Post by Angela L. on Mar 22, 2009 20:28:37 GMT -6
While I hate religious debate, I find myself being asked this question by almost everyone I know that is related to me that know's I have grown up around the teaching that everything that is not of this world is a demon...so I got to searching for myself. I had a copy of this article saved and I thought I'd throw it out on the table just to see if anyone has an opinion about this subject or what is written in this article.....this post in no way means that this is MSSPI's view on the subject...its just an article that made me stop and think about it !
Ghosts in the BIble
By Scott Fowler
In my travels, I often run into devout Christians who put forth the opinion that I am somehow damned or insulting their religion due to my activities as a paranormal researcher. I thought it would be a good idea to look into what the Christian Bible says about ghosts. It is only by understanding the stories and the verses in the Bible where we can better understand how what we do fits into that religion.
I would like to stress that this should not be considered at all as an attack on any religion, especially the Christian religion. I have my beliefs on the subject of religion which I will not go into here. This is simply an exploration into what one sacred document has to say on the subject of ghosts. Anyone using this work toward an anti-religious and/or racist end will be soundly denounced. I do not condone such behavior and will not support it in anyway.
Please allow me a quick word on the different versions of the Bible before I get into the meat of this article. There are over two thousand different sects of the Christian religion, meaning there are a number of different versions of the Holy Bible that Christians follow. But the one most Christians see as being the end all be all of God’s word is the King James Bible. The source I have used for this article has used the King James as its reference source, however, other versions could be used as well. Of course, most Bibles used today are at least variations on the King James so though the language may be different, the stories and the lessons in each version tends not to vary that greatly.
Also, in the Christian religion there is the sacred Trinity; God the Father (God), God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Ghost (often thought of as divine inspiration). However, the ghosts we will be talking about are human ghosts, souls of the dead that remain on Earth for whatever reason. So, when you see the term “ghost” in this article, it does not refer to any divine entity but rather a purely human one.
With all that said, what exactly DOES the Holy Bible say about ghosts?
To start with, there’s the story of Jesus Christ himself. The story is well known. Christ was convicted of a crime, was crucified, and was buried in a tomb. Three days later, the Bible tells us, some of Christ’s followers go to his tomb and find it empty. The first time his disciples see the risen-from-the-grave Jesus, they cry out “Ghost!” The Bible says, “But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.” (Luke 24:37) Their first reaction isn’t, “Jesus lives” but “His spirit has come to haunt us.” Jesus had to show them he was a solid, physical being. It is clear that at the time of Christ, the concept of the spirit of an individual roaming the Earth as an ethereal ghost was well known and accepted, even though it was feared.
There is also the story in Matthew chapter 17 in which Peter, James and John see what is apparently the spirits of Moses and Elijah alongside Jesus. What would God’s son be doing with ghosts if they didn’t exist or were harmful?
Christian opponents to us ghost hunters like to quote verses from Leviticus, especially chapters 19 and 20, as evidence that what ghost hunters are doing is against God’s law. However, looking at the verses they quote, we see that they have been misinterpreted. Leviticus is speaking about a prohibition of dealing with psychics or mediums who call on spirit guides to help them. The Old Testament holds that these spirits cannot be trusted to do God’s will. This is not what ghost hunters do. We do not conjure up spirits or ghosts, we simply document their existence.
Also, Leviticus is a book believed to have been written by Moses as it was given to him by God himself. Therefore, we must chose if we believe that Moses really spoke with God or instead was writing something based on his own opinions. If we are to believe that the book of Leviticus was truly given by God, than I ask you to peruse that portion of the King James Bible and you will see that there are far more laws that God demands that society today would consider outrageous.
The Old Testament has several places where it is apparent that the term “ghost” is equivalent to the “human soul”. Genesis 25:8 says, “Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age…” The term “give up the ghost” is referred to several times in the bible as a phrase meaning “to die”. It is quite obvious that “giving up the ghost” means letting the soul leave the body. Therefore, by this phrasing, we could surmise that the writers of the Bible believe that the human soul becomes a ghost.
Overall, the King James Bible is filled with evidence that people of that time believed in ghosts as they believed in God. The Bible states that everyone on and around the Earth was created by God. Would that not also include the paranormal? Science is one way to explore the world that God has given us. So, I ask you, gentle reader, what is wrong with documenting the ghosts that God has put in this world with us?
Source: photos1.ghostweb.com/bibleghosts.html
Ghosts in the BIble
By Scott Fowler
In my travels, I often run into devout Christians who put forth the opinion that I am somehow damned or insulting their religion due to my activities as a paranormal researcher. I thought it would be a good idea to look into what the Christian Bible says about ghosts. It is only by understanding the stories and the verses in the Bible where we can better understand how what we do fits into that religion.
I would like to stress that this should not be considered at all as an attack on any religion, especially the Christian religion. I have my beliefs on the subject of religion which I will not go into here. This is simply an exploration into what one sacred document has to say on the subject of ghosts. Anyone using this work toward an anti-religious and/or racist end will be soundly denounced. I do not condone such behavior and will not support it in anyway.
Please allow me a quick word on the different versions of the Bible before I get into the meat of this article. There are over two thousand different sects of the Christian religion, meaning there are a number of different versions of the Holy Bible that Christians follow. But the one most Christians see as being the end all be all of God’s word is the King James Bible. The source I have used for this article has used the King James as its reference source, however, other versions could be used as well. Of course, most Bibles used today are at least variations on the King James so though the language may be different, the stories and the lessons in each version tends not to vary that greatly.
Also, in the Christian religion there is the sacred Trinity; God the Father (God), God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Ghost (often thought of as divine inspiration). However, the ghosts we will be talking about are human ghosts, souls of the dead that remain on Earth for whatever reason. So, when you see the term “ghost” in this article, it does not refer to any divine entity but rather a purely human one.
With all that said, what exactly DOES the Holy Bible say about ghosts?
To start with, there’s the story of Jesus Christ himself. The story is well known. Christ was convicted of a crime, was crucified, and was buried in a tomb. Three days later, the Bible tells us, some of Christ’s followers go to his tomb and find it empty. The first time his disciples see the risen-from-the-grave Jesus, they cry out “Ghost!” The Bible says, “But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.” (Luke 24:37) Their first reaction isn’t, “Jesus lives” but “His spirit has come to haunt us.” Jesus had to show them he was a solid, physical being. It is clear that at the time of Christ, the concept of the spirit of an individual roaming the Earth as an ethereal ghost was well known and accepted, even though it was feared.
There is also the story in Matthew chapter 17 in which Peter, James and John see what is apparently the spirits of Moses and Elijah alongside Jesus. What would God’s son be doing with ghosts if they didn’t exist or were harmful?
Christian opponents to us ghost hunters like to quote verses from Leviticus, especially chapters 19 and 20, as evidence that what ghost hunters are doing is against God’s law. However, looking at the verses they quote, we see that they have been misinterpreted. Leviticus is speaking about a prohibition of dealing with psychics or mediums who call on spirit guides to help them. The Old Testament holds that these spirits cannot be trusted to do God’s will. This is not what ghost hunters do. We do not conjure up spirits or ghosts, we simply document their existence.
Also, Leviticus is a book believed to have been written by Moses as it was given to him by God himself. Therefore, we must chose if we believe that Moses really spoke with God or instead was writing something based on his own opinions. If we are to believe that the book of Leviticus was truly given by God, than I ask you to peruse that portion of the King James Bible and you will see that there are far more laws that God demands that society today would consider outrageous.
The Old Testament has several places where it is apparent that the term “ghost” is equivalent to the “human soul”. Genesis 25:8 says, “Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age…” The term “give up the ghost” is referred to several times in the bible as a phrase meaning “to die”. It is quite obvious that “giving up the ghost” means letting the soul leave the body. Therefore, by this phrasing, we could surmise that the writers of the Bible believe that the human soul becomes a ghost.
Overall, the King James Bible is filled with evidence that people of that time believed in ghosts as they believed in God. The Bible states that everyone on and around the Earth was created by God. Would that not also include the paranormal? Science is one way to explore the world that God has given us. So, I ask you, gentle reader, what is wrong with documenting the ghosts that God has put in this world with us?
Source: photos1.ghostweb.com/bibleghosts.html