Do ghosts exist?

Ghosts, demons... all kind of crazy stuff with no facts.

Maybe ghosts are actually demons that disguise themselves as such. Who knows.

Jesus did not dismiss the existence of Ghosts. Saul was rebuked by God for seeking guidance through a medium from Samual who had previously died. This resulted in an accurate message from a spirit.

This is a topic quite bothersome among many Christians.

Because they want to keep their spiritual experiences to as minimum and docile as possible!

JohnClay said:

Some NIV verses:

Matthew 14:26
When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

Mark 6:49
but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out,

Luke 24:37
They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.

Luke 24:39
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.”

It seems that they believe that ghosts exist. I mean Jesus didn't say "no I'm not a ghost because there's no such thing as ghosts!"

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From what I understand the closest scientific experiments done to try an verify an occurrence of the supernatural were those done at Medjugorje when children were seeing the virgin Mary. Also numerous psychologists and related fields have done experiments with the most potent available hallucinogens for an out of body experience.

The way I see it most of the world does believe in the supernatural and a significant minority of those who don't are neither able to verify or deny its' existence.

JohnClay said:

Some NIV verses:

Matthew 14:26
When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

Mark 6:49
but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out,

Luke 24:37
They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.

Luke 24:39
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.”

It seems that they believe that ghosts exist. I mean Jesus didn't say "no I'm not a ghost because there's no such thing as ghosts!"

Click to expand...

the bible is not a handbook on ghosts. it may confirm folklore but shouldn't be used as a definition as to what a ghost is or is not or even if they are real. The Greek word can mean an apparition or manifestation and it may not so neatly fit into what we call "ghosts" today.

is there a deeper aspect of this question that you're not revealing? If Ghosts are real or not real how does this change your outlook on Christianity, God or in general mankind?

Do Ghosts exist?

The only "Ghost" that I know of in scripture that really exists, is "THE HOLY GHOST". All the others are frauds.

2Pe_1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

1Jn_5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

Ghosts: Who Are They? | Ghost Truth

JohnClay said:

Some NIV verses:

Matthew 14:26
When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

Mark 6:49
but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out,

Luke 24:37
They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.

Luke 24:39
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.”

It seems that they believe that ghosts exist. I mean Jesus didn't say "no I'm not a ghost because there's no such thing as ghosts!"

Click to expand...

Well firstly Ghosts and Spirits are the same idea. The greek word uses can be used for both. So i will rephrase your question to saw do Spirits Exist. The answer is yes. If the bible speaks about the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost, it implies that they can be other Ghosts or Spirits and there are. Angels are considered spirits. Bad angels who were kicked out of heaven are considered demons but they are spirits and they can imitate people who were once alive. People go to seances and such things where they use a medium and get to communicate with their departed loved once but its simply the spirit of demons imitating those who were departed so yes, ghosts do exist.

The passages quoted in the OP do not confirm the existence of ghosts. Obviously it was an idea that people knew about in the 1st Cent, just as it is now. So when they saw Jesus, who they knew had died, it's reasonable they would have considered he might be a ghost. But he wasn't.

I'm not aware of any other Biblical accounts of ghosts in the usual sense. The account of Samuel appearing with the aid of a medium might be a ghost, but it's not what people typically mean, i.e. the remains of someone who died and is hanging around on earth.

Folks also thought Jonah was a ghost - it is thought that the skin and hair pigments were bleached out by the stomach acids in the Whale so his appearance was very white.

JohnClay said:

Some NIV verses:

Matthew 14:26
When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

Mark 6:49
but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out,

Luke 24:37
They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.

Luke 24:39
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.”

It seems that they believe that ghosts exist. I mean Jesus didn't say "no I'm not a ghost because there's no such thing as ghosts!"

Click to expand...

Superstition and fear are natural responses to things we don't understand. Which is what we see with the disciples in these occasions. In the case of seeing Jesus after He had risen from the dead, it no doubt made more sense to them that they were seeing a ghost than that He had risen from the dead.

That doesn't mean ghosts are real.

-CryptoLutheran

In my ex girlfriend grandmas old house me and her both saw a big blue ball of light shoot across the ceiling and shot into a wind chime hanging over the bed and made it move back and forth. I tried to explain it naturally but I couldn’t. Now was it a ghost! Idk. But it was something paranormal.

And isn’t their a scripture that says don’t talk to the dead?

JohnClay said:

Some NIV verses:

Matthew 14:26
When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

Mark 6:49
but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out,

Luke 24:37
They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.

Luke 24:39
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.”

It seems that they believe that ghosts exist. I mean Jesus didn't say "no I'm not a ghost because there's no such thing as ghosts!"

Click to expand...

JohnClay said:

Some NIV verses:

Matthew 14:26
When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

Mark 6:49
but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out,

Luke 24:37
They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.

Luke 24:39
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.”

It seems that they believe that ghosts exist. I mean Jesus didn't say "no I'm not a ghost because there's no such thing as ghosts!"

Click to expand...

None of those examples panned out to be a ghost. and no where in the bible is there an example of a disembodies souls running around. However we do have and been warned of Evil spirits/Demons and familiar spirits demons pretending to be lost loved ones.

So no Ghost, but something far more sinister.

Which is maybe why all ghosts portrayals are of angry mad or haunted souls.

Eklypised said:

In my ex girlfriend grandmas old house me and her both saw a big blue ball of light shoot across the ceiling and shot into a wind chime hanging over the bed and made it move back and forth. I tried to explain it naturally but I couldn’t. Now was it a ghost! Idk. But it was something paranormal.

Click to expand...

"Ball lightening" is unusual but quite real. People have actually been burned by it. Not paranormal.

JackRT said:

"Ball lightening" is unusual but quite real. People have actually been burned by it. Not paranormal.

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That’s the only other thing I could think of. But it happened right after she screamed “I don’t wanna f’n live here anymore”....like seconds after she screamed that it happened.

Carl Emerson said:

Jesus did not dismiss the existence of Ghosts. Saul was rebuked by God for seeking guidance through a medium from Samual who had previously died. This resulted in an accurate message from a spirit.

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What was interesting about that encounter the spirit summoned asked "why have you disturbed me?"

JohnClay said:

Maybe in the transfiguration Moses and Elijah were ghosts?

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There were no ghosts, the transfiguration was simply a vision, like a dream is a vision.

Matt. 17:9 "And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead."

Yes, ghosts, demons, angels, devas and all sorts of generally invisible creatures exist. But they are at best a distraction from the godly life, at worst can lead hell ward.