How can Christians not admit Christianity is all a pile of garbage when ...?

[Abracadabra]

It likely wouldn't be considered schizophrenia, if it were possible at all. There's a lot more to schizophrenia than delusions. To be clear, I'm not one of those that consider delusional thinking alone to be enough to diagnose a mental disorder.

Well, we seem to agree on quite a bit. I don't consider delusional thinking alone to be a mental disorder either. In fact, if it has a positive affect on someone it's probably a blessing more than a disorder.

I also agree that it wouldn't be considered to be schizophrenia if a person could control their lucid visions. You say, "if it were possible at all", but there are books written on how to invoke 'spirits' using these types of psychological 'thought-forms'. So evidently the authors of these books seem to be convinced that they can do it. Maybe they can?

Of course, they are writing these from the vantage point of believing that they are actually calling up "real spirits".

In other words, they see these 'thought-forms' as being mere vessels that external spirits use as a means of communicating with you.

That may or may not be true. Maybe they are just having controlled schizophrenic hallucinations?

Some of these authors tell you to challenge these spirits to prove themselves to you by telling you things that you cannot possibly otherwise know.

Well, it does seem to me that if they passed that test, that would confirm that they are indeed 'external spirits' just communing with you via these imagined psychic thought-forms.

I haven't been able to conjure one up that has been convincing enough to actually have a conversation with yet. But if I ever do, I'm definitely going to be asking it to prove it's independence by telling me something that I couldn't possibly otherwise know.

But like I say, first things first. I can't even get to the stage where I'm actually talking to an illusion much less asking it to prove its independence to me.