Ghosts

[trentlogain2]

Do you believe spirits of the dead sometimes stick around after people have died?

What do you think of ghosts and this sort of thing in general?

 

[scraparcs]

They make good fodder for horror movies. I know I'm no fun, but I have yet to find any convincing evidence of the existence of ghosts.

 

[trentlogain2]

They make good fodder for horror movies. I know I'm no fun, but I have yet to find any convincing evidence of the existence of ghosts.

i used to think the same way. then i thought, 'you know, i've never found any compelling reason to think they don't exist.'

plus, erwin lutzer says they do. i do think that tv shows and the media in general blow all of that stuff out of the water if in fact they do exist. (meaning they exploit it too much and i think the majority of those shows are fake) who knows though

 

[scraparcs]

i used to think the same way. then i thought, 'you know, i've never found any compelling reason to think they don't exist.'

plus, erwin lutzer says they do. i do think that tv shows and the media in general blow all of that stuff out of the water if in fact they do exist. (meaning they exploit it too much and i think the majority of those shows are fake) who knows though

My brain totally isn't wired that way. I'm prone to be skeptical unless there's massive evidence to the contrary. I'm not just like that with ghosts; pretty much anything that can't be directly observed or measured I tend to take with a grain of salt.

 

[kevlite2020]

No.

 

[Im_A]

My brain totally isn't wired that way. I'm prone to be skeptical unless there's massive evidence to the contrary. I'm not just like that with ghosts; pretty much anything that can't be directly observed or measured I tend to take with a grain of salt.

 

[leothelioness]

No, I don't really believe in them. I will say I've had some very weird experiences, but I'm still stubborn enough that I try to find some explaination for it and refuse to believe in that stuff.

 

[broken_one]

No, I don't really believe in them. I will say I've had some very weird experiences, but I'm still stubborn enough that I try to find some explanation for it and refuse to believe in that stuff.

This.

 

[PinkSweetart]

I believe there are demons all around us, watching us as we go throughout our day, and I think when someone dies that demon can "pretend" it's a loved one because it's seen how we live. So I believe ghosts are demons.
I have I seen one? Nope, but I know many who have.

I also believe God is watching over me to protect me from that evil that prowls like a lion.

1 Peter 5:8

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Psalm 121:7,8.

The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and they coming in from this time forth, and even for ever more.

 

[marlowe007]

No. And I want to. There are a few people taken from this world far too early who I would dearly love to see, or speak to, or feel their presence again, even if it's just one more time. Yet seemingly every "ghost" people encounter is not only a complete stranger but some anti-social jerk with a sour disposition. Now how the heck does that figure? That, say, your best friend, who died when you were both kids, and presumably wants to get a message to you specifically, can't navigate his way out of limbo....but some idiot named Jebediah Smith, who died in 1764 having never washed his armpits even once - that clueless stinky creep has managed to somehow rent a room in your house and develop a yearning for you at the same time, and won't stop loosening the top of your salt and pepper shakers.

It's not that I don't think there are things in this world without rational explanations; there are. And I love the tingling shiver up my spine of a good, unnerving ghost story. But I'm afraid I find the idea of ghosts less believable than the idea that "ghosts" are the mischief played upon us by demons, who - being demons - wish to trick us into the false belief that somehow, that kind of life will exist for us after we die.

 

[mjmcmillan]

I may have seen one. I got in from work late, backed into the driveway as I always did. Just as I was shutting down the truck's headlights something passed between the house and the neighbor's bushes. It seemed to be human female in shape, dressed in some kind of white garment. The place where it came from and went to doesn't ordinarily permit human passage (the wall of the house, and the neighbor's bushes were all but impenetrable to anything bigger than a housecat), so I guessed it might be a ghost. This is the only time I ever saw a ghost that wasn't on television.

At the time, we had a family friend staying with us and my sister was going through a rough time, and they both had issues that might very well attract this sort of thing. G.R. had had several run ins with ghosts, at least according to the lies he told, and my sister was going through a time of having multiple personalities, some of which were real doozies. A perfect storm of trouble. This was in the early '80s when all this took place.

 

[Stravinsk]

YouTube - State of the Dead part1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH8nZsPtltA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAlqOkf3Gvs&feature=related

 

[JasperJackson]

I believe there are demons all around us, watching us as we go throughout our day, and I think when someone dies that demon can "pretend" it's a loved one because it's seen how we live. So I believe ghosts are demons.
I have I seen one? Nope, but I know many who have.

I also believe God is watching over me to protect me from that evil that prowls like a lion.

1 Peter 5:8

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Psalm 121:7,8.

The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and they coming in from this time forth, and even for ever more.

Jesus said to the thief on the cross who asked for salvation "today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). TODAY! No hanging around to be a spooky ghost.

 

[Stravinsk]

Jesus said to the thief on the cross who asked for salvation "today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). TODAY! No hanging around to be a spooky ghost.

Actually the quote is:

"I tell you the truth, today you shall be in paradise."

or is it

"I tell you the truth today, you shall be in paradise."

There is no punctuation to indicate a pause or breath in the Koine Greek. But that punctuation makes all the difference. The comma placement is solely at the discretion of the translators.

Jesus was not in paradise that day.

Confirmation: Day of Resurrection: John 20:17 "Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to my father"

It is "touch", not "hold on to" - the KJV gets it right in this case, and the comma is misplaced in the previous verse. This error is dealt with in the 2nd video I posted.

 

[Inkachu]

Do you believe spirits of the dead sometimes stick around after people have died?

What do you think of ghosts and this sort of thing in general?

Absolutely not.

I think it's man-made superstition and nothing more.

I do believe that we are a lot more in tune with the spiritual world than we might think sometimes, and some things that are actually spiritual activity (angels, demons) are interpreted as "ghost" activity.

 

[Inkachu]

Actually the quote is:

"I tell you the truth, today you shall be in paradise."

or is it

"I tell you the truth today, you shall be in paradise."

There is no punctuation to indicate a pause or breath in the Koine Greek. But that punctuation makes all the difference. The comma placement is solely at the discretion of the translators.

Jesus was not in paradise that day.

Confirmation: Day of Resurrection: John 20:17 "Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to my father"

It is "touch", not "hold on to" - the KJV gets it right in this case, and the comma is misplaced in the previous verse. This error is dealt with in the 2nd video I posted.

Why would Jesus be saying "I'm telling you today" as opposed to "I'm telling you tomorrow" or "I'm telling you yesterday"? Of course He was telling him that day, He was right there speaking to him. The argument about this verse that has cropped up doesn't make sense in itself. Nowhere else in Scripture does Jesus preface stuff with, "I tell you the truth today" but He says "I tell you the truth". I don't say to my son, "Josh, I'm telling you today that we're going to the store". I'd say, "Josh, we're going to the store today".

As for the assumption that Jesus did not go to Heaven that day because of the later verse "I've not yet ascended to my Father". Isn't it possible that He did go to Heaven after His death, but on the 3rd day when He was bodily resurrected He needed to return again to Heaven afterwards? After all, He came back and let people touch him later, so He's obviously going back and forth as He wills at that point. Why He needed to return to Heaven before anyone touched Him is curious; has anyone ventured a guess as to why?

 

[Stravinsk]

Why would Jesus be saying "I'm telling you today" as opposed to "I'm telling you tomorrow" or "I'm telling you yesterday"? Of course He was telling him that day, He was right there speaking to him. The argument about this verse that has cropped up doesn't make sense in itself. Nowhere else in Scripture does Jesus preface stuff with, "I tell you the truth today" but He says "I tell you the truth". I don't say to my son, "Josh, I'm telling you today that we're going to the store". I'd say, "Josh, we're going to the store today".

As for the assumption that Jesus did not go to Heaven that day because of the later verse "I've not yet ascended to my Father". Isn't it possible that He did go to Heaven after His death, but on the 3rd day when He was bodily resurrected He needed to return again to Heaven afterwards? After all, He came back and let people touch him later, so He's obviously going back and forth as He wills at that point. Why He needed to return to Heaven before anyone touched Him is curious; has anyone ventured a guess as to why?

The answer to this question lies in the Old Testament...both in the law and prophets. Ezekiel reveals part of the answer, as does Numbers chapter 19.

One can make a guess based only on the NT... or you can read the law and prophets to get the broader picture.

 

[Keri]

I believe there are demons all around us, watching us as we go throughout our day, and I think when someone dies that demon can "pretend" it's a loved one because it's seen how we live. So I believe ghosts are demons.
I have I seen one? Nope, but I know many who have.

I also believe God is watching over me to protect me from that evil that prowls like a lion.

1 Peter 5:8

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Psalm 121:7,8.

The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and they coming in from this time forth, and even for ever more.

Much agreed.

 

[BranwenUerchLlyr]

i used to think the same way. then i thought, 'you know, i've never found any compelling reason to think they don't exist.'

plus, erwin lutzer says they do. i do think that tv shows and the media in general blow all of that stuff out of the water if in fact they do exist. (meaning they exploit it too much and i think the majority of those shows are fake) who knows though

You're shifting the burden of proof. It isn't up to you to prove they don't exist or else you must believe it, its up to the one making the positive claim that they do exist--else you have no reason to buy the claim.

Same with God. But hey, that's another thread.

 

[BranwenUerchLlyr]

It's not that I don't think there are things in this world without rational explanations; there are. And I love the tingling shiver up my spine of a good, unnerving ghost story. But I'm afraid I find the idea of ghosts less believable than the idea that "ghosts" are the mischief played upon us by demons, who - being demons - wish to trick us into the false belief that somehow, that kind of life will exist for us after we die.

If demons exist and they are that tricky, you'd think they'd be much better at it.

For instance, if "mediums" and "psychics" were really talking to demons who want nothing more than to trick us away from God, why do they have to rely on cold reading techniques and simple human trickery?

We can all learn to cold read and use the sorts of tricks psychics use, even those of us who don't claim to be communing with any spirits. For example:
I'm seeing the letter J, J.. does anyone on this forum have a name that starts with a J, know someone whose name uses the letter J, a pet with the letter J? No? Perhaps we have someone who is a Journalist, Janitor or was a Juror?

I've a great business proposition for any demons out there looking to get famous and do their tricky deeds. Go seek out a medium or someone who just lost a loved one to possess. Have your host go to:
Challenge Info

Use your supernatural powers to prove that you exist, have your host collect the million dollars, and get famous as an actual-factual scientifically demonstrable ghost. What better way to trick people away from God?

If demons exist and they can actually do the things people claim that they do, I have a hard time believing none of them have thought of this by now. Call me incredulous.