The Amish Voice 11
The answer to this queston depends
on what is meant by the term
“ghosts.” If the term means “spirit
beings,” the answer is a qualifed
“yes.” If the term means “spirits of
people who have died,” the answer is
“no.” The Bible makes it abundantly
clear that there are spirit beings,
both good and evil. But the Bible
abolishes the idea that the spirits of
deceased human beings can remain
on earth and “haunt” the living.
Hebrews 9:27 declares, “
it is
appointed unto men once to
die, but afer this the judgment
”
That is what happens to a person’s
soul-spirit afer death—judgment.
The result of this judgment is
heaven for the believer (2
Corinthians 5:6-8; Philip-
pians 1:23) and hell for
the
unbeliever
(Mathew 25:46; Luke
16:22-24).
There is no in-between.
There is no possibility of
remaining on earth in
spirit form as a “ghost.”
If there are such things
as ghosts, according to
the Bible, they absolute-
ly cannot be the disembod-
ied spirits of deceased human beings.
The Bible teaches very clearly that
there are indeed spirit beings who
can connect with and appear in our
physical world. The Bible identfes
these beings as angels and demons.
Angels are spirit beings who are
faithful in serving God. Angels are
righteous, good, and holy.
Demons on the other hand, are fallen
angels; angels who rebelled against
God. Demons are evil, deceptve, and
destructve. According to 2 Corinthi-
ans 11:14-15, demons make it ap-
pear as if they are “angels of light”
and as “servants of righteousness.”
Appearing as a “ghost” and/or mak-
ing a person (who is stll alive) be-
lieve that they are a loved one that
had already passed away, defnitely
seems to be within the power and
abilites that demons possess.
The closest biblical example of a
“hauntng” is found in Mark 5:1-20. A
legion of demons possessed a man
and used the man to haunt a grave-
yard. There were no ghosts involved.
It was a case of a normal person be-
ing controlled by demons to terrorize
the people of that area. Demons only
seek to “kill, steal, and de-
stroy” (John 10:10). They will do any-
thing within their power to deceive
people, to lead people away from
God. This is very likely the explana-
ton of “ghostly” actvity today.
Whether it is called a ghost, a ghoul,
or a poltergeist, if there is genuine
evil spiritual actvity occurring, it is
the work of demons.
What about instances in
which “ghosts” act in
“positve” ways? What
about psychics, people
who claim to speak with
the dead and gain true
and useful informaton
from them? Again, it is
crucial to remember that
the goal of demons is to
deceive. If the result is
that people trust in a
psychic instead of God, a
demon will be more than
willing to reveal true informaton.
Even good and true informaton, if
from a source with evil motves, can
be used to mislead, corrupt, and de-
stroy.
Interest in the ghosts and magic is
becoming increasingly common.
There are individuals and businesses
that claim to be “ghost-hunters,”
who for a price will rid your home of
ghosts.
Palm readers are increasingly consid-
ered normal. Human beings are in-
nately aware of the spiritual world.
Sadly, instead of seeking the truth
about the spirit world by communing
with God and studying His Word,
many people allow themselves to be
led astray by the spirit world. The
demons surely laugh at the spiritual
mass-decepton that exists in the
world today.
What Does the Bible Say About Ghosts and Haunting?
—contnued from back cover—
Anabaptst Movement Thrives in North America
A colony might have some vans and a truck, but no one
would own a car. They are very big on modern farm equip-
ment, and they use computers to run their farms and busi-
nesses."
Dr. Kraybill was familiar with the Anabaptst groups in the
U.S. and Canada but hadn't visited any in Latn America for
30 years. He was amazed at some of the growth there. Most
is the result of Mennonite missionary eforts since the
1950s.
About 5,000 K'ekch' Indians in Guatemala have formed their
own Natonal Evangelical Guatemalan Mennonite Church.
"They have maintained their Indian culture, but they relate
to conservatve, plain-dressing Mennonites, though not
horse-and-buggy Mennonites," Dr. Kraybill said.
The Amish have no communites in Latn America. One that
they planted in Honduras in 1969 was gone 30 years later.
The Amish and the most conservatve Mennonites are leery
of missionary eforts.
"If plain-dressing Mennonites go to most of these countries,
they frst try to impose their dress on the local people. But
afer 20 or 25 years, that changes. Then *the missionaries+
come back and aren't sure that dress maters that much
anyway," Dr. Kraybill said. "It's why some of the Amish are
skeptcal of mission work. The Old Order Amish say that if
you go into mission work, it brings changes back home."
Some mission congregatons have survived under duress.
"My second big surprise was that there are three groups in
Cuba," Dr. Kraybill said. "One was there through the Castro
revoluton. It went underground but has resurfaced."
The three Mennonite groups have 79 congregatons with
3,300 members, in what Dr. Kraybill calls "a sizeable house
church movement." All members and leaders are natve
Cubans.
"Apparently they have not been persecuted. They have
been careful about what they say and do," he said.
Hait has 68 Anabaptst congregatons with 4,000 members.
"A lot of those would be involved in social needs having to
do with the earthquake, even though their primary interest
is evangelical outreach," he said.
Even though the Amish don't travel to Hait, they support
the relief and mission work there.
"Each year in Lancaster County and in Holmes County, Ohio,
the Amish have a Hait Aucton to support various ministries
in Hait," Dr. Kraybill said. Through the sale of quilts and oth-
er crafs "they contribute signifcant funds to various con-
servatve Mennonite groups that are actve in Hait."
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Ann Rodgers: arodgers@post-gazete.com or 412-263-1416.
“Copyright ©,
Pitsburgh Post-Gazete
, 2011, all rights re-
served. Reprinted with permission.”