This discussion explores biblical perspectives on ghosts, focusing on the difference between spirits and demonic forces, and how Christians are advised to approach these topics. Participants are invited to share their thoughts on the existence of ghosts and what Scripture reveals about the spiritual realm.
Ghosts are a popular subject in culture, but the Bible has specific things to say about spirits, both good and evil. Jesus’ disciples, for example, mistook Him for a ghost when He appeared walking on the water – Mark 6:49 – and there are references to spirits in other parts of Scripture. The Bible also warns against communicating with spirits of the dead, as seen in Leviticus 19:31, which advises, “Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists.”
How do you interpret what the Bible says about ghosts and spirits? Have you ever thought about the difference between a ghost and a demon?
I am concerned about the mindlessly simplistic content of many of these Crosswalk articles. As a longtime member of the British Society for Psychical Research, American Society for Psychical Research and International Association for Near-Death Studies, and having experienced some of these phenomena myself, I am considerably better informed than the author of this piece.
These phenomena are experienced and reported by millions of people, including highly respected evangelicals and evangelical leaders - and always have been. Gary Habermas has written about them in his work on the Resurrection. Renowned NT scholar Dale C. Allison has written about his own startling experiences. To ascribe them to “demons” is, IMO, simply silly.
This is a VAST body of human experience that comprises so-called ghosts, apparitions, deathbed visions, After-Death Communications, Near-Death experiences and other afterlife-related phenomena, all of which make a compelling case that the dead do indeed sometimes communicate with the living. To suggest that God allows demons to deceive people on this scale, faithful Christians and atheists alike, reflects a very disturbing notion of God. I would have to believe that my own experiences with my own father, mother, late wife and sister-in-law were demonic, even though the only effect of these experiences was to greatly ENHANCE my belief.
I remember reading an article long ago that theorized the human eyes and brain, when dressed by fear or forbidding, may project images thst the person may see as ghosts. Grandma years after her death, etc.
