What Do We Think About Ghosts and Spirits?

[thistle]

I believe in good and evil ghosts as well, I have seen descriptions of people encountering both types.

Its also important to keep in mind, back when Jesus appeared to the apostles, after he had risen, he had to prove it was actually him and NOT A GHOST, so this implies the word ‘ghost’ was a recognized term back then, meaning people had probably see ghosts here and there, just like they do today.

However I dont believe we can know their purpose, its probably something beyond what we can comprehend anyway. I believe the same thing when it comes to UFOs too, the more I think about it, I think all these things are just things we are not meant to know about, and its quite likely our beliefs about them and what they are/where they come from, are probably way wrong.

If its allowed on here, I saw a video the other day of this guy who claimed he had the ability to summon a UFO/ Ghost, he had live news crew on site, THEY picked the location and time too, they were not expecting much, but he was successful…it showed up upon his request, right on news cameras in front of everyone! Some people that saw this started calling telling him he was demonically possessed and should not be doing this…its a really good video, crisp and clear. If anyone wants to see it, let me know and I will put up the link.

There are NO UFO’s if by that you mean alien spacecraft.

 

[mikekle]

There are NO UFO’s if by that you mean alien spacecraft.

Would you agree its possible some UFOs people see and report,(other than mis-identifications of normal aircraft, planets, stars, space station, etc), may be demons masquerading as ‘something else’ in order to fool/ trick people?

 

[AnneElizabeth]

The word “ghost” is mentioned in the Bible. So its obvious according to this scripture that this type of phenomenon has been occurring since then. The Lord did not say “Aw, now, don’t worry, there is no such thing as ghosts” when one of his apostles brought it up when struck with fear when seeing Him walk on water towards them. Jesus speaks Himself of The Holy Spirit and also speaks of possessions and the devil and demons. If someone is to say that its all bunk that can be proven with science to be some sort of natural phenomenon, that there is no such thing as ghosts, they would HAVE TO throw out the faith as being false. One cannot hold onto both views.

I am putting this link here (see below) because of the Scripture quoted in this article, but I did not read the entire article and I think it is not Catholic, but Protestant, so therefore, do take everything said in light of Catholic teaching. They have good quotes from Holy Scripture regarding this topic.

bibleinfo.com/en/topics/ghosts

It is true that we should take no part or interest in these things. Stay close to God, seek God, not evil supernatural things. If something bizarre or scary happens to you, reach out to God, ask for forgiveness, ask for help, and pray.

By the way, regarding your phone, I think it has been reported that recently there were some sun spots going on… I think those might have some effect on technologies such as cell phones. I certainly know that it can effect GPS systems as once ours went berserk while driving. We found out later on it happened the very day of a solar flare. Here is an article link about the effects…

noaa.gov/features/01_economic/spaceweather_2.html

 

[AnneElizabeth]

Why is it that just because something happens that can’t immediately be explained there is a jump to conclude it must be a ghost. That is totally irrational.
Its like those people who see something in the sky they can’t explain so they immediately conclude it must be an alien spacecraft.

I agree with what you are saying, but with all due respect, I think the OP must be a young person. These types of questions are not so uncommon among them, especially when now a days many of the media geared towards youngsters speaks of paranormal, otherworldly, or uncanny things. It piques their interest and they don’t know much about it.

So, just wanted to agree with you that it is irrational, but also wanted to defend the fact that the OP sounds as though they are young of age. All natural explanations must be exhausted first before one can go into paranormal explanations.

 

[AnneElizabeth]

Would you agree its possible some UFOs people see and report,(other than mis-identifications of normal aircraft, planets, stars, space station, etc), may be demons masquerading as ‘something else’ in order to fool/ trick people?

Not only that, but there are technologies today that can put on a spectacle and make it look real, when its just a projected image. So, don’t rule out people either!

 

[AnneElizabeth]

http://www.bibleinfo.com/en/topics/ghosts

]

Quoting myself because I can’t edit my post, but the link I provided here I disagree with the statement in the article, " Of these, the word is never used in the sense of the disembodied spirit of someone who has died. " I can think of one time in the Old Testament that Saul has a spirit of someone dredged up by a medium. Its spoken about in 1 Samuel 28. So I think they misspoke in that article. Please ignore the link. I should have read it! Search the Scriptures yourself for more information. My apologies!

 

[Bob_Crowley]

I was at my friend’s house today, and when I was there, strange things started happening to my phone. My battery jumped straight from 20% to 9%, and then back up to 20% when I started charging it; later on, my Internet reception started going down when I picked up my phone to use it. My friend said that her house had spirits inside it that interfered with technology and stuff like that.
I read a post on here a while back saying that we don’t necessarily invalidate the existence of ghosts, but that we’re definitely forbidden to attempt contact with spirits and anything like that. Is that correct? And if it is, what should I think/do about this situation?

I don’t have any trouble with the existence of ghosts. Christ implied the existence of “ghosts” when he appeared to the disciples after his resurrection, and had to reassure them he was not a “ghost”. Likewise when he was walking across the water, they were afraid as they thought He was a “ghost”.

Luke 24:39 NIV

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."

I’ve got a personal reason for accepting their reality, although I don’t spend any time worrying about it. The sky is blue, but I don’t spend much time worrying about that either.

The reason is that my old pastor once made a strange prediction that "I think you’ll be doing a cleaning job for a short time. You wont’ like it much, but I think the Lord will just want you to hear about a ghost."

At the time (circa 1990 / 1991) I thought it was ridiculous, even though by that time I knew just how accurate the old pastor was.

But in 2006 I did a cleaning job for about four months (January to April), didn’t like it much, and “heard about a ghost”, a former manager who’d committed suicide in the basement by hanging himself sometime back in the 1960’s.

This led on to some other strange “coincidences”, including contacting an Australian priest via this American based forum. But I’m not going into the story now. However I have no trouble believing that “ghosts” exist. There’s a very strange spiritual or psychic world out there, and we *are forbidden *to try dabbling in it.

I still remember some years ago now wandering through Lutwyche Shopping Centre, and there was this young bloke with a stall, peddling crystals, offering medium services and all the rest.

As I walked towards and past him, he looked at me, and I looked at him. I could literally see something staring at me* through* his eyes. He’d really been mucking around with the stuff. I wonder where he is now, to be honest. It wouldn’t have done him much good.

 

[GEddie]

I don’t believe or disbelieve in ghosts.

I deeply hope that there are none, as if there were I might become one in death; but I admit that I don’t know.

That said, Our LORD never affirmed the existence of ghosts, He simply denied being one. HE left that issue open.

ICXC NIKA

 

[mikekle]

Not only that, but there are technologies today that can put on a spectacle and make it look real, when its just a projected image. So, don’t rule out people either!

Yes, I saw a video about a year ago, from China, they did a holographic display at night, of a dragon, coming out a lake, flying around in the sky, from the video, it looked VERY real, and this was a year ago!

If you google holographic technology topics, one of them will be a belief either a certain group of people or a Govt entity intends to trick the public into thinking there is some kind of alien invasion going on, when really, its all holograms, Ive read some Govt documents to this effect as well…its pretty amazing stuff, but I doubt they are at the level to fool the public like this yet, but certainly possible in the near future I think.

Furthermore, some say instead of an alien invasion, they will make the image of God appear in the sky, complete with booming voice, in an attempt to make people think it is the second coming…that is REALLY scary to me! I have a feeling LOTS of people would fall for that, and do anything they are asked.

 

[BlossomingFaith]

Could some ghosts be souls in Purgatory? I am thinking of St. Padre Pio’s apparitions.

ewtn.com/padrepio/mystic/poorsouls.htm

 

[Telstar]

I believe in good and evil ghosts as well, I have seen descriptions of people encountering both types.

Its also important to keep in mind, back when Jesus appeared to the apostles, after he had risen, he had to prove it was actually him and NOT A GHOST, so this implies the word ‘ghost’ was a recognized term back then, meaning people had probably see ghosts here and there, just like they do today.

I have no doubt that ghosts really do walk the earth. Jesus was certainly aware that it happened, so people back then must have seen them, too. I also agree with you, that some of them are good, but others might be evil. For the most part, I think they’re souls that once lived (or died) in, or near, the area where they’re seen.

However I dont believe we can know their purpose, its probably something beyond what we can comprehend anyway.

We probably can’t be sure why they’re there, but I think there are a few possible reasons. It could be that their “walking the earth” in the same places they lived or died, might be part of their “Purgatory”. Perhaps they have to follow the same pathways that led them into sin during their lives, until they’re purged of their attachment to them. Those would be the “good ghosts”. They also might just be trying to get someone to pray for them. That’s what I tend to think is the most likely reason. If they died a long time ago, then it’s most likely their souls have been completely forgotten by the living, and they’re still waiting to be released from Purgatory.

For evil ghosts, that same scenario of walking the pathways they walked in life, could be a punishment to remind them of their fall from grace, which caused their ultimate damnation. Evil ghosts can also cause demonic activity in those places, too. After all, once someone is in hell, their soul becomes distorted in a similar way as demons. They serve Satan, just like holy souls serve God. Those are the ghosts that no one should ever try to mess around with, because they can really wreak havoc on the living.

I believe the same thing when it comes to UFOs too, the more I think about it, I think all these things are just things we are not meant to know about, and its quite likely our beliefs about them and what they are/where they come from, are probably way wrong.

If its allowed on here, I saw a video the other day of this guy who claimed he had the ability to summon a UFO/ Ghost, he had live news crew on site, THEY picked the location and time too, they were not expecting much, but he was successful…it showed up upon his request, right on news cameras in front of everyone! Some people that saw this started calling telling him he was demonically possessed and should not be doing this…its a really good video, crisp and clear. If anyone wants to see it, let me know and I will put up the link.

Now, this is a subject that has always fascinated me. I’ve been a big fan of sci-fi since way back in the 60s, when I used to watch stuff like “Fantasmic Features” (with Feep) while I was babysitting. So, by the time I was in my early 20’s (and kinda wishy-washy about religion), I thought UFOs were either something from another dimension, or another world. In fact, for a while it was one of the things that made me have serious doubts about what I’d always believed about God, when I was growing up. That’s how strongly I felt that UFOs were real. I still believe it. But now, I have a better understanding of what they really are. IMHO, they are actually demons, trying to confuse people by making them think strange creatures are coming to the earth from somewhere out in the far reaches of space, but they’re just coming up out of hell to spread lies and cause doubts in the minds of mankind.

When UFOs interact with people, they always seem to do strange things, to cause confusion. They make people believe they’re ‘experimenting’ on them, by poking and prodding them. They also make them believe they’ve either removed something from their body, or put something into it. I believe it’s all done through illusions (false visions), but people are often convinced that it really happened. Sometimes, the ‘aliens’ just talk to people and claim that they’ve come here to ‘help’ the people of the earth, either to save it from the threat of global war, or some kind of an ecological disaster. It’s all part of the methods they use to distract people from believing in God. The sad thing is, for a lot of people, it works. It can completely destroy our faith in God if we allow it to, by believing in their deceptions.

Some people reading this might be laughing at the whole thing. But, that’s OK. I’m pretty confident that it’s true. If we believe God is real, then we have to believe the devil and demons are real. So, if they are real, it seems very reasonable to me that they would do anything they can to distract mankind from believing in God. What better way could they accomplish that, than to send people off on a wild goose chase?

 

[Bob_Crowley]

Could some ghosts be souls in Purgatory? I am thinking of St. Padre Pio’s apparitions.

ewtn.com/padrepio/mystic/poorsouls.htm

I think they could be. I mentioned in post #27 about the pastor’s prediction as follows “I think you’ll be doing a cleaning job. You’ll only be doing it for a short time, and you won’t like it much, but I think the Lord will just want you to hear about a ghost…”. He also said, “I think you might have seen this ‘ghost’ before”.

At the time I thought it was silly, even though I knew how accurate he was by that time, since I’d been in his church for seven or eight years at that stage.

The pastor made the prediction circa 1990 or 1991, since he died himself in January 1992 from cancer. Incidentally he also predicted I’d lose the admin job I had at that time, otherwise I would never have considered a “cleaning” job. And he also predicted I’d become Catholic, or I’d never have considered having a mass said for a suicide (more on that later).

At the time he made the prediction, I was going to Wilston Presbyterian Church in Brisbane.

Fast forward to 2006, and I did a cleaning job for about four months, didn’t like it much, and “heard about a ghost”, a former manager who committed suicide in the 1960’s according to what the store staff thought. The store was located in Ipswich, about 40kms or so from Brisbane.

I didn’t know what to do about it, but a couple of years later I rang the priest at the local church closest to the store in Ipswich. He said ‘leave it to me’, but I had this uneasy feeling that nothing happened. After all I was just a strange voice on the phone with a peculiar story.

In this slightly pensive frame of mind (I don’t normally go around wondering about the fate of suicidal ghosts if you get my drift), circa 2010 I chanced upon an Australian priest on this forum. At the time, and possibly for the whole time I’ve been on the forum, he was the only Australian priest I’ve seen on the forum.

Guess which Australian Catholic Church he was located at? The same church where I’d phoned in 2008. He was a new priest, and possibly this was his first posting as priest in residence. What the heck - I’ll name him - Fr. Michael Grace.

Through the forum’s email contact system, I emailed Fr. Grace, told him the story, and he emailed back saying “I really will make sure a mass is said for the ‘ghost’”.

This time I felt more assured.

Then about three or four months ago, I happened to buy a “Catholic Leader”, which is the Queensland Catholic newspaper, which I normally don’t do. The church I bought it at is based in Jimboomba, again about 40 kms from Brisbane, but in a different direction to Ipswich.

And on or about page 5 here’s a photograph of Fr. Grace at a wine and cheese evening supporting a right to life event in Bowen Hills. But this time he’s now based at a Catholic Church in Wilston, not more than a few hundred metres from the Presbyterian Church where the old pastor made the original prediction.

So I emailed him again, this time using the church’s email system. And I got back a reply from Fr. Grace saying, “Hi … just to raise the spookiness level another notch, my church before I went into seminary was Jimboomba”, which is where I’d purchased the “Leader”.

So the old pastor made the prediction which came true; I just “happened” to chance upon Fr. Grace 2010 at the same church in Ipswich where I’d contacted the parish in 2008; then in 2015 he’s located no more than a few hundred meters from where the old pastor made the prediction, and his home church before seminary just happened to be the same church where I picked up the newspaper which had his photograph in it.

As for “seeing this ghost before”, my father and I would sometimes go camping at a locality called Legume just over the NSW border. It was a real one horse town, the sort of place where the Lions Club nail their signs back to back. An intersection with a shop, a few houses, a few rabbit warrens and that’s about it.

But to get there back then (circa 1970) we had to travel through Ipswich.

When I cast my mind back, I remember we were going home, probably a Sunday or public holiday, and driving down Brisbane Street when I noticed this bloke standing on the footpath with a briefcase. This was unusual as all the shops were shut, Ipswich was a strong union town, and there were very few people about.

He looked very frustrated and resigned. I looked at him and he looked at me. As we drove past, something caused me to turn and look at him. He turned with this real look of resignation on his face, and walked through the door of the store. Only trouble was the door was shut.

It gave me the heebie geebies, but it was no use talking to my father about it (it was pretty useless talking to him about anything frankly), so I said nothing and tried to forget it.

However the old pastor raised the issue nearly 20 years later, and I hadn’t said anything to him either.

As far as I’m concerned the “suicidal ghost” was doing part or all of his purgatory by being bound to the store where he’d committed suicide.

That’s my story, and I think you might be right that some ghosts may be doing their purgatory.

Incidentally if *“The Lord just wanted me to hear about a ghost”, *then there’ll be a bit more to it than the peculiar set of circumstances that have eventuated so far. But just what I don’t know.

Time will tell I suppose. I never expected it to involve an American based Catholic forum though. When he made the prediction, the internet was just in its infancy. And as I said he predicted I’d lose my then job or I wouldn’t have been doing cleaning, and I’d become Catholic, or I wouldn’t have thought about asking for a mass.

 

[thistle]

Would you agree its possible some UFOs people see and report,(other than mis-identifications of normal aircraft, planets, stars, space station, etc), may be demons masquerading as ‘something else’ in order to fool/ trick people?

NO!

 

[AnneElizabeth]

Yes, I saw a video about a year ago, from China, they did a holographic display at night, of a dragon, coming out a lake, flying around in the sky, from the video, it looked VERY real, and this was a year ago!

If you google holographic technology topics, one of them will be a belief either a certain group of people or a Govt entity intends to trick the public into thinking there is some kind of alien invasion going on, when really, its all holograms, Ive read some Govt documents to this effect as well…its pretty amazing stuff, but I doubt they are at the level to fool the public like this yet, but certainly possible in the near future I think.

Furthermore, some say instead of an alien invasion, they will make the image of God appear in the sky, complete with booming voice, in an attempt to make people think it is the second coming…that is REALLY scary to me! I have a feeling LOTS of people would fall for that, and do anything they are asked.

Yeah, its amazing what they can do, not only with holograms but with other technologies too. Most of society is not privy to it. Add to the mix, magicians: I dated one and he was able to do some amazing stuff, only it wasn’t really what it seemed. I also read about some history events in which the military used, basically, ‘magic tricks’ to win a battle. The Bible speaks of the Egyptian magicians who could mimic some of God’s miracles that he gave to Moses, making Moses look like a fraud and just another magician, that is, until God brought about something that could not be matched.

I have heard of the conspiracies that you speak about, but I would advise not to get into them so much or be afraid of them. Manipulation and lies have been a part of human existence since the beginning. Its no different today. God will repay absolute justice to those who employ it. In the meantime, we are just to live for Jesus Christ. If you do that, truly, you can’t be fooled… maybe for a time, but God will care for you, but you have to do what He says.

 

[Happy_B]

…

Furthermore, some say instead of an alien invasion, they will make the image of God appear in the sky, complete with booming voice, in an attempt to make people think it is the second coming…that is REALLY scary to me! I have a feeling LOTS of people would fall for that, and do anything they are asked.

If ‘they’ stage something, people may be deceived. However, I would like to send you a short citation from a book called Letter and Spirit by the Catholic theologian Scott Hahn, on this topic:

‘‘C.K.Beale speaks of this final parousia (coming of the Son of man) in profound and moving terms: **When Christ appears, he will not descend from the sky over Boston or London or New York City or Hong Kong or any other localized area. When he appears, the present dimension will be ripped away, and Christ will manifest to all eyes throughout the earth (see Mt 24:27)…If John were living today, he might use the analogy of a stage curtain with pictures on it, which is drawn from both sides to reveal the actors behind it. In short, the present physical reality will in some way disappear and the formerly hidden heavenly dimension, where Christ and God dwell, will be revealed.’’

 

[Sarcelle]

If ‘they’ stage something, people may be deceived. However, I would like to send you a short citation from a book called Letter and Spirit by the Catholic theologian Scott Hahn, on this topic:

‘‘C.K.Beale speaks of this final parousia (coming of the Son of man) in profound and moving terms: **When Christ appears, he will not descend from the sky over Boston or London or New York City or Hong Kong or any other localized area. When he appears, the present dimension will be ripped away, and Christ will manifest to all eyes throughout the earth (see Mt 24:27)…If John were living today, he might use the analogy of a stage curtain with pictures on it, which is drawn from both sides to reveal the actors behind it. In short, the present physical reality will in some way disappear and the formerly hidden heavenly dimension, where Christ and God dwell, will be revealed.’’

Hmm, the situation described above reminds me of the time the curtain in the Temple of Jerusalem was ripped open at the time of Christ’s death. God would be no longer be available in the Holy of Holies but would be available everywhere, even to the Gentiles. Here, heaven would no longer be confined to itself but made visible to this world.

 

[Happy_B]

Hmm, the situation described above reminds me of the time the curtain in the Temple of Jerusalem was ripped open at the time of Christ’s death. God would be no longer be available in the Holy of Holies but would be available everywhere, even to the Gentiles. Here, heaven would no longer be confined to itself but made visible to this world.

Quite spot on…

 

[mikekle]

If ‘they’ stage something, people may be deceived. However, I would like to send you a short citation from a book called Letter and Spirit by the Catholic theologian Scott Hahn, on this topic:

‘‘C.K.Beale speaks of this final parousia (coming of the Son of man) in profound and moving terms: **When Christ appears, he will not descend from the sky over Boston or London or New York City or Hong Kong or any other localized area. When he appears, the present dimension will be ripped away, and Christ will manifest to all eyes throughout the earth (see Mt 24:27)…If John were living today, he might use the analogy of a stage curtain with pictures on it, which is drawn from both sides to reveal the actors behind it. In short, the present physical reality will in some way disappear and the formerly hidden heavenly dimension, where Christ and God dwell, will be revealed.’’

That sounds terrifying!!

 

[GEddie]

That sounds terrifying!!

You’ll be dead; there will be nothing to be afraid of.

ICXC NIKA

 

[Casilda]

Going back to Jimmy Akins’ article, it sounds as if there are two possibilities, either a soul from purgatory or a demon.

My mother was born and raised in another country. She recounted events such as all hallows eve, a prayer vigil where no one in the home was allowed to venture outside after dark for fear of the spirits. The next day was all saint’s day and they would go to mass. She never understood why in America people “celebrate” halloween. She also didnt like living in an apartment or home that had been lived in before. I lived in two 100yr or older homes and initially walked around praying for any spirits to keep quiet while I was there. They did.