Author: Domenico Bettinelli

Throughout the ages, grieving people have sought contact with the dead, including through the use of mediums. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli ask whether mediums really can contact the dead, whether we should trust them, and what the Bible has to say about it.

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Links for this episode:

• Deborah Blum’s book Ghost Hunters: William James and the Scientific Search for Proof of Life After Death
• The textbook Parapsychology: A Handbook for the 21st Century
• The textbook An Introduction to Parapsychology (5th ed)
• Fr. Alois Wiesinger’s book Occult Phenomena in Light of Theology
• Rev. Minot Savage’s book Psychics: Facts and Theories
• Mediumship
• Rayleigh Scattering (video)
• Cold reading
• Hot reading
• Unconscious fraud
• Beischel & Schwartz 2007 Mediumship Study

• Please spread the word about the podcast. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!
• Purchase the books and other material from this and other episodes at the Mysterious World Bookstore.
• Join the conversation at the Starquest Facebook page and the Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World Facebook page.
• Send your feedback or comments to mysterious@sqpn.com or send a tweet with the hashtag of #mysteriousfeedback

Mysterious Headlines

• Zodiac 340 Cipher Cracked!
• Pleiades Stories May Be 100,000 Years Old

This Episode is Brought to You By:
Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World is brought to you in part through the generous support of Aaron Vurgason Electric and Automation at AaronV.com. Making Connections for Life for your automation and smart home needs in north and central Florida.

RosaryArmy.com. Have more peace. Visit RosaryArmy.com and get a free all-twine knotted rosary, downloadable audio Rosaries, and more. Make Them. Pray Them. Give Them Away at RosaryArmy.com.

Colchester Curry House, helping people make authentic Indian cuisine from the comfort of their own home. Find authentic Indian spice blends and recipes at ColchesterCurryHouse.com.

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Happy New Year! Jimmy Akin is answering more weird questions, including whether indulgences can be retroactively applied; if UFO aliens could be demons; what happens to cremated saints who should be incorruptible; and whether aliens could have souls.

Help us continue to offer Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World. Won’t you make a pledge at SQPN.com/give today?

Questions covered:

• 02:42 – There are certain acts which have an indulgence attached to them.  Let’s say that a woman named Mary is in the habit of a particular prayer at a particular place and time.  One day Mary explains her habit to Martha.  Martha exclaims “Did you know there’s an indulgence attached to that”.  “No, I didn’t”, Mary replies. My weird question is: Does Mary receive those indulgences retroactively with this knowledge and desire?  Or has she been unconsciously receiving them all along?  Or is it the case that only going forward, she will receive the indulgence?
• 07:53 – My understanding is that during the canonization process the body of the potential saint is exhumed and if their body has not suffered corruption that plays a role in their path towards sainthood. The question has to do with cremation. With the rise in acceptance and practice of cremation for Catholics, how would someone being a future incorruptible interact with the act of cremation? Would the body burn at all? If it would, are we destroying future incorruptibles by practicing cremation?
• 10:34 – I was wondering if Jimmy could speculate on a presupposed notion on the salvation of Erwin Rommel. Rommel was a Catholic German General during WWII and supposedly involved in the plot to kill Hitler. Because of the nature of the cause he fought for, would his Catholic faith have (assuming he stayed true to its tenets) be sufficient for his salvation?
• 16:55 – If someone went into a church and removed the consecrated Eucharist from the church.  Would it be a matter of kidnapping or theft?
• 21:20 – Saint Apollonia leaped into a fire. They would have tossed her in anyway, because she wouldn’t renounce her faith. Where do you draw the line between martyrdom and suicide?
• 32:57 – I have heard a theory that alien abductions could be demons pretending to be aliens. This is supported by the fact that in a lot of these cases anti-religious messages are given by the aliens. Could this be possible? I have also been intrigued by the theory that gods worshiped in antiquity (specifically Mayan and Sumerian) may have been demons also. Would this fit the Catholic belief system? How would God allow this if true?
• 39:32 – Are you familiar with Isaac Asimov’s short story “The Last Question”? How do you understand the final sentence with in the whole of the story? And what was the message Isaac was trying to convey?
• 46:15 – I’ve been trying to read about the theological implications of finding out that aliens exist. How might we determine if any aliens we had met were fallen, once we knew they had souls?

Links for this episode:

• Please spread the word about the podcast. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!
• Purchase the books and other material from this and other episodes at the Mysterious World Bookstore.
• Join the conversation at the Starquest Facebook page and the Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World Facebook page.
• Send your feedback or comments to mysterious@sqpn.com or send a tweet with the hashtag of #mysteriousfeedback

This Episode is Brought to You By:
Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World is brought to you in part through the generous support of Aaron Vurgason Electric and Automation at AaronV.com. Making Connections for Life for your automation and smart home needs in north and central Florida.

RosaryArmy.com. Have more peace. Visit RosaryArmy.com and get a free all-twine knotted rosary, downloadable audio Rosaries, and more. Make Them. Pray Them. Give Them Away at RosaryArmy.com.

Colchester Curry House, helping people make authentic Indian cuisine from the comfort of their own home. Find authentic Indian spice blends and recipes at ColchesterCurryHouse.com.

Want to Sponsor A Show?
Support StarQuest’s mission to explore the intersection of faith and pop culture by becoming a named sponsor of the show of your choice on the StarQuest network. Click to get started or find out more.

Direct Link to the Episode.

Subscribe on iTunes. | Other Ways to Subscribe.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download