Paranormal Studies 313: Ghosts

Professor Grimes walked into the room a few minutes before his class was scheduled to start. A quick head-count revealed that only five people had shown up. Given that 64 people had signed up for the course he had hoped for a better showing, but experience had taught him that the first class after Christmas rarely attracted many students. People apparently thought that the holiday was a good excuse to take it easy – not just on Christmas itself, but also in the week before and the week after. This fact greatly irritated him when he first started teaching, but over the years he had come to accept it. As his father had told him many years ago, you might wish that the weather was different, but it is what it is and you have to live with it. And so the professor made the best of things.

“Good morning, students,” Professor Grimes said brightly. “It’s good to see you here today. I trust that you all had a blessed Christmas.”

“I spent the whole day sick,” Ashley complained.

The professor looked at her, concerned. “Are you still sick?”

“I don’t think so. I might be contagious, though. I don’t really know.”

“Have you been to see a doctor?”

“Yeah.”

“What did he tell you?”

“That I was sick.”

Professor Grimes sighed. “I see. Well, as I was saying, I hope you all had a blessed Christmas. Today we are going to continue our research into the topic of the paranormal. Last week we studied the black knight satellite, which–”

“Which turned out to be a hoax,” a student in the back of the room called out. “And I bet today we’re going to learn that ghosts are a hoax too! Why not just call this class the ‘study of paranormal hoaxes’ and be done with it?”

“Because this is not a study of hoaxes, Max. It is a study of paranormal phenomena. As I said in our last class, some of the stories in the textbook are simply modern myths, but others are quite real. The whole point of this class is to investigate them, not to make snap judgments and then move on to something else.”

“But ghosts aren’t real! Everyone knows that. This is all bogus.”

The professor shook his head. “I am afraid you are very much mistaken. This is one area where we do not have to depend on obscure accounts in little-known books. I found it remarkably easy to find firsthand accounts from reputable people. In fact, I actually know several people who experienced hauntings personally, and I know of several houses that are genuinely haunted. These are not stories of someone who knows someone who knows someone else. I have talked with people who witnessed these things first hand. Moreover, I suspect that if you ask your peers you will be able to track down other firsthand accounts. Hauntings are so widespread that this is not very difficult.”

“You can’t be serious,” Max scoffed. “That’s crazy.”

“It’s not crazy at all. In fact, if none of your friends have ever told you a ghost story then your attitude may be the reason why. If you make it known that you consider seeing a ghost a sign of insanity, then people who have seen them will go out of their way to avoid telling you about it. After all, no one wants to appear stupid. But genuine accounts of ghosts are quite common and are not hard to track down. In fact, these things even happen to well-known people.

“Therefore, in my mind, the question is not whether there are ghosts, or whether hauntings occur. In my opinion these things can be taken for granted. The question is, what is the truth behind this matter? Are ghosts simply the spirits of the dead, or are they something else? Who is actually behind these phenomena and what is really going on?”

“I still think this is all nonsense,” Max replied.

“Many people do, until it happens to them. In fact, I remember reading an account of someone who was every bit as skeptical as you. This person was actually a member of a local skeptic’s society and spent his free time debunking things like this. Then one day it started happening to him.”

The professor turned around, picked up a sheaf of papers off his desk, and began leafing through it. “Oh, here we go. This person is a contributor to a well-known political blog and, to the best of my knowledge, is not religious in any way. His bias against the supernatural was quite strong until this happened. Here is his account:”

My fiancee and I moved into our current residence in April. Spacious, private, it’s right up our alley at least until we can get an apartment. Soon after moving in I began to notice some strange things. In the living room, I would turn off the light and TV when going to bed. An hour later, they would be back on. Footsteps around 3am. Cold spots during the heat of summer. Odd things, but I tried not to give them much thought.

About a month in, my far better half started complaining she was being “woken up” by something in the night that would poke her arm. I joked it was probably me, until one night I couldn’t sleep and found myself watching TV in the living room. Erinn started tossing and turning, then came into the room telling me she didn’t appreciate me trying to wake her up. I told her I would turn the TV down, but she insisted “you know what I mean, poking me like that. Don’t act like you’ve been in here the whole time.”

I have spent some free time in the past year serving as a skeptic for a local paranormal group. I came to their investigations with the approach that everything has a rational explanation, and barring a few odds and ends, most of the “activity” being reported did. So now, I had the awkward situation of having this happen in my own house.

Curious, we decided to run the “flashlight test” in the bedroom. For those unfamiliar, you remove the front part of a flashlight away from the battery just enough that a “ghost” can still make the connection and turn the bulb on, but you can’t turn it on yourself by bumping or blowing on it. Our question “is there someone here who wants us to know they are” was answered by both the flashlight on the floor, and our bedroom lighting, which simultaneously brightened then dimmed. Testing my initial reaction that it was just coincidence, we asked again, and again the flashlight and our room lighting brightened and dimmed.

Erinn asked more questions, and per the tedious yes/no responses we came to find out it was simply trying to get our attention, to acknowledge it was here in our house. The poking, the footsteps, and even audible name calling were all because of that. We eventually found out from our landlord that the previous owner had fallen in the kitchen downstairs and died from her injuries shortly thereafter, so perhaps that is who has been wandering in our room.

From time to time we hear the noises, but it has quieted down a lot since we had “talked” with whatever or whoever it is. We like the place too much to leave and it doesn’t seem to mind us now that we have settled in. I suspect most “hauntings” run along these lines, as opposed to the Hollywood bed-rattling and full-body apparitions.

A girl in the front row shivered. “That’s freaky,” Ashley said.

“It is an intriguing story,” the professor replied. “There are several things that stand out about it. First of all, this happened to someone who did not believe in the paranormal, and it had the effect of converting a materialist into someone who was open to the supernatural. In fact, according to the ghost, that was the whole reason behind the hauntings. The ghost knew that this person was a skeptic and wanted to prove that the skeptic was wrong. In other words, the ghost had a specific agenda.

“Second, the ghost was far more powerful than the skeptic was willing to admit. The ghost had the ability to operate electrical appliances, to turn lights on and off, to interact physically with people, to change the local temperature, and to even make noises and talk.”

“But they didn’t actually talk to the ghost,” Ashley pointed out.

“That’s true, and that is an excellent point. The ghost clearly had the ability to talk, because the skeptic mentioned ‘audible name calling’. Therefore, the ghost could talk but chose to communicate through the skeptic’s crude flashlight setup. The question is, why?”

Ashley shrugged. “How should I know? It’s a ghost. Maybe that’s just the way they do things.”

The professor shook his head. “I think the ghost knew exactly what it was doing. It’s clear that the ghost had real powers. It could not be seen, and yet it could physically interact with people. It could not be detected, but it could operate electrical appliances. That is actually terrifying – to know there is an unseen entity living in your house that you cannot control, and yet it could kill you if it wanted to. Yet because of the way the ghost approached the situation, the skeptic came away not only believing in ghosts but believing that they were also harmless. The reality is that they are not harmless at all.”

Max laughed. “Ghosts can’t kill people! That’s ridiculous.”

“If a ghost can affect electrical machinery then it can certainly kill you. Your car, after all, is an electrical machine. So is an airplane. If a ghost can operate a switch then it could easily bring down a plane or cause your car to crash. Moreover, if a ghost can poke someone awake then I see no reason why it couldn’t strangle them in their beds. The only reason the skeptic was not scared was because the ghost said it meant no harm.”

“And I’m sure the ghost was being honest,” Ashley replied. “After all, it was just the spirit of the dead landlady. I’m sure she didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

“How do you know that’s who it was?” Professor Grimes asked.

“Isn’t is obvious?” Ashley asked. “I mean, come on. The landlady died, and then the ghost appeared right after that! There’s got to be a connection.”

“There may be a connection, but I doubt it is the one you’re thinking of. One thing we can know for certain is that ghosts are not the departed spirits of the dead. We know this because the Bible is quite clear about what happens after death. When–”

“Objection!” Max called out. “You can’t go around using the Bible to prove things. That’s preposterous.”

Professor Grimes looked at the student, surprised. “Young man, this is a theological seminary. The only degrees we offer are related to divinity, theological studies, and becoming a pastor. All of those degree programs rely heavily on the Bible. If you object to the Scriptures then what on earth are you doing here?”

“It’s the principle of the thing. Lots of pastors don’t believe the Bible.”

The professor sighed. “Judging by the polling data I have seen, I must admit there is truth to that. There are a great many people in churches today – including in pulpits – who do not believe what the Bible says. Why they chose a career teaching things that they believe are lies is something I will never understand. The fact remains, however, that the Bible is wholly true and without error. It can be trusted, and in this class I will use it as a source of infallible truth. Therefore, I will take it at its word.

“It is especially important to trust it when it comes to what happens after death. The very nature of that subject makes scientific investigation impossible. Scientists cannot perform experiments to find out what the afterlife is like. The only way to get firsthand knowledge of death is to die, and once you die you cannot come back. Therefore, all we can do is believe the account that God has given to us. Fortunately, God has revealed quite a lot about what happens after death. Those who repent and believe in Christ go on to live with Him in Heaven, and those who reject Him are taken to Hell, where they are tormented. Since this is not a theological studies class I will not elaborate on this point. It suffices to say that the dead do not have the option of coming back to Earth and haunting people. Those who are in Hell are trapped there, and those who are in Heaven do not make field trips back to Earth – barring a few very specific exceptions, such as Moses and Elijah on the mount of Transfiguration. Moreover, no one has the option of staying here in ghost form and avoiding both Heaven and Hell.”

“So ghosts aren’t dead people, then?” Ashley asked.

“No, they are not. Dead people are not given the option of becoming ghosts. Therefore, if ghosts are real – and I believe they are – they must be something else.”

Ashley looked puzzled. “Well, what are they?”

The professor glanced down at the notes that he was still holding in his hand. “Before I answer that question let’s take a look at a few more cases. The blog post I mentioned earlier generated quite a response. Other people came forward with their own stories. I cannot vouch for the truth of any of these, but they do line up with the firsthand accounts that I’ve heard. These kind of hauntings are fairly typical. For example:”

I moved into my house with my ex a few years ago. Basement was a gaudy swinger/Moron pad with 4′ high mirror-walls and rope lights above wood wainscoating which ran around a huge living room / party area. Wall to wall to wall.

Every time I would walk upstairs to the main floor, at the third step from the top, I would ‘feel’ something angry looking at the back of me. More of an impression; plus fear that something bad was behind me.

Happened every time I came up the stairs. Never mentioned it to the wife.
About a month after moving in, we were sitting upstairs talking about how much we liked the new house. I said, “I love this place, except for that one spot.” She looked over and immediately asked, “The third step from the top?” “Yes! You feel it too?!”

She felt the same thing at the same spot and we had never talked about it. A few months later we remodeled the basement. From the day they took out the mirrors, I have never felt anything on the stairs.

As they say, until it happens to you. But for me, I believe…

“That’s lame,” Ashley commented. “So they had a scary feeling! Boo hoo.”

“Yes, but think about it,” the professor urged. “Two different people, both apparently former skeptics, got a very bad feeling from the weirdest of things – walking on the third step of a staircase. There is no reason why such a trivial thing should incite a feeling of terror. Yet, some entity was able to inspire a genuine haunting emotion without ever touching the person or actually appearing. That is a remarkable ability! After all, the only way you would know if I was angry was if you saw me, or heard me, or saw something that I had done. Yet this being was able to convey anger telepathically. That is deeply troubling.

“This also points out something else: these ghosts have emotions, and they are not good ones. In this case we see anger demonstrated. In the previous case we saw pride – the unseen ghost was being ignored, and it didn’t like it at all.

“All of this brings us to the third case. This one is highly instructive:”

I once lived in an old pre-Civil War era house. ….It was cool. The rent was cheap and it had lots of extra rooms, extra space.

There was one room that was full of junk left by previous occupants. We didn’t think anything about it at the time, but all the junk was piled up in the far corner of the room…..in a sort of junk mountain.

We cleaned all the old junk out and didn’t use that room for a while. Then, we started storing boxes of our own stuff in there…..and some odd chairs.

When we went to get something in that room, we found that all of our stuff had been piled up on top of itself in the far corner…..just like the old previous junk had been.

We moved it all back. Came back later….it was back in the corner.

This went on for the entire time we lived there. Whatever was left in that room would end up piled on top of the other stuff, in that far corner. ….We never heard a sound. …..And we could never catch it happening. No matter how much we tried to catch it in the act.

“Now that’s creepy,” Ashley said.

“It’s also very revealing. This ghost wanted to prove that it lived there, and it did so in a rather childish fashion. It, too, had rather startling powers – it was able to move physical objects, it could do so silently, and it had the ability to avoid being detected despite the intense desire of these people to catch it in the act. That could explain the failure of the ghost hunter shows on TV – if these ghosts do not want to be found then they are very capable of avoiding being detected.”

“But why? I mean, why would they show themselves to some people but not to everyone? What’s the point of that?”

“That is exactly the right question to ask,” Professor Grimes said. “These beings are obviously powerful. They can operate electrical machinery, they can interact physically, they can move objects, they can talk, and they can communicate emotions telepathically. They are also arrogant, childish, and proud. They go out of their way to prove to skeptics that they are real, and yet they avoid doing anything that would make the general public realize just how real and dangerous they actually are. It is as if they are playing a game, living in the shadows. They want to be feared but not understood. They want people to know they are there but they wish to remain hidden in the darkness.

“The question is, who are these beings? They are clearly not the spirits of dead people – the Bible rules that out. I also doubt that they are angels. Angels certainly have a great deal of power and may be capable of doing all these things, but angels are the servants of God, bound to do His will and His will alone. I find it impossible to believe that they spend their free time moving around people’s furniture in childish displays of ill humor. No, I believe we can rule that out. It is simply not in the character of an angel to act in this manner.”

“So what are they?” Ashley asked.

Professor Grimes paused for a moment. “I believe they are demons. The Bible refers to them as familiar spirits, and strictly warns against having anything to do with them. Demons are a perfect match for the modern ghost phenomena. They are spirits, they have the power to do everything that ghosts have been documented as doing, and they are evil. Demons are quite capable of physical interaction with people, and they can most certainly talk. I have no doubt that they can operate appliances and move physical objects.”

“But ghosts are harmless!” Ashley protested. “They don’t go around possessing people.”

“I disagree. I think that demon possession still happens today, although it is more rare than it was when Jesus walked the Earth. The problem is that modern society does not believe in evil spirits, so they simply diagnose it as some type of severe psychological disorder. Now, let me say that there are definitely genuine psychological illnesses, and I do not want to downplay that. But I suspect some people are afflicted with something far worse than a mere psychosis and are simply being medicated.

“It is also not true that all ghost stories are harmless. The people who I have talked with in person have told me genuinely frightening stories that are far worse than the mundane accounts I’ve seen online. These people were physically attacked by something they could not see, or saw their children attacked. Their appliances were not merely turned on or off, but actually destroyed. Their possessions were not stacked in a corner, but picked up by an invisible force and thrown at them. Those are not things that a holy and righteous angel would be doing. No, those are demonic acts, done by deeply evil spirits.”

“What are you saying?” Ashley asked.

“I am saying that this world is filled with vast numbers of enormously powerful spirit beings – beings that we cannot see, but which have immense abilities. The book of Revelation hints that there may be hundreds of millions of them. On the one side are the angels, who worship God and fight that His will be done. On the other side are the evil spirits, who oppress, harm, lie, and destroy. You cannot see either side, but they are there and they are very real. The angels are mighty warriors who work to protect the people of God and further His agenda, and they outnumber the evil spirits two-to-one. The evil spirits, however, are desperately wicked. They will destroy your life if they can, and they are determined to do so.

“Oh, they may not appear to be all that dangerous. To some people, like the skeptic, ghosts seem pretty harmless. But there is nothing harmless about them or their aims. The Bible calls their leader the father of lies and the adversary of all believers. They are extremely deceptive, and at times they may even appear to be helpful. Even Satan can appear to be an angel of light. But there is nothing good about them or their goals.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Ashley said.

“Then you are thinking clearly,” Professor Grimes remarked. “It is vital to understand that ghosts are not a harmless fantasy – they are a very evil reality, and should be avoided. The Bible strictly forbids interacting with familiar spirits. Do not go near them. Do not live where they dwell. Do not interact with them. You do not want to make friends with them. If anything, we are all called to be ghost busters. It is our job as Christians to resist them – to fight back.”

“But how can anyone possibly fight something they can’t see?” Max asked.

“Why, with spiritual weapons, of course. The Apostle Paul talked about this nearly two thousand years ago, and his words are as true today as they were then. As he said in Ephesians, ‘For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.’”

Ashley looked confused. “What does that even mean?”

“It means that we’re at war – not with mere communists or terrorists, but with the rulers of darkness and with spiritual wickedness in high places. There is a battle going on around you and evil is doing all it can to utterly destroy you. Your only hope for survival is to hide yourself in God and use His power to fight back. Ephesians 6 lays out the battle plan for fighting these beings. It can be done. As Christians, the forces of darkness have no power over us because Jesus Christ is within us and He has overcome the world. He who is in us is greater than the evil spirits that are in the world.

“Now, exorcism is another topic entirely and it is well outside the scope of this class. That is one of many subjects that the modern Church does not teach on, and so many believers are ill-equipped to fight. If this is something that interests you then I highly suggest doing some additional research, as I assure you your enemy is well-equipped and highly focused. If you resist the devil then he will flee from you, but if you don’t resist then he will ‘sift you as wheat’, as Jesus said.”

“I don’t get it,” Ashley said.

Max spoke up. “It means he’s going to mop the floor with you.”

“Oh.”

The professor glanced up at the clock. “Students, it looks like that’s all we have time for today, so I’m going to let you go. Be sure to read the next chapter in your book before the next lecture. Class dismissed!”