The Mystery of Ghosts Revealed

Many people enjoy watching scary movies and tv shows that involve ghosts and goblins. But the question is, are there really such things as ghost spirits that are free to roam the earth? And, if ghosts do not exist, then what are reasonably minded people insisting they saw?

Paul wrote, “For our struggle is … against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12) So, it should come as no surprise that there are a number of spiritual entities that do exist but are not seen in the physical world. With that in mind, let’s look at each of these invisible spiritual beings one at a time.

In the first century, the country of Judah and God’s chosen people the Jews were plagued by demon spirits that Satan had directed to congregate there. Satan did this because he despises God's chosen race. The early Church and many of today’s Bible scholars theorize that demons were once the spirits of a human angelic hybrid race known as Nephilim or giants. The flood of Noah physically killed them, but their spirits were released to roam the earth indwelling those who were susceptible. It appears that one part of Jesus’ missions was to destroy the vast majority of them. He accomplished this and gave His followers the power, through the Holy Spirit, to locate and destroy the small remnant that remained (Matthew 10:1, 8; Mark 6:13, 16:17; Luke 9:1, 10:17). Thus, it was the Church that eventually cleansed the earth of all these demonic spirits now permanently confined in Sheol {Hell}. Please read related Paper: "Jesus The Demon Hunter".

A ghost, on the other hand, is said to be brought about when a person dies but their spirit continues to linger on the earth for various reasons depending on the storyline. This belief has been the basis for innumerable scary tales. However, the Bible is clear that God has not given individuals nor Satan the power to control the movements of their spirits after death. Scripture tells us that the spirits of all dead people can only reside in one of two places. If the person is deemed righteous by God, upon death their spirit is immediately taken up to be with Christ (II Corinthians 5:8). If the person is deemed unrighteous, upon their death, their spirit is immediately taken down into the earth to reside in a place called Sheol (Isaiah 14:9-4; Numbers 16:33; I Samuel 2:6; Psalm 9:17). Biblically speaking, there is absolutely no third choice for the spirits of mankind.

Yes, it is true that demon spirits once roamed the earth, but this was a specific one off situation. Because Nephilim {giants} were the product of angels mating with the daughters of men, the children created were only half human. Therefore, at death, their spirits were not automatically confined with the unrepentant human spirits in Sheol (Genesis 6:2). But, Jesus and the Church Age of two thousand years ended their reign of terror on the earth. According to Scripture, every spiritual being in Sheol, except for the Nephilim or demon spirits, will be resurrected, judged and confined in a place of eternal destruction (Revelation 20:11-15). This suggest that the Nephilim spirits will either go directly into the Lake of Fire without being resurrected, or they will be annihilated by God with all memory of them erased (Isaiah 26:14).

Scripture is also clear that there is no such thing as reincarnation or the recycling of souls or sprits (Hebrews 9:27). The system, as set up by God, is simple and straightforward. A human being is born with one spirit which is released from the body at death. That spirit immediately experiences a judgement by God which determines one of only two possible destinations. So, there are few if any remaining demon sprits on earth, and no ability for a person's spirit to become a ghost. This is not to say that people with a mental illness do not at times exhibit symptoms similar to demon possession. But, the Gospels are clear that demon possession was separate from mental illness and that Jesus cured both of these afflictions.

So, with that in mind, when a rational person says they know for certain that they saw the faint image of a ghost in the night, did they actually see something? The answer is categorially yes and categorically no. Here is how a person can actually physically see something that, at the same time, is not actually there.

The human body is very complex. And while 99.9% of the time it runs like a Swiss clock, there are times when, for various reasons, it can run in reverse. For example, normally a person eats food, swallows and the digestive system turns the food into energy necessary to run the body. But from time to time, this system runs in reverse. Instead of digesting the food, the system goes in reverse by forcing the food up out of the stomach and out of the mouth. Perhaps the food was spoiled, or the person became emotionally upset due to a trauma, or they became frightened. But no matter the reason, the body reversed its usual natural process.

The same is true when a person sees what they believe to be a ghost. This type of event usually happens when a person is alone and in a darkened unfamiliar location. The person may not think of themselves as particularly superstitious, but are subconsciously open to the possibility of the existence of ghosts. So, the physical situation they now find themselves in subconsciously registers in their minds as having all the makings of a possible quintessential ghost sighting scenario. At this moment, the sudden bark of a dog or scream of a cat would cause the person to jump and experience heart palpitations. The body is now experiencing an adrenalin drip caused by the brain, which is now attempting to discover a reason for an onset of unreasonable fear. In other words, a reverse reaction of fear has been created or come about before a cause. As opposed to the usual order of cause and then effect. The brain now responds in an effort to rationalize these irrational emotions. It does this by starting with a person's subconscious belief that ghosts could exist. It then searches for an image that would best correspond to what the person subconsciously would expect, or is expecting to see at this moment. To do this, the brain selects an image from its storage banks. It then transfers or downloads the image to the sight or photo receptor area of the brain. The photo receptors transfer the image through the optic nerve and the image is now literally displayed on the retina located on the back of the eye.

The person now suddenly sees this self fabricated or generated image as it has now been imprinted on their retina. They watch in amazement as the faint brain generated image moves according to their subconscious expectation and quickly fades away. Then the person declares excitedly that it must have been a ghost because that is the only way to explain the experience. But in reality, the person unwittingly created and projected the image onto their retina so the object they saw was in reality, not there. This also explains why no creditable image of a ghost has ever been captured on a camera or videotape. What ever a person can see, a camera can film. But, film can only record an actual image in front of the camera lens. A camera cannot record an image that the brain has projected onto the camera operator's eyes. This explains how a person can see and film an image that does not show up on the tape.

So, while the person did honestly see something, what they saw never actually existed. As the old adage goes, It was only a figment of their imagination. Sorry!