Raising The Dead

[RDJ]

Hello,

I have a book of scary stories from when I was a kid. The book also includes instructions on how you can supposedly raise a person from the dead. It says that you should go in a dark room with a mirror and say the name of a dead person 40-100 times, and eventually your face's reflection will turn into the face of the person whose name you said. I really don't believe that anything would happen if I tried this, but I thought about trying it anyway to see what happens. The only thing I'm worried about is if it would be wrong for a Christian to do something like this. I think The Bible gives a warning about not getting involved with the occult, and I wonder if this would fall under that category.

 

[NovaCoru]

This is just a stupid little game like the Bloody Mary game. There is no chance in whatever supernatural realm you might believe in that that might happen. The only way to bring someone back from the dead is through SCIENCE! and we haven't gotten that far yet =/

 

[kittycat7]

Technically, wouldn't raising the dead be bringing them back physically, not just talking with their spirits? Anyhow, it is forbidden in the Bible. Look up Deuteronomy 18:11, 1 Samuel 28:3, Leviticus 19:31 and Leviticus 20:6. I don't know if this is true but I've heard (from someone who used to work in a mental hospital) that some people have become possessed after trying to call up the dead. I wouldn't try it if I were you.

 

[mpok1519]

So it's bad to try to talk to your dead mother? Hmm...strange, I never heared of something bad happening to someone bc they feel comforted speaking to their ancestors.

 

[Beanieboy]

In psychology class, they talked about how, when you stare at something for a really long time, your eyes start to take on a negative image of what you are looking at. (For example, when you stare for 30 seconds at a green square, and then look away at a white surface, you will see a pink square.) Something happens when you stare in the mirror at your own face in a room that is dark with only a small amount of light. You face actually appears to change into the face of someone else, and this is do to the optical illusion of looking at something for 30 seconds or longer. If you think that you are going to see a dead relative, Bloody Mary, etc, the overloaded sensors of your eyes will distort your face and you will believe that you have seen what you were going to see.

But all that has really happened is that you experienced an optical illusion.

That said, what is my opinion of trying to raise the dead? Well, if you were dead, would you want someone trying to raise you? I think the problem with this kind of thing is the potential to actually contact the spirit world, and if you don't understand what you are playing with or dealing with, it's like playing around with a dangerous weapon you don't know how to use or a heavy piece of machinery that you aren't trained on.

You also have to ask yourself why you would want to raise the dead.

I think this is very different than trying to speak to one's ancestors, because their spirits aren't dead, but only their body.

 

[RDJ]

This is just a stupid little game like the Bloody Mary game. There is no chance in whatever supernatural realm you might believe in that that might happen. The only way to bring someone back from the dead is through SCIENCE! and we haven't gotten that far yet =/

Do you think science will ever get that far?

 

[RDJ]

Technically, wouldn't raising the dead be bringing them back physically, not just talking with their spirits? Anyhow, it is forbidden in the Bible. Look up Deuteronomy 18:11, 1 Samuel 28:3, Leviticus 19:31 and Leviticus 20:6. I don't know if this is true but I've heard (from someone who used to work in a mental hospital) that some people have become possessed after trying to call up the dead. I wouldn't try it if I were you.

I would definitely be skeptical about whether these people who called up the dead were really possessed. A lot of mental illnesses can be mistaken for some of the classic so called symptoms of demonic possession. I have a hard time believing that demonic possession can occur, and I wouldn't be convinced unless the person that is supposedly possessed can do something truly incredible, like make something levitate.

 

[RDJ]

So it's bad to try to talk to your dead mother? Hmm...strange, I never heared of something bad happening to someone bc they feel comforted speaking to their ancestors.

This is just my opinion, but I think it would be safe to bring someone back from the dead if they were family or someone you knew.

 

[RDJ]

In psychology class, they talked about how, when you stare at something for a really long time, your eyes start to take on a negative image of what you are looking at. (For example, when you stare for 30 seconds at a green square, and then look away at a white surface, you will see a pink square.) Something happens when you stare in the mirror at your own face in a room that is dark with only a small amount of light. You face actually appears to change into the face of someone else, and this is do to the optical illusion of looking at something for 30 seconds or longer. If you think that you are going to see a dead relative, Bloody Mary, etc, the overloaded sensors of your eyes will distort your face and you will believe that you have seen what you were going to see.

But all that has really happened is that you experienced an optical illusion.

That said, what is my opinion of trying to raise the dead? Well, if you were dead, would you want someone trying to raise you? I think the problem with this kind of thing is the potential to actually contact the spirit world, and if you don't understand what you are playing with or dealing with, it's like playing around with a dangerous weapon you don't know how to use or a heavy piece of machinery that you aren't trained on.

You also have to ask yourself why you would want to raise the dead.

I think this is very different than trying to speak to one's ancestors, because their spirits aren't dead, but only their body.

This is very interesting. I'm glad you brought up what psychology has to say about this. I am very interested in psychology and I am considering majoring in this subject. The only reason I want to try this is to see if anything would happen, because I don't believe that this could really bring someone's spirit or something like that into the mirror.

 

[Jase]

Or you could always just find the Book of the Dead and read the Egyptian inscription!

 

[rockaction]

Or you could always just find the Book of the Dead and read the Egyptian inscription!

Do you even know what the Book of the Dead is? It's actually one of the ancient documents the Israelites ripped off when they wrote the Old Testament. Ten Commandments? Lifted straight out of the 42 rules in the Book of the Dead.

Science will likely never be able to raise people from the dead. Physical neuronal networks comprise our memories, and once those cells are dead, there is no cognition left. Neuroscience has demonstrated that the mind is a product of the brain's electrical activity. So once there is none, that's it my friends. You can't bring that back.

 

[RDJ]

Or you could always just find the Book of the Dead and read the Egyptian inscription!

Thanks. I'll check the Barnes And Noble website.

 

[RDJ]

Do you even know what the Book of the Dead is? It's actually one of the ancient documents the Israelites ripped off when they wrote the Old Testament. Ten Commandments? Lifted straight out of the 42 rules in the Book of the Dead.

Science will likely never be able to raise people from the dead. Physical neuronal networks comprise our memories, and once those cells are dead, there is no cognition left. Neuroscience has demonstrated that the mind is a product of the brain's electrical activity. So once there is none, that's it my friends. You can't bring that back.

Okay, but I believe that people have souls, spirits, or whatever you want to call them, that allows people to still exist after they have died. There might not be any scientific proof of such a thing, but I don't believe that we shouldn't believe in something just because science can't prove it exists. You might say that your beliefs are more credible since science can back up these beliefs, but would you say that you know science is right, or do you have faith that what you believe is right? No matter how logical a belief may seem, I think faith in that belief is required since absolute proof of most beliefs does not exist.
Maybe you should read "Spook: Science Tackles The Afterlife" by Mary Roach. In this book, the author discusses reincarnation, hunting for the soul inside the human body, ectoplasm, the claims of a medium, ways that people have been allegedly able to communicate with the dead, and some interesting findings from experiments involving near-death experiences. From what she says in the introduction, it sounds like the author has been agnostic since she was young and has always been interested in science.

 

[Autumnleaf]

Jesus raised the dead, aren't Christians supposed to be like him?

 

[RDJ]

Jesus raised the dead, aren't Christians supposed to be like him?

Good point. I found a link that lists the people that Jesus rose from the dead:
Jesus Raises Lazarus - Bible Story Summary of the Raising of Lazarus

 

[serephim01]

Raising the dead is quite easy. It's putting them down once they start to crave your flesh that's the problem. Trust me, shotguns don't work too well on something that is that hungry.

 

[SithDoughnut]

Do you think science will ever get that far?

Quite possibly. Life is just chemical reactions, after all.

 

[visionary]

It is not biblically wise to call upon the dead for answers...

 

[kittycat7]

So it's bad to try to talk to your dead mother? Hmm...strange, I never heared of something bad happening to someone bc they feel comforted speaking to their ancestors.

I was talking about mirror scrying, seances, and stuff like that. Not merely talking to people who have died. I've just talked to people who've died and found it comforting.