Ghosts And The Bible

Ghosts and the Bible

“Scrooge!” moaned the ghost of Jacob Marley. “Jacob Marley!” whispered an incredulous

...and the Bible

The Voorhies Castle located between Bement and Monticello in Piatt County, IL, and the site of alleged ghostly activity.

Just what does the Bible have to say about the existence of ghosts? Anything?

I was asked these questions by a member of the church.

And to be quite honest, I did not know how to answer them.

I mean, I had heard some in the church say that there are no such things as ghosts, and they would then quote Hebrews 9:27 as their proof.

So what I meant was that I had never studied the topic myself to see if what I had been told was correct.

I will say this much, though, and that is that I have heard from several preachers who tell me...

...they believe the Bible teaches that ghost and spirit activity exists, and they have had personal encounters with the paranormal.

However, every last one of them has asked that their identities remain confidential as they feel they would be ostracized if their beliefs became known publicly.

And that, dear friends, is both sad and frightening.

Alleged ghost in woods of Wales, Great So what doBritain you think? How would you answer these Whatquestions? does the Bible say about ghosts?

Since Hebrews 9:27 seems to be the verse used by many to disprove the existence of ghosts, let’s begin our study

“And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this comes judgment;” This says nothing one way or the other about the existence of ghosts.

To claim that this verse proves that ghosts do not exist is to take it out of context. What it is teaching is that we get no second chances once we have passed away.

The Crenshaw House, also known as Crenshaw Mansion or Hickory Hill, is most commonly known as The Old Slave House.

Here is a picture of John and Francine Crenshaw, original builders and owners of the Old Slave House.

At one point John became so wealthy off of slave labor that his tax burden alone amounted to one-seventh of the revenue for the entire state budget.

John is holding a crutch due to an injury he received when he lost a leg in 1848.

He lost the leg during a slave uprising in reaction to a merciless beating John was giving to several female slaves.

John’s cruelty supposedly is the reason so many spirits remain restless in this house to this very day.

Let’s take a look at some other passages to see if they might shed some further light on this subject.

Matthew 14:27

And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost;” and they cried out for

But straightway Jesus spoke unto them, saying, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”

Did anything we just read strike a chord with you?

Did Jesus rebuke the apostles for believing in ghosts?

Luke 24:36-39

And as they spoke these things, He Himself stood in the midst of them, and said unto them, “Peace be unto you.”

But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they beheld a spirit.

And He said unto them, “Why are you troubled? And wherefore do questionings arise in your heart?

“See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you

It would seem that a good argument could be made that Jesus is acknowledging the existence of spirits when He made these statements.

Once again, Jesus does not rebuke the apostles for their belief in spirits, and in fact, He goes out of His way to show them that He was not just a spirit.

Probably the most famous ghost picture of all time is "The Brown Lady" taken in 1936 by photographers Captain Provand and Indre Shira while shooting for Country Life Magazine. This photo purports to show a ghost descending a staircase at England's historic Raynham Hall, which is said to be haunted by Lady Dorothy Walpole, who once lived at the Hall.

She is known as “The Brown Lady” due to reports of the spirit being seen wearing a brown brocade dress. She officially died of smallpox, but rumors have it that she was pushed down the stairs by her husband after learning of an affair.

The following are alleged authentic and un-doctored photographs of ghosts caught on camera.

The images of the alleged apparitions appeared after the film was developed, their presence unbeknownst at the time they were taken.

A grieving girl figure holding a rose is seen...

...standing in front of her grave in this picture:

Taken in 1919, this alleged ghost photo of a Royal Air Force squadron from WWI has an extra spectral face in the picture.

It is believed to be Freddy Jackson, an air mechanic who had been accidentally killed by an airplane propeller two days before the picture was taken.

His funeral took place on the day the photograph was taken.

Members of his air squadron recognized his face with ease and believed he must have showed up for the picture, unaware he had passed away.

Freddy's ghostly apparition appears behind the airman in the top row, fourth from the left.

A figure of an alleged ghost of a woman hovers in a cemetery.

One of the creepiest photographs of a ghost, (and one of my personal favorites), is of an alleged specter of a young girl carrying a doll in the hospital where she

Although skeptics doubt the photo’s authenticity, it has not been disproved definitively.

Here it is:

The following passage from the book of Job describes an encounter with a ghost that is as spooky as any Gothic novel or Edgar Allen Poe story ever penned could

Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and my ear received a whisper thereof.

In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men,

Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.

Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up.

It stood still, but I could not discern the appearance thereof;

A form was before my eyes: There was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,

“Shall mortal man be more just than God?

“Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?”

Job 4:12-17

This picture was taken in 1959 by Mrs. Mabel Chinnery.

Apparently, no one was in the backseat when the picture was taken.

Mrs. Chinnery recognized the person in the backseat as her dead mother whose grave she just

She staked her reputation on the authenticity of the photograph.

Some believe that the writer of Hebrews, (probably the apostle Paul), mentions the fact of spirits being all around us in Hebrews 12:1, when he wrote,

"Therefore, we also having so great a cloud of witnesses set around us…."

In all fairness, however, this may just be a literary device used to describe in somewhat poetical terms all those men and women of great faith mentioned in the previous chapter, the Hall of Faith.

However, even if the writer is referencing those just mentioned in the 11th chapter there is nothing contextually that would prevent the verse we just read from alluding to the existence of ghosts.

This picture was taken by Tony O'Rahilly in 1995, as Wem Town Hall, Shropshire, England, burned down. The girl in the doorway was not seen at the time the photo was taken.

When examined by photographic expert Dr. Vernon Harrison, former president of the Royal Photographic Society the photo was deemed genuine, in that it was not tampered with.

In 1977 there was another fire in this place, started accidentally by a young girl by the name of Jane Churm. Is this her ghost?

Rev. Ralph Hardy, a retired clergyman from White Rock, British Columbia, took this nowfamous photograph in 1966.

He intended merely to photograph the elegant spiral staircase (known as the "Tulip Staircase") in the Queen’s House section of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England.

Upon development, however, the photo revealed a shrouded figure climbing the stairs, seeming to hold the railing with both hands.

Experts, including some from Kodak, who examined the original negative concluded that it had not been tampered with.

It's been said that unexplained figures have been seen on occasion in the vicinity of the staircase, and the inexplicable sound of footsteps have also been heard.

In my opinion, to claim the Bible denies the existence or possibility of ghosts does not hold up under scrutiny, for undeniably we have examples of the dead appearing to the living.

We have already looked at a passage from the book of Job, but what about the Mount of Transfiguration?

What about Samuel and the Witch of Endor?

Elijah was taken away from Elisha in a fiery chariot, but Moses died just before the children of Israel entered the Promised Land.

And yet, the figure of Moses appeared with Jesus and Elijah before the eyes of Peter, James and John (Matthew 17:1-3).

Moses could not have been in a glorified, resurrected body, because Jesus had not yet been crucified, and He is said to be the firstborn of the resurrection (Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:15).

Referring to Jesus Christ, Paul wrote,

“And He is the head of the body, the church: Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence.”

Now I can see Peter, James and John in this picture; I can see Jesus, Moses and Elijah; now where did this extra person come from? to Who is he supposed be?

This photo was shot at Boothill Cemetery in Tombstone, Arizona by Terry Clanton, cousin of the legendary Clanton Gang who shot it out at the OK Corral with the Earps and Doc Holliday.

Clanton, also the webmaster of TombstoneArizona.com, says, "This is the photo that changed my opinion about ghost photos."

He insists no one was in the background when the picture was shot.

Let’s take a look at Saul, Samuel and the Witch of Endor.

And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul.”

And the king said unto her, “Be not afraid: for what do you see?” And the woman said unto Saul, “I see a spirit coming up out of the Earth.”

1 Samuel 28:12-14

"What does he look like?" asked Saul. And she replied, "It is an old man who is rising, clothed in a mantle." Saul knew that it was Samuel, and so he bowed his face to the ground in homage.

Those who say there are no such things as ghosts have to make the following assumptions about this passage: 1. They assume that God just allowed this to take place in this particular case, yet there is nothing in the context that bears this out.

2. They assume that the Witch shrieks because she has never seen a spirit before, even though the context does not bear this out.

All we know is that she cried out with a loud voice when she saw the ghost of Samuel. For all we know this is what she did every time she called up an apparition. We just do not know based upon scripture, so we can not make a doctrine based upon assumptions.

Many people also claim the passages in the Old Testament that forbid the people from going to those with a familiar spirit, which is what the Witch of Endor was, as meaning there are no such things as ghosts. But that is reading more into the passage than is written.

God forbid the people from going to those who had a familiar spirit because these people were practictioners of idolatry. It was part of their religion, and they were the priests or priestesses of that religion.

A good “rule of thumb” to recognize when a prohibition is being made due to the practice of idolatry is when at the conclusion you read, “I am the Lord,” or “I am your God,” or “I am Jehovah your God.”

Here is a picture of the Nicholson Mansion being moved in Indianapolis, IN. In the top window, a little girl can be seen staring out at the workers.

They are sure there was no little girl in the home on that day.

This photo was taken at King Henry VIII's palace by a security camera in December of 2003.

The palace staff was completely puzzled by this robed figure.

“And Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

“And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom; and the Earth did quake; and the rocks were rent;

Matthew 27:50-53

“and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep were raised; “and coming forth out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered into the holy city and appeared unto many.”

It is my belief that these were ghosts that appeared in Jerusalem after Jesus died because of the following reasons. The word translated “raised” in verse 52 in reference to these individuals, although closely related to the word translated “resurrected” in reference to Jesus in verse 53, is not the same word, and it does not have the same meaning.

It is never used in reference to a bodily resurrection, but it means to waken or rouse from death. Additionally, we are told that the bodily resurrection will not occur until Jesus returns to gather His Bride to take it with Him to Heaven (Ephesians 5:27).

John tells us that when we are gathered together with Christ, it is then that we shall have glorified, resurrected bodies, as He is glorified. “Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if He shall be manifested, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him even as He is” (1 John 3:2).

The bodily resurrection has not yet happened because Jesus has not yet returned, so I have to conclude that these saints that appeared in Jerusalem after the resurrection of Christ to many people did so as apparitions. This could also explain why the apostles thought that Jesus was a ghost in Luke 24:37. I would have to conclude that the Bible seems to support at least the possibility of the existence of ghosts.