Boo!

Ok, time to leave some of the heavy theology alone for a bit. In light of the fact that Halloween is coming up soon, I thought I might toss out a topic that is somewhat related. In addition to that, I've got a monster blog post coming up soon and I wanted something to keep us all active and interested, yet give me a chance to keep working on that.

So, here's root question: Is there such thing as ghosts? If so, what are they?

One way of approaching this topic would be to say "Who cares? It has no bearing on salvation." While you might be right, I think it's still worthwhile to have an idea of what you believe. If you look at trends in television, this idea is slowly gaining in popularity with shows like "Crossing Over with John Edward" and "Ghost Hunters"

I have to say that I don't have a solid answer in this area, so I'm hoping that everyone else has some thoughts on the matter and we can get a discussion going. My first gut reaction is to say that any paranormal activity is the work of demons, however, there's a story in the Bible that just might blow that theory out of the water.

1 Samuel 28:1-21
[1] In those days the Philistines gathered their forces to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, "You must understand that you and your men will accompany me in the army."

[2] David said, "Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do." Achish replied, "Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life."

[3] Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.

[4] The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all the Israelites and set up camp at Gilboa. [5] When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. [6] He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. [7] Saul then said to his attendants, "Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her."

"There is one in Endor," they said.

[8] So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. "Consult a spirit for me," he said, "and bring up for me the one I name."

[9] But the woman said to him, "Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?"

[10] Saul swore to her by the LORD, "As surely as the LORD lives, you will not be punished for this."

[11] Then the woman asked, "Whom shall I bring up for you?"
"Bring up Samuel," he said.

[12] When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!"

[13] The king said to her, "Don't be afraid. What do you see?"
The woman said, "I see a spirit coming up out of the ground."

[14] "What does he look like?" he asked.
"An old man wearing a robe is coming up," she said.
Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.

[15] Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?"
"I am in great distress," Saul said. "The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do."

[16] Samuel said, "Why do you consult me, now that the LORD has turned away from you and become your enemy? [17] The LORD has done what he predicted through me. The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighborsóto David. [18] Because you did not obey the LORD or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the LORD has done this to you today. [19] The LORD will hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also hand over the army of Israel to the Philistines."

[20] Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel's words. His strength was gone, for he had eaten nothing all that day and night.

[21] When the woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly shaken, she said, "Look, your maidservant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do.

What was it Saul saw? As it says in the story, by this time, Samuel was very much dead. Was it Samuel? Or something else?

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So, I've been thinking a little further on this topic and there hasn't been a lot of activity in the comments so far in the comments so I figured I'd add my thoughts to the toplevel post.

The first premise that I'll throw out there is that ghosts are, or in some way connected to, an intelligent being. Or to put it another way, they are not a natural phenomenon produced by optical illusions, or hallucinations, or strange energy effects, or something like that.

Working off that premise, there are three categories of intelligent beings that the Bible talks about:

1. God
2. Angels
3. Humans

Now, each one of these types of beings has the ability to manifest itself in the physical realm, but each one also has a spiritual component also.

1. God has the ability to manifest himself in a physical form, throughout the Bible. The most important instance is, of course, as Jesus the Son. However, it does also say that God physically wrestled with Jacob. At the same time, God has a spiritual component which is usually known as the Holy Spirit.
2. Angels have more than one known physical form listed in the Bible. When they interact with humans, they typically take on the form of a man, however they take on a more non-human form, including one or more set of wings, when their images adorn the Ark of the Covenant. Most of the time, however, they exist in the spiritual realm, undetected by human senses.
3. Humans have both a physical component, our bodies, and a spiritual component, our souls. The understanding is that when we die, our soul is separated from our body.

You may think that I've left a particular category out; the creatures we call demons. Actually, they are represented in the list. From what we understand from the Bible, demons are fallen angels, or evil angels. Unless this fall from grace transformed them into something completely different that the Bible fails to mention, it seems reasonable to assume that demons have all the characteristics, abilities, and powers of angels and vice versa. This may be a new idea for you, as it is to me. If an angel is able to take on human form as Gabriel did to deliver the good news to Mary, does a demon have the same ability?

But back to ghosts. Let's compare what we know about each of the categories and what we've heard about ghosts.

1. God.
   

   I think we would all agree that we can take God off the list of potential sources of ghosts. If it were truly God that people were seeing, there would be no mistaking it because His brilliance would melt their faces off.

2. Angels
   

   While this is possible, the typical characteristics traditionally attributed to apparitions doesn't really fit the mode of operation of Angels. In almost every story involving angels in the Bible, angels appear in corporeal form on a very specific mission or errand from God. When they show up, the make their presence known, carry out their task, and are gone. They don't show up as half-seen shadows, make objects move, make scary sounds, or any of the things that are traditionally attributed to ghosts.

3. Demons (or Evil Angels)
   

   We know from the Bible that central goal of the fallen angels is to pollute and destroy the creations of God, including mankind. Not much is known about their methods, other than they are have the ability to deceive. To me, if ghosts are connected with these evil beings, I guess I really question the effectiveness of their methods. I would say that the typical outcome of an encounter with a ghost is simple fear. Not fear, as in awe and reverence; fear as in, "I need to get away from here as soon as I can." What would a demon accomplish by masquerading as a dead human and instilling this kind of fear in someone? For most people, this fear drives them to seek out comfort, safety, and good things, including light, friends, and many times God. This seems quite contrary to their purpose.

4. Souls of the Deceased
   

   This option seems to best fit the descriptions of ghosts that people give and fits the description of Saul's encounter with Samuel. However, this brings up a series of major questions: What are these souls still doing on Earth? Why are they not in Heaven or Hell? After we die, are we immediately transferred to one of those places or is it possible that we linger around for some time?

I wonder if there are many things and events that go on in the spiritual world and this happens all around us, but we simply lack the senses to detect it. Imagine if humans were created without ears. You would be completely unable to detect sounds. However, if the music was loud enough, you would feel vibrations and this could be picked up by a different sense. Sometimes I wonder if the spirit world "bleeds" through to our other senses sometimes and this is what we perceive as ghosts.