Conversations With God?

Can one really have conversations with God? I mean other than praying to Him.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph 6:11-13

The other week I came across a YouTube video which brought back New Age memories. A young man, Peter Hockley, gave a testimony of how he spent four nights with the devil. Yes, I know what you’re thinking right now. I thought the same thing. This sounds like sensationalist garbage…move on. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and am glad I did. Once I listened to his testimony and gracious defense against criticism, I was convinced of his sincerity. This young man has placed his faith in the Lord under admittedly unusual circumstances. But as someone who has had peculiar New Age experiences, I appreciate his testimony.

During the first video I watched, Hockley recounted how he was an atheist but that he felt empty and was seeking for something. In the process he came across a certain book in a store. Its author claimed that he used a technique to converse with God and receive detailed answers, and so could the reader. So the excited Hockley took the book home and tried it out. It worked. He had begun conversing with “God.”

However when Hockley told his Christian co-worker what had happened, she informed him that it wasn’t God at all. He was conversing with something which pretended to be God.

Hockley has a website offering his book. This isn’t a profit making venture. While he doesn’t initially divulge the name of the book he bought, he does so in subsequent videos. And one can listen to his entire story for free on his YouTube channel. Note the videos at the end of this article.

The name of the book – if you haven’t already guessed it yet – is Conversations With God (CWG) by Neale Donald Walsch. Walsch enjoys considerable celebrity status and his books are still popular. Marcia Montenegro has an excellent review on Walsch’s book:

The title of this best-selling book means what it says: the author has recorded in words conversations held between him and a being he calls God. I first heard of this book in 1997 while discussing spiritual beliefs with a woman working in a New Age bookstore. She kept quoting from this book, as though it were a sacred source of truth, finally telling me that I should read it. Since it seemed to have had such a strong influence on her world view, I purchased and read it. It covers a wide range of topics which cannot all be presented here, so only the most striking points will be addressed

In 1992, Walsch, unhappy and full of angry questions about why his life seemed to be a failure, wrote a letter to God with his questions. As he finished writing the last question, Walsch claims the pen moved on its own and he found himself writing words as though taking dictation. Walsch claims he knew this was God dictating the responses, although he does not explain how he knew this. It is only natural, then, that we examine this book to see what God has to say and what kind of God he is. There is no obligation on the reader’s part to take Walsch’s word that this is God, especially since Walsch offers absolutely no evidence for it. He just asserts it as though the reader should accept it…keep reading

Lighthouse Trails (Warren Smith) notes some troubling views held by Walsch’s god concerning what he says about Hitler. You can read it HERE