Ghosts?

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What is the Church’s postion (if it has one) on the existence of ghosts?

My sister has become a great fan of “Ghost Hunters”, a show on the Sci-Fi channel…

This has led to some discussions between the two of us on just what “ghosts” are…

It would seem to me that they would have to be angels or demons. My thinking is that if the soul goes one of three places upon death (heaven, hell or purgatory)…what else could they be?

Unless one of the “phases” of Purgatory could be that the soul is trapped on earth???
 
I don’t know what the Church’s “official” teaching is. But when I was younger, we did have a priest say that one of the stages of purgatory could be a spirit trapped here on Earth. He said if you see one, you need to tell the “ghost” that you will pray for him/her.
As for the Bible, when the apostles saw Jesus after his resurrection, they thought they were seeing a ghost. What did Jesus say to them, “What are you thinking–there is no such thing as a ghost?” No, He didn’t say that–he said a ghost doesn’t have flesh and I have flesh.

Here is Luke 24: 37-39
But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.”
 
Becky, that link is truly an eye opener.:eek: lol. But very interesting to read.

Several months after my dearly loved dad died… in 1988… I was sitting alone in the house, missing him tremendously. Suddenly, I became aware of a very strong aroma of his pipe tobacco (which we was very strange… as there was NONE of that tobacco, left in the house!). But it had a very comforting effect on me.

I believe to this day, that God allowed this… to comfort me in my grief. :o
 
Believe it or not, this is one subject that helped confirm that the Catholic Church was the TRUE church. I have seen “things” all my life. I’ve had some very strange experiences and I still get “feelings” to this day. I tried to discuss seeing a ghost with my extended family and their fundamentalist Baptist beliefs wouldn’t even allow for the conversation because “ghosts and demons don’t exist.” The fact that it is not a taboo topic in the Catholic Church and biblical evidence can be made for ghosts made me feel better. I know what I’ve seen, heard, and felt - and now I know I’m not crazy! (Well, maybe I am - but not in this instance!)
 
What? Baptists don’t believe demons (fallen angels) exist? :confused:
 
beckycmarie said:
What? Baptists don’t believe demons (fallen angels) exist? :confused:
Click to expand...
I’m sure there are SOME Baptists that believe in demons but my aunt’s particular branch of Baptists don’t. They are taught in church that dinosaurs didn’t exist and that God planted the bones in the Earth in order to test the faith of humans. No joke!!!
 
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