Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Does the Bible say that ghosts are real?

Question from Jason:

[My wife] came home telling me that somehow at work they got in the conversation about ghosts and whether Christians believe they are real or not. Can you help me with this? And can you provide me with specific scripture?

Answer from Pastor Bob:

The King James Version translates "Holy Spirit" as "Holy Ghost," because in the English language four hundred years ago the words "ghost" and "spirit" meant the same thing. However, today, we associate the word "ghost" with a shadowy image of a dead person coming back to haunt people, whereas the Bible is referring to an unseen living person of God when it calls Him the "Holy Spirit."
Regarding the modern idea of ghosts, we read in I Samuel 28 that King Saul consults a medium and asks her to bring up the spirit of the dead prophet Samuel to speak to him, and she does! But the Bible strongly condemns mediums and witchcraft (see Leviticus 19:31). In fact, the first part of 1 Samuel 28 mentions that King Saul had banished the mediums and spiritists from Israel, but then violated his own law to try to bring back the ghost of Samuel. So yes, it is real, but it is satanic and should be avoided. Delving in ghosts leads people into dangerous territory. Instead, we should be consulting God's word, not spirits of the dead. Isaiah 8:19 warns, "When they say to you, 'Consult the spirits of the dead'... shouldn't a people consult their God?"

1 comment:

  1. The Bible is very clear that the dead are dead, and not alive in some other form.

    The fallen angels impersonate the dead, gods and space aliens:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReYe-MsVl8s

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