Psychic/Metaphysician vs Seer/Prophet

I was having lunch a few days ago with one of Christianity’s preeminent seers. He made an outrageous statement that irritated me. I had mentioned something about psychics to which he retorted: “Psychics always prophecy negative things.”

I was annoyed because I knew what he said was not accurate, but more importantly, stupid statements on the part of our recognized leaders can result in loss of credibility for the rest of us. Following is my take on the difference between psychics and Christian seers. (For the sake of brevity, hereafter, I will just use the words psychics versus seers. Alternate titles can be metaphysicians versus prophets which I will explain later.)

Years ago, a buddy of mine asked me to accompany him to what he called a psychic reading. The psychic did not fit my stereotype, as she was a classy lady in a fine home and an expensive car out front.

Emerging from his reading, my buddy said “Hey, she picked up some things about you, but she says that because she does not have your permission, it would be inappropriate for her to tell you. I told her you would love to hear it.”

After I insisted, she began to unveil some things about me. At first, I naturally suspected that my buddy, either intentionally or inadvertently, had revealed information to her. But then she went into overdrive and began to bring out secrets not even my buddy knew.

Remember, I am a psychologist, so of course my psychological radar went up to full power. I realized instantly that my knowledge had just been kicked up a notch. There is a way of knowing beyond the normal.

That realization filled me with joy. We are not alone!

Shortly thereafter, I had the experience with my first Christian seer/prophet as related in my earlier postThe Zapped Psychologist,

As a psychologist, I had to explain to myself the difference between the psychic and the seer/prophet. Most psychics prefer the term metaphysics. Meta means “going beyond, “transcending”Physics is nature known through science. Thus a metaphysician is one who transcends what we accept as natural. We psychologists also talk of the para normal--meaning along side the normal.

The seer/prophet also transcends.

The difference between psychic/metaphysician on the one hand and the seer/prophet on the other, is not the content of what they reveal, so much as it is the source of what they reveal. The outcomes also are different.

Psychic/metaphysicians can make you aware of another dimension of reality that is accessed by yours and/or their paranormal abilities. That is what the psychic/metaphysician did for me.

Also, using paranormal abilities, seer/prophets on the other hand, bring you into direct communion with Jesus. That is what the seer/prophet did for me (In 1Co 14:25, St. Paul describes the effects of a seer/prophet revelation: “And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he (a non-Christian) will worship God,”

The purpose of the psychic/metaphysician is to “know thyself”. The purpose of the seer/prophet is to know the One who knows you.

The psychic/metaphysician believes his or her abilities are normal to everyone. Interestingly, paranormal abilities do run in families. The seer/prophet believes his or her extra ordinary abilities are gifts from God. Interestingly, paranormal gifts often showed up early in many of seer/prophets, even before knowing Jesus. (This was true for the seer/prophet I spoke of in my opening sentence as well as the seer/prophet who impacted my life.) The real gift of the seer/prophet though is his or her ability to bring one into direct relationship with Jesus.

The psychic/metaphysician leaves you to your own abilities. The seer/prophet leaves you with the abilities of Christ. There may be other differences, but it is hard to beat what the seer/prophet did for me.