Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Seeing Dead People
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I've had a few interesting conversations with coworkers lately about dreams, specifically seeing dead people in dreams. For example, a relative who has recently died or is in the process of dying, may visit a person in a dream and gives a very specific message, such as "don't be afraid," or "I love you and forgive you."
Stories like this are very common, and many of us may have experienced something similar. Personally, I don't think I have ever seen a dead person in my dreams. But the people who have experienced this describe it as more than a dream, as being very realistic, and the correlation with real life events is significant enough to solicit serious reflection.
I have studied angels and demons in the Bible fairly extensively, and I am convinced that according to the Christian tradition, human beings do not become angels (or demons) when we die. Angels are essentially different beings from humans, and there is no "cross-over." Neither do we have unlimited power to do as we please, passing through universes at will (see Seinfeld clip below, start around 0:50).
But what about messages from the dead? The rich man wants Lazarus to come back from heaven to warn his family (but this is a parable from Jesus). On the mount of transfiguration Jesus is joined by Moses and Elijah, but they only talk to Jesus and not to the disciples (it seems). There are ambiguous references to "seers" throughout the Bible, but I don't know if this means living people who could speak to dead people, or if they were future-tellers, or something else.
There are many questions: Where do we go when we die? " Christians believe in some sort of eternal life. But what about in the meantime? Are there ghosts? Do dead people visit living people? If Jesus physically arose from the dead, where is he now?
Can our experiences of seeing dead people be explained by other means? I think there are at least two possibilities: 1) Self-hallucinations, or just simply dreams that don't have any correspondence with "reality" (spiritual or physical). 2) Other spiritual "impersonating" humans (angels in human form, demons in human form).
What do you think? Have you seen dead people, ghosts, demons, angels or otherwise? Do you know of more biblical evidence about this issue? I think it's a pretty interesting topic.
I've had a few interesting conversations with coworkers lately about dreams, specifically seeing dead people in dreams. For example, a relative who has recently died or is in the process of dying, may visit a person in a dream and gives a very specific message, such as "don't be afraid," or "I love you and forgive you."
Stories like this are very common, and many of us may have experienced something similar. Personally, I don't think I have ever seen a dead person in my dreams. But the people who have experienced this describe it as more than a dream, as being very realistic, and the correlation with real life events is significant enough to solicit serious reflection.
I have studied angels and demons in the Bible fairly extensively, and I am convinced that according to the Christian tradition, human beings do not become angels (or demons) when we die. Angels are essentially different beings from humans, and there is no "cross-over." Neither do we have unlimited power to do as we please, passing through universes at will (see Seinfeld clip below, start around 0:50).
But what about messages from the dead? The rich man wants Lazarus to come back from heaven to warn his family (but this is a parable from Jesus). On the mount of transfiguration Jesus is joined by Moses and Elijah, but they only talk to Jesus and not to the disciples (it seems). There are ambiguous references to "seers" throughout the Bible, but I don't know if this means living people who could speak to dead people, or if they were future-tellers, or something else.
There are many questions: Where do we go when we die? " Christians believe in some sort of eternal life. But what about in the meantime? Are there ghosts? Do dead people visit living people? If Jesus physically arose from the dead, where is he now?
Can our experiences of seeing dead people be explained by other means? I think there are at least two possibilities: 1) Self-hallucinations, or just simply dreams that don't have any correspondence with "reality" (spiritual or physical). 2) Other spiritual "impersonating" humans (angels in human form, demons in human form).
What do you think? Have you seen dead people, ghosts, demons, angels or otherwise? Do you know of more biblical evidence about this issue? I think it's a pretty interesting topic.
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3 comments:
Highly recommend this talk on near death experiences:
http://veritas.org/media/talks/616
Ry
thanks for the link!! I'll check it out
Hi Mr S! My name is Will Corbett. Once upon a time you taught me in a bible class at Grove City Christian. I'm trying to e-mail you a letter giving you a notice about a missions trip i too (i notice your summer plans on your website) am taking to guatemala. how can i e-mail you? if you could just send me something with an address i can 'respond' to. captcorby@yahoo.com
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