Paranormal: Ghosts

<p>For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ <a href="https://www.douglasjacoby.com/ghosts/" target="_blank"><strong>website.</strong></a></p><p>Podcast points</p><ul><li>Affirmed in the Bible? No -- only popular superstition.<ul><li>Matthew 14:26, Mark 6:49 (walking on the sea).</li><li>Luke 24:37, 39 (post-resurrection).</li><li>There are, however, spirit beings.</li><li>And in the case of demonic possession, there is a sort of haunting. For more, listen to the podcast on <i>Demon Possession.</i></li><li>Note: Job 4:15 and Isa 29:4 do not prove support the popular notion.</li></ul></li><li>Not the same as demons.</li><li>The spirits of the dead do not come back.<ul><li>Listen to the podcast in this series on <i>What Happens After We Die?</i></li><li>See also Heb 9:27.</li><li>The dead are in Hades (Sheol), the waiting place, until the resurrection of the dead and the Judgment. Listen also to the podcast on The Resurrection of the Dead.</li></ul></li><li>Psychological aspect<ul><li>Superstition</li><li>Fear</li><li>Hallucination</li></ul></li><li>Ghosts discovered in old houses?<ul><li>Magnetic fields</li><li>Dust in random motion</li><li>Creaking sounds (subsidence, e.g.)</li><li>Association with death common in old structures.</li></ul></li><li>Jesus came to destroy our fear of death (Heb 2:15).</li></ul><p>Conclusion</p><ul><li>Be sensible, not superstitious. Fiction is fiction.</li><li>While there may be spirit beings in our world, the spirits of departed humans do not "come back to haunt us."</li><li>Engage in the conversation; people are interested in the paranormal and many are willing to listen. This can be an opening for the gospel.</li></ul>