Articles
I Ain't Afraid of No Ghosts
Ray Brown, an official at the Manassas National Battlefield Park, dashes the hopes of many ghost-believers: “There’s no enduring tradition of a specific ghost haunting the battlefield. In my 23 years here I have never encountered anything I could not explain” (Cooperative Living Magazine, p. 17).
Mr. Brown then offers an interesting observation on the psychology of those who believe they have seen a ghost: “I think a lot of it has to do with people wanting to have a personal experience with the past. It also speaks to the power of place – places like battlefields have a certain ability to affect us” (ibid). If people base their reality on things other than the definitive word of God – their emotions, superstitions, longings, legends, curiosity, etc. – then they will believe just about anything. Some have a hard time letting go of a loved one who has died. They desperately want to believe their spirit is still with them, inspiring them to succeed or guiding them through a crisis.
But think about it: Wouldn’t all parents/grandparents/mentors/friends/loved ones equally want to assist the living from beyond the grave? Why don’t they? I believe it troubled my father immensely in his final days to leave me when I was only ten years old. But in the forty-six years since he died my father has never appeared to me, spoken to me or comforted me with his presence. Why not? Why, supposedly, does one appear from nether worlds but not another? When would they do so and under what circumstances? And to what authoritative source might we appeal to get those answers and understand the dynamics of ghost-appearances?
This susceptibility to believing in the paranormal can even be based on pure fabrication: “Some media outlets report ‘ghost sightings’ at the park’s unfinished railroad, with the lore that Robert E. Lee ordered the construction and that workers were massacred there. In reality, the railroad was a private venture that began in 1850 and was never finished due to cost issues. Brown confirms, ‘Lee had nothing to do with it. There were no massacres there, although that area did see extensive fighting in the second battle of Manassas’” (ibid). So powerful is paranormal belief that some devotees base their “experiences” on historical events that never happened. But that doesn’t seem to deter them.
The Bible speaks of the finality of death in a variety of passages and settings. David, a prophet of God, says regarding the child conceived with Bathsheba: “But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me” (2 Sam 12:23). In the story of the rich man and Lazarus it was impossible for the rich man or Lazarus or anyone else to return to earth and warn the man’s brothers to change their ways (Lk 16:26-31).
The exceptions of post-death appearances – the medium of En Dor’s conjuring of Samuel (1 Sam 28); Moses and Elijah conversing with Jesus at the transfiguration (Lk 9:28ff) – support the rule. The medium was shocked that Samuel actually appeared, indicating that she was a fraud and this was a unique experience. The crucifixion was a one-time event, and Jesus’ discussion with the two Old Testament greats was likewise a singular occurrence. The Bible does not support belief in regular visitations from the spirit world. If one has no power over his initial departure from this world, why should we believe they can control their return?
This same phenomenon – wanting to believe in things that factually do not occur – explains continued fascination with UFOs, horoscopes, miracles and direct messages from the Holy Spirit. When people are predisposed to believe in such things, it doesn’t take much to “verify” their convictions. And it is impossible to reason with them about what is real because their thought process is not built on the rock of rational argumentation. Rather, it is founded on the sand of wishful thinking and high emotions.
And why is it that most claim to be in contact only with those who loved them and would wish them well? Why do they not report being tormented by their enemies, harassed and hounded by those who hated them during their earthly tenure? We would be much more inclined to see such claims as evidence of paranoia or other mental instability.
Belief in visitations from the spirit world is the outgrowth of imagination. It comforts the unstable. It sells tickets to movies, séances and ghost-tours. We would be better off to define reality by God’s revelation in Scripture rather than folklore, fantasy or Harry Potter.
