What are your interpretations of theories on ghosts and other paranormal events? When I was far younger, in the midst of the 2010s, “paranormal caught on camera” seemed to be a popular internet topic. I’ve always enjoyed a good ghost show (especially laughing at the ridiculous fakery that they sometimes slip in) and wonder about the different “equipment” and “tools” used to track ghosts due to the “energy” and other things they give off. What the heck goes on with that?
Recently, I’ve seen a lot of folklore on “past lives,” such as birth marks being where you were killed in your past life. What are your views on this as well?
When I still lived down south, I went on a ghost tour, where we took a picture we could swear has some little white dots that were obviously ghosts . We sent it into the competition to win free ghost hunting equipment but, alas, we didn’t win.
As with many things, even Christianity itself, it is the persistence of belief that is compelling. There is much of this existence that is still beyond our understanding and / or perception.
The idea of a soul or essence persevering after the death of the body is not a million miles from eternal life.
Oh… I love that stuff just like Star Trek and sci-fi with FTL travel.
But it is fantasy. All of it. PERIOD.
The scientific evidence supports none of this and very much tells us none of it is real.
So what about God then isn’t that the same?
No. Because God is outside the space and time of the universe as its creator and thus outside the whole logical structure of scientific inquiry.
IOW there is a difference between science and the naturalistic assumption which makes science the limit of reality.
And reincarnation? Don’t get me started. That is my big stumbling block for finding much meaning in any of the Hindu/Buddhist religious texts.
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SkovandOfMitaze
(Intellectually Atheist Emotionally Christian )
6
I don’t believe in it. The Bible talks about people seeing a vision of Moses and so on. There is the story where the ghost of Samuel I believe is called up. So maybe. I’ve had weird experiences but it was not the same as a ghost really as much as weird dreams that may have just been old memories awakening. In another thread I mentioned the vet who saw the dog, but his dog was still alive so maybe that’s not a ghost even if it was supernatural. I live in a house where someone was murdered and later on someone killed themself. So been two deaths in this house. It’s on a dead end street surrounded by woods. I’ve not seen any ghosts. I’m open to potentially anything existing but I’ve not even any hard evidence myself. Though many have throughout the world for thousands of years. But people also
See UFOs and Bigfoot.
Paranormal activity, i.e., anything that transcends our normal laws of nature, can only come from one of two sources – it is either of God, or it is not of God. As John N. Oswalt states, “There are only two worldviews, the Biblical One, or the Other One.” (Oswalt, John, The Bible Among The Myths, Zondervan, 2009, p 28).
“Demonic spirits have many capabilities in their predatory arsenal (oppression or posession); Divine imitation is the most insidious (e.g., stigmata). These creatures have been in existence before the dawn of time, know our languages, and can shape shift to imitate persons of any age, gender or nationality as well as any animal or creature of our imaginations and even those we don’t want to imagine.” (Ocamb, Janice, From The Garden Of Moses To the Garden OF John, Trilogy Publishing, 2023, pp 100-101).
Deut. 18:10-13 provides blunt warning. C.S. Lewis also warned - the two equal, but opposite dangers about devils is to either take an interest in them, or to deny that they exist. (Lewis, C. S., The Screwtape Letters, Macmillen, N.Y., 1982, p 33.)
Most of them aren’t real, but there are cases that defy simple physicalist explanations, such as crisis apparitions, where one or more people see the spirit of someone who has died at that moment or shortly before, without knowing that the person is dead. If I recall correctly, even @Terry_Sampson spoke (on this forum) about having had such an experience. Other people I know in my own life have had similar experiences as well.
In short: not all paranormal claims are true; in fact, most of them are not. But it is nothing more than naive scientism (which is an ideology, not science) to dismiss everything as fake.
The concept of ‘worldview’ has several definitions but simplifying everything to those two is not fruitful.
If God is the Creator, there is nothing that would not originate from the creative work of God. The creation may deviate from the will of God or be somehow distorted but it still is something originally created by God.
Some creatures act against the will of God (in some sort of rebellion) or are otherwise dangerous for humans. There is a need to discern the spirits. In addition, much of what is claimed as paranormal stuff is probably not what it is claimed to be. Healthy scepticism and caution is good in these matters.
The multiple magicians of Exodus 7 represent multiple manifestations of evil, rather than multiple root sources of evil. The magicians were the agents of the conjuring; Satan was the root and power source behind the conjuring.
Likewise, Aaron was only an agent of the miracle he performed with his staff; Yahweh was the root and power source behind that miracle.
Magicians abound in entertainment. Accusing them of acting by the power of the devil is absurd.
And the tricks by the magicians in Exodus 7 are part of a long history of such tricks in the trade of magicians. We know how those tricks are done.
Frankly, I think this accusation of Satanic involvement is because they don’t want us to ask the question of whether the tricks of Moses might also have been accomplished by such magic tricks. But I think this insistence on magic is frankly part of the use of religion for power and control. They don’t want rational thought involved. They want intimidation – believe because the threat of God’s power is beyond anything you can oppose. But this is ultimately nonsense. Everyday life makes it crystal clear that if God exists He makes no effort to stop people from opposing Him. So the conclusion is unavoidable: the God that these people are pushing doesn’t exist. But this doesn’t extend to a different kind of God who doesn’t throw power around like these abusers of religion would like people to believe.
. We sent it into the competition to win free ghost hunting equipment but, alas, we didn’t win.