The Bible has a great deal to say about ghosts. This study gathers passages from across Scripture and sets them out for reading and reflection.
What Scripture Says
The Bible treats ghosts not as a matter of speculation but as a reality with clear boundaries. In 1 Samuel 28, Saul, cut off from God, seeks a medium at En-dor and asks her to bring up Samuel. When the woman sees Samuel, she cries out in fear, and Saul perceives it is Samuel speaking to him. This passage shows that the dead can be summoned only under extraordinary divine permission, and even then it brings dread, not comfort. The law had already forbidden such practices: “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer” (Deuteronomy 18:10-11). God calls these abominations because they turn people away from trusting Him.
At the same time, Scripture acknowledges the appearance of the dead in other forms. In Matthew 14:26, when Jesus walks on the sea, the disciples cry out in fear, saying, “It is a spirit.” Jesus immediately answers, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.” Here the disciples’ assumption is corrected—not by denying that spirits exist, but by revealing that the one approaching them is the living Lord. Similarly, in Luke 24:37-39, after the resurrection, the disciples suppose they have seen a spirit. Jesus invites them to touch Him and says, “Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” This verse is crucial: it distinguishes between a disembodied spirit and a resurrected body. The Bible does not dismiss the category of spirit; it clarifies what is and is not a spirit.
The Psalms and Prophets affirm that the dead do not return to instruct the living. “The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence” (Psalm 115:17). “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten” (Ecclesiastes 9:5). Isaiah 8:19 asks, “Should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?” The implied answer is no. When the rich man in Luke 16:27-31 begs for someone to rise from the dead to warn his brothers, Abraham replies that they have Moses and the prophets; if they will not hear them, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead. The Bible’s consistent witness is that God’s Word, not ghostly visitations, is the appointed means of guidance.
Living It Out
For the ordinary believer, these verses call for both caution and confidence. Caution means refusing to dabble in séances, Ouija boards, mediums, or any attempt to contact the dead, even in jest. Deuteronomy 18 is not a relic of ancient superstition; it is God’s protective command. The desire to hear from a departed loved one is understandable, but Scripture directs that longing to the God who is near, not to the dead who cannot answer. Confidence means resting in the fact that Jesus has conquered death and that His resurrection body—flesh and bones—is the guarantee of our own. We do not need to fear shadows or spirits, for “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). When fear arises, the disciples’ experience on the sea is our own: the voice of Christ speaks over the waves, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”
Reflection
- Have you ever sought comfort or guidance from the dead—through a medium, a dream, or an obsessive longing—rather than from the living God who speaks through His Word?
- If Jesus Himself said a spirit does not have flesh and bones, how does His bodily resurrection change the way you face your own death and the deaths of those you love?