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from Guest blogger Paul Thigpen. Paul Thigpen PhD. is an editor at TAN books and the author of hundreds of article and dozens of books on the Catholic faith. His book of prophetic prophecy–The Burden– is a powerful pointer to the perilous times we live in with a passionate call to repentance. Learn more about The Burden here.
GHOSTS AND CATHOLIC FAITH
When I used to edit the national magazine called THE CATHOLIC ANSWER, this time of year, with the approach of Halloween, we always received the same question from our readers: What about ghosts? Do they fit into Catholic belief?
Some may quickly scoff at the idea as fanciful or superstitious. But belief in ghosts seems to have been universal across human cultures from the beginning of recorded history, and it’s based at least in part on countless reports that the living have in fact encountered them. Given the special significance that genuine ghostly phenomena would have for theology, Catholics should not so easily dismiss the possibility.
Do Ghosts Exist?
Our first task is to address the fundamental issue here: Do ghosts in fact exist? To answer that question we must define “ghost.”
According to Webster’s, the word means “the soul of a dead person, a disembodied spirit.” That seems to fit best the popular use of the term, so we’ll accept it as a working definition. We should keep in mind, then, that in the present discussion, “ghost” does not refer to an angel or demon, a poltergeist or even an extraterrestrial. Rather, it’s that part of a human being which is not corporeal (bodily), and which has been separated from the body through death.
With this definition, Catholics should readily affirm that ghosts do indeed exist. After all, it’s a fundamental part of Catholic belief that the human being is a union of soul and body; that at death, the soul and body are separated; and that after death, though the body usually decays, the soul survives, awaiting the Last Judgment, when the body will at last be raised and reunited with the soul.
From a Catholic perspective, then, not only the souls in hell and purgatory, but also the saints in heaven can be called ghosts (with the exception of Our Lady, who is not a disembodied spirit because her body was assumed with her soul into heaven). The question for Catholics, then, is not whether ghosts truly exist. They do. The more pressing question is whether disembodied human souls, in the present time before the Last Judgment, are able to manifest themselves to those still alive on earth.
Evidence From Scripture
Continued below.
Do Catholics Believe in Ghosts?
GHOSTS AND CATHOLIC FAITH
When I used to edit the national magazine called THE CATHOLIC ANSWER, this time of year, with the approach of Halloween, we always received the same question from our readers: What about ghosts? Do they fit into Catholic belief?
Some may quickly scoff at the idea as fanciful or superstitious. But belief in ghosts seems to have been universal across human cultures from the beginning of recorded history, and it’s based at least in part on countless reports that the living have in fact encountered them. Given the special significance that genuine ghostly phenomena would have for theology, Catholics should not so easily dismiss the possibility.
Do Ghosts Exist?
Our first task is to address the fundamental issue here: Do ghosts in fact exist? To answer that question we must define “ghost.”
According to Webster’s, the word means “the soul of a dead person, a disembodied spirit.” That seems to fit best the popular use of the term, so we’ll accept it as a working definition. We should keep in mind, then, that in the present discussion, “ghost” does not refer to an angel or demon, a poltergeist or even an extraterrestrial. Rather, it’s that part of a human being which is not corporeal (bodily), and which has been separated from the body through death.
With this definition, Catholics should readily affirm that ghosts do indeed exist. After all, it’s a fundamental part of Catholic belief that the human being is a union of soul and body; that at death, the soul and body are separated; and that after death, though the body usually decays, the soul survives, awaiting the Last Judgment, when the body will at last be raised and reunited with the soul.
From a Catholic perspective, then, not only the souls in hell and purgatory, but also the saints in heaven can be called ghosts (with the exception of Our Lady, who is not a disembodied spirit because her body was assumed with her soul into heaven). The question for Catholics, then, is not whether ghosts truly exist. They do. The more pressing question is whether disembodied human souls, in the present time before the Last Judgment, are able to manifest themselves to those still alive on earth.
Evidence From Scripture
Continued below.
Do Catholics Believe in Ghosts?
