Dreams in the Bible

[CrimsonWolf]

I apologise if I put this on the wrong board, but I wasn't sure whether it should go here or Beyond Dreaming. Just to get things out of the way, I am a Christian and I believe all the stuff in the Bible and that Jesus died to save us and we can ultimately be with God in Heaven. If any of you are Christians or have just read bits of the Bible through Sunday School or at other time, you will know that God has often (particularly in the Old Testament and Revelation) spoken to his people and prophets through dreams. In Revelation the Bible goes into deep detail about each dream and what it would mean. Now, I can't just quote verses off the top of my head like some people can, but do you think there is any possibility that the dreams that God spoke to people through were a form of Lucid Dream? I don't think that the people dreaming could directly control their dream, but what if they had some minimal control over it so they would be able to grasp properly at the message God was trying to send them? From a Christian standpoint it really doesn't matter whether they were lucid or not, but I jus thought it might be an interesting topic of discussion.

[Mes Tarrant]

"Control" is not in the definition of lucid dreaming. LDing is simply realizing that you are dreaming.

[CrimsonWolf]

"Control" is not in the definition of lucid dreaming. LDing is simply realizing that you are dreaming. Ah right, I new to the whole LD thing so excuse my mistake. In the case I suppose they were aware that they were dreaming.

[Needcatscan]

Ah right, I new to the whole LD thing so excuse my mistake. In the case I suppose they were aware that they were dreaming. Well everyone is aware they were dreaming afterward, the real question is were these biblical figures aware they were dreaming during their dreams? I'm an atheist, but considering my Christian upbringing I figured I could throw my 2 cents in here. Hypothetically speaking, if god did speak to people through dreams I would think that lucid dreams would be the most effective. You usually wake up right after they occur, they are usually the most vivid, they are more easily rememberable, and above all, they are profoundly exciting. In regular dreams you are an actor playing a part in your subconscious' plot while in a lucid you are yourself. Therefore it would make more sense that if a deity chose dreams as its form of communication that it was be a lucid. Can't control it. . . Atheist, side, coming, out! god didn't speak to these people, they probably had extremely vivid dreams and thought god was talking to them or made it all up.

[CrimsonWolf]

Heh, at least your Atheist side came out in good taste But yeah, you make a good point there I reckon. Regardless of whether you believe that they came from God or not, I guess they would have have to have been very vivid so they could be remembered.

[ellz]

Hypothetically speaking, if god did speak to people through dreams I would think that lucid dreams would be the most effective. You usually wake up right after they occur, they are usually the most vivid, they are more easily rememberable, and above all, they are profoundly exciting. In regular dreams you are an actor playing a part in your subconscious' plot while in a lucid you are yourself. Therefore it would make more sense that if a deity chose dreams as its form of communication that it was be a lucid. I thought that you woke up after every dream, and not just lucid dreams? but obviously, waking up from a lucid dream would be much easier to remember happening, so it might seem that it happens more often. I don't think this is a good comparison, because even in non-lucid dreams you can control your actions consciously. Besides this, I agree with the idea that it would make more sense for a deity to chose lucid dreams. I being atheist have to agree with Needcatscan's atheist side, though.

[Merlock]

Well, although I'm neither religious nor atheist, I'd say that dreams wouldn't necessarily have to be lucid for a message to be conveyed. Unless they're depicted in the Bible as conversations...but then again, the conversations could be "induced" and all such, while the dreamer wasn't lucid at all. It would all depend on what the dream was like. Whether they knew, felt that the dream at hand was more than just a dream but rather a message, conversation, etc.