The Physics of Heaven #1

by Pastor Larry DeBruyn for Quantum Spirituality, Spiritual Discernment

A Serial Book Review & Theological Interaction: Part 1

Judy Franklin, Ellyn Davis and others, The Physics of Heaven: Exploring God’s Mysteries of Sound, Light, Energy, Vibrations and Quantum Physics (Crossville, TN: Double Portion Publishing, 2012): xiv + 188.

Introduction

Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
Emphasis added, Zophar to Job, Job 11:7-8, KJV

Beginning about the time of Albert Einstein (1879-1955), Quantum or theoretical physics has influenced the way people view life’s reality, the way in which “we live and move and exist” (Acts 17:28). Whereas “the old physics,” championed by Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727), assumed that the infinite universe worked like “a clock”—an ordered and predictable cosmos—“the new physics” observes an infinitesimal universe playing itself out like “a game”—a disordered and unpredictable chaos. So in a “blended system” where cosmos and chaos are ever interacting at reality’s macro and micro levels (“as above, so below”), it’s theorized that a butterfly flapping its wings in Africa could stimulate the formation of a hurricane in the Atlantic. This new science, or theoretical way of “observing” the universe has caused many within Christendom, even claimed evangelicals, to adapt their faith to it. [1]

From the Quantum way of looking at reality have emerged theological movements such as Process Theology and Open Theism. [2] To accommodate the way in which quantum physics observes a changing and gaming universe, these theological systems deemphasize God’s ruling over nature (God is creator.) on the one hand, while they emphasize God being in nature (God is evolver.) on the other. But now others in evangelicalism’s “big tent” are slanting their Christian belief system to accommodate a Quantum worldview in another way.

Whereas the former theological adaptations (Process Theology and Open Theism) assert God’s overall impotence as regards the overall functioning and outcome of the universe, some within the Charismatic movement assert that a Quantum merger is taking place between the powers heaven and the energies of earth. They claim that this merger will soon be exhibited in the coming of a second Pentecost in which Spirit filled and transformed Christians will play a “strategic role in releasing the glory of God on earth,” which means that by the exhibition of divine powers God donates to them, they will transform earth into God’s kingdom. No longer will Christians have to pray for God’s kingdom to come (Matthew 6:10). Rather, by exercising supernatural powers they will possess when the coming planetary Pentecost arrives, they will help God to introduce heaven to earth (“as above, so below”).

The Book’s Thesis: A Coming Planetary Pentecost
The authors believe another Pentecost, a worldwide revival, looms over earth’s history (The first is recorded in Acts 2:1 ff.). It will be led by adventuresome souls, brave discoverers who are unafraid to explore spiritual territories beyond the “flat-earth spirituality” believed by the overwhelming majority of “stay-at-home” Christians. God’s Spirit will transform and enable these coming revivalists to tap into and harness the Quantum energy inherent within God’s created universe—sound, light, energy, frequencies and vibrations—which in turn, will enable the revivalists, by their performing “signs and wonders,” to introduce the earth to God’s kingdom.

They also believe that as their souls are synchronized with the “sound” of nature’s Quantum powers (“And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind . . .,” Emphasis added, Acts 2:2, NKJV), this second Pentecost will transform and empower these brave Christians who have dared to live on the “cutting edge” of God’s kingdom. Through experiencing visions and having prophetic revelations, these brave adventurers will explore and tap into the powers residing in Quantum world. By their endowment with supernatural powers, these stalwarts of the faith, these seer/scientists, will like Jesus (Mark 4:39) and before a watching world, command tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes and other natural disasters to cease. (The Physics of Heaven, viii-ix) [3] The public demonstration of raw Pentecostal power, this “new sound,” will be so evident “that unbelievers [will] run to [believers] begging to receive what they have.” By the droves, unbelievers will covet and beg to receive the new Pentecostal power and “the greatest revival the world has ever known” will take place. [4] (TPOH, ix)

A Serial Series
Over the coming weeks, we at Herescope and Guarding His flock Ministries will intermittently attempt to bring a biblical, exegetical and theological analysis of the worldview The Physics of Heaven and its various authors exhibit. At least eleven authors agree that a second planetary Pentecost looms on the horizon of earth’s history, and this coming Pentecost will usher in the kingdom of heaven on earth and bring revival to the world. In future installments (Lord willing), brief and concise analysis will be devoted to each of the book’s chapters contributed by various authors. But in this installment, we begin by interacting with materials contained in the book’s Front Matters (TPOH, i-xiv).

The Copyright Statement
The book claims that Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the New King James Version (NKJV). The careful reader can note that contrary to the copyright notice, some Scripture citations, sometimes self-paraphrased, reworded, misquoted or unattributed to another version of the Bible, are not taken from the NKJV, but from the New American Standard Bible (TPOH, p. vii., 1 Corinthians 15:46; p. 1, Romans 8:18-22; p. 11, Jeremiah 15:19; etc.). The notice that all Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted are from the NKJV is misleading.

Acknowledgements
The list of contributors reads like a Who’s Who within the New Apostolic Reformation movement (NAR). In line with that movement’s character and emphases, the book’s contents, though including information based on interviews and some research, are largely dependent upon the “life experiences” (i.e., visions and prophetic revelations) of the authors and contributors. The book as such, is not intended to give “spiritual advice,” set forth a “doctrinal position,” or present “scientific fact.” And readers are therefore invited, as is this reviewer, to come to their own conclusions about the book. My conclusions I will share in this first review and future installments.

Endorsements
Phil Mason of Australia, Banning Liebscher of Redding, California, and Steve Witt of Cleveland, Ohio, endorse the book. Mason’s is notable in that he authored a voluminous work, Quantum Glory. [5] As a former New Ager, he notes that the relationship between “science and spirituality has been almost exclusively dominated by New Age metaphysics.” Because for the most part charismatic Christians have ignored the connection (excepting Annette Capps, see footnote 1), Mason advocates that books like The Physics of Heaven and his will help Christians to “[switch] on to the present reality of the supernatural inbreaking of the kingdom of heaven . . . the collision between heaven and earth and our strategic role in releasing the glory of God here on earth.” Liebscher hopes that the book will help readers “encounter” and “experience the extravagance of God in a new way.” Steve Witt, parroting claims by Franklin and Davis, (TPOH, xiii-xiv), calls them and the other authors prophetic explorers—“adventurers on the edge of the kingdom” that during the last centuries was only explored by “Christian mystics.” Readers are therefore invited to, as pioneers, follow Judy and Ellyn’s lead to explore the archipelago (a stretch of ocean with many islands) of metaphysical and mystical experiences; the implication being, that should we decline to explore with them and choose to remain in the comfort zone of home, we are duds. Ironically, the authors call this spiritual archipelago “A Habitation of Dragons.” (TPOH, xiii) On this point I would comment that in this exploration-experience believers had better beware lest the one they encounter is “the great dragon” or one of his demons (Revelation 12:3-17). [6]

Foreword [7]
Kris Vallotton rightly draws attention to the public witness that creation bears to God’s existence—“His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature” (Romans 1:20, NASB). But then he calls the authors in the book “seers who peer behind the curtain of creation to reveal the mysterious nature of the Creator.” [8] (TPOH, i) As such he adds that The Physics of Heaven reads like the product of “a Holy Spirit think tank,” its contents presenting “new perspectives never before pondered” (TPOH, i) Imagine . . . new perceptions never before thought of by anyone else. Quite high praise, if you believe it. Evidently, these “seers who peer” are in a prophetic zone of their own. But then such praise assumes, from the church’s inception during the first century, the exact replication-continuation of the revelatory gifts (i.e., apostle, prophet, knowledge, etc), something traditional Pentecostals disavow. (I know, because I fellowship with them and consider them friends.) But based upon Paul’s writing to the Corinthians, the continuation of the replicate-revelatory gifts needs to be questioned. The Apostle wrote:

If there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect (not Parousia or Christ’s Second Coming) comes, the partial will be done away. Emphasis added, 1 Corinthians 13:8-10, NASB

Paul states that any continuation of the revelatory gifts was not a question of what was going to happen to them—they would be done away with or cease—but only when. At some stage after the church had grown up and reached maturity—that’s the meaning of the word “perfect”—and during the period before the Second Coming of Christ, the replicate-revelatory gifts of the Holy Spirit would be “done away” with or “cease.”

After stating that The Physics of Heaven contains divine revelations which are a “foretaste of things to come,” [9] Vallotton seeks the Apostle Paul’s endorsement for The Physics of Heaven by quoting Romans (e.g., Romans 1:20), after which he exults, “What a profound revelation!” (TPOH, i) But it’s difficult to know whether he exults in the profundity of Romans, the contents of The Physics of Heaven, or both. In that in his estimation The Physics of Heaven unearths the meaning of what the Apostle wrote and meant, Vallotton seemingly ascribes parity between the book’s contents and Paul’s writings. Unlike traditional Pentecostalism, such equality results from the Charismatic New Apostolic Reformation’s assumption that the gifts of Apostle and Prophet function exactly today as in the first century (with both gift and office residing in the same person). [10] So in a world where the apostolic gifts are viewed as continuing, the book’s various authors function to amplify Paul’s statement with authority equal to the Apostle. (Note: The quotation of Romans 1:20, is not from the NKJV, but appears to be lifted from the NASB.)

After referring to the know-ability of God through nature (Romans 1:18-23; Psalm 19:1-6.), Vallotton asserts that “the Saints are to [as prophet-apostles], ‘. . . bring to light . . . the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God.” (TPOH, i-ii) The implication of the citation is that Saints are to unveil the mystery he understands to be “the very foundations of creation” as observed in the world of Quantum or theoretical physics. (TPOH, ii) In Vallotton’s view, advocates of the NAR are those Saints.

Regarding this responsibility of the Saints, Kris Valloton links a text out of Ephesians with Romans. This association is misguiding. First, in freely paraphrasing and reconstructing Ephesians 3:8-10, he distorts the interpretation and meaning of what the Ephesians text actually says. Though he quotes verse 10 (i.e., “the rulers and the authorities”), the verse is not mentioned in the citation. Second, Paul states that the mystery to be brought to light was given not to prophet-Saints, but to him (“To me, the very least of all the saints, this grace was given,” Ephesians 3:8, NASB). And third, the mystery to be unveiled by Paul to the purview of “rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places” did not concern creation (They were there and “shouted for joy” when the Creator created the universe, Job 38:7.), but rather the “unfathomable riches of Christ” as exhibited in and through the church! (See Ephesians 3:8, 10.) The mystery concerns the unveiling of the gospel for, “In Paul’s writings, mystery is nearly a synonym for the gospel.” [11]

Vallotton’s amped-up use of metaphors lauding the bravery of these daring new Quantum explorers serve to bait readers with the idea that if they’re bored with traditional and riskless living in “single dimensional thinking,” that they should get on board with the book’s authors and embark upon a voyage with them to explore (presumably through seeking visions and revelations) and discover the spiritual archipelago where reside the “multidimensional perspectives” of a never-never-land. “The whistle is blowing” Vallotton invites, “and it’s time to set sail into the great adventure.” (TPOH, iii)

Introduction: A Glimpse of Things to Come [12]
By comparing notes on their experiences, Judy and Ellyn began to discuss writing a book together. The Physics of Heaven represents the puzzle that they, with contributions from other authors and speakers, have put together, a puzzle consisting of pieces “of what the Lord has been revealing.” (TPOH, vii) Readers are informed that the authors “believe that God is revealing things in the sciences, particularly in quantum physics, that can be directly related to the spiritual realm” and that, “The revelatory connection between quantum physics and the spirit realm poses an uncomfortable challenge.” (TPOH, vii) Unfortunately, some of the puzzle’s pieces don’t have the biblical basis they advocate.

To establish the authority for what the quantum physical world has to offer for the human understanding of reality, Judy Franklin quotes 1 Corinthians 15:46 where Paul writes, “. . . the spiritual is not the first, but the natural; then the spiritual.” (TPOH, vii) She then comments that this verse tells us that “there’s a lot we can learn about God by first looking at the natural [presumably quantum physical] world.” (TPOH, vii) Though I do not question that the natural order reveals God, I do contend the idea that this verse teaches that. In this paragraph in the chapter explaining the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:42-49), the Apostle Paul notes that at death the human body “is sown a perishable body,” and at the resurrection raises it to become “an imperishable body” (1 Corinthians 15:42, NASB). The contrast between the natural body and resurrected body continues—“sown in dishonor . . . raised in glory . . . sown in weakness . . . raised in glory . . . sown a natural body . . . raised a spiritual body.” (1 Corinthians 15:43-44). Contrary to Franklin’s take, “the natural” does not refer to nature per se, as if the quantum world is the first place to seek for proof of God’s existence, but rather that the death of the earthly natural body must precede the resurrection of the eternal spiritual body, which body is essentially physical, nonetheless (Compare John 20:24-29; etc.). In her quotation of 1 Corinthians 15:46, it should be noted again that in difference to the copyright claim, Franklin quotes words from the NASB, not NKJV.

Hints of the Sound
Sound . . . during her quiet time, God spoke this vibrating word to Judy Franklin. The revelation of this one word stimulated her to explore the mysteries of sound, light, vibrations and quantum physics. She proceeded to study, read, think and meditate about this word God revealed to her . . . sound. Her intense study about and reflection upon the word sound (God also spoke other words to her) became exhausted. Then she would experience the sound of silence. First the sound, God would speak a word, and then silence, God wouldn’t speak. For a time, the lull caused her to become disinterested in receiving words of revelation, until she discovered that “God was playing a game” with her. (TPOH, v) Imagine . . . a God who plays mystical games. But it dawned upon her soul that the words God revealed to her were “hints” about something more immense that was out there. She realized that the words were part of a divine spiritual puzzle that God wanted her to put together in this quantum world of sound, light, energy and vibrations.

A Revelation of the Sound
Then Franklin received a prophetic vision and revelation larger than a word. She saw an upper room and heard “a noise . . . like a violent rushing wind”—another Pentecost. As at the first Pentecost, the sound transformed the people in her visionary room. She saw that they would become releasers of powers that “will cause people to think differently.” (TPOH, viii)

Visions of the Sound
Like going to the movies, God gave Franklin visions of the transforming powers of the sound. She saw Christians (together they had evidently harnessed the powers of the sound) “standing on the shore of an island like Japan” pointing at a coming tsunami, commanding it to stop and “suddenly everything” becoming “still.” (TPOH, ix) Other Christians stopped floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, (presumably earthquakes too) and wildfires. (TPOH, ix) She “saw believers so in love with God and so filled with power [i.e., the sound] . . . that unbelievers would run to them begging to receive” the sound. She saw a great planetary-Pentecostal revival taking place on a magnitude never before observed.

“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”
Emphasis added, the Apostle Paul, Colossians 2:8, NASB

TO BE CONTINUED . . . . .
____________________
Endnotes
[1] Pastor Larry DeBruyn, “From Cosmos, To Chaos, To Consciousness,” in Unshackled: Breaking away from Seductive Spirituality (Indianapolis, IN: Moeller Printing Company, Inc., 2009): 39-78. See also Larry DeBruyn, “The New Science and the New Spirituality: Quantum Physics and the New Age/New Spirituality,” Guarding His Flock Ministries, May 16, 2014 (http://guardinghisflock.com/2014/05/16/evolution-quantum-physics-and-new-agenew-spirituality/#more-2711).
[2] See Leonard I. Sweet, Quantum Spirituality: A Post Modern Apologetic (Dayton, OH: Whaleprints, 1991); John Polkinghorne, Quantum Theory, A Very Short Introduction (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2002). Quantum theory has influenced the emergence of Process Theology as well as Open Theism. As part of the system but not separate from it, the former theology emphasizes that God is evolving with the system while the latter theology argues that He is unable to control it. See Gregory A. Boyd, God of the Possible: A Biblical Introduction to the Open View of God (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000). Much of this theology was popularized by Paul Young’s spiritual allegory, The Shack (Los Angeles, CA: Windblown Media, 2007). For a Charismatic slant, see Annette Capps’ booklet Quantum Faith (England, AK: Capps Publishing, 2007). These few bibliographical entrees superficially indicate how evangelical Christianity is compromising the Creator/creature worldview in the Bible with the Quantum physics.
[3] Throughout the rest of this serial review of the book The Physics of Heaven, references to it will be noticed by abbreviating the book’s title followed by the page cited, i.e. TPOH, + page number.
[4] David Cannistracci advocates that, “The apostolic movement is the Holy Spirit’s worldwide activation of apostles and apostolic people to come together as part of a great revival on earth.” See his book The Gift of Apostle (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1996): 26. That unbelievers covet these apostolic powers reminds one of Simon the Sorcerer who too coveted power for power’s sake, but was rebuked by the Apostle Peter (Acts 8:18-20).
[5] Phil Mason, Quantum Glory: The Science of Heaven Invading Earth (Maricopa, AZ: XP Publishing, 2010): 400 Pages.
[6] See Pastor Larry DeBruyn, “Haunted Souls: From Mediation into Hallucinations,” Guarding His Flock Ministries, August 8, 2014 (http://guardinghisflock.com/2014/08/21/haunted-souls/).
[7] Kris Vallotton, “Foreword,” The Physics of Heaven, i-iii.
[8] I evaluate the claims of such “peerers” against the backdrop of Zophar’s question to Job: “Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?” (Job 11:7-8, KJV). Evidently, these modern-day seer-prophets can.
[9] Larry DeBruyn, “The Holy Spirit and Holy Scripture: Did Jesus promise “revelations” would continue?” March 29, 2014, Guarding His Flock Ministries (http://guardinghisflock.com/2014/03/29/the-holy-spirit-and-holy-scripture/#more-2699).
[10] Traditional Pentecostal Anton Bosch notes that, “This movement is commonly referred to as ‘New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). These ‘apostles’ often carry the designation of ‘Apostle’ with a capital ‘A’ by which they make themselves equal to the original Twelve [Apostles]. They thus also claim to receive revelations and words that are equal to or surpassing the original Canon of Scripture.” See Anton Bosch, Building Blocks of the Church: Re-examining the Basics (Cascades, South Africa: Eldad Press, 2007): 122.
[11] Henry W. Holloman, “Mystery,” Kregel Dictionary of the Bible and Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2005): 339.
[12] Judy Franklin, “Introduction,” The Physics of Heaven, v-xi.

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