Description

For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Podcast points

• Affirmed in the Bible? No -- only popular superstition.
  • Matthew 14:26, Mark 6:49 (walking on the sea).
  • Luke 24:37, 39 (post-resurrection).
  • There are, however, spirit beings.
  • And in the case of demonic possession, there is a sort of haunting. For more, listen to the podcast on Demon Possession.
  • Note: Job 4:15 and Isa 29:4 do not prove support the popular notion.
• Not the same as demons.
• The spirits of the dead do not come back.
  • Listen to the podcast in this series on What Happens After We Die?
  • See also Heb 9:27.
  • 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.
• Psychological aspect
  • Superstition
  • Fear
  • Hallucination
• Ghosts discovered in old houses?
  • Magnetic fields
  • Dust in random motion
  • Creaking sounds (subsidence, e.g.)
  • Association with death common in old structures.
• Jesus came to destroy our fear of death (Heb 2:15).

Conclusion

• Be sensible, not superstitious. Fiction is fiction.
• While there may be spirit beings in our world, the spirits of departed humans do not "come back to haunt us."
• Engage in the conversation; people are interested in the paranormal and many are willing to listen. This can be an opening for the gospel.