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I have thought about this a lot lately.
A lot of my friends believe in Ghosts. But I don't.
I've wondered if Christians believe they exist.

So my questions is: Does the Bible say anything about Ghosts?

It depends on how you define Ghosts...

First I would like to say that I DO believe there are demonic spirits that can and DO "haunt" people and actually possess humans. ( the Lord Jesus cast many demons out of people) But I believe the bible is crystal clear on the subject of where our( that is HUMAN) spirit/soul goes after it departs our physical bodies... no exceptions to the rules. All Christians are absent from the body, present with the Lord... all unbelievers are sent to wait for the great white throne judgement in hades.

Having said that.. there IS a situation in the Bible where Saul the 1st king of Israel , consults a witch ( the infamous witch of Endor) to bring the prophet Samuel back. AND... Samuel did in fact SPEAK to them ( Saul and the witch) ONCE after he had died. So... I suppose we could conclude it was the "ghost" of Samuel.

Incidentally, this was forbidden by God and because Saul had done this thing ( and many other disobedient things) the word Samuel the ghost gave to Saul during that little 'seance" was NOT good news. Check this out in the Bible.. it is very interesting. ( check it out in 1 Samuel 28)

ALSO... this witch of endor... was scared SPITLESS after the incident! So to answer your question... YES the bible does speak of ONE " was NOT good news. Check this out in the Bible..it is very interesting. ( check it out in 1 Samuel 28)

ALSO...this witch of endor...was scared SPITLESS after the incident! So to answer your question...YES the bible does speak of ONE ". But I haven't EVER found another incident where God allowed someone who had passed on actually speak to the living other than Samuel and it wasn't THIS side of the cross. Does it make a difference? I think so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by classyT

It depends on how you define Ghosts.....

First I would like to say that I DO believe there are demonic spirits that can and DO "haunt" people and actually possess humans. ( the Lord Jesus cast many demons out of people) But I believe the bible is crystal clear on the subject of where our( that is HUMAN) spirit/soul goes after it departs our physical bodies...no exceptions to the rules. All Christians are absent from the body, present with the Lord...all unbelievers are sent to wait for the great white throne judgement in hades.

Having said that..there IS a situation in the Bible where Saul the 1st king of Israel , consults a witch ( the infamous witch of Endor) to bring the prophet Samuel back. AND....Samuel did in fact SPEAK to them ( Saul and the witch) ONCE after he had died. So....i suppose we could conclude it was the "ghost" of Samuel.

Incidently, this was forbidden by God and because Saul had done this thing ( and many other disobedient things) the word Samuel the ghost gave to Saul during that little 'seance" was NOT good news. Check this out in the Bible..it is very interesting. ( check it out in 1 Samuel 28)

ALSO...this witch of endor...was scared SPITLESS after the incident! So to answer your question...YES the bible does speak of ONE "ghost". But i haven't EVER found another incident where God allowed someone who had passed on actually speak to the living other than Samuel and it wasn't THIS side of the cross. Does it make a difference? I think so.

Excellent answer! And the witch was scared out of her witch -uh, wits :rolleyes: - because she was expecting her "familiar spirit" as the KJV calls it. The picture we get is of a demon assigned to work with her and mimic the dead people that her clients wanted to speak to. That seems to be the Bible's assessment of how mediums ("real" ones, not charlatans) operate. They don't actually talk to ghosts, they talk to demonic beings who imitate the departed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwashbur

Excellent answer!

Dave,

And you were expecting anything but ( excellent) from me?? :p

And... exactly! She was expecting something else entirely! I'd would have LOVED to have seen her face!!

p.s. if you'd just once listen to me... I'd help you out on that whole business of Israel... but alas... thou are't stubborn. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by classyT

Dave,

And you were expecting anything but ( excellent) from me?? :p

And... exactly! She was expecting something else entirely! I'd would have LOVED to have seen her face!!

Me too. She probably had to change some clothes, too...

Quote:

p.s. if you'd just once listen to me... I'd help you out on that whole business of Israel... but alas... thou are't stubborn. :D

Back at you! :D

Did they not say in the passage where Jesus walked across the water to the boat, and the apostles were afraid and thought it may be a ghost ? Would that not mean that they believe in ghosts ?

Fr-Chuck,

Good question! BUT if I saw someone walking on water... late in the evening.. with nothing but the MOON to give some light... I'd FREAK out too, perhaps even think it was a "ghost" or demonic spirit. Doesn't actually mean they "believed" in someone who had passed becoming a ghosts.. or thought that even possible.
... what in the world were they suppose to think? I bet they had ghost stories even back in that day!

Quote:

Originally Posted by classyT

It depends on how you define Ghosts...

I think I would define it as a dead person wandering around the world. :| But that brings me to this:

Quote:

But I believe the bible is crystal clear on the subject of where our( that is HUMAN) spirit/soul goes after it departs our physical bodies... no exceptions to the rules. All Christians are absent from the body, present with the Lord... all unbelievers are sent to wait for the great white throne judgement in hades.

I've been wondering about that too! Thank you so much for that. =)

Quote:

Having said that.. there IS a situation in the Bible where Saul the 1st king of Israel , consults a witch ( the infamous witch of Endor) to bring the prophet Samuel back. AND... Samuel did in fact SPEAK to them ( Saul and the witch) ONCE after he had died. So... i suppose we could conclude it was the "ghost" of Samuel.

Incidentally, this was forbidden by God and because Saul had done this thing ( and many other disobedient things) the word Samuel the ghost gave to Saul during that little 'seance" was NOT good news. Check this out in the Bible.. it is very interesting. ( check it out in 1 Samuel 28)

ALSO... this witch of endor... was scared SPITLESS after the incident! So to answer your question... YES the bible does speak of ONE " was NOT good news. Check this out in the Bible..it is very interesting. ( check it out in 1 Samuel 28)

ALSO...this witch of endor...was scared SPITLESS after the incident! So to answer your question...YES the bible does speak of ONE ". But i haven't EVER found another incident where God allowed someone who had passed on actually speak to the living other than Samuel and it wasn't THIS side of the cross. Does it make a difference? I think so.

Interesting. I'll have to read that. Thank you Classy!