As I stated in yesterday’s blog most people believe in the supernatural and somewhere between one fifth and one half of people believe in ghosts. For the purpose of this blog, I will define a ghost as the “soul of a dead person” who freely roams about the earth. Based upon this definition I do not believe in ghosts. My beliefs in the supernatural are based on my understanding of the Bible. I do believe in the supernatural and I do believe in the eternal soul. Where I disagree with the idea of ghosts is that people’s souls are free to roam about the earth. Based upon my understanding of the Bible, our souls are either taken to Heaven or Hell after the death of our mortal bodies. I don’t see many references that state otherwise. There is one, however, that comes to mind.
Just the mention of the title of the passage sounds as though it could have been penned by J.R.R Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling or some other author who likes to use initials. The passage I am referring to is Samuel’s Ghost and the Witch from Endor. Ok, so I said I don’t believe in ghosts and stand on the Bible as my guide but just penned a title from a Bible passage and used the word ghost. I know this is oxymoronic, but please hear me out. According to 1 Samuel, chapter 28, King Saul is worried about the outcome of a forthcoming battle. He seeks out a medium to speak to the dead prophet Samuel. One very interesting part of this story is the fact that Saul had been killing all who practiced sorcery and witchcraft but was now going to one of his enemies to discern his future. To conceal his identity he wears a dark cloak and goes to the medium at night. She calls up what Saul perceives to be the spirit or ghost of the prophet Samuel. This apparition foretells Saul’s demise on the next day. This passage is one that can be used to state that ghosts are real because this has been recorded in the Bible. There are a couple different beliefs on what actually took place in this passage. One belief is that the woman did not conjure up Samuel’s spirit because the Bible states that “Saul perceived that it was Samuel” in verse 14. Some versions say the Saul knew it was Samuel, but the scripture still implies that Saul, who did not actually see the spirit, assumed it was Samuel. Those who ascribe to this theory state that she had actually conjured up a demon who pretended to be Saul or only pretended to conjure up a spirit. Those who ascribe to the demon theory also point out that Samuel’s spirit came from below instead of above. Since Samuel was with God, it doesn’t make sense that his spirit would come from below. The other theory is that God actually allowed Samuel to speak to the woman in this instance. One reason given is that demons do not know the future and the apparition correctly foretold Saul’s death - could have been a good guess. With this theory some believe that in soul of the human body rests in the Earth until the Day of Judgment. Either way, this passage does not state that the souls of the dead freely roam the earth. I don’t see it as a reliable source to state the existence of ghosts.
One other passage of interest is the parable in which Jesus describes the unnamed rich man and the beggar named Lazarus. This is found in Luke 16:19-31. In this passage you have a wealthy man and a beggar who “desired to be fed” with the crumbs from the man’s table. We are not sure if the man actually allowed Lazarus to eat the crumbs from the table or if Lazarus simply ‘desired’ to eat them. In this parable the rich man dies and goes to a place of eternal thirst and fire and Lazarus dies and is with Abraham. A great chasm separates them. They are not dead and resting in the ground and they are not freely roaming the Earth. One is in Heaven and the other is in Hell. This is a parable told by Jesus Christ.
I believe in the supernatural, but I don’t believe in ghosts. Do you?
Tim
Disclaimer: This blog is my opinion and everyone can feel to disagree if you choose. With each topic concerning the supernatural I will reference the Bible. I will not be giving a detailed exposition on how the Bible addresses these subjects but simply discussing a couple of verses. Due to this not being a comprehensive study, there may be other Biblical references you can use to develop a different hypothesis.
Just the mention of the title of the passage sounds as though it could have been penned by J.R.R Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling or some other author who likes to use initials. The passage I am referring to is Samuel’s Ghost and the Witch from Endor. Ok, so I said I don’t believe in ghosts and stand on the Bible as my guide but just penned a title from a Bible passage and used the word ghost. I know this is oxymoronic, but please hear me out. According to 1 Samuel, chapter 28, King Saul is worried about the outcome of a forthcoming battle. He seeks out a medium to speak to the dead prophet Samuel. One very interesting part of this story is the fact that Saul had been killing all who practiced sorcery and witchcraft but was now going to one of his enemies to discern his future. To conceal his identity he wears a dark cloak and goes to the medium at night. She calls up what Saul perceives to be the spirit or ghost of the prophet Samuel. This apparition foretells Saul’s demise on the next day. This passage is one that can be used to state that ghosts are real because this has been recorded in the Bible. There are a couple different beliefs on what actually took place in this passage. One belief is that the woman did not conjure up Samuel’s spirit because the Bible states that “Saul perceived that it was Samuel” in verse 14. Some versions say the Saul knew it was Samuel, but the scripture still implies that Saul, who did not actually see the spirit, assumed it was Samuel. Those who ascribe to this theory state that she had actually conjured up a demon who pretended to be Saul or only pretended to conjure up a spirit. Those who ascribe to the demon theory also point out that Samuel’s spirit came from below instead of above. Since Samuel was with God, it doesn’t make sense that his spirit would come from below. The other theory is that God actually allowed Samuel to speak to the woman in this instance. One reason given is that demons do not know the future and the apparition correctly foretold Saul’s death - could have been a good guess. With this theory some believe that in soul of the human body rests in the Earth until the Day of Judgment. Either way, this passage does not state that the souls of the dead freely roam the earth. I don’t see it as a reliable source to state the existence of ghosts.
One other passage of interest is the parable in which Jesus describes the unnamed rich man and the beggar named Lazarus. This is found in Luke 16:19-31. In this passage you have a wealthy man and a beggar who “desired to be fed” with the crumbs from the man’s table. We are not sure if the man actually allowed Lazarus to eat the crumbs from the table or if Lazarus simply ‘desired’ to eat them. In this parable the rich man dies and goes to a place of eternal thirst and fire and Lazarus dies and is with Abraham. A great chasm separates them. They are not dead and resting in the ground and they are not freely roaming the Earth. One is in Heaven and the other is in Hell. This is a parable told by Jesus Christ.
I believe in the supernatural, but I don’t believe in ghosts. Do you?
Tim
Disclaimer: This blog is my opinion and everyone can feel to disagree if you choose. With each topic concerning the supernatural I will reference the Bible. I will not be giving a detailed exposition on how the Bible addresses these subjects but simply discussing a couple of verses. Due to this not being a comprehensive study, there may be other Biblical references you can use to develop a different hypothesis.
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