richard2

I had this one thrown at me recently and am unsure how to proceed with such things as vision or prophecy debunking is not my thing:

In St. Therese's A Story of a Soul, there is a passage which tells about a "vision and prophecy" she had regarding her father.

I am attempting to find the passage in her "Autobiography", but here's an excerpt from a web site:

"Many years earlier, when Therese was a little girl, she would peer out of an attic window. Therese loved reveling in the glory of the day. One day however, while her father was in Alencon on business, she suddenly saw in the garden below the stooped and twisted figure of a man. She froze in terror. "Papa, Papa" she cried out. Her sister, Marie, who was nearby, heard the unmistakable note of panic in Therese's cry and ran to her. The figure in the garden disappeared. Marie assured her it was nothing and told her to forget everything that had happened. But the vision continued to cling like a sad portent in the corner of Therese's mind for the next fourteen years. Now, with her father paralyzed, the meaning of Therese's vision in the garden so long ago had became apparent at last."

What the article does not say, and it says it in her book, is that the figure looked like and wore the same clothing her father did when he became sick later in life when Therese was in the convent.

No one else in Therese's house saw the vision. It disappeared when she yelled at it, but they heard her and ran to her in the attic.

Anyway, what are some possible explanations for this? I mean, how does a child have a vision of her father's future state?

I'd be grateful if someone could find the passage from the book.

Thanks,

richard

John A. Broussard

1. A miracle
2. A lie
3. A hallucination
4. Someone played a trick on her
5. Other.

There are many, many other explanations. I'd advise you to read David Hume's short essay on miracles.

richard2

Thanks, will do.

What I'm looking for are holes in the story, something that could cast major doubt upon it. If I were to tell this person that it's simply either of those 4, I wouldn't make much progress. I'd probably get a "Yeah, right..." out of them. (except #1)

I doubt it was #4, though. I mean, it's not really a trick, to impersonate an old, sickly man that resembles her father. Weird trick.

I'll read Hume.

BTW, I've enjoyed many of your threads and posts.