Facts On ---- Halloween -- Chapter Eleven

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Who do these ghosts claim to be? What are the consequences of believing in their common interpretation?

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   The spirits of the occult, in general, are often contracted directly by psychics, mediums, or channelers. They permit themselves to become possessed by these spirits and allow those spirits to speak through them. At poltergeist hauntings, mediums or psychics may also allow themselves to be possessed in order to discover the alleged reason for the "haunting" by establishing direct contact with the "troubled ghost." Of course, in occult circles, the poltergeist is characteristically interpreted in line with prevailing beliefs about the dead, human psychokinesis, and so forth. But given the well-known ability of demons to assume virtually any shape and to take virtually any disguise, from angels to UFO aliens to the human dead, how can occultists be certain the poltergeists are what they think they are? Can mediums be certain the appearances of "dead loved ones" in séances are not the clever tricks of demons to foster emotional trust and dependence?
   While speaking through human mediums, the ghost that are contacted during poltergeist outbreaks have offered several reasons that explain their activities. First, some claim to be the spirits of the dead who were once atheists, materialists, or rationalists while on earth and never expected to encounter an afterlife. Upon death, their shock was so great they became confused and disoriented. Like a lost and wounded traveler in a strange city, they wander aimlessly, attempting to get their bearings.
   Second, some say they are otherwise confused spirits. Initially, some spirits of the dead supposedly refuse to believe they are really dead and are no longer able to live upon the earth. They now vainly attempt to convince themselves that they are still in their bodies and can somehow return to their previous existence. As a result, they not only seek to regain contact with the living through "haunting" houses where the living reside, but they desperately seek to manifest themselves material in order to regain contact with the physical world. Bizarre poltergeist events are one result of their attempt to interact with and materialize back into their previous existence.
   Third, some ghosts argue that thy are alleged spirits of Christians who erroneously accepted the idea of a biblical heaven. Such persons are shocked, dismayed, and angry to discover that the Bible they trusted was wrong. Rather than finding themselves in heaven with their Lord, they instead found themselves in the spirit world with no Jesus or heaven anywhere in sight. Some of these ghosts refused to accept this, waiting instead for "Jesus" to come and take them to "heaven." In the mean time, they vent their confusion, anger, and grief through poltergeist manifestations.
   Fourth, they claim to be spirits of the dead who were evil people involved in violent acts such as murder or rape at a particular location on earth. After death, they chose to remain close to the earth to continue their evil. Or, they are deceased victims of evil people and are frightened to go forward and progress spiritually or they wish to seek revenge on the living relatives of those who harmed them.
   Finally, poltergeists may say they are the spirits of the dead who are experiencing confusion resulting from suicide. Famous medium George Anderson, who communicates regularly with alleged spirits of the dead, mentioned the following anecdote concerning his personal friend. "A friend of mine who had recently taken his life came through [me] and did not know how to go into the light. I kept telling him to go forward to the light, but he was afraid of [temporary] judgment. He couldn't forgive himself. Also, he was having a problem with the fact that after he had taken his own life, his spirit obviously lingered around the scene of the act."
   These are the claims of the poltergeists. But regardless of the spirit's claims, we think demonologists of an earlier era such as de Spina (1460), Nider (1470), Remy (1595), and Guazzo (1608) were correct: These spirits are not what they claim (spirits of the human dead), but are lying spirits that the Bible identifies as demons. This is strongly indicated by the fact that poltergeist claims, manifestations and results tend to have five distinct consequences - all of which lend greater credibility to the Christian view.
   There are five consequences of accepting the common view that ghosts are the human dead or manifestations of human psychic ability.
   First, as noted, poltergeist manifestation tend to involve or interest people in the occult. Poltergeist phenomena frequently cause unsuspecting people to assume the truth of an occult worldview such as mediumism, witchcraft, reincarnation, and paganism. The phenomenon itself is so startling that participants become converted to belief in the supernatural and, not infrequently, end up personally involved in psychic investigation through séances, channeling, Ouija boards, or various forms of divination. Thus, a parapsychologist may be called in to investigate the disturbance. Often a psychic, channelers, or medium is brought in to communication with the troubled spirit, to attempt to "help" it or, if its evil, to exorcise it.
   Demons have a vested interest in all this because it not only supports the occult, it offers a novel and unexpected manner for them to influence or contact people. Poltergeist activity encourages attempts to contact the dead - something God has forbidden as being reprehensible to Him: "Let no one be found among you who...practices divination or sorcery...engages in witchcraft, or who casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Any one who does these things is detestable to the Lord" (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).
   Second, in the minds of many people, poltergeist phenomena tend to discredit the biblical view of the afterlife and of immediate judgment at death. Indeed, most people in the world do think of poltergeists as the spirits of the human dead. But if these large numbers of dead are actually roaming around the spirit world and contacting our world, then the biblical portrait of the confinement and judgment of the unregenerate at death is obviously false.
   This scenario also supports the goals of demons who have vested interest in deceiving people about biblical truth concerning the afterlife. Obviously, if there is no hell in the afterlife, there is no need for a Savior in this life. But God tells us, "Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). To those who reject God's gracious offer of salvation Jesus warned, "If you do not believe that I am [the one I claim to be], you will indeed die in your sins" (John 8:24, brackets in original). The writer of Hebrews asks, "How shall we escape [judgment] if we ignore such a great salvation?" and "see to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him [Moses] who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him [Jesus] who warns us from heaven?" (Hebrews 2:3 and 12:25). Jesus himself emphasized that the unregenerate and unrighteous "will go to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life" (Matthew 25:46).
  The Bible teaches clearly that the unsaved dead are now confined in a place of punishment, while the saved dead are in glory with Christ (Luke 16:19-31; 2 Peter 2:9; Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:6,8).

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Cross-reference: 2 Peter 2:9; ...if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and hold the unrighteous for the day of Judgment, while continuing their punishment.

Cross-reference: Philippians 1:23; I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far...

Cross-reference: 2 Corinthians 5:6, 8; (6) Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. (8) We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

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   Therefore, the implication most people draw from poltergeist manifestations, that the dead roam freely, is clearly false from a biblical viewpoint.
   Third, poltergeist event grant spiritual authority and credibility first to the occultist (the psychic, spiritist, medium, channeler) and second to those involved with them (the parapsychologist, psychical researcher). It is these individuals who investigate the disturbance and supposedly solve the problem. Because such persons are frequently able to "resolve" the disturbance, although usually not without a battle of sorts (with the spirits gladly cooperating behind the scenes), the entire episode grants those involved in the occult, whether personally or "scientifically," a good deal of spiritual prestige. But as many former mediums have revealed, such resolutions to poltergeist hauntings are merely a ruse of the spirits to fool people into adopting unbiblical teaching or practices. This is also something that harmonizes well with the goal of demons: to secure people's trust toward those who, however unwittingly, actively promote the demons' own interests and who often actively oppose Christianity. As the history of the occult reveals, all this hinder the good purposes God has intended for man.
   Fourth, concerning the parapsychological view of poltergeist phenomena being a result of human psychic potential, this confuses the realm of the psychological and supernatural, masks the activity of demons and helps make the domain of the occult the domain of the psychologist. The popular adolescent theory suggests that when certain children approach the age of puberty, this somehow creates an excess amount of psychic energy which, in some unknown manner, is spontaneously released to create poltergeist effects. Thus, poltergeist manifestations are presumed to indicate an abnormal condition of the human mind. Therefore, the theory concludes, the true source of the poltergeist lay in human psyche, a result of a mass of outwardly projected adolescent repression, fear, anger, or confusion.
   One consequence of the idea that poltergeist phenomena mysteriously emerge from the consciousness of adolescents is to draw children and psychologists into the ranks of those who study poltergeist phenomena. Thus, the poltergeist becomes the natural domain of the psychologist and, from that point, the psychologist finds it easy to become entwined into the occult domain of the parapsychologist. In essence, the psychological theory inevitably links the poltergeist with the adolescent, the adolescent with the psychologist, and the psychologist with the parapsychologist.
   This consequence can be seen in the attempt to make poltergeist phenomena part of human origin which, by definition, opens the doors to exploration of human psychic potential. As no less an authority than Colin Wilson remarks, "The recognition that poltergeists are of human origin was one of the greatest intellectual landmarks in human history. It was the first convincing proof that we possess other floors" (i.e., other psychic levels or dimensions with our own being).
   Given the demonic nature of the poltergeist phenomena as a whole, it is rather incredible that so many otherwise rational people ascribe poltergeist to some kind of alleged spontaneous, uncontrollable, psychological/psychic (projected repression)/psychokinetic function of human beings. Yet parapsychologists, psychic researches, and occultists who investigate these phenomena seem to consider the demonic theory hardly worthy of mention. But isn't the demonic theory far more believable than the idea that human psychic energy can account for the kinds of manifestations we find? Again:

Objects are projected with alarming velocity, and often seem directly aimed at some human target...Another peculiarity is the wavy path, quite irreconcilable with gravitational laws, which these projectiles often seem to follow. They turn corners, swerve in and out, and behave, in fact, like a bird which is free to pick its own way. Not less surprising is...that the stones and other missiles are for the most part invisible at the beginning of their flight. They do not come into view until they are just a few feet off. They enter closed rooms and seem to drop from the ceilings or to penetrate doors and windows without leaving a trace of their passage.

   What human being on earth, adolescent or aged, can duplicate such things? Indeed, it is the consistently super-natural nature of the phenomenon that so forcefully argues against a purely human origin. We believe this also advances the purpose of demons who, hiding safely behind the realms of the parapsychologist and the psychic simultaneously, prompt the occult and its redefinition toward a purely psychological realm.
   Fifth, poltergeist manifestations frequently harm people whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Therefore the view of poltergeist as harmless ghosts also plays into the hands of demons. Since demons are innately evil and unredeemable, this fits well with their own desires and purposes.
   In essence, all five consequences of the poltergeist are seen to support the goals of those evil spirits the Bible identifies as demons. Therefore, it is hardly out of place to suggest that poltergeists are actually a ruse of demons to further their own agenda.

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Taken from The Facts on Halloween by John Ankerberg & John Weldon...Harvest House Publishers...Are you Rapture Ready?