This is Episode 149 of Christian Research Journal Reads. This is an audio version of the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL article, “Ghost Hunters and God: Reasoning through the Pursuit of the Paranormal” by Sarah C. Geis. This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 41, number 5 (2018). https://www.equip.org/articles/ghost-hunters-and-god/
It was accompanied by Postmodern Realities Episode 093 Ghost Hunters and God: Finding Reason in the Pursuit of the Paranormal.
This podcast presents audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles. As the flagship publication of the Christian Research Institute, the Journal seeks to equip followers of Christ to think and to live Christianly—to exercise truth and experience life. Truth, especially essential Christian doctrine, forms the basis for how we live our lives in Christ. As the apostle Paul instructed Timothy in 1 Tim. 4:16, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”The Christian Research Journal enjoyed a print incarnation of almost 45 years. Now exclusively an online publication, the Journal consists of thousands of free articles. We hope that through these audio articles you are not only equipped to proclaim and defend your faith but that as a disciple you also draw closer to Christ in your walk with Him. You can find the written version of each article that is an episode of Christian Research Journal Reads at the website of the Christian Research Institute, equip.org. All Christian Research Journal articles at equip.org are completely free and do not require a subscription and are not under a paywall.All episodes will be available at the following podcast platforms with more being added daily! You can help spread the word about this new podcast by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on and telling others!You can view off our Website at the at this link and off our Journal main page.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/christian-research-journal-reads--6022978/support.
It was accompanied by Postmodern Realities Episode 093 Ghost Hunters and God: Finding Reason in the Pursuit of the Paranormal.
This podcast presents audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles. As the flagship publication of the Christian Research Institute, the Journal seeks to equip followers of Christ to think and to live Christianly—to exercise truth and experience life. Truth, especially essential Christian doctrine, forms the basis for how we live our lives in Christ. As the apostle Paul instructed Timothy in 1 Tim. 4:16, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”The Christian Research Journal enjoyed a print incarnation of almost 45 years. Now exclusively an online publication, the Journal consists of thousands of free articles. We hope that through these audio articles you are not only equipped to proclaim and defend your faith but that as a disciple you also draw closer to Christ in your walk with Him. You can find the written version of each article that is an episode of Christian Research Journal Reads at the website of the Christian Research Institute, equip.org. All Christian Research Journal articles at equip.org are completely free and do not require a subscription and are not under a paywall.All episodes will be available at the following podcast platforms with more being added daily! You can help spread the word about this new podcast by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on and telling others!You can view off our Website at the at this link and off our Journal main page.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/christian-research-journal-reads--6022978/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
This is episode one forty nine of the Christian Research
Journal Reads Podcast. Ghost Hunters and God Reasoning through the
Pursuit of the Paranormal by Sarah C. Geiss. This article
first appeared in the Christian Research Journal Volume forty one,
number five, and twenty eighteen. The Christian Research Journal Reads
(00:29):
Podcast presents audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles. To
read this article and its full documentation, please go to
crypt dot org. That's e quip dot org.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Ghost Hunters and God Reasoning through the Pursuit of the Paranormal.
This article is by Sarah Segeiss and is read by
an automated voice. Ghost Stories, Haunted house tours, Owigia, board games,
and the like our classic form of entertainment in American culture.
Experiences of the paranormal have been a historical constant for
(01:06):
as long as humans have wondered what happens after death.
It has even become normal to seek out these experiences Intentionally.
Frightening ourselves spices up life, and there are few better
ways to do this than to seek out experiences with
a realm seemingly more powerful, mysterious, and ominous than our own.
There is something about flirting with the paranormal, defined as
(01:29):
any phenomena that cannot be explained by current science that
tantalizes the human imagination. Are these beings good evil? Human?
We simply do not always know, and that uncertainty keeps
us intrigued. Belief in the dead interacting with the living
is far from uncommon. A Pew Forum pole from two
(01:50):
thousand and nine showed that nineteen percent of Americans believe
in ghosts, while twenty nine percent believe that they are
in contact with someone who has died. This is a
significant percentage. To put it into perspective. A twenty fourteen
Pew study show that three point four percent of Americans
claim to be atheists. There are far more people who
(02:10):
believe in ghosts than people who admit to being atheists,
yet we give belief in atheism far more official attention.
Christians focus more on atheism through avenues such as debates, articles,
and te talks than they do the topic of ghosts,
and those Pew form numbers deal only with people who
actually believe in the paranormal. Based on the success of
(02:32):
relatively recent ghost hunting television shows, it would appear that
the number of those with merely a passing interest in
the topic is even higher. Still, it seems that whether
or not viewers believe what they see on these television shows,
they certainly are interested enough to keep the ratings high.
In a culture where our attention is difficult to capture,
(02:53):
Christians especially need to become students of what interests society.
Only then can we become masters of using posts popular
areas of interest to encourage interest in ultimate truth. In
other words, we need to understand the culture in order
to help the culture understand God. In this article, I
will argue that understanding this cultural phenomenon better can teach
(03:15):
us more about navigating spiritual warfare in the world, and
can inform and strengthen our mission as the people of God.
Ghost hunting fact or fiction. It used to be that
visiting a haunted building or attending a SAMs were the
ways to witness ghost experiences. Recently, however, cabled television executives
sniffed out an opportunity for profit ghost hunters and mediums
(03:39):
incorporated into reality television viewers could now have vicarious experiences
with the underworld from the comfort of their couch. While
some of these shows are on channels we might expect
such as the science fiction channel. Most are on channels
previously reserve from more scientific mainstream content. Unfortunately, the channel's
(03:59):
airing these shows are typically categorized as nonfiction educational resources,
so viewers easily could be left with the impression that
ghost hunting and communicating with the dead are in that
same category. But are these really reality shows? Are viewers
witnessing ghost encounters or something else. In order to be
able to speak convincingly about elements of the supernatural world
(04:21):
that may be legitimate, we need to be discerning about
those elements that may not be as trustworthy. Additionally, our
worldview does support the existence of the supernatural. If we
fail to evaluate these types of paranormal reports fairly and
critically in light of our Christian worldview, we may lose
a degree of trustworthiness in the eyes of our conversation partners.
(04:44):
When we discuss our own belief in things such as
God and the demonic realm bluwly speaking without critical thinking,
here we show ourselves to be simply gullible dupes, not
worth listening to. Still further, it is therefore wise to
test the spirits, to say see if they are of God.
As we are instructed in one John four to one. Therefore,
(05:05):
it is well worth taking a closer look at popular
shows in the paranormal genre. While it is clear that
ghost Hunting and similar shows are interested in contacting ghosts,
what a ghost actually seems significantly less clear. Many ghost
believers assume that ghosts are the souls of humans who
have something they need to accomplish on Earth before going
(05:26):
on to a final resting place. Another view is that
ghosts come and go, sometimes sent here by a higher
being and sometimes conjured up by mediums. Still other individuals
believe that ghosts are actually demonic and therefore not human
at all. An entire industry revolves around creating ways to
(05:46):
find these ghosts. As Aristotle said, all men and women
by nature desire to know. On the flip side of
this statement, we cannot stand not knowing. Therefore, many will
capitalize on this desire to investigate the unexplained by marketing
technology that can help us in the process. One can
even find a ghost hunting starter kit on Amazon which
(06:09):
includes electromagnetic pulse sensors, tools to detect odd radio frequencies,
and the like. But these technologies are considered by many
to be highly suspected In a twenty sixteen article by
Colin Dickie published in the Atlantic, the author disparagingly states
that ghost hunting was born out of a love of
technological failure. He singles out an especially popular ghost hunting
(06:33):
staple as a one of many examples, the electromagnetic field
EMF meter. This device has an LED light that changes
color according to the ev of strength detected, But as
Dicky points out, a simple survey of Amazon reviews, shows
that at least one commonly used model, the safe range
EF meter, is so hyper sensitive that even a cell
(06:55):
phone in range can set it off. That hardly gives
the ghost hunter any good reason to suspect ghosts in
the area. Why conclude ghosts did it when a cell
phone will suffice as an explanation. This is not the
only example of shady technology in the field. Many ghost
hunters seek out abnormal sounds and patterns being transmitted over
(07:15):
radio ways. These sorts of devices are meant to pick
up the more subtle transmissions, the parts of the radio
no one else listens to. That means pulling some sort
of meaning out of static and random blips, which is
best detected by cheap, in sensitive radio transmitters that turn
otherwise often clear signals into a mess of indecipherable blurs.
(07:37):
But what of the personal physical experiences many people report
when they are in the presence of a ghost. It
is common for people who experience ghosts to report feeling
effects such as extreme temperature fluctuations. Unfortunately, for those seeking
evidence of ghosts, these are also commonly reported symptoms of
spiked anxiety, as would be the case when one is
(07:59):
feeling suspects and nervous. This commonly happens when wandering through
dark places hunting for disembodied spirits. The chill or hot
flash does not mean a ghost is near, but only
that your physiology is ready to react should there be one.
This heightened sense of exhilaration also explains much of what
ghost hunters see or hear during the investigation. When we
(08:22):
are unusually alert in such situations, we notice far more
than we otherwise would, our heart rate surges and adrenaline supercharges,
our perceptions. We are then ready to fight or flee
at a moment's notice, and our senses actively search for
any reason to do so. Between the physiological effects of
nervousness and the dubious technological devices. It seems that there
(08:45):
is not much, if any, good scientific evidence to support
the existence of ghosts. The best these ghost hunting shows
can typically do is to make a sort of ghost
of the GAP's argument, which amounts to if we can't
explain it, a ghost did it. That reasoning is uncompelling,
particularly because we don't even know what ghosts are, much
(09:07):
less how we ought to expect one to interact with
the material universe. There is simply no reason to believe
that we should expect disembodied, non physical spirits to be
detectable through physical science. We need to keep in mind
that shows like these, even haunted house tours, are primarily entertainment. However,
just because ghost hunting television shows and their kin are
(09:30):
likely little more than ratings factories, we need not assume
that all reports of ghost experiences are false. Ghosts and
the people of God. The Bible seems to acknowledge that
people believe in the existence of ghosts, so it is
not just a contemporary phenomenon. For example, Matthew fourteen twenty six,
there is a strange little passage into Samuel twenty eight
(09:52):
where King Saul, after consulting a medium, sees the ghost
of the prophet Samuel. This passage is commonly overlooked by Christians,
perhaps because it is taboo to believe in ghosts, mediums,
and the like, but this story is invaluable for those
thinking through paranormal encounters. The story in Too Samuel begins
(10:13):
with the Philistine army about to attack Israel. All victories
up until this point have been explicitly because God led
the Israelite army to that victory through the mouthpiece of
a chosen prophet. Samuel, the most recent prophet, had just died. Moreover, Saul,
a king marred by poor choices and a lack of
faithfulness to God, had been rejected by God after habitual,
(10:35):
unrepentant disobedience. When a worried Saul sought out God for help,
previously the deceased prophet Samuel's role, he unsurprisingly received no
answer verse six. In a panic, he set out to
consult with the ghost of Samuel, after going to great
lengths to disguise himself and find a medium, all of
whom he had banished from the kingdom. In a public
(10:57):
display of piety, Samuel is conjured up, but interestingly, Samuel
is not happy to see Saul. After berating Saul for
disturbing him, he adds insult to injury. He declares that
Saul and his entire dynasty will end up dead at
the hands of the Philistines. This indeed happens the very
next day. Readers are left to wonder a couple of
(11:20):
major things. First, was that really the ghost of Samuel?
The medium is convinced that it is her reaction to
seeing Samuel suggests that she is rather terrified, which fits
given the late Samuel's high profile position as God's prophet.
The text gives us no indication that this is a
demonic ruse, a magic trick, or a hallucination. We are
(11:43):
left to assume that, yes, the spirit of Samuel was
truly before them. It is also worth noting that Samuel
is frustrated at being disturbed, which leaves us to assume
that he was not roaming the earth as many assume
ghosts to be. The second thing readers are left wondering
is why this story is here in the first place.
Saul had developed a disposition of disobedience throughout his reign,
(12:07):
but still expected God to protect him. Saul wanted results
without responsibility. This is shown by how willing Saul was
to consult the darkness, attempting to tap into forces other
than God to get help. And here the message of
the story emerges. Even in the darkness, God's plan will
not be thwarted, So there is no point in even
(12:29):
trying the dead or still under the ultimate control of Yoweh.
God is sovereign, the underworld is not. It is a
waste of time to seek results by going behind God's back.
But additionally, it might backfire, such as with Samuel's prophecy
that Saul was to be killed the next day by
the very army he was seeking to defeat. So if
(12:50):
God is in control of even the underworld, why are
the people of God told that consulting ghosts, mediums, demons
and the like is forbidden, as in passages such as
Deuteronomy eighteen ten twelve. It is because doing so misses
the point when we seek out the dead, whether it
is actually the dead we end up finding. We take
(13:11):
our eyes off God. When we obsess over reconnecting with
a deceased loved one, we forget the one who has
called us to minister to the living. The dead cannot
tell us anything God does not already know we avoid
such sances not because God is afraid of them, but
because he knows they hold the power to distract us.
(13:31):
Let us return to the example of Saul and Samuel.
Another reason to believe that the ghost of Saul's dark
experience was actually Samuel is precisely because he redirected the
focus back to God's plan, regardless of how it made
Saul feel, a demonic force would have run with the distraction,
perhaps even adding comfort and intrigue. The greatest battle waged
(13:53):
by the forces of darkness is against focused, single minded
believers carrying out the mission of God.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Thank you for listening to another episode from the Christian
Research Journal Reads podcast, which provides audio articles of Christian
Research Journal articles. If you go to equip dot org
you will find a brand new article for the Christian
Research Journal published weekly. In addition, please subscribe to our
other podcasts. Wherever you find your favorite podcast, you will
(14:25):
find the Christian Research Journal Reads podcast, the Postmodern Realities podcast,
which features interviews with Christian Research Journal authors, our flagship podcast,
The Bible answer Man Broadcast, and the Hank Unplugged podcast,
where CRI President Hank Canagraph takes you out of the
(14:47):
studio and into his study to engage in in depth,
free flowing, essential Christian conversations on critical issues with some
of the most interesting and informative people on the planet.
At equip dot org you will also find a lot
of resources to equip you, including many thousands of Christian
(15:08):
research journal articles. That's e q U I P dot
O r G
This is episode one forty nine of the Christian Research
Journal Reads Podcast. Ghost Hunters and God Reasoning through the
Pursuit of the Paranormal by Sarah C. Geiss. This article
first appeared in the Christian Research Journal Volume forty one,
number five, and twenty eighteen. The Christian Research Journal Reads
(00:29):
Podcast presents audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles. To
read this article and its full documentation, please go to
crypt dot org. That's e quip dot org.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Ghost Hunters and God Reasoning through the Pursuit of the Paranormal.
This article is by Sarah Segeiss and is read by
an automated voice. Ghost Stories, Haunted house tours, Owigia, board games,
and the like our classic form of entertainment in American culture.
Experiences of the paranormal have been a historical constant for
(01:06):
as long as humans have wondered what happens after death.
It has even become normal to seek out these experiences Intentionally.
Frightening ourselves spices up life, and there are few better
ways to do this than to seek out experiences with
a realm seemingly more powerful, mysterious, and ominous than our own.
There is something about flirting with the paranormal, defined as
(01:29):
any phenomena that cannot be explained by current science that
tantalizes the human imagination. Are these beings good evil? Human?
We simply do not always know, and that uncertainty keeps
us intrigued. Belief in the dead interacting with the living
is far from uncommon. A Pew Forum pole from two
(01:50):
thousand and nine showed that nineteen percent of Americans believe
in ghosts, while twenty nine percent believe that they are
in contact with someone who has died. This is a
significant percentage. To put it into perspective. A twenty fourteen
Pew study show that three point four percent of Americans
claim to be atheists. There are far more people who
(02:10):
believe in ghosts than people who admit to being atheists,
yet we give belief in atheism far more official attention.
Christians focus more on atheism through avenues such as debates, articles,
and te talks than they do the topic of ghosts,
and those Pew form numbers deal only with people who
actually believe in the paranormal. Based on the success of
(02:32):
relatively recent ghost hunting television shows, it would appear that
the number of those with merely a passing interest in
the topic is even higher. Still, it seems that whether
or not viewers believe what they see on these television shows,
they certainly are interested enough to keep the ratings high.
In a culture where our attention is difficult to capture,
(02:53):
Christians especially need to become students of what interests society.
Only then can we become masters of using posts popular
areas of interest to encourage interest in ultimate truth. In
other words, we need to understand the culture in order
to help the culture understand God. In this article, I
will argue that understanding this cultural phenomenon better can teach
(03:15):
us more about navigating spiritual warfare in the world, and
can inform and strengthen our mission as the people of God.
Ghost hunting fact or fiction. It used to be that
visiting a haunted building or attending a SAMs were the
ways to witness ghost experiences. Recently, however, cabled television executives
sniffed out an opportunity for profit ghost hunters and mediums
(03:39):
incorporated into reality television viewers could now have vicarious experiences
with the underworld from the comfort of their couch. While
some of these shows are on channels we might expect
such as the science fiction channel. Most are on channels
previously reserve from more scientific mainstream content. Unfortunately, the channel's
(03:59):
airing these shows are typically categorized as nonfiction educational resources,
so viewers easily could be left with the impression that
ghost hunting and communicating with the dead are in that
same category. But are these really reality shows? Are viewers
witnessing ghost encounters or something else. In order to be
able to speak convincingly about elements of the supernatural world
(04:21):
that may be legitimate, we need to be discerning about
those elements that may not be as trustworthy. Additionally, our
worldview does support the existence of the supernatural. If we
fail to evaluate these types of paranormal reports fairly and
critically in light of our Christian worldview, we may lose
a degree of trustworthiness in the eyes of our conversation partners.
(04:44):
When we discuss our own belief in things such as
God and the demonic realm bluwly speaking without critical thinking,
here we show ourselves to be simply gullible dupes, not
worth listening to. Still further, it is therefore wise to
test the spirits, to say see if they are of God.
As we are instructed in one John four to one. Therefore,
(05:05):
it is well worth taking a closer look at popular
shows in the paranormal genre. While it is clear that
ghost Hunting and similar shows are interested in contacting ghosts,
what a ghost actually seems significantly less clear. Many ghost
believers assume that ghosts are the souls of humans who
have something they need to accomplish on Earth before going
(05:26):
on to a final resting place. Another view is that
ghosts come and go, sometimes sent here by a higher
being and sometimes conjured up by mediums. Still other individuals
believe that ghosts are actually demonic and therefore not human
at all. An entire industry revolves around creating ways to
(05:46):
find these ghosts. As Aristotle said, all men and women
by nature desire to know. On the flip side of
this statement, we cannot stand not knowing. Therefore, many will
capitalize on this desire to investigate the unexplained by marketing
technology that can help us in the process. One can
even find a ghost hunting starter kit on Amazon which
(06:09):
includes electromagnetic pulse sensors, tools to detect odd radio frequencies,
and the like. But these technologies are considered by many
to be highly suspected In a twenty sixteen article by
Colin Dickie published in the Atlantic, the author disparagingly states
that ghost hunting was born out of a love of
technological failure. He singles out an especially popular ghost hunting
(06:33):
staple as a one of many examples, the electromagnetic field
EMF meter. This device has an LED light that changes
color according to the ev of strength detected, But as
Dicky points out, a simple survey of Amazon reviews, shows
that at least one commonly used model, the safe range
EF meter, is so hyper sensitive that even a cell
(06:55):
phone in range can set it off. That hardly gives
the ghost hunter any good reason to suspect ghosts in
the area. Why conclude ghosts did it when a cell
phone will suffice as an explanation. This is not the
only example of shady technology in the field. Many ghost
hunters seek out abnormal sounds and patterns being transmitted over
(07:15):
radio ways. These sorts of devices are meant to pick
up the more subtle transmissions, the parts of the radio
no one else listens to. That means pulling some sort
of meaning out of static and random blips, which is
best detected by cheap, in sensitive radio transmitters that turn
otherwise often clear signals into a mess of indecipherable blurs.
(07:37):
But what of the personal physical experiences many people report
when they are in the presence of a ghost. It
is common for people who experience ghosts to report feeling
effects such as extreme temperature fluctuations. Unfortunately, for those seeking
evidence of ghosts, these are also commonly reported symptoms of
spiked anxiety, as would be the case when one is
(07:59):
feeling suspects and nervous. This commonly happens when wandering through
dark places hunting for disembodied spirits. The chill or hot
flash does not mean a ghost is near, but only
that your physiology is ready to react should there be one.
This heightened sense of exhilaration also explains much of what
ghost hunters see or hear during the investigation. When we
(08:22):
are unusually alert in such situations, we notice far more
than we otherwise would, our heart rate surges and adrenaline supercharges,
our perceptions. We are then ready to fight or flee
at a moment's notice, and our senses actively search for
any reason to do so. Between the physiological effects of
nervousness and the dubious technological devices. It seems that there
(08:45):
is not much, if any, good scientific evidence to support
the existence of ghosts. The best these ghost hunting shows
can typically do is to make a sort of ghost
of the GAP's argument, which amounts to if we can't
explain it, a ghost did it. That reasoning is uncompelling,
particularly because we don't even know what ghosts are, much
(09:07):
less how we ought to expect one to interact with
the material universe. There is simply no reason to believe
that we should expect disembodied, non physical spirits to be
detectable through physical science. We need to keep in mind
that shows like these, even haunted house tours, are primarily entertainment. However,
just because ghost hunting television shows and their kin are
(09:30):
likely little more than ratings factories, we need not assume
that all reports of ghost experiences are false. Ghosts and
the people of God. The Bible seems to acknowledge that
people believe in the existence of ghosts, so it is
not just a contemporary phenomenon. For example, Matthew fourteen twenty six,
there is a strange little passage into Samuel twenty eight
(09:52):
where King Saul, after consulting a medium, sees the ghost
of the prophet Samuel. This passage is commonly overlooked by Christians,
perhaps because it is taboo to believe in ghosts, mediums,
and the like, but this story is invaluable for those
thinking through paranormal encounters. The story in Too Samuel begins
(10:13):
with the Philistine army about to attack Israel. All victories
up until this point have been explicitly because God led
the Israelite army to that victory through the mouthpiece of
a chosen prophet. Samuel, the most recent prophet, had just died. Moreover, Saul,
a king marred by poor choices and a lack of
faithfulness to God, had been rejected by God after habitual,
(10:35):
unrepentant disobedience. When a worried Saul sought out God for help,
previously the deceased prophet Samuel's role, he unsurprisingly received no
answer verse six. In a panic, he set out to
consult with the ghost of Samuel, after going to great
lengths to disguise himself and find a medium, all of
whom he had banished from the kingdom. In a public
(10:57):
display of piety, Samuel is conjured up, but interestingly, Samuel
is not happy to see Saul. After berating Saul for
disturbing him, he adds insult to injury. He declares that
Saul and his entire dynasty will end up dead at
the hands of the Philistines. This indeed happens the very
next day. Readers are left to wonder a couple of
(11:20):
major things. First, was that really the ghost of Samuel?
The medium is convinced that it is her reaction to
seeing Samuel suggests that she is rather terrified, which fits
given the late Samuel's high profile position as God's prophet.
The text gives us no indication that this is a
demonic ruse, a magic trick, or a hallucination. We are
(11:43):
left to assume that, yes, the spirit of Samuel was
truly before them. It is also worth noting that Samuel
is frustrated at being disturbed, which leaves us to assume
that he was not roaming the earth as many assume
ghosts to be. The second thing readers are left wondering
is why this story is here in the first place.
Saul had developed a disposition of disobedience throughout his reign,
(12:07):
but still expected God to protect him. Saul wanted results
without responsibility. This is shown by how willing Saul was
to consult the darkness, attempting to tap into forces other
than God to get help. And here the message of
the story emerges. Even in the darkness, God's plan will
not be thwarted, So there is no point in even
(12:29):
trying the dead or still under the ultimate control of Yoweh.
God is sovereign, the underworld is not. It is a
waste of time to seek results by going behind God's back.
But additionally, it might backfire, such as with Samuel's prophecy
that Saul was to be killed the next day by
the very army he was seeking to defeat. So if
(12:50):
God is in control of even the underworld, why are
the people of God told that consulting ghosts, mediums, demons
and the like is forbidden, as in passages such as
Deuteronomy eighteen ten twelve. It is because doing so misses
the point when we seek out the dead, whether it
is actually the dead we end up finding. We take
(13:11):
our eyes off God. When we obsess over reconnecting with
a deceased loved one, we forget the one who has
called us to minister to the living. The dead cannot
tell us anything God does not already know we avoid
such sances not because God is afraid of them, but
because he knows they hold the power to distract us.
(13:31):
Let us return to the example of Saul and Samuel.
Another reason to believe that the ghost of Saul's dark
experience was actually Samuel is precisely because he redirected the
focus back to God's plan, regardless of how it made
Saul feel, a demonic force would have run with the distraction,
perhaps even adding comfort and intrigue. The greatest battle waged
(13:53):
by the forces of darkness is against focused, single minded
believers carrying out the mission of God.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Thank you for listening to another episode from the Christian
Research Journal Reads podcast, which provides audio articles of Christian
Research Journal articles. If you go to equip dot org
you will find a brand new article for the Christian
Research Journal published weekly. In addition, please subscribe to our
other podcasts. Wherever you find your favorite podcast, you will
(14:25):
find the Christian Research Journal Reads podcast, the Postmodern Realities podcast,
which features interviews with Christian Research Journal authors, our flagship podcast,
The Bible answer Man Broadcast, and the Hank Unplugged podcast,
where CRI President Hank Canagraph takes you out of the
(14:47):
studio and into his study to engage in in depth,
free flowing, essential Christian conversations on critical issues with some
of the most interesting and informative people on the planet.
At equip dot org you will also find a lot
of resources to equip you, including many thousands of Christian
(15:08):
research journal articles. That's e q U I P dot
O r G
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.