Supernatural or Spiritual?

The word "supernatural" does not appear in most translations of the Bible. As far as I know, only the Message Bible uses that word. I will not use the word "supernatural" if I am referring to the spiritual. And this is why.

The prefix "super" means above, over or beyond. We have words like "superstructure" , which mean a structure on top of another structure, such as a ship. We have "superhuman", an effort that is human but much greater than one would expect normally. Go to a takeaway and you can "supersize" your purchase, if you do not value your health.

In these instances, the "super" means a greater version of the original in some way. The superstructure of a ship is physically attached to the ship. It cannot function independently. A superhuman effort does not mean that the individual has somehow transformed into a different being. "Supersize" simply means more of the same.

The basis of "supernatural" is "natural". It is, for want of a better explanation, an enhanced version of the natural. And therein lies my objection. The natural is not the spiritual, no matter how "super" it becomes.

If there was no other suitable word in English, then "supernatural" would have to do. That is not the case. "Spiritual" is the word that refers to the things of the Spirit of God. "Supernatural" refers to the realm of the natural.

"The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14)

Does it matter? I believe so. Countless Christians have been deceived by accepting all kinds of supernatural manifestations as being of the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus warned us that this would happen. Let's not be one of the deceived. And those who imagine that they cannot be deceived are already deceived.

Couple of points.

• Language evolves and changes with generations. You being older than me have some problems with this word and me being younger than you have a lot of problems with the woke language usage where the newer generation has messed up the language much faster than it should change and things have lost their meaning. I would like to aim for some normal pace where we don’t go too fast and we don’t go too slow either.
• This is the classic Protestant view of Miracles, where God is being thought of in a purely philosophical manner while we find ourselves in the material level.
  Our God is a God of miracles who can bend the laws of nature according to His will and He can raise the dead, and heal the sick.
  So, you are free to reject these supernatural miracles but for some of us is what made us change our minds to believe in God in the first place.

I get the impression this thread is a continuation of an argument started long, long ago in a thread far, far away.

The word "supernatural" does not appear in most translations of the Bible. As far as I know, only the Message Bible uses that word. I will not use the word "supernatural" if I am referring to the spiritual. And this is why.

The prefix "super" means above, over or beyond. We have words like "superstructure" , which mean a structure on top of another structure, such as a ship. We have "superhuman", an effort that is human but much greater than one would expect normally. Go to a takeaway and you can "supersize" your purchase, if you do not value your health.

In these instances, the "super" means a greater version of the original in some way. The superstructure of a ship is physically attached to the ship. It cannot function independently. A superhuman effort does not mean that the individual has somehow transformed into a different being. "Supersize" simply means more of the same.

The basis of "supernatural" is "natural". It is, for want of a better explanation, an enhanced version of the natural. And therein lies my objection. The natural is not the spiritual, no matter how "super" it becomes.

If there was no other suitable word in English, then "supernatural" would have to do. That is not the case. "Spiritual" is the word that refers to the things of the Spirit of God. "Supernatural" refers to the realm of the natural.

"The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14)

Does it matter? I believe so. Countless Christians have been deceived by accepting all kinds of supernatural manifestations as being of the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus warned us that this would happen. Let's not be one of the deceived. And those who imagine that they cannot be deceived are already deceived.

Not really sure to be honest.
I usually respond to things i find interesting.
Miracles are a very interesting topic to me and i've created a topic about miracles here a long time ago.
Besides existence being a miracle itself, we find that the rules in this existence are bent by God anytime He wants.
So for me this is like a no-brainier that God is in charge and in control.

The word "supernatural" does not appear in most translations of the Bible. As far as I know, only the Message Bible uses that word. I will not use the word "supernatural" if I am referring to the spiritual. And this is why.

The prefix "super" means above, over or beyond. We have words like "superstructure" , which mean a structure on top of another structure, such as a ship. We have "superhuman", an effort that is human but much greater than one would expect normally. Go to a takeaway and you can "supersize" your purchase, if you do not value your health.

In these instances, the "super" means a greater version of the original in some way. The superstructure of a ship is physically attached to the ship. It cannot function independently. A superhuman effort does not mean that the individual has somehow transformed into a different being. "Supersize" simply means more of the same.

The basis of "supernatural" is "natural". It is, for want of a better explanation, an enhanced version of the natural. And therein lies my objection. The natural is not the spiritual, no matter how "super" it becomes.

If there was no other suitable word in English, then "supernatural" would have to do. That is not the case. "Spiritual" is the word that refers to the things of the Spirit of God. "Supernatural" refers to the realm of the natural.

"The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14)

Does it matter? I believe so. Countless Christians have been deceived by accepting all kinds of supernatural manifestations as being of the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus warned us that this would happen. Let's not be one of the deceived. And those who imagine that they cannot be deceived are already deceived.

The word "supernatural" does not appear in most translations of the Bible. As far as I know, only the Message Bible uses that word. I will not use the word "supernatural" if I am referring to the spiritual. And this is why.

The prefix "super" means above, over or beyond. We have words like "superstructure" , which mean a structure on top of another structure, such as a ship. We have "superhuman", an effort that is human but much greater than one would expect normally. Go to a takeaway and you can "supersize" your purchase, if you do not value your health.

In these instances, the "super" means a greater version of the original in some way. The superstructure of a ship is physically attached to the ship. It cannot function independently. A superhuman effort does not mean that the individual has somehow transformed into a different being. "Supersize" simply means more of the same.

The basis of "supernatural" is "natural". It is, for want of a better explanation, an enhanced version of the natural. And therein lies my objection. The natural is not the spiritual, no matter how "super" it becomes.

If there was no other suitable word in English, then "supernatural" would have to do. That is not the case. "Spiritual" is the word that refers to the things of the Spirit of God. "Supernatural" refers to the realm of the natural.

"The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14)

Does it matter? I believe so. Countless Christians have been deceived by accepting all kinds of supernatural manifestations as being of the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus warned us that this would happen. Let's not be one of the deceived. And those who imagine that they cannot be deceived are already deceived.

Well... I mean... I can see what you're saying.

Yellow is not "super-blue" because it is not just blue with more blue. It's an entirely different color. (You could call green super-blue though, because you have to add yellow to blue to get green.) Yellow is its own thing, not just an adjunct of blue.

I wouldn't use the superstructure argument though. If all highways were destroyed, superhighways would still function perfectly well. Superman doesn't cease to exist just because normal humans have all died. If my computer crashes, that doesn't affect supercomputers at all.

Couple of points.

• Language evolves and changes with generations. You being older than me have some problems with this word and me being younger than you have a lot of problems with the woke language usage where the newer generation has messed up the language much faster than it should change and things have lost their meaning. I would like to aim for some normal pace where we don’t go too fast and we don’t go too slow either.
• This is the classic Protestant view of Miracles, where God is being thought of in a purely philosophical manner while we find ourselves in the material level.
  Our God is a God of miracles who can bend the laws of nature according to His will and He can raise the dead, and heal the sick.
  So, you are free to reject these supernatural miracles but for some of us is what made us change our minds to believe in God in the first place.

I do not reject miracles and I've had many myself. I was healed directly by God twice in one day, not long after I was saved. But God is Spirit, man is natural. I was bound by an occult spirit for many years. I know what supernatural is. I could stare at people from behind and force them to look around. Somehow, I knew it was wrong, so I cut it out. I was not saved then.

Many Christians are deceived by conflating the spiritual with the supernatural. The so-called Toronto Blessing deception was a consequence of this confusion. Lord Jesus warned us about this possibility.

Well, you're definitely unique then.
You've experienced miracles yourself but you have vocabulary problems with them.
It's not a language test to discern miracles, but a spiritual test.
Most can tell if there are demonic forces involved in a miracle or if they come from God.

I wish that was true. The Toronto Blessing deceived countless Christians, from the well known like Pat Robertson (CBN) to the least of the saints. It gave many unsaved a false concept of salvation. Where I live, churches were having meetings especially to promote the so called Toronto Blessing. Indeed it was like TB. Highly contagious and (spiritually) deadly.

Satan can produce miracles. For example, he can make people sick and he can remove the sickness just as easily.

Mark 13:22

"For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible."

It is is possible for the elect to be deceived. God's people are still destroyed because of their lack of knowledge. And there is nothing new about this. The counterfeit of the Holy Spirit was active in the Asuza Street revival and also during the Welsh revival at the start of the 20th century.

For me I listen to the context of the speaker to make a distinction.
I try to discern their meaning rather than the words used.

For me supernatural leans to demonic and spiritual leans toward GOD