Ghosts in Christianity

Ghosts in Christianity

I understand some may think this is a harsh subject or that some may think it could be offensive. I assure you, this blog will not be some tirade against religion because in fact, I am a Christian. I am a Christian who believes in God, who believes in Jesus. I am fairly "new" to Christianity, but I like to think I'm slightly maturing. I am by NO means anywhere near a fully mature Christian, I'm barely even in the "maturing" stage. This blog will be supported primarily by facts and not just my own silly opinions. But I raised the question: Exactly what is the stance on ghosts in Christianity?

As Christians we believe that once we die, our souls are sent for judgment and that every person on this Earth will be judged once they pass away. Our souls are judged on whether or not we are "worthy" of entering the kingdom of Heaven. If we are not worthy, then we would be sent to Hell. As a matter of fact, according to Christian belief there is no room for the acceptance of ghosts residing on the Earth because there are only two ways to go. Catholics are essentially the only religion who have a firm belief in purgatory, which is a soul who is trapped somewhere between Heaven and Hell. But in the Bible, Paul writes: "To be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord."

For this, it is basic Christian belief that ghosts do not exist. What exists on this Earth are demons, or fallen angels. It is believed that these demons are sent from Hell as a form of trickery of the Devil. These demons are used to influence the saved ones into going to the "dark" side. The only "ghost" that ever existed was the Holy Ghost, who is the all powerful. Some Christians believe that since a Holy Ghost exists, therefore angels exist. These angels are not souls trapped on Earth. They are sent to guide the saved brothers and sisters. Since there is a Holy Ghost, there is also the exact opposite, which I explained above.

In the bible it says that one third of the angels rebelled against God, led by Satan. Satan has sent these demons back to Earth to deceive us and to make us question our belief in God. He sends them back to make us believe they are the "ghosts" of people who have died. In 2 Corinthians 11:14 it says: "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. (15) Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works." Basically saying that Satan's demons can manipulate themselves to appear as angels or "helpful spirits".

Does Jesus ever mention Ghosts? Well in Luke 24:39 it says: "Touch me and make sure that i am not a ghost, because ghosts don't have bodies, as you see that I do!" But this isn't Jesus telling us ghosts are real, only saying that HE is real and not like the ghosts of the old fables.

The bible does forbid contacting the dead through things like seances (or things like Ouija Boards). It is said here in Deuteronomy 18:9 "When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. (10) There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. (11) Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. (12) For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee."So it is actually considered an abomination to physically try to conjure a ghost.

Now "believing" in ghosts is NOT a sin. Believing in ghosts as a Christian however, makes people question your true faith in God. Because it said in the bible that a day will come where judgment will be passed on everyone at one time and either you go to Heaven or go to Hell. There is no in between. Does believing make you a bad Christian? No. Does it make you an incomplete Christian? Maybe. Truth of the matter is, a good 33% of American Christians believe in ghosts as well all know them. That number is staggering considering the belief. I am one of those Christians who believes in ghosts. I do NOT oppose God or Jesus. I do NOT deliberately try to summon "spirits" to enter my body, or communicate through me. What I do, is walk around a creepy old building and snap pictures and turn on an audio recording device. I may ask a few questions for the spirit to answer, but I am by NO means summoning spirits to enter my thoughts.

You see most Christians 100% believe in God and believe in Heaven and Hell. As humans, we have adapted several times over several hundred years. Our practices and beliefs change according to how life is currently. At one point people used the Bible to defend racism and slavery. But we have adapted and realized that is not what the Bible was saying. People use it now to defend anti-gay beliefs (which I won't go into). God clearly states the most important commandment is to "love God and to love People". We as a human race may sometimes twist the words of the bible to promote hatred towards people (and it's only the bad Christians we ever see, which manipulates the minds of every non believer sadly).

I guess my point is, is that all true Christians love God with all their heart. And most of us try our hardest to "love thy neighbor as one would love thine own self". There are NUMEROUS theological arguments that Christians are torn between. Ghosts being one of them. But the important thing is this: only one person passes true judgment on us, and that is God. It is based off our true hearts. It is based off if we really are trying to spread God's love towards other people. It is about the person we are in Christ, the person we have matured into. So does simply believing in ghosts make you a bad Christian? No. Will you go to Hell if you believe in ghosts? I don't think so, but it's not up to me to pass any judgment. You are not even going to Hell if you are gay. The only person who decides who goes enters Heaven is God. It is my advice, if you are a Christian, to not meddle deeply into the paranormal. Do not thrust yourself into a world where you CAN be corrupted. There ARE demons out there, and do not involve yourselves with them. But do ghosts exist? In my opinion yes. I personally do not see the harm in trying to document and prove their existence. Why they are here? I have NO idea. I will never know.

I am not here trying to defend myself for my belief in the paranormal. But listen, I am not perfect. No Christian will ever be perfect. I can admit that. I don't believe that I am sinning by taking pictures in an old hotel. I don't believe I'm sinning for taking an interest in something a bit abnormal. Again, this is just ME speaking. Please don't attack me, I have attacked no one in this blog. As a matter of fact, I believe I have posed by sides of the story here, equally and fairly. In fact, I think I have defended the non ghost believer more than a Christian like me. I just wanted to write this blog just to shed even a minuscule light on the subject. I am NOT an expert. I have only been a Christian for a little over a year, I by no means have a lot of answers. I'm a newbie of sorts, but I just wanted to post some facts. A lot of this was facts I got from other websites, and from the bible itself. Take this blog in anyway you want, but it was not an attack on anyone's faith. I LOVE God, and I do my best to love on people. I assure you there is no more of a true statement you will ever hear from me.

--Mike--