers, etc.

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