Catholic Teaching and the Paranormal

[NihilObstatINRI]

irenaeusgsaintonge.blogspot.com/2011/05/catholic-teachings-on-ghosts.html

I will begin by quoting a passage from Exorcism and the Church Militant by Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer.

“A strong theological tradition recognizes that deceased human souls can and do visit the living after death for various reasons and in various modes. It is clear that this is only done “according to the disposition of Divine providence” and not as a common occurrence.”

Rev. Euteneuer goes on to speculate as to whether or not a damned human soul could possess a living person in the same way that a demonic entity is able to do, and I will revisit this later.
I think we can condense his answer into a few key points.

*Judgement after death is immediate.
*God can allow, for various reasons, a deceased human soul to interact with living beings.
*These scenarios should be considered irregular and rare.
*We are not to seek out deceased souls with satanic magic.

Hauntings

From my previous reading of anecdotal ‘evidence’ [read: ghost stories], I think we can safely divide paranormal activity into four main categories. These categories are:

Good entities
Evil entities
Poltergeists
Benign/neutral haunted houses

I discuss these at some length in my full post, but for the sake of space I cannot post any of my discussion here. Most interesting, in my opinion, is the idea that poltergeists may very well not be deceased souls at all, but rather ‘mediumistic’ action on the part of sensitive individuals. Also worth reading is the section of souls in purgatory being potentially responsible for haunted houses.

The Powers of Evil Spirits

I mentioned above that I wished to take a moment to discuss the potential power that the souls of the damned can have over us. This section is purely speculative, and I’d welcome any additional research that could be contributed. I’ll open with Fr. Euteneuer’s treatment of the topic.
"Whether damned souls can actually possess living persons is an open question still debated even by experienced exorcists, but the classical view is against the idea. Notwithstanding what was mentioned above about “separated souls”, it is hard to see how a damned human soul would be released from hell to independently possess or haunt another human being.
…]

If a damned soul were somehow “attached” to a demon roaming the world, such a soul would be entirely controlled by the stronger demon and theoretically participate vicariously in the demon’s …] harassing, …] of the living human person but not be able to do those same activities on its own."

I wish to speculate just a bit further in the same direction as Fr. Euteneuer.
I think first of all, an important recognition is that a damned human soul is still human, and therefore has the same nature and ability as any other human. However, no longer having a body, it will not have the same limitations or strengths as a living human.
Since these souls are not confined by a body, I think it is reasonable to suggest that they are able to co-exist within the body of a living person. I think that it is also reasonable that, once existing within a body, they would be able to cause spiritual disturbances and generally harass the victim.
More important however, is to examine why these things may be able to happen. As Fr. Euteneuer says, it is somewhat problematic to think that the damned souls may temporarily leave hell independently. To answer this, I propose that it may be possible for a soul to temporarily leave hell while being controlled by a demon, however over the course of harassment of the victim God has not allowed the demon any amount of latitude. We know very clearly that demons are able to do only what God has allowed. Thus, I think we may suggest that while the demon was not given permission to oppress or possess the victim, the damned soul accompanying the demon was given some amount of permission to test and otherwise oppress the living soul.

Discernment of Spirits:

For this, I think it’s worthwhile to take a close look at St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises, and apply these principles to human souls.

To summarize: those spirits which serve Satan sow only discord and weaken our faith. They can do nothing else. The spirits who are conformed with God’s Will bring consolation and strength.
While this properly applies to demons and angels, we can also use these principles when dealing with human souls. We know that evil souls can bring nothing but harm, as they are no longer capable of righteousness. Conversely, we know that souls who have joined the Church Triumphant can never harm us. Souls in purgatory are slightly different. They are also incapable of sin, however they are not perfected. I think it is reasonable to think that they could frighten us (unintentionally), though they could not cause us actual harm.

Closing Remarks:

I wish to conclude reaffirming that the only paranormal activity that could possibly occur is that which is allowed by God, and this activity will be permitted only for an express purpose. In the case of spiritual harassment, it is meant to test us like Job was tested, in order to deepen our faith. For souls in purgatory, we are to pray for their purification, which of course has secondary benefits for our own virtues of faith, hope, and charity. Finally, for souls who are already enjoying the Beatific Vision, they purpose would be to guide, console, and help us.
We have nothing to fear from the paranormal. In cases of evil attacks we always have recourse to the authority of the Church in formal exorcisms and liturgical healing, and also through the authority we all share as Christians, in the universal priesthood of baptism.

 

[lauraabarlow]

Okay-personal experience is this-as a child (age 4), my brother was at my grandparents for the weekend. Dad was at work, and mom and sister was home. I went to bed for the night. Stretched out with my left fist clenched, stretching and yawning-couldn’t fall asleep, when suddenly, something grabbed my fist. I went under my blanket, shaking and scared when the “hand” as I called it (from the Addams Family show) grabbed my other hand, like holding it. Being four yrs old and and wide awake, I thought it was the “thing” from that show under my bed. Jumped up to turn on the light to see what it was and saw nothing. Ran downstairs screaming the hand, the hand. Freaked out-worse for me being that I also had undiagnosed aspergers syndrome. (I learned yrs later after trying to apply for my VA disability that my “adhd” is mild aspergers and I also was tested for autism in 1968-had autistic traits. Because of that experience and not understanding anything about “ghosts”, I never slept in that room alone again-my older sister had to sleep with me and she sang me to sleep to help me sleep. Okay, one year later, my uncle, who was in the air force visiting us while on leave was working on the plumbing and had to go to a part store for a part. I was in the bathroom on a commode when I saw the water spigot turn itself on by itself. I giggled, thinking my mom was doing tricks. She ran upstairs yelling at me for turning on the spigot after being told not to. I was confused and cried, saying I didn’t touch it. I also learned throughout the years that my dad saw shadows and also as a one yr old in the same room I slept in, the attic door moved by itself. Mom had the housed blessed I think three times with holy water. Years later, in 1989, while in the air force (yup-got into the air force with five waivers and still in the reserves)-the last night in my dorm room in Calif before transferring to Wright-Patterson on humanitarian, my dorm light turned itself on by itself. That same week, at the old house, my mom, who had cancer saw the water spigot turn itself on by itself. To wrap things up with my story, in 1996, (my mom passed away in 1989 and my dad married again in 1995), my step mom mentioned that the house had a family that lived there in the early 1990s and they lost a baby. The nursery was that old bedroom I slept in. Also, after my dad cleared out the house, he saw a shadow of that grieving mother. I guess I reminded her of her baby. My active duty friend who also experienced haunted house situation/s mentioned that that “hand” that grabbed me wasn’t evil. The reason-it never bothered me again-it didn’t mean to frightened me. I guess held me hand to reach out in love. Someone else mentioned that maybe that woman’s spirit was in purgutory-maybe why many haunted places. Makes sense to me-and spooky. My heart goes to this poor woman-very unhappy over the loss of her child. My dad has since moved out in 1995 and lives in Indiana. The strangest thing is why did my dorm lights go out and the water at that old house turned on by itself all in the same week-and I was over 2000 miles from that house? I just hope and pray to never go through that experience again-or to see my kids go through that. I hope to not haunt anyone, either if after my death, I am still hanging around. I used to think that all hauntings was from demons, not thinking about the souls in purgutory. What can I say? If I have never experienced that, I would never believe in paranormal stuff at all. I am a very skeptical person yet open minded. Oh-my mom is catholic, my dad was lutheran and I was lutheran until age 6, when my parents switched me to the catholic faith. I guess what I am saying is that I have no answers, just thought that by sharing my experiences, you would know that there are some folks reading who can relate with paranormal activities. Also-only God knows the answer/s to why things happen the way they do.

 

[NihilObstatINRI]

I went for a while also assuming that every haunting must be tied in some way to the demonic. Then when I looked at the range of cases, I saw that many (even most) did not carry any marks that one might use to discern an evil spirit.
Given that, we see a real Christian need to pray for all the rest. If they are souls in purgatory reaching out to us, we know that they suffer greatly because they are not yet united with God.

 

[lauraabarlow]

I think that is why my mom had the house blessed three times over the years with holy water, in the hopes of the restless spirit finding some sort of peace-hey-I was just a small child not understanding about any of this other than connecting that “hand” with the thing from the Addams Family show-for a good while, I would find myself looking under the bed every night to make sure the “hand” wasn’t there. Years later, after learning about my step mother looking up the history of the house and the apparition of the woman’s grieving spirit, I found myself saying a prayer for her. Still feeling very confused about why she is still a hundred years later grieving about the loss of her baby-doesn’t she know that that little one is with Jesus? As a mother myself, I would be a total peace with that. Oh well, I guess one of many mysteries of life. Makes me sad, though about this grieving spirit-poor soul-wish I can just go back and hug her or something-all I can do is pray and pray that soon, she will be at peace, somehow.

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

I truly mean this with no offense, but I think it is sick irony that pastors condemn some silly work of fiction like Harry Potter, while their parishioners (and possibly even they, themselves) have more magical and supernatural beliefs than JK Rowling could dream up on her most whimsical day.

 

[vz71]

One theory I have heard is that a part of the purging process for those in purgatory is to bear witness first hand to the problems their sins caused.

 

[NihilObstatINRI]

I truly mean this with no offense, but I think it is sick irony that pastors condemn some silly work of fiction like Harry Potter, while their parishioners (and possibly even they, themselves) have more magical and supernatural beliefs than JK Rowling could dream up on her most whimsical day.

There’s nothing whatsoever fictional about witchcraft, though the world of Harry Potter certainly is in itself fiction.

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

There’s nothing whatsoever fictional about witchcraft, though the world of Harry Potter certainly is in itself fiction.

What is a fiction is that you can alter the universe through mumbo jumbo, candles, etc. That is just superstition. No one has ever demonstrated the ability to use “magic.”

Even the Church (which admittedly is more likely to believe that magic/witchcraft can work than the average person), has debunked the overwhelming majority of possession cases and whatnot.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the ever shrinking amount of cases that they can’t currently explain away will eventually be understood.

 

[NihilObstatINRI]

What is a fiction is that you can alter the universe through mumbo jumbo, candles, etc. That is just superstition. No one has ever demonstrated the ability to use “magic.”

Even the Church (which admittedly is more likely to believe that magic/witchcraft can work than the average person), has debunked the overwhelming majority of possession cases and whatnot.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the ever shrinking amount of cases that they can’t currently explain away will eventually be understood.

You’re not Catholic then? I wouldn’t expect you to agree with me.
The reality of witchcraft is absolutely not something that can be doubted by a faithful Catholic. There are no two ways about it.

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

You’re not Catholic then? I wouldn’t expect you to agree with me.
The reality of witchcraft is absolutely not something that can be doubted by a faithful Catholic. There are no two ways about it.

I do not like this “not a true Catholic” stuff.

I do not believe Catholicism requires one to accept propositions that are demonstrably false. I do not believe Jesus would establish the Church and then set man at odds with reality. I do not believe Jesus would torture us in that way, no.

So in short, no, I do not believe Miss Cleo is reading your future through the Tarot and neither is anyone else.

Do you have any proof about your belief in the power of witchcraft?

 

[NihilObstatINRI]

Let’s start at the beginning then. Do you believe that Satan is a literally real, evil entity who, with God’s permission, has some power over us and the created world?
On the flip side, do you believe that miracles are real?

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

Let’s start at the beginning then. Do you believe that Satan is a literally real, evil entity who, with God’s permission, has some power over us and the created world?

Everything except the evil part. Satan is doing God’s will, and God isn’t evil.

On the flip side, do you believe that miracles are real?

Yes, though it depends what you mean. There are laws of nature which govern reality.

 

[Bob_Crowley]

At the risk of irritating the moderator/s, I have often stated my own father turned up in my room the night he died. He materialised near the door (although he remained ghostly looking throughout the episode), started with an apology, moved towards the foot of the bed, and stayed there for most of the time, while we argued and conversed. At the end he gave this terrifying scream, and then disappeared.

Now I believe it was him and my Catholic psychiatrist believes he appeared that night, My old Protestant pastor accepted it was him when I told him about a certain prediction my father made ie. “You’ll meet a pastor. You’ll think he’s great, but all he’ll do is discourage you even more!” I met the pastor about four years later when I became a Christian and I developed enormous respect for him. However he himself apologised with the words, “I owe you an apology. You needed encouragement, but all I’ve done is to discourage you even more!” In other words he almost quoted my father’s prediction about himself back to me word for word, without my telling him about it.

If my father’s departing scream and sheer terror were anything to go by, I think he was seeing the approach of hell. I didn’t see anything - just him. I suppose I was only allowed to see him. This confirms the church’s belief that judgement takes place immediately after death. If I’d had the presence of mind to note the time, I’m pretty sure I could have given them a very accurate idea of when he died. But I didn’t note the time.

The pastor himself was prophetic and accurate. One prediction he made was “I think you’ll be doing a cleaning job. I dont’ think you’ll be doing it for long, and you won’t like it much, but I think the Lord will just want you to hear about a ghost.” I knew by then how accurate he was, but even so I thought that was a bit over the top.

But in 2006, that happened. I did a cleaning job for a short time; I didn’t like it much, and I heard about a ghost, in a town called Ipswich not far from Logan City where I live (about a 40 km drive from my place).

AND … to cap things off, **on this very forum about two weeks ago, **I happened to see a priest from Ipswich, Queensland, who had contributed a post. I looked up his email address, and posted him the story about the ghost (a former suicide, whom I bleieve was condemned to an old store in the middle of Ipswich as punishment, but God wanted him released by having a mass said for him … hence, “… I think the Lord will just want you to hear about a ghost …”).

Now I don’t know what the odds are of having a priest on this forum, and particularly from Australia, but it sure seems to me to be pushing co-incidence when I have previously mentioned this particular prediction on other posts, and suddenly a priest who is domiciled no more than about 500 meters from the particular haunted stores shows up as one of the members.

So, the paranormal occurs, and there is a reason for it. In the case of my father, he was sent to apologise when he’d seen the damage he’d done, and by extension, the damage that would be done or not avoided in the future, and to give me the clear message that this is what happens to those who think they can ignore God as I was an atheist myself at the time.

And the ghost was trapped for his suicide, but God also relented and had him released by having a mass said for him. But God wasn’t in a hurry. The pastor made the predictiion around 1990/91 as he died himself in 1992, and it was another 15 years at least before I did the cleaning job, and “heard about a ghost”. And it was probably another two or three years before I rang the resident priest, and another two or three years before I 'chanced" upon a priest from Ipswich on this very forum.

Just this afternoon I got clobbered by something demonic as I was taking a bit of a nap. I wonder if it was related to this post, and whether it knew in advance that I would say something about the reality of the paranormal?

 

[vz71]

But in 2006, that happened. I did a cleaning job for a short time; I didn’t like it much, and I heard about a ghost, in a town called Ipswich not far from Logan City where I live (about a 40 km drive from my place).

AND … to cap things off, **on this very forum about two weeks ago, **I happened to see a priest from Ipswich, Queensland, who had contributed a post. I looked up his email address, and posted him the story about the ghost (a former suicide, whom I bleieve was condemned to an old store in the middle of Ipswich as punishment, but God wanted him released by having a mass said for him … hence, “… I think the Lord will just want you to hear about a ghost …”).

This would indicate the haunting was purgatory.

 

[NihilObstatINRI]

Everything except the evil part. Satan is doing God’s will, and God isn’t evil.

Yes, though it depends what you mean. There are laws of nature which govern reality.

I’m sorry, but already we’re in heterodox territory. In his fall, Satan rejected everything that was of God. He does not do God’s will; he rebels against it. God, we know, can make good come out of evil, but that doesn’t make the evil any less than evil.
Satan was made as the greatest of the angels. God does not reject His own creation, so Satan retains his created nature, but in his definitive rejection of God, he cast out of heaven and into hell. Since his rejection was absolute, there is no hope left that he might do anything redeeming or ‘good’.

As for miracles, God’s laws are the laws of nature. Do you believe that any of the saints or the apostles were able to literally raise the dead? How about heal deadly sicknesses? Fly? Bilocate? Remain incorrupt?

Last, but not least, do you know about the Witch of Endor?

3Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel mourned for him, and buried him in Ramatha his city. And Saul had put away all the magicians and soothsayers out of the land.

4And the Philistines were gathered together, and came and camped in Sunam: and Saul also gathered together all Israel, and came to Gelboe.

5And Saul saw the army of the Plilistines, and was afraid, and his heart was very much dismayed.

6And he consulted the Lord, and he answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by priests, nor by prophets.

7And Saul said to his servants: Seek me a woman that hath a divining spirit, and I will go to her, and inquire by her. And his servants said to him: There is a woman that hath a divining spirit at Endor.

8Then he disguised himself: and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night, and he said to her: Divine to me by thy divining spirit, and bring me up him whom I shall tell thee.

9And the woman said to him: Behold thou knowest all that Saul hath done, and how he hath rooted out the magicians and soothsayers from the land: why then dost thou lay a snare for my life, to cause me to be put to death?

10And Saul swore unto her by the Lord, saying: As the Lord liveth there shall no evil happen to thee for this thing.

11And the woman said to him: Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.

12And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and said to Saul: Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.

13And the king said to her: Fear not: what hast thou seen? And the woman said to Saul: I saw gods ascending out of the earth.

14And he said to her: What form is he of? And she said: An old man cometh up, and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul understood that it was Samuel, and he bowed himself with his face to the ground, and adored.

15And Samuel said to Saul: Why hast thou disturbed my rest, that I should be brought up? And Saul said, I am in great distress: for the Philistines fight against me, and God is departed from me, and would not hear me, neither by the hand of prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest shew me what I shall do.

16And Samuel said: Why askest thou me, seeing the Lord has departed from thee, and is gone over to thy rival:

17For the Lord will do to thee as he spoke by me, and he will rend thy kingdom out of thy hand, and will give it to thy neighbour David:

18Because thou didst not obey the voice of the Lord, neither didst thou execute the wrath of his indignation upon Amalec. Therefore hath the Lord done to thee what thou sufferest this day.

19And the Lord also will deliver Israel with thee into the hands of the Philistines: and to morrow thou and thy sons shall be with me: and the Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.

20And forthwith Saul fell all along on the ground, for he was frightened with the words of Samuel, and there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all that day.

21And the woman came to Saul (for he was very much troubled) and said to him: Behold thy handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand: and I hearkened unto the words which thou spokest to me.

22Now therefore hear thou also the voice of thy handmaid, and let me set before thee a morsel of bread, that thou mayest eat and recover strength, and be able to go on thy journey.

23But he refused, and said: I will not eat. But his servants and the woman forced him, and at length hearkening to their voice, he arose from the ground and sat upon the bed.

24Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house, and she made haste and killed it: and taking meal kneaded it, and baked some unleavened bread,

25And set it before Saul, and before his servants. And when they had eaten they rose up, and walked all that night.

Just mumbo jumbo and superstition right? To heck with Scripture. If we’re going to be heterodox, might as well go all the way, yeah? Lemme know what you name your new church.

 

[JP2Admirer]

Augustine mentions in the City of God that the souls of “ghosts” are damned souls condemned to seek after the created goods that they so loved beyond God in this life. It is punishment because the lusts of the body could not be satisfied…so in a very real sense hell for some departed souls could be a ghostly existence with the inability to satisfy those lusts.

Of course, this brings with it he question of the essence of Hell, which we would understand as the total absence of cognition of God’s presence. An eternal stop gate from happiness.

As an orthodox Catholic, I see no problem with admitting the paranormal, although philosophical questions definitely do arise. I take Aquinas’ definition of soul and body as definitive and so, if his ideas hold true, how would souls without bodies have the capacity to sense? They no longer have the organs of sense…

Of course, and intellectual interpretation of particular things would always be available to them if they undertook a more angelic mode of understanding.

Really, we know from revelation that the intellectual soul is immortal. We also know that angels and demons exist, so why would there NOT be experience of these entities here and now?

Just some things to think about…

 

[NihilObstatINRI]

Augustine mentions in the City of God that the souls of “ghosts” are damned souls condemned to seek after the created goods that they so loved beyond God in this life. It is punishment because the lusts of the body could not be satisfied…so in a very real sense hell for some departed souls could be a ghostly existence with the inability to satisfy those lusts.

Of course, this brings with it he question of the essence of Hell, which we would understand as the total absence of cognition of God’s presence. An eternal stop gate from happiness.

As an orthodox Catholic, I see no problem with admitting the paranormal, although philosophical questions definitely do arise. I take Aquinas’ definition of soul and body as definitive and so, if his ideas hold true, how would souls without bodies have the capacity to sense? They no longer have the organs of sense…

Of course, and intellectual interpretation of particular things would always be available to them if they undertook a more angelic mode of understanding.

Really, we know from revelation that the intellectual soul is immortal. We also know that angels and demons exist, so why would there NOT be experience of these entities here and now?

Just some things to think about…

How would souls without bodies have the capacity to sense…? Good question! First we could look at angels- pure spirit, so they don’t have bodies either, yet they perceive the world.
I think we might have to delve deeper into phenomenology to answer that one. Is perception entirely a function of physical senses, or are our senses simply the vehicle for perception that we use because of the limitations of the physical world? Maybe for us perception comes through our physical senses, into the deeper aspect of perception which occurs on a metaphysical level. To perceive as pure spirit removes the middle-man, so to speak.
Great question though. I bet you could write a PhD level dissertation or two just to start to answer it!

 

[JP2Admirer]

I’m sorry, but already we’re in heterodox territory. In his fall, Satan rejected everything that was of God. He does not do God’s will; he rebels against it. God, we know, can make good come out of evil, but that doesn’t make the evil any less than evil.
Satan was made as the greatest of the angels. God does not reject His own creation, so Satan retains his created nature, but in his definitive rejection of God, he cast out of heaven and into hell. Since his rejection was absolute, there is no hope left that he might do anything redeeming or ‘good’.

I think the two of you may be mistakenly talking past each other. It is most certainly true that Satan does not do God’s will in the sense of his intentions and much of the outcome of those intentions. On the other hand, we could not call God omnipotent if the evil Satan is responsible for was not accounted to God’s permissive will. God allows it for some greater good to manifest itself, though God is not the source of it in the sense of being an efficient cause, though he is the final cause, as He made the devil.

So, God does not do evil that good may come of it, but he allows evil and then makes good out of it, often greater than the evil the devil wrought, i.e. where sin abounds grace abounds all the more.

Just think of the Crucifixion. The devil had Jesus slain, and the evil intentions of those who killed him were indeed evil, but what became of it was the redemption of the world. So if we are going to call God omnipotent (His very being demands it), then we have to admit that He is responsible for allowing it to be.

Evil considered in itself is non-being, though, so it can only inhere in good things. Thus, the devil only causes evil by being “good in his way”, i.e. having the perfection of being a “good” criminal.

 

[NihilObstatINRI]

I think the two of you may be mistakenly talking past each other. It is most certainly true that Satan does not do God’s will in the sense of his intentions and much of the outcome of those intentions. On the other hand, we could not call God omnipotent if the evil Satan is responsible for was not accounted to God’s permissive will. God allows it for some greater good to manifest itself, though God is not the source of it in the sense of being an efficient cause, though he is the final cause, as He made the devil.

So, God does not do evil that good may come of it, but he allows evil and then makes good out of it, often greater than the evil the devil wrought, i.e. where sin abounds grace abounds all the more.

Just think of the Crucifixion. The devil had Jesus slain, and the evil intentions of those who killed him were indeed evil, but what became of it was the redemption of the world. So if we are going to call God omnipotent (His very being demands it), then we have to admit that He is responsible for allowing it to be.

Evil considered in itself is non-being, though, so it can only inhere in good things. Thus, the devil only causes evil by being “good in his way”, i.e. having the perfection of being a “good” criminal.

Indeed.
I only bring up the nature of Satan in transition to my next (more important) point. We know that God grants certain ‘abilities’ to various people for a variety of reasons, i.e. legitimate charismatics and the saints. The purpose of course is to strengthen the Church Militant, and this is accomplished in too many reasons to name at the moment. We also know that Satan delights in blaspheming by imitating and perverting God’s own actions, e.g. the black mass.
Therefore it is perfectly reasonable (and in fact part of Scripture [the Witch of Endor]) to recognize that Satan also grants certain powers to individuals in a subtle attack on their souls and the souls of others. Satan’s powers open doorways to the demonic, like the necromancer who trades his own soul, the ‘perfectly possessed’, who gives a demonic entity free reign in his soul, and these powers also harm others, for instance through curses and hexes (Fr. Amorth uses the broad term malefices), which can cause demonic oppression and obsession and harassment in perfectly innocent people.
These actions of course are ‘allowed’ to occur through God’s permissive will, but naturally that doesn’t negate their absolute and unquestionable evil. If a child is born of incestuous rape, then the child of course is a great blessing, but the rape is still hideous unmitigated evil. The same is true of demonic acts. They are purely evil, though God in His omnipotence can take good even out of that. In fact if we like we can even see magic as Satan’s rape of the practitioner. He violates the deepest levels of their soul and leaves a part of himself there, and every subsequent evil wrought of that magic is further violations of humanity by Satan’s evil.

 

[JP2Admirer]

How would souls without bodies have the capacity to sense…? Good question! First we could look at angels- pure spirit, so they don’t have bodies either, yet they perceive the world.
I think we might have to delve deeper into phenomenology to answer that one. Is perception entirely a function of physical senses, or are our senses simply the vehicle for perception that we use because of the limitations of the physical world? Maybe for us perception comes through our physical senses, into the deeper aspect of perception which occurs on a metaphysical level. To perceive as pure spirit removes the middle-man, so to speak.
Great question though. I bet you could write a PhD level dissertation or two just to start to answer it!

I once had a professor jokingly state that there was only one way to know “how” we would understand without a body…to die.

He didn’t get a lot of laughs.

Aquinas does some amazing philosophizing on the subject, and I would have to refresh my memory, but he makes distinctions between sensible species and intelligible species within the mind.

For instance, we have all heard of people having strokes and losing short term memory. So, when we no longer have the brain, what memories would we have and how would we have them? Aquinas seems to think that the universal species of things would be retained, but sense memories would disippate. This came up in a class one time so I asked the question, “How will I remember my wife when I’m dead?”

Obviously there are personal relations going on there, but will I only remember the concept “wifehood” or would I remember my own personal wife? If I read Aquinas correctly, I would only know the concept, but then again, how do we know the universal of a particular person? Tied as we are to the imagination for understanding, it really gets tricky. My personal supposition is that the personalities of our loved ones is somehow conceptualized in a non-sense reliant way. It is somehow intelligibilized.

Really though, think about it. When you think about your mother, do you draw an image of her in your mind. If that imaginary function is taken away, how do you think of your mother? I would imagine as a nurturing being? How does one intelligibilize that? You can really see why Aquinas held the resurrection in high esteem, because (outside of the obvious) the body was how he tied down personal immortality – even going so far (I believe) as saying that without the resurrection he would have a difficult time believing personal immortality!

Anyway, I’m totally derailing this thread . But maybe there is a way to improve upon what Aquinas had to say with a drop of “personalism” or maybe even phenomonology, as you mentioned.