Demon or Ghost

[adminsandiegohaunted]

    Christians do not believe in "Ghosts only Demons" sound familiar?  It is true people of Faith do believe in Demons as well as Angels. Given the sheer number and personal accounts of Haunted paranormal, it seems hard to deny the existence of "something". The idea of Demons is Religious admittance of that fact.  So Christians, should believe ghosts are demons? Many devoted Christians will never be faced with this quandary. Such believers would deny odd instances even if, face to face with, a "ghost." The ones not in denial, will likely jump to the immediate position they are demon possessed. Such persons are very likely to use the power of prayer, which has been useful (real or as a placebo) to cleanse many suspected locations.


    The Bible is the basis for all Christian beliefs. The Bible is very strict in direction, but also (in some areas) very limiting, requiring interpretation. Interpretation requires the use of many translations of the Bible (other timely works), and personal view points. Many sects (Pentecost, Baptist, Methodist..) of Christianity have differing interpretations. To understand a specific Church's mission, one must read the individual "Doctrine," for that institution. There are many levels of faith. Not every Christian that dies will go to Heaven. [Matthew 7:21] Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father who is in heaven. The part-time Christian that only shows up for church service Sunday morning, and makes no other attempt to honor God all week long, will likely have an unexpected outcome, in Judgment.  Usually, with respect for Bible interpretation, isolated incidents in scripture are to be avoided as proof. Many layers of scripture are needed to form cohesive understanding. Therefore it is fair to say the Bible actually makes very little reference to the standard interpretation of "ghosts." Those of Faith will observe and remark that little is mentioned in the Bible on purpose because, ghosts don't exist, and are irrelevant.


    In my example haunt, a Christian couple move to a rural city and purchase a 150 year old house. Over the period of a year, in four instances both the husband and wife were woken up by the sounds of a brief full on conversation occurring in the attic area. Upon investigating no logical reason was found for the disruption. Would this be an example of a Demon contacting the living to divide man from God? The example doesn't seem to support that conclusion. Many haunts seem so trivial and benign, that applying a singular broad title like Demon is, unconceivable. The Bible leaves Christians with Demons, as the only possible conclusion but, why? 

   Christian Theism states that after death comes resurrection (of spirit); Judgment (before God): Reward of eternal life (in Heaven with God) or;  *temporary punishment, and *annihilation. [Luke 16:19?31] Prior to The life and death of Jesus, the spirits of the dead, (believing in God's coming messiah) either sat beside "Abraham's bosom" in paradise, or went to a place of torment. Upon Christ's death at Calvary, Christ "took captivity captive" of "Abraham's Bosom" from *Hades and brought them to Heaven. According to the New Testament, in death our spirit, will go to judgment. If the spirit were obedient to God through Christ, it will go to heaven to be with the father. If the spirit was disobedient to God through Christ, damnation in hell. This absoluteness leaves little for the Christian believer to question, or does it?  It is evident that persons living in the time of Christ and prior (Old Testament), were aware of Ghosts, mediums and psychics [Leviticus 19:31, 20:6, 27].

[Luke 24:38-40] Look 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."
[Luke 24:36-38] They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.
[Mark 6:48-50] but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out,
[Matthew 14:25-27] When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.

**None of these scriptures point to Biblical proof in Ghosts**

They do however, show that the concept of ghosts where already deeply rooted in humanity. Jesus used the term ghost (spirit) to rebuke the disciples fears, and prove it was he Jesus.


    Who does a Christian turn to when their experiencing a haunt, they can't handle? Clergy are very open and helpful when dealing with internal Demons, external Demons are another story.  Clergy will often be unable to assist such matters. Christians believe the Bible warns to be wary of dealing with the occult. "Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God," [Leviticus 19:31]. [1 John 4] "On Denying the Incarnation";  1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. This scripture is interesting it creates a "Biblical litmus" test to determine whether a "spirit" is of GOD, or Satan.

It is clear to believers that God wants his believers to seek a relationship with only him. Anything that comes in the way of that relationship is suspect to Lucifer. Satan is jealous of man and God. Man has a relationship with God that fallen Angels have lost. Man was made in the image and likeness of God. Satan hates humanity. He wants to deceive human kind into rejecting God. By causing man to reject God, both man and God are hurt. Satan uses several lies to influence humanity. Some persons would be deceived by Ghosts and reincarnation. Others would adopt an evolutionary beliefs, that the world created itself without God. Others would be deceived into believing in pagan gods, etc... "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist," 1995 "The Usual Suspects." It would seem based on the previous points that a Christian needing help with a haunting may turn to outside sources.  Those outside sources may ironically, consist of non Christian help.

*Whether Hell is eternal or not is a hot topic of debate amongst Bible scholars.
*Hades consists of Two parts, "paradise" and "hell."

[PPI Tracy]

Separately, these two topics are hot buttons. Together, combustible.  I could get really involved in this and post a lot, but I don't want to get that personal.  I will say this, however; I don't believe in arguing when it comes to anything paranormal or religious.  For me, the following is what I wish to share:

Do I believe in God?  Yes

Do I believe in Jesus?  Yes

Do I believe in ghosts?  Yes

Do I believe in demons?  Yes

The only one I have seen out of any of these is a ghost.  If you believe in good, you most certainly need to believe in evil.  To argue anything of which there isn't solid proof, is a waste of time, however.  To debate doesn't get you anywhere.  You believe what you want to believe.   What I do know though is this; for me, faith is the evidence of things unseen.  I choose to believe in God because I want to.  I choose to believe in the paranormal because I want to.  I have also had experiences that I cannot explain that have happened to me most of my life.  I'm not trying to sway anyone to believe in anything.  You cannot "make" someone believe in God.  You can show them all the scriptures you want, drag them to church, etc, etc but if they have it in their heart and wish to believe, they will.  You cannot "make" someone believe in the paranormal either.  Unless/until they have had an experience of their own, most people don't believe.  I think a lot of people are frightened by the paranormal; therefore it is easier to scoff at it than give it any credence.  

Some people, even though have experienced something, still try and talk themselves out of it.  It's fear. People resist what they fear.  At least when it comes to the paranormal.   Religion is an entirely different thing.  The God I believe in tells me this:  Love your neighbor and do not judge.  I get so incensed when I see churches who protest funerals.  Somehow I don?t think that behavior is what God had in mind.  The God I believe in tells me to love someone for who they are.  Who am I to judge anyone.  That's not my job.  If you believe in God, you believe that God created everyone in HIS image.  That's what that bible says, right?  So, if I judge someone on the color of their skin, or who they choose to love, I might as well tell God, "Hey there, big guy, guess what?  You made a mistake."  God doesn't make mistakes.  He created all of us exactly the way we are.  The way were are supposed to be. The God I believe in loves everyone.  Do I have an exact point to this rambling post; it doesn't look like it.  I have either had way too much coffee or not enough.  Either way, I believe in God and ghosts.  

One of my favorite Christian bands, "dc talk" has the following lyric in one of their songs, and it is so true: "The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today, is Christians.  They acknowledge Thee with their lips and walk out the door, then deny Him by their lifestyle.  That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."  People praise God with one side of their mouth, as they spew hate out of the other.  Sad.  So incredibly sad. Okay, off my soapbox now.  

[adminsandiegohaunted]

I wrote this after listening to a person (who claimed to be psychic) complaining about Christian beliefs. I asked the lady, "name me one quote from the bible". She was unable to. She clearly was not knowledgeable about the subject she was so arguably against. Ignorance is a very dangerous business. I am a Christian and I believe in ghosts and Demons. I do get chastised by other Christians (even my wife lol) when it comes to subjects like ghosts, so I tend not to express my beliefs openly with fellow Christians. Some paranormal groups (NOT PPI) are also built upon a fascination for the occult, and likewise  they have negative feelings towards persons of Religious belief. So it does make it difficult for the Christian believer in ghosts to exist.