Christians and ghosts

37They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."

Can we conclude from this that ghosts are "real" since Jesus doesn't deny that ghosts exist, just that He isn't one.

Les

 

I don't think anyone is saying they aren't real. Just debating what they are.

 

My friend worked in an old school. It had a friendly atmosphere during the day. But at night it was rather spooky.
I was talking with him one day and he said that a certain corridor was haunted and that the former caretaker's dog would only travel so far down that particular corridor but no further. He also said that he had seen things on several occasions as he walked down that corridor. He said as he approached a certain section that a ghostly shape past from one classroom across the corridor into the classroom opposite.

One night I had to cover for him and I thought to myself, I think I'll check out this "ghost" of his. So I made my way down to that particular "haunted" corridor. And sure enough as I approached that particular section I too saw this ghostly shape pass from one side of the corridor and into the classroom opposite. I was satisfied in my mind at what I had seen.

So, next time I saw my friend I said to him, "Let's go and see your ghost shall we". "Ok", he said doubtfully. And so we both made our way round to the haunted corridor. And as we approached that dreaded spectre appeared just ahead of us. "There's your ghost", I said. And I pointed out to him that there were two sets of glass doors and as you moved towards them they gave the impression that there was something ghostly moving across the corridor. What he had actually seen was his own reflection. :laugh: From that time on he saw it no more and was no longer afraid of venturing round there at night.

 

Several years ago, there was an article in a Christian magazine (may have been 'Christianity Today') about UFOs. I didn't get to read the article in depth, it was passing through my hands on its way to someone else. I do remember it talking about Christians seeing UFOs and other similar events and being able to end them or make them go away by speaking the name of Jesus. I also remember another part of the article talking about an observatory with a large telescope and a group of people gathered there one night. It seems some of the people there claimed to see UFO's and other things in the sky. What is interesting is that some of the people were Christians looking at the very same part of the sky at the same moment and they did not see ANY UFOs or apparitions; only the non-Christians were seeing them.

I don't remember many other details about this article, but these were the parts that stuck in my recollection.

As for ghosts and UFOs, I personally believe they are all demons attempting to decieve people.

 

You're a fast reader :laugh:

 

I distribute mail in a post-graduate Christian school, so if an interesting article is mentioned on the cover of a magzine, I may take a couple of minutes to glance through it before it makes its way to the library.

 

this has been a spirited discussion.

 

And that comment will haunt me the rest of the day!!!

:laugh: :laugh:

 

It sort of spooked me.


BTW, how about photos or videos of ghosts/ufos? Assuming they are not doctored (whether by age or trust of the source), how do they show up on film? How about when multiple people see the same thing with no way to communicate with one another?

 

When I was about 10 years old I saw a ufo. I was playing cricket in the street and suddenly looked up (as kids do) and there right above me was an orange disc shaped object. I had never heard of ufo's and said to my brother who was standing next to me, "What's that?" He said, "That's a flying saucer. They've got them in Canada". I just said, "Oh, right". and went on plaing cricket. A few minutes later I looked up at it again, but it was gone. Must've got bored. I know cricket bores me to tears. So these alien guys must be just like us after all. :laugh:

 

True story. When my wife and I bought our first home a few years back, the first night we stayed there something weird happened. At about 3AM, I was awakened by children laughing in the attic. I immediately opened my eyes, and my heart raced. I was laying with my back to my wife...and just layed there motionless with my eyes open listening for it again. After a minute or so, my wife says "did you hear that?"
I said "hear what?"
"Children laughing" she said.
I still have no idea what we heard, whether it was a demon trying to scare us, or what. It was clearly the sound of children laughing...and it was loud. We haven't heard it since, though.
I use that to scare my wife now. I tell her the old woman with the nightgown, long white hair, and white eyes in the attic...holding those children hostage is going to get her.

 

Now, Webdog, are you sure it wasn't your snoring that woke you and your wife up? :laugh:

Shortly after our oldest daughter was born, she was sleeping and I was in the bathroom. Back then, I kept the bathroom door open in case she stopped breathing or something (you know how new mothers are.) Well, I clearly heard this man's voice INSIDE my house say "Hello?" I just about had a heart attack. We later found out the frequency of our neighbor's cordless phone had been similar to our baby monitor--as later I overheard a different conversation coming from the bedroom and went to investigate.

 

We used to own a house that was really old, and from downstairs, I learned that you could clearly hear someone walking from the bedroom to the bathroom and back. I had always assumed it was my wife until one night when she walked to the bathroom, I decided to sneak upstairs and be in bed when she got back. (I don't sleep much, and we were working different shifts.) When I hopped into what I thought was an empty bed, we both almost hit the ceiling. This happened every night. My cousin, when I told him about decided to come check it out. He didn't believe me. He would never step foot in my house again.

Years later when my wife and I were discussing these events, we had both seen the same woman in a plaid skirt at different times on multiple occasions. Neither of us wanted to tell the other. She never heard the footsteps, though, as she was always asleep at that time.

After we moved, the day the closing was supposed to take place, someone set fire to the place. It appeared to be homeless people trying to stay warm and built a fire in a fireplace that had been closed off for years.

For years I've been trying to figure out what it was. I'm pretty sure, based on Scriptures that it was not a dead person, but why make the appearance of being a woman who walks down the hall and back every night, and when you see her looks confused? I think to deceive and get you to try to communicate with those with whom you are not supposed to. We found out about five years after these events that a woman was murdered there back in the 30's, and if a demon were trying to be deceiving, what better way to do it than to emulate a real person.

 

I feel like we are all sitting around the camp fire. Who's got the marshmallows?

 

My grandmother used to tell of the time during the second world war when she was staying with my aunt in a small village in kent. The moddle house of three. She had to sleep in the attic room one night. During the night she awoke with cold clammy hands round her throat trying to strangle her. She struggled and struggled to try and get free. Eventually she was able to reach the switch on the bedside table lamp and turned it on. As she did so the cold clammy strangling hands faded way with the night.

She immediately rushed downstairs to my aunt's room and said that she was never going to sleep in that attic room again. Next day she told the story to the local shop keeper and he told her that a few years previously there was a woman strangled to death in that very room.

What I couldn't understand was, were these the hands of the murderer, or the hands of the murdered woman?

 

I do! I've got chocolate and grahme crackers too. :laugh:

Perhaps, based on the conversation here, it was the demon who infested the original murderer (presumably by then put to death) trying to decieve you cousin into believing he could do it again without human hands and just generally trying to invoke fear cause that's what demons do, right?

 

I'm going to blame you guys if I have a nightmare tonight.
My shift here at work begins at 2 pm and ens 10:30, and because I get here after noontime, the parking lot is all filled, and I park at the far south end corner with all those busted street lights.
I hope Jason Myers won't be in my car.

 

have you heard the story of the old empty barn? Well here it is. The story of the old empty barn.
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There was nothing in it.:laugh:

 

All that I have seen on this subject leads me to believe that they are all familiar spirits. Not something for the Christian to fool with, if they can be avoided. A very well known psychic (hint-on TV regularly) has nothing but disdain for the notion that there are evil spirits, of course, they would say what they are getting is from good sources, even from God Himself.
There is a lot of things that can't be explained when it comes to some of these "seers", if you will, and that is the part to be concerned about. The devil and all of his agents don't know everything, but they are not stupid, they know a lot. They, as well as everyone and everything, were made by God.

 

Ghost stories are very common; and among the unsaved, ghosts become a substitute for God's revelation. People anxiously wait to hear what the ghost said and they trust it as wisdom from a higher source.

This being the case, one is justified in taking a hard line against any belief in ghosts. Such belief is not without danger.