CHRISTIAN FAITH AND DREAMS

I've done some research on dreams in the Bible, and put together short descriptions of each type of dream covered. The Bible doesn’t cover any of the non-Christian spiritual dreams that people experience, so I don’t know what the commonly held Christian belief is on those, and I wouldn’t try to venture a guess.

These are the types of dreams I will cover:
Prophetic Dreams
Warning Dreams Dreams Concerning the Will of God Dreams
Caused by the Business of the Day
False Dreams

Prophetic Dreams
Anyone can have a prophetic dream from God. The purposes of these dreams are varied, but usually concern things of direct relevance to the dreamer. For example, Joseph had dreams concerning his future, and Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar had dreams concerning the future of their countries.

The meanings of prophetic dreams and visions are not apparent, and require an interpretation. The Bible calls them ’dark sayings’. And he said, Hear now my words, If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak to him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him I will speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches. God is able to give understanding to people concerning these dreams. The Bible says that the meaning of prophetic dreams belongs to God (Genesis 40:8). This is most evident in the case of Daniel when King Nebuchadnezzar forgot his dream and required his wise men to tell him the dream and it’s meaning. Only God knew the dream and could reveal it to Daniel.

Warning Dreams
Warning dreams in the Bible are straight forward. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken, for she is a man’s wife. The angel of the Lord appeared unto Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. Dreams Concerning the Will of God Dreams concerning the will of God are similar to warning dreams, where God or an angel appears and clearly says what a person should do. But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life.

Dreams Caused by the Business of the Day
Maybe the main reason Christians don’t study dreams is that the Bible dismisses many common dreams and warns against false and misleading dreams. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business. This verse means that dreams may simply reflect the busy day that you had. For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God. This verse warns against getting caught up in common dreams. There are many dreams you don’t have to pay attention to, and spending a lot of time trying to understand them might not get you anywhere.

False Dreams
When a person wants to believe something they may very well have a dream that tells them what they want. Then they begin to believe in their dream, considering it a spiritual revelation. This seems to be the basis for false dreams and false prophesy. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye caused to be dreamed. For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd. If you study dreams from a Christian perspective I believe God will give you understanding of the interpretation, and also wisdom to tell which category a dream falls under. With this in mind, I don’t know why more Christians don’t study dreams.

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DREAMS AND THE MIND
DREAM THEORY :Towards a theory of dreams
THETAWAVES :Hallucinations and dreams
DREAM SYMBOLISM :Neural patterns and their relevance to dream interpretation
ROBERT STICKGOLD:Robert Stickgolds studies of dreams and the game Tetris

NIGHTMARES
DYING MAN'S NIGHTMARE: Making sense of a medical condition by dreams.
DISTURBING DREAMS : Nightmares.
NIGHTMARES : Childrens Nightmares.
WORLD WAR ONE NIGHTMARES : Dreaming of the front line.
NIGHTMARES : A practical study of nightmares showing what individual nightmares meant
CONFRONTING FEAR IN NIGHTMARES : By Dorian Paul

SLEEP PHENONOMA
HYPNOPOMPIC AND HYPNOGOGIC IMAGERY :Hallucinations and dreams
HYPNOGOGIC IMAGERY :Example dreams
SLEEPWALKING :Dreams and sleepwalking
SLEEP DEPRIVATION :The TV reality show "shattered"
CIRCADIAN RYTHMS :Dreams and melatonin
LUCID DREAMS

DREAM SYMBOLISM
ANIMALS IN DREAMS :By Dorian Paul
ANIMALS IN DREAMS : Animals in dreams
COLOURS IN DREAMS : By Urban
COLOURS IN DREAMS : By Kafka
Archetypes and myths : Jungs archetypes by Dorian Paul
INDIVIDUATION : understanding the Jungian approach
ARCHETYPES : Jungian archetypes
EVIL ARCHETYPES : By Dorian Paul
Heros and archetypes : by Dorian Paul
DREAMS AND MUSIC : by Dorian Paul
CRUSH DREAMS : The archetype
DREAM DICTIONARY? : Are we influenced by the dream dictionary we use by "Comrade Bart"

PREMONITIONS AND TELEPATHY
PREMONITION STUDY - A personal study showing how dreams can link to the future
HEART TRANSPLANTS - Does the heart have a memory
DAVID MANDELL :Psychic paintings?
OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCES :OBEs and psychic phenonoma
Premonitions :places deep into the future?
NEURAL IMAGING:Attempts to prove or disprove the existence of ESP
SCIENCE :Towards an understanding of premonitions
EXPERIMENTS :Premonition studies and false premonitions

OTHER ARTICLES
EMOTIONAL DREAMS : Using dreams as a way of expressing your emotions by Dianne Porter
BIG BROTHER : A study of the Big Brother reality show
THE SPIRITUAL APPROACH : By Always Dreaming
INSPIRATION : By Dorian Paul
THE FUNCTION OF DREAMS Why do we dream
COMMUNICATION SKILLS : Dorian Paul on left and right brain issues?
MEDITATION :Using meditation to expand your mind

FAITH AND DREAMS : By Weiss
DREAM JOURNAL : dream diaries
MONTAGUE ULLMAN : Swedish researcher
DREAM FORUMS : Helpful advice
ETHICAL GUIDELINES : By Dorian Paul
FACTS ABOUT DREAMS : Some thoughts
FAQS : Some frequently asked questions

LINKS
Links page :Reciprocal links

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