Can you be a Christian and believe in ghosts? If you were to ask me if you could be a Christian and believe in abortion, I would respond,. "You are either abysmally ignorant of the Bible or you are not a Christian...probably the latter." In a biblical worldview, it helps you to see God's priorities regarding different issues. The sanctity of human life is so central to God, that any serious deviation raises a red flag. However, belief in ghosts is in a different category. The short answer is "Yes, you can be justified/saved if you believe in ghosts". We are justified by grace through faith alone...through the finished work of Christ, plus nothing. We are not justified by faith. Plus a proper view of ghosts...or a proper view of politics...or a proper view of the death penalty and so on.
I have a linebacker-esque quality to my writing when it comes to tackling the issue of ghosts. That stems from a holy hatred and loathing of demons/Satan, as well as the unspeakable suffering they cause. But unfortunately, I am certain I have lost subscribers due to my hard-hitting style. When I preached the whole counsel as a pastor, many visitors did not return...Not brimstone sermons but meaty ones, which they did not have a stomach for..The message itself has enough built in "offense" (ghosts are demons), that I don't need to inadvertently further turn them off by a grating or offensive style.
So, it is possible to be a Christian and believe in ghosts. I'll go further and state that some of these folks love Jesus way more than I do. Justification is by faith alone....And I rejoice in this for many reasons, one of which is nobody has a perfect understanding of the bible. But as the great Cornelius Van Til said (I think it was him), Reformed theology is the most biblically consistent expression of Christianity. I concur. But my Armenian brothers are justified just as freely and fully as I am.
Belief in ghosts is not a core issue in terms of what is necessary for salvation. The deity of Christ and the Trinity are core issues and you cannot be saved with a deficient view of either.
But here are my concerns...
1. Belief in ghosts usually comes about by putting human experience above the authority of the bible...will a genuine Christian put their experience above the bible? Will that grieve the Holy Spirit?
2. The intellectual starting point must be man's autonomous reason...not a healthy spiritual sign.
3. Is not one of the crucial facets of the cross to defeat Satan?
4. The singular honor ad dignity of Jesus is diminished if ghost theory is right
5. Specifically, Jesus defeat of, and sovereignty over death is denied.
6. Huge emotional and spiritual ramification makes a consistent walk with Jesus problematic
7. We are ordered not to speak to the dead...this is done routinely through EVP gathering.
There are more concerns but I will stop there. Yes, we are justified by faith alone, but not ny a faith that is alone. That is, genuine faith will bear fruit...showing that Christ is Lord (not perfectly, but really) over us.
Yes, you can believe in ghosts and be a Christian, but only God knows if this embracing of a forbidden practice crosses the line, showing where your true allegiance is.
Again, I invite feedback please. I very much desire it. Blessings.
10 comments:
For me, I never really thought about not believing in ghosts but the question is what kind of ghosts?
For me, I never believed in ghosts of people, no children left 'looking for their mommy', not Aunt Sally wanting to 'have you finish her business' and certainly I don't believe humans can or should be trying to 'cross someone over'
One of the biggest misunderstandings and easy ways to open yourself to a demon is to try communicating with any spirit.
God said don't do it,period
Nice Catholic views, so where do we sign up to join your cult?
nice double post,kind of shoots your insult right in the foot huh? lol
what's wrong with Catholics?
Mormans are Christian too! So why are we excluding all religions here? I agree is this a cult? Which Bible is this garbage comming from? I am a satanist and I have never heard such garbage. Sounds like preacher man does not know much about what he preaches. Ha Ha Ha >:o() HS....
Oooh a Satanist ...what a rebel you are (yawn)...
@bobnoxious..ahhh hahahahaha
Is your heart convicting you because of a satanist called "you out"? You do not know what to do. As much as I hate to say this I agree with the satanist. They do know the Bibles better than most do. I would never call a Bible sloth, so satanist guy. What pissed you off ? That was a mean post you posted. I can not believe how many people has the chance to confront a satanist and does not say "anything to him". This shows everyone a spiritual weekness. God Bless amy.
There is no reason to deal with those who became blind in the darkness the master they serve is not a god that saves but one who kills
1- spirits exist. This is a truth of the faith.
2 - spirits can sometimes manifest themselves to those in this life, as in the apparitions of the saints.
3 - there are even reports in Catholic history that spirits in purgatory have by God’s will, occasionally manifested themselves to those on earth. In these cases, those on earth may see the spirits experiencing their purgation in some way.
If these above reports are true, God may at times allow spirits to manifest to those on earth in a way that might lead folks to describe them as "ghosts." These two phenomena's – the "purgatory ghosts" and demons alike may also explain the so called haunted house that many experience.
Maria
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