In October, a lot of people like to be involved in a lot of “scary” things. Some go to “haunted” attractions where you pay people to scare you. Some people, like me, are the ones doing the scaring. Some watch a lot of horror films. Others like to watch those paranormal research shows or documentaries. Some actually investigate paranormal activity or go on ghost tours. The strange thing is that I like all of that stuff. I do find it entertaining. However, I have had very few people ask me, “Davey, what is your view on ghosts and haunted places?” If you ever want to know my answer, read this little note. If you fear that you may find the answer scarier than you can bear, stop reading now.
I believe that the question, or similar ones, like I had stated in the previous paragraph, are somewhat taboo today. We are bombarded with TV shows where people actually investigate the supernatural. We hear ghost stories all the time. Everyone has an opinion on the topic, and no one likes theirs to be contradicted. For some, it is like having their religious beliefs attacked. As a result, we avoid asking the question, fearing that the answer may not be what we want to hear. So, let’s get started, and don’t say I didn’t warn you.
First of all, let me give you a little background. I used to live in what everyone would say was a haunted house. For the first 18 years of my life, I had firmly believed in ghosts. I grew up with it; things moving from place to place, apparitions, shadow people, and more things that would have terrified the average person, especially as a child. After age 18, my firm beliefs began to slip. I realized there was another side to the story. I read up on ghosts, and investigations of haunted places. I saw the scientific part of it, and part of it can be explained by science or debunked by using science. However, the part that made me arrive at my final view had nothing to do with science, but we’ll get to that later.
From my previous statements, you can deduce that I myself have had many personal experiences. If you ever had a personal experience, you immediately seek out other people who have had similar experiences. After all, you don’t want anyone thinking you’re some kind of a whacko. You need to justify what you had experienced. We all do that at some point. I did. However, there are things that are just tricks of the mind. We can be fooled by our own imaginings. People have woken from dreams thinking that they saw something but didn’t. Matrixing makes us think we see faces in things because that’s what our minds like to do. Some ghostly encounters are simply products of our own minds.
Then along comes scientific investigations. During the course of these investigations, usually, hours upon hours of potential evidence is gathered. Things are debunked. What was thought to be an orb was just a bug or a speck of dust. Disembodied voices and sounds are recorded. Sometimes apparitions show up on video or in still photos. Sometimes, the camera can put in their own “apparitions” just by the limitations of the design. Sometimes natural phenomena can create sounds or events that seem to be supernatural. In this category of scientific investigation, I do believe in residual haunting. That is when an environment or object can have an event imprinted on it, and under the right conditions, play it back like a recording whether it would be an image or sound. Science has proven it can happen.
Now comes the part that excites us all in some way, interactive experiences. This is when the “ghost” communicates in some manner and responds directly with us. This is where it can get pretty intense. This is where the other part comes into play. Those who know me know that I like Bible studies. In fact, for the disciple class we had to read about 78% of the Bible. Yes, my faith dictates to me the last part of my view of ghosts. Do I believe that these kinds of ghosts are actually the spirits of those departed from their worldly existence? No, I do not. This is because of what I have learned by reading the Bible and applying it in all aspects of my life.
I want you to think about this fundamental part in the Bible. What happens to someone when they die? Well, in the Old Testament, Jesus had not been resurrected, so there was no resurrection for those before then. They sleep to be awakened to be judged by God. It didn’t say that their spirits wandered the world. Those after the resurrection go to one of two places, Heaven and Hell, and I don’t mean the towns in Michigan. You may argue about Purgatory, but that was only a temporary part of the Roman Catholic Church doctrine. It does not show up in the Holy Bible. In other words, they would not be wandering around here on earth, and they certainly would not be talking to anyone.
For some of you, this may be a mind-blowing concept. Some of you may be wondering why you never saw it in the first place. Okay, people’s spirits don’t hang around on earth, so what could be talking to all these different people? You’ve got paranormal investigators talking with ghosts. You have people using Ouija boards and similar items. You have mediums who talk with the dead and those who channel spirits through them. Just for reference, the Bible repeatedly says that communication with the dead is forbidden. Why? If there are no spirits of the people who have died, what could possibly be wrong with it? How, then, are there responses from the spirits?
Besides the Trinity, the Bible does mention two kinds of supernatural beings. They are given different names in different parts of the Bible, and the evil ones are identified as spirits or ghosts when translated, but if you go back to the original languages, you can get their true meaning. The first beings are angels, messengers of God. God created them before He created us, and He made a fixed amount of them. Then there was one angel named Lucifer who thought that he should be worshiped like God and rebelled. He was defeated, along with the angels that had supported him. They were cast down out of Heaven. They are known as fallen angels, or known to us as demons.
Here is what we know about angels, and their fallen counterparts. They can defy the physics of our universe. They can instantly travel from one place to another. They are also stronger than humans. They can assume any form. For example, if a person has suffered the loss of a loved one, they can take on the appearance of that loved one. Now, angels may have not much use for this other than to appear more human or to offer comfort, but demons have a more sinister mission. Demons want to separate us from God. The can possess people as well as oppress them. (I will not get into the details of this here as they can get pretty complex.) They can also use their abilities to make us believe in something that does not exist. What could be a better way to separate us from God but to make us think we can communicate with the dead, and that they walk among us?
It was the Bible that led me to this conclusion, and I have had personal experiences that have reinforced this view. Think about it. Chilling, isn’t it?
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