If we are all in agreement, I will compose the letter to Admin requesting a user-managed Section called Metaphysics and the Paranormal. The managers will be skyrider, JW and manning5. The purpose will be to provide a place more private for our discussions, and participants will have to voluntarily sign in.

We will begin with four activities as focal points of the effort: 1) Definition of terms led by JW; 2) Collection and distribution of experiences let by skyrider; 3) Exploration and classification of sources led by manning5; and 4) Researching the collected material by all three of us. Others may participate, of course.
Any suggestions before I send the letter are welcome. I hope to send it tonight.

Quite the commentary. The sarcasm in labeling this group an "August Assembly" is quite astonishing.
To a few of your points:
(1) No one has ever said this question is new. Everyone knows that this question has been pondered since before
man first stepped into shoes.
(2) It was clearly stated that this is to be a study of real time events that millions of folks have experienced,
and to try to acquire a better understanding of those experiences through comparisons. This was not
intended to be a Theology class.(challenging our minds in our old age ain't a bad idea either).
(3) No one that is interested in this has stated that clues could not be found in the Bible. However there is no
better teacher than a real time experience, and that is the subject we intend to look at.
(4) And to your "demon" reference, when did furthering knowledge and understanding become Demonic?

Manning,

You were "wrong" only twice; 1) in addressing me as "Sir" - I've always been a woman and intend to remain so, and 2) the nine year old I was thinking of was not my daughter, but me, as I first read the Bible through at the age of nine. I wouldn't have been frightened, but would have understood the implications.

My daughter's in her early 50s now, has traveled over much of the world, and I can't remember her ever fearing anything or anyone.

I have always had a preoccupation with seeking out authentic verifiable truth, as witnessed by the collection of 6,000 non-fiction, reference, religious and history books distributed in myriad bookcases and on wall shelves in every room in my eighty year old house (built by my father the year I was born), now usually precluded by an online search, as I've been MIA from that house for three years.

There is only one absolute truth to be sought out when dealing with physical reality: real people, real dates, real occurrences, irregardless of Post-Modern Academic Collectivism, Deconstructionism, Modernism, Minimalism and Poststructuralism.

That same truth is to be pursued even more fervently when the conversation and focus turn to encounters and interactions with spiritual entities.

This is from my Jan 2, 2014 18:55:44 posting on the General Chit-Chat (non-political talk) topic:

"Have you ever been visited by an angel?"

"I had placed myself in a position of potential danger, in Jerusalem, in late February of 1990, during the height of the 1st Intifada; I had someone drop me off at the beginning of one of the three trails at the top of the Mount of Olives, because I wanted to absorb the view and the general atmosphere.

Jesus ascended from that location, and when He returns it will be to the Mount of Olives.

The day before, a rider had been killed by a rock thrown through the rear of an Egged bus, which runs from their central station in Jerusalem to Bethlehem, which is only five miles south, and within the week, a tourist had been stabbed by an Arab youth, while walking though the streets of the old walled city in east Jerusalem, which I had walked through many times.

I started descending a trail, one of three beginning on the mount, that ends at the entrance to the Garden of Gethsemane, and was almost immediately accosted by an Arabian/Palestinian man gesturing with a box of beaded souvenir jewelry, intimating that I should make a purchase from him.

I shook my head, and held my hand palm up in refusal. He continued to follow me, and became more insistent in his demeanor, and obviously not willing to take no for an answer; at that moment, a gentleman appeared at my side, from which direction, I have no idea, he was just there.

He was impeccably dressed, wearing light gray slacks, a beige windbreaker, and white leather sneakers that looked as if they'd (don't laugh) never touched the ground.

He said something in Arabic, in a sharp tone of voice to the Arab Palestinian pursuing me, and he turned immediately, and began reascending the hill.

This gentleman continued to walk beside me, conversing in perfect English, and as we descended, we encountered three different small groups of tourist/pilgrimage people, (who had enough sense not to walk alone) in twos or threes, ascending the hill. He greeted each of these groups in a different language.

One, I recognized as German, one was Scandinavian, and the third, possibly Portuguese.

When we reached the entrance to the Garden of Gethsemane, I turned to thank him, and asked his name. He said, "my name is Michael."

My friends drove up just then to pick me up, as we'd agreed.

That night, drifting toward sleep, and pulling a quilt up around my chin, because Jerusalem is still cold in February, and the apartment's space heaters weren't doing much for my bedroom, I suddenly sat straight up in the bed, and thought, "my Lord and My God," - he said his name was Michael."

Michael Stands Guard Over Israel. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in 3rd and 2nd century BCE Jewish works, often but not always apocalyptic, where he is the chief of the angels and archangels and responsible for the care of Israel.

I never fear that quoting the Bible, or referencing it could be an embarrassment.

The Bible is historically accurate. Not one piece of the thousands of Archaeological discoveries throughout Israel and the Middle East have ever contradicted the Bible. They always confirm it - the names of rulers, kingdoms, events, wars, etc.

Unlike mankind, God is trustworthy.

Have you disdain for the 1789 French August Assembly, Skyrider?

The definition of "August," according to Merriam Webster is to be marked by majestic dignity or grandeur, which is hardly sarcasm.

Chastising my response to someone else's inquiry does not require the depth of ire you afforded it.

If you recognize that these experiences you seek are so common place as to have already been described by "millions of people" what will you accomplish with a rehash, other than your own "show and tell"?

Personal "Experiences" are purely subjective, as are "feelings" - when substituted for cognitive thinking.
Because you have unattached them, there’s no anchor, as you float in to nebulous space.

I've proffered no sarcasm, having seen nothing that rises to that level.

If you are speaking, as you claim, on behave of "no one" and "everyone," you've taken all the energy from the room - theoretically leaving nothing else to be said.

It is in seeking to make contact with the source of innumerable "experiences" that have long been known to be demonic, that you will find he/she/they cheerfully engaging with you.

I didn't place the burr under your saddle. Look elsewhere.

Have you disdain for the 1789 French August Assembly, Skyrider?

The definition of "August," according to Merriam Webster is to be marked by majestic dignity or grandeur, which is hardly sarcasm.

Chastising my response to someone else's inquiry does not require the depth of ire you afforded it.

If you recognize that these experiences you seek are so common place as to have already been described by "millions of people" what will you accomplish with a rehash, other than your own "show and tell"?

Personal "Experiences" are purely subjective, as are "feelings" - when substituted for cognitive thinking.
Because you have unattached them, there’s no anchor, as you float in to nebulous space.

I've proffered no sarcasm, having seen nothing that rises to that level.

If you are speaking, as you claim, on behave of "no one" and "everyone," you've taken all the energy from the room - theoretically leaving nothing else to be said.

It is in seeking to make contact with the source of innumerable "experiences" that have long been known to be demonic, that you will find he/she/they cheerfully engaging with you.

I didn't place the burr under your saddle. Look elsewhere.

====================================

I smiled as I read your post! I completely agree that God had all the ways he needs to accomplish His objectives.
And I smiled again when your blasted Gould!
My belief is in Intelligent Design, and three of its principles that are more or less contra evolution: 1. The Precambrian result, especially since no one can produce any forerunners, earth revolution or not (Meyer); 2. the mathematical impossibility of random combinations to result in any meaningful structures in 4.7 billion years (Dembski). and 3. the concept of irreducible complexity (Behe). I did read Walter J ReMine's book on evolution, and to me it was devastating for evolution. Oh, and I thought GD meant Gratefully Dead, right?
So let us agree to disagree here and move on. We can pick this up in a different thread, OK?

JW, you wish to avoid "impersonal certainty"(which equates with "absolute certainty?")

Relativism and Absolutism are categories that are mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive; the two categories form a dichotomy, and thus the rejection of absolutism is a necessary and sufficient condition for the embrace of relativism.

This means Relativity is in, while Absolutes are verboten... negating the possibility of an actual debate, therefore the term "discussion," - suitable for a like minded group?

You seek not religious experiences, which are locked in cement, but spiritism.

Spiritism is a religion, self-described as a spiritualistic philosophy. Spiritist philosophy postulates that humans, along with all other living beings, are essentially immortal spirits that temporarily inhabit physical bodies for several necessary incarnations to attain moral and intellectual improvement. It also asserts that disembodied spirits, through passive or active mediumship, may have beneficent or malevolent influence on the physical world.

Spiritism is an evolution-affirming religion.

What is the objective?

If we are all in agreement, I will compose the letter to Admin requesting a user-managed Section called Metaphysics and the Paranormal. The managers will be skyrider, JW and manning5. The purpose will be to provide a place more private for our discussions, and participants will have to voluntarily sign in.

We will begin with four activities as focal points of the effort: 1) Definition of terms led by JW; 2) Collection and distribution of experiences let by skyrider; 3) Exploration and classification of sources led by manning5; and 4) Researching the collected material by all three of us. Others may participate, of course.
Any suggestions before I send the letter are welcome. I hope to send it tonight.

Have faith Linda, I "know" we will learn many things from this little endeavor.