7 replies to this topic

[Pete LeBrun]

A good friend of mine who is Christian often challenges me to debates about the existence of ghosts. We were having a discussion about Spiritism, Spiritualism, and Christainity as well as the existence of ghosts. He said they don't exist but I stated that Jesus was one when he rose from the dead. His exact words were "Jesus wasn't a ghost actually". Then what was he? A wingless angel? What?

[CaveRat2]

Jesus was / is the Son of God. In that regard He was neither ghost, angel, or spirit as we define them. He is a unique entity, there is no real parallel being that fits the same category.

BTW, if you want to debate the existence of ghosts, look up the transfiguration of Christ in scriptures where Jesus and his desciples were present with Moses and Elijah. Clearly these would fit the category we would call ghosts, and they were seen by everyone present. Of course this was done for a specific reason, but it also validates that even though arranged by God, life does go on, as these men were brought back as spirits / men from SOMEWHERE.

ref. Mathew 17:1-9.... Mark 9:2-8.....Luke 9:28-36

[aloha_spirit]

A good lawyer never asks a question without first knowing the answer;)

When Jesus rose from the dead, his spirit re-entered his physical body. This is why Mary Magdalene found the tomb empty that Sunday morning.

When Jesus showed himself to the eleven Apostles, they were afraid because they thought him a ghost. Jesus then had each Apostle touch the marks in his hands, feet, and side. Jesus comforted them "a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." Then to further prove he was alive, Jesus took a piece of fish and some honeycomb and ate them. See Luke 24:36-48.

My friend CaveRat gave excellent ideas on how to approach ghosts from a Christian perspective. Various dead prophets visited Jesus (while Peter, James, and John were present!) during the Feast of the Tabernacles.

The Bible also speaks of unclean spirits possessing man and beast. From a Christian perspective, any spirit could be thought of as a ghost.

[petunia4998]

It is my spiritual belief that we are all spirits until we choose to incarnate into physical bodies and once we "die", i.e., leave the physical body, we are spirits again. This goes for Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, et al.

I do not believe Jesus is better than us; his spirit is of a higher consciousness, but we can all attain that same consciousness, and we will. That is progression and we are all progressing.

Spirits are around us all the time and are constantly visiting us. If one wishes to speak to any spirit, all one has to do is ask, and the spirit will be there. It is not difficult. Spirits want to help because they know how difficult it is to be in this world. Spirits are love; god is love.

I personally believe very little of what I have read in the bible, but that's just me. One of the people whom I admire greatly is Edgar Cayce. Such a beautiful, beautiful man; he read the bible every day of his life. It worked for him and I know it can work for others if that's the path they choose.

[dancinmiriam]

It is my spiritual belief that we are all spirits until we choose to incarnate into physical bodies and once we "die", i.e., leave the physical body, we are spirits again. This goes for Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, et al.

I do not believe Jesus is better than us; his spirit is of a higher consciousness, but we can all attain that same consciousness, and we will. That is progression and we are all progressing.

Spirits are around us all the time and are constantly visiting us. If one wishes to speak to any spirit, all one has to do is ask, and the spirit will be there. It is not difficult. Spirits want to help because they know how difficult it is to be in this world. Spirits are love; god is love.

I personally believe very little of what I have read in the bible, but that's just me. One of the people whom I admire greatly is Edgar Cayce. Such a beautiful, beautiful man; he read the bible every day of his life. It worked for him and I know it can work for others if that's the path they choose.

I know this is not a direct answer to the posters question - Caverat has done a beautiful job of answering that though , as always, so I won't pile on. I was hit by the closing of your post, petunia, "the path they choose", in part because of a discussion I had been having with my sons on 'religion', 'faith' and more importantly 'truth'. The way I explained it to my sons was that none of us holds THE truth, each of us seeks THE truth, and each of us follow a different path to the same thing - Truth. So the fact that I am a Jew, my sister a Buddhist, etc. doesn't make one or the other path THE truth, only the final destination - how we get there will be determined by the best way each of us can find it. Hope this didn't veer off from the question the original post was about, which dealt with a theological point of law, more or less, rather than an exposition on the truth of it. Thank you all for helping me find new ways of articulating my own thoughts and beliefs. Shalom and Namaste

[Must_See_To_Believe]

It is my spiritual belief that we are all spirits until we choose to incarnate into physical bodies and once we "die", i.e., leave the physical body, we are spirits again. This goes for Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, et al.

I do not believe Jesus is better than us; his spirit is of a higher consciousness, but we can all attain that same consciousness, and we will. That is progression and we are all progressing.

Spirits are around us all the time and are constantly visiting us. If one wishes to speak to any spirit, all one has to do is ask, and the spirit will be there. It is not difficult. Spirits want to help because they know how difficult it is to be in this world. Spirits are love; god is love.

I personally believe very little of what I have read in the bible, but that's just me. One of the people whom I admire greatly is Edgar Cayce. Such a beautiful, beautiful man; he read the bible every day of his life. It worked for him and I know it can work for others if that's the path they choose.

I know this is not a direct answer to the posters question - Caverat has done a beautiful job of answering that though , as always, so I won't pile on. I was hit by the closing of your post, petunia, "the path they choose", in part because of a discussion I had been having with my sons on 'religion', 'faith' and more importantly 'truth'. The way I explained it to my sons was that none of us holds THE truth, each of us seeks THE truth, and each of us follow a different path to the same thing - Truth. So the fact that I am a Jew, my sister a Buddhist, etc. doesn't make one or the other path THE truth, only the final destination - how we get there will be determined by the best way each of us can find it. Hope this didn't veer off from the question the original post was about, which dealt with a theological point of law, more or less, rather than an exposition on the truth of it. Thank you all for helping me find new ways of articulating my own thoughts and beliefs. Shalom and Namaste

Not all Spirits are Love. The bible says there are many spirits and we are to try them all. Meaning they serve differing purposes.

I do believe we can talk to them. There are just too many unexplained videos of paranormal phenomenon out there to say they don't respond to us. Doors open. Opjects move with no obvious means of propulsion. I would NEVER personally ask a spirit to perform for me in any measure. Basically because we have no way of knowing if it is an evil spirit or not.

I have felt them many, many times... and although I search the Internet continuously looking for proof positive of their existence through communication with others, I own that I am not brave enough to try to elicit any kind of action or reaction from them.

Color me chicken.

[flyingorb]

It is my spiritual belief that we are all spirits until we choose to incarnate into physical bodies and once we "die", i.e., leave the physical body, we are spirits again. This goes for Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, et al.

I do not believe Jesus is better than us; his spirit is of a higher consciousness, but we can all attain that same consciousness, and we will. That is progression and we are all progressing.

Spirits are around us all the time and are constantly visiting us. If one wishes to speak to any spirit, all one has to do is ask, and the spirit will be there. It is not difficult. Spirits want to help because they know how difficult it is to be in this world. Spirits are love; god is love.

I personally believe very little of what I have read in the bible, but that's just me. One of the people whom I admire greatly is Edgar Cayce. Such a beautiful, beautiful man; he read the bible every day of his life. It worked for him and I know it can work for others if that's the path they choose.

I know this is not a direct answer to the posters question - Caverat has done a beautiful job of answering that though , as always, so I won't pile on. I was hit by the closing of your post, petunia, "the path they choose", in part because of a discussion I had been having with my sons on 'religion', 'faith' and more importantly 'truth'. The way I explained it to my sons was that none of us holds THE truth, each of us seeks THE truth, and each of us follow a different path to the same thing - Truth. So the fact that I am a Jew, my sister a Buddhist, etc. doesn't make one or the other path THE truth, only the final destination - how we get there will be determined by the best way each of us can find it. Hope this didn't veer off from the question the original post was about, which dealt with a theological point of law, more or less, rather than an exposition on the truth of it. Thank you all for helping me find new ways of articulating my own thoughts and beliefs. Shalom and Namaste

Not all Spirits are Love. The bible says there are many spirits and we are to try them all. Meaning they serve differing purposes.

I do believe we can talk to them. There are just too many unexplained videos of paranormal phenomenon out there to say they don't respond to us. Doors open. Opjects move with no obvious means of propulsion. I would NEVER personally ask a spirit to perform for me in any measure. Basically because we have no way of knowing if it is an evil spirit or not.

I have felt them many, many times... and although I search the Internet continuously looking for proof positive of their existence through communication with others, I own that I am not brave enough to try to elicit any kind of action or reaction from them.

Color me chicken.

Must_See, I have photographed, recorded and intereracted with spirits when I was investigating them. One thing we never could conclusively prove was if they were human, or nonhuman entities. You are right, they are there. If nonhuman they have an agenda. I don't color you chicken, I say you are a very wise person.

As to Jesus, yes I agree with the other posts. He clearly had a physical body after rising from the dead, but changed from ours. After all, He did ask to not be touched just before rising to God the Father.

[aloha_spirit]

As to Jesus, yes I agree with the other posts. He clearly had a physical body after rising from the dead, but changed from ours. After all, He did ask to not be touched just before rising to God the Father.

I've been told that that particular phrase at that particular time meant something like "don't hold me up" (don't detain me). Or maybe his body was still making the transition to immortality? In the upper room, Jesus had the eleven touch him and feel the marks of the crucifixion.