A biblical answer for...GHOSTS

[sola_gratia]

What would be a biblical answer for people who ask about Ghosts? I was always told there isn't such thing, and that they are familar spirits; which are demons. But I don't really know how to defend that biblically.

[Edited on 7-8-2006 by C. Matthew McMahon]

 

[Kevin]

Levi, I read a book about 20 years ago on that subject by Gary North. The title was (i think) Unholy Spirits.
I don't remember all of his points now but I do recall that it was read by a bunch of people who had questions on the subject & it was helpfull in ending a lot of speculative type of questions.

I am sure it is out of print but is probably available on line. Try freebooks.com I think Dr North has e-versions of all of his books up at that site.

 

[py3ak]

When the disciples thought Jesus was a ghost He didn't say, "Don't be stupid, there is no such thing".

 

[Vytautas]

According to Webster, a ghost is a spirit; the soul of man. In this sense it is seldom used. But hence, it is the soul of a deceased person; the soul or spirit separate from the body; an apparition. For example, the mighty ghosts of our great Harry´s rose. To give up the ghost, is to die; to yield up the breath or spirit; to expire. The Holy Ghost is the third person in the adorable Trinity.

 

[Puritan Sailor]

NO such thing as ghosts or disembodied spirits lingering around to haunt us. You either go to be with teh Lord, or you go to torment. Remember the rich man and Lazuras? But that does not mean demons don't wander to and fro trying to scare us into unbelief.

 

[larryjf]

Lk 16:19-31 is a good reference to what happens to our spirit when we die - either Heaven or Hell...

"There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.' And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house-- for I have five brothers--so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.' But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'" (ESV)


Saul and the Witch of Endor is another passage. This one deals with a supposed ghost appearance...

Then Saul said to his servants, "Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her." And his servants said to him, "Behold, there is a medium at En-dor." So Saul disguised himself and put on other garments and went, he and two men with him. And they came to the woman by night. And he said, "Divine for me by a spirit and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you." The woman said to him, "Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the necromancers from the land. Why then are you laying a trap for my life to bring about my death?" But Saul swore to her by the LORD, "As the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing." Then the woman said, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" He said, "Bring up Samuel for me." When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul." The king said to her, "Do not be afraid. What do you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I see a god coming up out of the earth." He said to her, "What is his appearance?" And she said, "An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe." And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage. (1Sa 28:7-14, ESV)

Notice what the woman said that she saw - "a god" - very interesting.

 

[sola_gratia]

Originally posted by Kevin
Levi, I read a book about 20 years ago on that subject by Gary North. The title was (i think) Unholy Spirits.
I don't remember all of his points now but I do recall that it was read by a bunch of people who had questions on the subject & it was helpfull in ending a lot of speculative type of questions.

I am sure it is out of print but is probably available on line. Try freebooks.com I think Dr North has e-versions of all of his books up at that site.

Thanks a lot Kevin, I found the book.


And thanks Larry for the verses.

I was just trying to understand how you explain to someone what the appearance of a "ghost" is when they believe it to be deceased people from the past. I suppose most would say those are demons?

 

[fivepointcalvinist]

Heb 9:27 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment"

seems plain to me that when we die, like patrick noted, you either go to be with the Lord, or you go to torment, but first we must be judged.

 

[larryjf]

I was just trying to understand how you explain to someone what the appearance of a "ghost" is when they believe it to be deceased people from the past. I suppose most would say those are demons?

I would say they could be demons. Of course, it could also be something psychological.

Demons are able to witness what a person does and gain a great deal of knowledge about that person, so i would think it would be easy for them to pass themselves off as a dead human being.

When i think of ghosts one thing that crosses my mind is that many are seen in places where there was terrible violence or something similar - perhaps a serial killer had many victims at the site. It seems to me that the same demons that were active in the serial killer could remain at the site.

Just a thought

 

[py3ak]

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy"

 

[sola_gratia]

Originally posted by larryjf

I was just trying to understand how you explain to someone what the appearance of a "ghost" is when they believe it to be deceased people from the past. I suppose most would say those are demons?

I would say they could be demons. Of course, it could also be something psychological.

Demons are able to witness what a person does and gain a great deal of knowledge about that person, so i would think it would be easy for them to pass themselves off as a dead human being.

When i think of ghosts one thing that crosses my mind is that many are seen in places where there was terrible violence or something similar - perhaps a serial killer had many victims at the site. It seems to me that the same demons that were active in the serial killer could remain at the site.

Just a thought

Yeah, that seems to be my thoughts on it as well.

 

[C. Matthew McMahon]

The OT calls "ghosts" by a more biblical name - familiar spirits.

Leviticus 19:31 Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 20:6 And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.

Leviticus 20:27 ' A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.' "

The Hebrew term means "ghost, or spirit of a dead one". It can also mean necromancer.

See this article for necromancy -
http://www.apuritansmind.com/ChristianWalk/McMahonNecromancy.htm

In any case, if a familiar spirit is "familiar" or closely associated with a person, say Aunt Edna, then when Aunt Edna dies and goes to heaven or hell, the familiar spirit may be able to wreak a little havoc among the living. I have no doubt that these are demons, who, through patient association with their "studies" as they live, haunt the living in this way. If the demon knew everything about Aunt Eda, it would not take a whole lot to fool the weak minded, or psychologically overwhelm them through a spiritist.

As with the witch at Endor, it wasn't Samuel - The figure received worship from Saul. Something Samuel would never have allowed, especially in a glorified state. Nor would he have told Saul that Saul would be "with him" where he was. Saul was going to hell. Samuel was not.

 

[jaybird0827]

In The Twisted Tales of Shakespeare, Richard Armour asks the question, "Have you ever noticed that when characters in a Shakespearean play said that they saw a ghost, they really did?"

 

[Scott]

If the good (eg. Moses on the Mt. of transfiguration) can come back from the dead to speak to the living, perhaps so can the evil. The logic that says that Heb. 9:27 is an absolute bar to the damned coming back would just as much prevent Moses from coming back. The example of Samuel is the most relevant. I am not sure if Saul falling down before Samuel would constitute worship, as Matt said, but it is worth considering. What makes this look like Samuel is that the spirit's prediction turns out to be true. Demons can't predict the future. Also, the spirit seems to rebuke Saul for disobeying the Lord, something a demon would not do.

I suppose one other option is that the "Samuel" spirit could be one of the spirits from God's own court, like the lying spirit of 1 King 22:22. However, the only lie would be indentity, as everything else he said was true.

 

[Scott]

Wouldn't Isa. 29:4 suggest that there really are ghosts?

4And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak,
and from the dust your speech will be bowed down;
your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost,
and from the dust your speech shall whisper.

 

[BaptistCanuk]

I don't know Scott. Ghosts could have just been the subject of campfire stories at the time and Scripture is using a subject that the people would have known about to make a point.

That, or there really are ghosts eh? Actually, there is something. We just have to decide what they are. Dead people or evil spirits?

 

[Scott]

Isa 29 suggests that these condemned people will speak from the grave. They will whisper from the dust.

 

[BaptistCanuk]

Originally posted by Scott
Isa 29 suggests that these condemned people will speak from the grave. They will whisper from the dust.

Ok. Forgive me for my thoughts.

 

[kevin.carroll]

I'm quite surprised that no one mentioned 1 Sam. 28. If that wasn't a ghost, I don't know what it was.

 

[BaptistCanuk]

Scott, it's a new day and I looked at what you said again. I originally read a different tone into it but I thought about it and I'm probably wrong. Please forgive me if I came across with an attitude.

 

[larryjf]

I'm quite surprised that no one mentioned 1 Sam. 28. If that wasn't a ghost, I don't know what it was.

Actually i did mention that passage in my post (it's about the sixth post from the top)