In this morning's post (The Holy Spirit = God = All You Need to Know), I referred to the question of what, if any, extent the spirit of God can or does dwell within the hearts of non-Christians. A reader responded to that question by asking for further clarification. Julia (whom I know adheres to a New Age concept of God; her blog is Ramblings of a Spiritual Idiot), wrote to ask whether or not I believed that a person must know Jesus Christ before they can know God.
It's a question I've had to consider before. I once wrote something for a book to the effect that God is present in the hearts of all men. The theology vetters for the Christian publisher for whom I was writing the book asked me to excise that thought from it, since it suggested that people who didn't believe in Jesus Christ could still experience or access God. They didn't assert that people who don't accept Christ can't know God; they were simply unsure about the whole thing, and wanted the safety that came with dropping the question altogether.
And now here's that question again! Namely, can someone who has rejected Christ and Christianity still know God?
Before giving my own answer, I thought I'd let my Christian readers share with Julia their thoughts and ideas on the matter. Whatcha' think, fellow Christians? When Julia is deep in meditation, and feels what she experiences as nothing less than the full and absolute presence of God, is she simply and absolutely deluded about that?
It's a valid question. And Juila, I know, will be listening for the answer.
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