God, Aliens, and Other Stuff

I've been sleeping pretty well lately, but I am aware when I wake up to roll over that I've had lots of goofy dreams. In one, I was with some people, don't know who, and we got on our stomachs and crept over a grassy hill in some kind of flat vehicle to see what was over the rise. I saw 4 dogs. One was old and really looking bad. Couldn't run anymore. Another was separate, but not far away. Two others were just beyond that. Suddenly two deer appeared. When they saw the dogs they took off running. The two dogs that were together took off after them. It was one of those doggie chases that they all love. The third dog jumped up. The chase didn't mean quite so much to this dog, but it was still a dog and was about to run after the other dogs. Then it saw the old dog. The old dog got up, having heard the commotion, and wanted to chase, but just couldn't. I was quite surprised to see the healthy dog forget the chase to come over and sniff the old dog. The healthy one ...

Source:  George Ritchie and Elizabeth Sherrill,  Return From Tomorrow , Chosen Press, Kindle version, 2023. Michael Newton, Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives , Llewellyn, 1994 In my last blog, I shared how Army Private George Ritchie died of double-lobe pneumonia in 1943. In his NDE, he met the Son of God who took him on an amazing tour of some U.S. cities. After the life review, in which he saw a side of himself that he never understood, Jesus took him to a coastal city where he saw an office building with a man working on a budget. Hanging over the man's shoulder was a disembodied spirit, yelling instructions and advice to the oblivious employee. Then Ritchie was taken to a bar on a Naval base. He was stunned to see more disembodied souls lined up with the military men. The disincarnates were trying to grab at the drinks and cigarettes that were everywhere in the room. Spirits would fight over glasses that they actually couldn't touch. Ritchie saw a glow a...

George Ritchie, MD Dr. Ritchie's story Source: George Ritchie and Elizabeth Sherrill, Return From Tomorrow , Chosen Press, Kindle version, 2023. (There are several reprints and revisions of this work.) Several new Christian books on the afterlife have been published in recent years. A topic that was taboo in the 60's is now almost a fad. Reincarnationist authors have been discussing the afterlife for years, of course. One Christian story has been around since it was published as a book in 1978. It is cited in today's afterlife books, but not extensively. Thus, in spite of ready availability, it isn't well-known. The story took place in 1943 when 20-year-old George Ritchie of Richmond, Virginia arrived at Camp Barkeley in Texas. He gave up attendance at the Medical College of Virginia in his home town to join the Army during WWII. He was ecstatic when the Army offered to send him to that same college, and promised they would pay for it. He was determined to be there whe...

One of my favorite characters in Church History is St. Jerome. He was born in the mid-fourth century (300's AD), wrote in the latter quarter of that century and the early part of the 400's. He died around 420, having produced a vast body of literature, including letters, biblical translations, biblical commentaries, and essays refuting heresies. No one had higher praise or love for the intelligent, ascetic virgins of his day. They were his dear friends. He sobbed unabashedly when they died. These women were admired when they didn't bathe or fix their hair. Some fasted frequently and wore hair shirts. They also were adept at Latin, Greek, and (with Jerome's help) Hebrew. He lived in the early era of papism. Presbyter and bishop were basically the same office, the difference being a reference to age. These offices had at that time full ecclesiastical status; marriage was not yet forbidden to the clergy. The church made a difference between a catechumin and someone who had...

When we modern day Christians read about the rebellion and lack of faith of the Hebrews in the Wilderness of Sinai, we often shake our heads in judgment. Yahweh changed Jacob's name to Israel, meaning "Prince of God." He made promises of inheritance to their forefathers. He sent Moses who turned his own staff into a serpent and who opened the waters of the sea as a way of escape. Pharaoh's horses and chariots drowned before their eyes. At their complaint, water came gushing from a rock, and pigeons flew in by the millions and landed in the desert, too exhausted to escape the hungry mob. How then could they be so adversarial with the deity?  There are several reasons that we could call forth to explain their ingratitude and unbelief.  One: they are making a huge paradigmatic leap from polytheism to monotheism, a stretch so challenging that they struggled for hundreds of years with the concept.  Two: day by day the whole community stood at risk of dying from hunger or t...

According to the dictionary, a sophistry is a kind of reasoning that is misleading or unsound, but it sounds clever and plausible. Paul talks about such reasoning in Colossians 2:23, "Such regulations (Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!) indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence." Note, 'appearance of wisdom' and 'false humility' do not a perfect Christian make. In 1 Cor. 11 we have two ways of looking at the woman question. One is born of the Spirit and the other is a sophistry. Verses 2-10 present the picture of the first century attitude toward women: a. It is positively disgraceful if she does not cover her head. As a Catholic in my youth we wore hats, scarves, or doilies to Mass on Sunday. It was sinful if you didn't do so. But that is NOT what Paul is requiring. Tertullian gives us the real ancien...