Where does the ghost phenomena come from? One area which is in connection with spiritualism is the ghost phenomena that some people can experience either willingly or unwillingly. They can experience clattering sounds, other phenomena, or feelings that they are being followed, for example. However, very often phenomena of this kind are only in the mind, hallucinations or visions. But in addition to this, there are also some real phenomena.

   Why then do some people experience these phenomena? What is the reason for them being generally restricted only to certain persons, while other people can be completely free from them?

   There are always reasons for this, and they do not appear just by accident. They have their origins generally in the following things. If you are suffering from these, you will probably recognize some of them:

 

Occult sciences. The first and the most common reason is probably that the current or the former residents of the house have taken part in occultism and parapsychological activities. For example, Kurt Koch who had plenty of experience in this area wrote:

 

In my own work of pastoral care, I have often had to face this mysterious thing. I have noticed that it is in connection with occult sciences which the former or the current residents of the haunted house have practiced. (5)

 

On the other hand, if one turns to Christ and gives his life to God, these phenomena will be gone and the spirits will be forced to retreat. If you turn to Jesus Christ when suffering from these, you can be freed from them. It takes place when you resist Satan and his spirits in the name of Jesus Christ, and they will be forced to flee:

 

- (Jam 4:7) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

 

The objects. One reason can be objects that have been made for worshipping idols. They are the property of the evil spirits and sometimes even Christians have brought these "condemned" objects to their homes – generally souvenirs – and have begun to experience illness, pressure, and inexplicable problems. Occult books can also be gates of this kind.

   The next description is one example from this area. The author had received a gift, the tail of a cow, that was cursed, however, by a spirit of death. However, he was freed immediately from his distress when he destroyed this magic object by burning it (compare Acts 19:18,19):

 

The prophet bowed his head in prayer and after a few seconds he asked, "I see on the wall of your home a stick but I do not understand what it means. Have you any idea what it can be?” Then his wife continued, "I also see a stick and on its end there are hairs!”

   "It is the tail of a cow, a gift given by a Mumuye man. I hung it on the wall of the hall.”

   "It is an object of witchcraft. Cursed with the spirit of death. Go and burn it, so you can be freed!”

   Think! No wonder Nabang had sensed in me "the smell of death". The prophet bowed his head in prayer. (…)

   My home was a hundred and fifty kilometers away but it was not difficult for the prophets to see it. In the dusk of the evening, I took that tail of a cow from the wall. I took some matches and my bag. When I was walking nonchalantly to the forest nearby, I felt a shortness of breath and the air felt as if I was under a stone. When I reached the place in the bushes I burned that tail. At the very same moment, the internal bandage broke, the distress that had lasted for months disappeared, and I was free again. The nightly attacks of the demons stopped and the feeling of death in my body disappeared. What else could I say than HALLELUJAH! (6)

 

Certain people. Many phenomena are simply connected with certain people, in other words mediums. When this kind of a person leaves, the phenomena will end, or they may go with this person to a new place. Often these kinds of contact persons are still young.

 

Visit to a healer. One possible reason can be that someone in the family has gone to a healer or has been treated with magic to be cured of an illness; this may have opened the door to spirits.

   For example, Kurt Koch tells about a woman who was healed by magician. Because of that she had to suffer from these phenomena:

 

An old married woman came to me for pastoral care. She told me about strange ghost phenomena that appeared in her house. Dogs ran in her bedroom at night and tried to lick her. Invisible hands raised her bed up, and occasionally she had seen several figures in her room. When she prayed, the ghost phenomena immediately disappeared. This haunting had lasted for many years. The woman was completely healthy, and she did not suffer from any mental illness. I asked her if she had ever dealt with occultism, and she answered that she had been healed through black magic from diphtheria and some other illnesses. (7)

 

Family can be one reason. If occultism has been practiced in a person’s family, the person can also be bound and suffer because of them. On the other hand, if these bind you but you break away from them and resist the evil powers in the name of Jesus Christ, you can be freed.

 

HOW ABOUT THE WORSHIP OF OUR FOREFATHERS?

 

One thing that is in connection with the whereabouts of the dead is the worship of forefathers and saints. We are going to examine this now. This appears in many nations, especially in Asia and also with the primitive people, and is very problematic for many people. They do not always know how to react to this and how to deal with it. For example, the next quote from present-day Japan describes this:

 

In each Japanese home or at least in possession of each family, there is an altar of Buddha before which the spirits of the forefathers are worshipped. The Japanese believe that the neglect of this worship will result in punishment: the house will burn down, a member of the family will become seriously ill, a car accident will take place. I do not know if the civilized Japanese really seriously believe in the existence of the spirits but I know that most of them fear their revenge. (8)

 

So, when it is a question of worshipping forefathers and saints, the spirits of the forefathers are thought to affect living people in many ways bringing good or evil to their descendants. In other words, it is thought that they can bring their descendants welfare, health, and prosperity or illnesses and bad things – according to how those spirits have been appeased with different kinds of food sacrifices, for example. However, it is often difficult to say what draws these people to serve these spirits. Is it the fear of revenge or attachment?

   You who believe in this view should take into consideration the next couple of points. There are reasons to take these into consideration, perhaps because you have made a mistake:

 

No connection. Firstly, the Bible verses above refer to how the spirits of the dead cannot come and wander on the Earth or appear to people. If these verses really are true, it means that it is impossible for us to be in contact with the dead and whatever we do does not affect them in any way. To expect assistance or revenge from them is futile because they can no longer affect this world.

 

The evil spirits. The second thing that is that if any spirit appears to you and troubles you, it can be a question of demons. They live between the Earth and Heaven and can trouble people as is told in the Bible. (However, they are easy to drive away in the name of Jesus, Mark 10:17, if you first turn to Him.) You have actually been in contact with the evil spirits, not the spirits of the dead. Note the following verses:

 

- (1 Cor 10:19-20) What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?

20  But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that you should have fellowship with devils.

 

- (Deut 32:17) They sacrificed to devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

 

Respect and worship. One thing that is also worth noting is that respect shown to parents and ancestors is not wrong. It is not wrong because Jesus taught so (Mark 7:9,10 and 10:19).

   However, God alone is worthy of our worship, because He has created our forefathers and all people. He alone is worthy of our worship and our praise and from Him we can ask for help when we need it (Phil 4:6: Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.). We can respect  and appreciate our forefathers, and it is not a bad thing to take care of their graves. But it does not make any difference to them:

 

- Who has said this to you? Of course the Christians can take care of their graves. Oh, if you saw the Finnish cemeteries; they are like the most beautiful gardens.

- Perhaps I have misunderstood… I do not even remember from where I got such an idea.

   Nakagawa-san seems to be relieved.

- It is a different thing to take care of a grave and to worship spirits. You do not have to take food sacrifices there.

   In my opinion, the local Christian church should develop Japanese ways to respect the memory of the forefathers. It is a huge part of this culture. The Christians unnecessarily get a reputation that they do not respect their forefathers – when respecting and worshipping are, however, two different issues altogether. (9)

 

 

REFERENCES:

 

1) RAPHAEL GASSON, The Challenging Counterfeit, eight printing USA, p. 89

2) ROY ALLAN ANDERSON, Henkimaailman salaisuudet (Secrets of the Spirit world), p. 94

3) Quote from Jälleensyntyminen vai ruumiin ylösnousemus (Reincarnation), Mark Albrecht, p. 93

4) NICKY CRUZ, Juokse henkesi edestä (Devil on the Run), p. 22, 178

5) KURT KOCH, Taikauskot (Der Aberglaube), p. 50

6) VANHAPARTA, Operaatio Mumuye jatkuu, p. 184, 185

7) KURT KOCH, Taikauskot (Der Aberglaube), p. 51

8) MAILIS JANATUINEN, Tapahtui Tamashimassa, p. 13

9) MAILIS JANATUINEN, Tapahtui Tamashimassa, p. 89,90