I had a very interesting conversation with an Episcopal Priest from a 300 year old church recently. He described to me some of the “paranormal” activity that surrounds the old church and graveyard where he serves – including some inexplicable movements of physical objects and church members seeing ghosts. Wait…ghosts? As a believer, what am I supposed to think about ghosts? Are there such things as ghosts – human spirits come back from the grave to haunt the living?
As random as this may seem, Scripture is not silent about human spirits and whether the dead can return to earth – so I offer this brief theology of ghosts:
- Death is unequivocally final for every human. Freedom is not granted by God to human spirits to wander as they please until the resurrection.
- Hebrews 9:27 – “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.”
- The spirits of believers can be sent to earth by God for a specific purpose.
- Matthew 17:1-8 – the spirits of Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration.
- 1 Samuel 28 – the spirit of Samuel is sent by God to prophesy to a rebellious Saul.
- The spirits of unbelievers are kept under custody until judgment – they are not free to bridge the gap back to earth or to communicate with the living.
- Luke 16:19-31 – Christ tells the story of “the rich man and Lazarus”. In this story, we can understand that unbelieving spirits are kept until the resurrection from the dead to the “second death”: the opening of the lake of fire.
- Angels can take forms on earth to fulfill specific purposes.
- There are many Scripture references where angels (spirit beings created by God to serve and glorify Him) are sent to minister to believers or execute judgment, often taking many forms. They are sent by God with a specific purpose (Heb. 1:14).
- Demons can also take different forms on earth, except to fulfill evil purposes.
- Scripture records several events where unclean spirits (angels that have followed Satan in his fall into pride) are active in the lives of humans (Luke 11:24-26; Mark 5:1-20)
Having said all this, the paranormal remains under the sovereign control of Christ. If ever a believer’s spirit appears, it comes with a distinct, God-ordained purpose. If an angel appears, God has sent it. If a demon is present or causing physical manifestations – it too is under the constraining purposes of Jesus Christ. It is Christ’s name that creates deepest fear in the hearts of demons (James 2:19) and motivates the service of holy angels and saints who have passed on into His presence.
I take heart with the paranormal because Christ has settled the matter. My sins are forgiven and now all things will work together for good, even that which Satan conspires for evil.
Thank you Doug. People are constantly making this mistake. Just like the idea that people become angels when they die. People are people angels are angels. We are so blessed to have God’s word to inform us! Thanks again.
I think ghosts and paranormal activity is demonic activity that is visible to us here on earth. They may disguise themselves as a ghost with human attributes but they are just your run of the mill demon. I think this opens a bigger question…. Can a believer be demon possessed? I would say no to that which brings me to my final question…. What about Aliens? As a Christian can we believe in other beings out there in a different part of the universe or in a different universe altogether? That question I don’t know the answer to, I don’t believe in aliens but can you be a believer in Christ and aliens? Is there any biblical perspective on that one?
Thanks, Doug. I am having a hard time understanding the meaning of one phrase in your entry, “except to fulfill evil purposes.” Can you clarify?
Tom, thanks for asking. What I am saying is that demons are like angels, in that they can take on differing forms on earth, EXCEPT their purposes are for evil, and not to honor God. Make sense?
Gotcha. Once I connect it with the previous point it makes perfect sense.
Ironic that you should bring this up, Big B, because there is more discussion about aliens then ghosts at my house. And this is what I tell my children: I don’t know if aliens exist, but if they do, God created them, because the Bible says that, “through Him all things were made.”
Interesting. Thanks for breaking out this relevant scripture on this topic. I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the intersection between faith, logic and fear of the paranormal, so it’s interesting to read this work.
Big B – thanks for your questions. Aliens: Not a topic Scripture opens to us, and because of that, it is a topic not worth our time. I personally would answer my children (if asked) that though certainly God could create whatever He desires – it seems unlikely that the God and Father of Christ (God in human form!) would have created other alternate worlds. Demon possession of believers would require an entire blog post to unpack – but the short of it: no.