Can God be experienced directly in THIS life?

[Soma-Sight]

Can God be experienced directly in THIS life?

 

[moncheri]

One day you will experience God face to face and have to give account for not acknowledging him in your present life....One day all will stand before Jesus...righteous or unrighteous...believer or non believer alike. Phil 2:9-11 Wherefore, God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father [/i]

 

[zwergel88]

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by experiancing God, however I can tell you that unity and perfect communion with God can be experianced in this life. We achieve that every time we recieve His most Precious Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist at every Mass. Saint Therese wrote of this unity in her autobiography "Story of a Soul" speaking about the first time she recieved Holy Communion she said " There were no longer two of us. Therese had disappeared like a drop of water lost in the deapth of the ocean. Only Jesus remained-as Master and King."

Certainly saints and mystics have experianced visions of God, but millions of people experiance perfect communion with God every day thought the reception of Holy Communion, where we recieve they actual Body and Blood of Christ.

-Anna 8-)

 

[Lyric's Dad]

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by experiancing God, however I can tell you that unity and perfect communion with God can be experianced in this life. We achieve that every time we recieve His most Precious Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist at every Mass. Saint Therese wrote of this unity in her autobiography "Story of a Soul" speaking about the first time she recieved Holy Communion she said " There were no longer two of us. Therese had disappeared like a drop of water lost in the deapth of the ocean. Only Jesus remained-as Master and King."

Certainly saints and mystics have experianced visions of God, but millions of people experiance perfect communion with God every day thought the reception of Holy Communion, where we recieve they actual Body and Blood of Christ.

-Anna 8-)

So then the only way to have communion with God, according to this post, is to be a catholic?

Oh, and BTW, the bread and wine doesn't really turn into flesh and blood. Kind of been proven repeatedly.

 

[Blazin Bones]

Yes, but you don't need mysticism to see that. Afterall, when you pray, you are talking directly to God. 8-)

 

[zwergel88]

So then the only way to have communion with God, according to this post, is to be a catholic?

Oh, and BTW, the bread and wine doesn't really turn into flesh and blood. Kind of been proven repeatedly.

Brutus, I am hesitant to debate this with you, but I must offer my disagreement.

"Proof" that the Eucharist really is the Body and Blood of Christ exists in the Bible and 2,000 years of Church teaching.

This is our faith and no amount of debating can change the fact that Christ gave Himself as the Lamb of God, and His true Body and Blood are present on the alter at every Mass.

 

[notapseudonym]

Brutus, I know people who would say the Eucharist has been proven over and over again that it is really and truely the Body and Blood of Christ.
A few such proofs:

http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/a3.html

This is so amazing.
There was a lady in Hawaii that recieved the Eucharist (in bread form) and when it touched her tongue i turned to blood. There was a man there filming the Mass for TV I believe and I saw the footage. It was amazing.

I would like the proof you have to offer against the Eucharist.

 

[Orthodox Christian]

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by experiancing God, however I can tell you that unity and perfect communion with God can be experianced in this life. We achieve that every time we recieve His most Precious Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist at every Mass. Saint Therese wrote of this unity in her autobiography "Story of a Soul" speaking about the first time she recieved Holy Communion she said " There were no longer two of us. Therese had disappeared like a drop of water lost in the deapth of the ocean. Only Jesus remained-as Master and King."

Certainly saints and mystics have experianced visions of God, but millions of people experiance perfect communion with God every day thought the reception of Holy Communion, where we recieve they actual Body and Blood of Christ.

-Anna 8-)

So then the only way to have communion with God, according to this post, is to be a catholic?

Oh, and BTW, the bread and wine doesn't really turn into flesh and blood. Kind of been proven repeatedly.

It has been proven that the bread and wine do not really change? Kind of like it's been proven that demon possession doesn't really happen, it's just mental illness- or how it's been proven that there is no need of a God to create the universe?

Not that I buy into either of those, but if you're going to make one atheist's argument, LD, make all of their arguments.

~
If you read carefully, rather than selectively, the Catholic poster made no suggestion that the only way to commune with God was through the Eucharist- only that it indeed was very possible to do so.

 

[Orthodox Christian]

Gregory Palamas answered the question of whether God could be experienced in this life in a way that may be unacceptable to some, but is a core belief in Orthodox theology:

We may indeed experience, according to Palamas in our (listen closely, Protestants) personal relationship with Christ the uncreated energies of God. By uncreated energies, we mean graces of God that transcend creation. We can experience these by seeking the Lord diligently, with all our heart and being. Does He not "reward those who diligently seek Him?"

 

[Lonelyguide]

Yes, God can be experienced in this life. Even if the experience itself (i.e. the manner in which the Divine manifested) can, to some extent, be described, the "content" of these experiences, however, is intensely personal and cannot be meaningfully "translated" to others. Attempting to do so is like trying to paint a Rembrandt with the help of a broom and two buckets of whitewash.

 

[Soma-Sight]

Yes, God can be experienced in this life. Even if the experience itself (i.e. the manner in which the Divine manifested) can, to some extent, be described, the "content" of these experiences, however, is intensely personal and cannot be meaningfully "translated" to others. Attempting to do so is like trying to paint a Rembrandt with the help of a broom and two buckets of whitewash.

Wonderful!

Good post!

 

[Lonelyguide]

The manner in which He manifests, Soma-Sight, is what my signature line attempts to describe.

... these three are the pillars of His Wisdom; a Wisdom so ~simple~ that mind fails to capture it.

Primarily those who manage to forsake everything that resides between their ears (Luke 14:33) will know it.

 

[PHIL121]

Of course, the answer is "yes". That's why the Lord sent the Holy Spirit.

Although the way the poll is worded is downright goofy! :roll:

 

[GundamZero]

First of all, Mystics don't have anything to do with it. Christ thanked the Father for revealing the truth to little children and not to the wise, (the pharisees), who would reason it away or otherwise. Second, I see know reference in scripture differentiating between the believers. Therefore, anyone who is in Christ is a "Saint". Thus, all Saint are now temples of the Holy Spirit, God.

Any time we read the WORD in earnest to learn more about God, to glorify him, we a experiencing God speaking directly to us. And, yes, through prayer, we speak to God, and he hears us. He even hears the prayer of our heart. We learned that when God aided Abrahams servant to find a wife for Isaac.

Finally, Christ never said that the bread and the wine became his body and the blood. I'm sorry, it is an interesting concept, But none of the gospels record this transformation, and I am a firm believer that adding things to the Word of God is a BIG no-no. If this were true, any account of the last supper would have read, " And Lo, the bread and the wine became flesh and blood right before them" or Paul would have said something along the lines of "You have seen for yourselves the bread and the cup become the body and blood of our LORD Jesus." But you don't see it.

But, yes, anyone may experience God, through prayer, through his Word, and through personal experiences of epiphany and so forth.

 

[PHIL121]

Christ never said that the bread and the wine became his body and the blood. .

hmmmm....so what WAS Jesus talking about in Matthew 26:26-29 , Mark 14:22-25 , and Luke 22:17-20 ??

 

[Blazin Bones]

Brutus, I know people who would say the Eucharist has been proven over and over again that it is really and truely the Body and Blood of Christ.
A few such proofs:

http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/a3.html

This is so amazing.
There was a lady in Hawaii that recieved the Eucharist (in bread form) and when it touched her tongue i turned to blood. There was a man there filming the Mass for TV I believe and I saw the footage. It was amazing.

I would like the proof you have to offer against the Eucharist.

I don't recall saying anything of the Eucharist. The Bread symbolizes the Body, why then did it turn to blood? If It really did transform for her, why doesn't that happen for everyone? You're proof appears to be little proof at all.

Yes, Jesus said this is my body and blood, but it is quite clear due to context that Christ again was speaking in the figurtive language. Each time we we're to do this to remember him, It does not say anywhere after mentioning communion that it became literal blood or flesh. In fact, Paul had to rebuke Christians getting drunk off the communion wine, which would never have happened if the wine became actual blood. 1 Corinthians 11:20-21

 

[Nocturnal_Principal_X]

I don't recall saying anything of the Eucharist.

You didn't, Lyric's Dad did.

 

[Blazin Bones]

I don't recall saying anything of the Eucharist.

You didn't, Lyric's Dad did.

I realize that, but two people attributed the remark to me. In such case, I replied. 8-)

 

[Drew]

Yes, God can be experienced in this life. Even if the experience itself (i.e. the manner in which the Divine manifested) can, to some extent, be described, the "content" of these experiences, however, is intensely personal and cannot be meaningfully "translated" to others. Attempting to do so is like trying to paint a Rembrandt with the help of a broom and two buckets of whitewash.

A very interesting and thought-provoking post. Thanks for making me think!

 

[Lonelyguide]

:fadein: