Introduction
Does the Bible permit ghost hunting—that is, the attempt to observe, record, and explain paranormal phenomena? In order to answer this question in the affirmative, two conditions must be met:
- There can be no explicit commands against ghost hunting.
- There can be no underlying principles creating an implicit prohibition against ghost hunting.
This article will examine the Bible for any such prohibitions, and thereby attempt to answer the question.
All scripture quotations are taken from the ESV.
Biblical Commands & Principles
The Bible provides several rules and guidelines for interacting with spiritual entities, including the spirits of the dead. These commands, usually in the form of prohibitions, fall into four categories.
Veneration or Worship of the Dead
“You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves: I am the Lord.”
“You are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”
“‘I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me.’”
Then they yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead; they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.
These commands ultimately stem back to idolatry, which is the replacing of God with something else (the dead, in this case). Applied to the passages listed above, this underlying principle of idolatry results in the following implicit prohibition:
- Do not worship or sacrifice to the dead.
Divination via Necromancy
“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.”
“If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.”
“A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.”
“There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you.”
And [Manasseh] burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.
Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.
So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.
And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?
And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom; and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their counsel; and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the necromancers; and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master, and a fierce king will rule over them, declares the Lord God of hosts.
As with the previous category, these commands (and the narratives and prophecies that illustrate them) likewise stem back to idolatry—more specifically, turning to some word of guidance or power of deliverance other than God’s. Therefore, a second principle emerges:
- Do not trust words of the dead over scripture.
Human & Demonic Deception
“For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.”
And what I do I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared…
…while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.
Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.
And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.
It is well-known that most so-called mediums are in fact just con artists, and it should come as no surprise that demons can impersonate the dead. One who falls for such deceptions can easily be led away from the truth of God, and this will ultimately lead to idolatry. Therefore, from the texts cited above, an additional implicit prohibition emerges:
- Do not be deceived by humans or demons impersonating the dead.
Hidden Knowledge
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.
And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”
The final principle that scripture provides is that there is some knowledge which God has intentionally hidden from us. If God has chosen to hide something, then it is impossible for anyone to know it, so there is no point in seeking it. Any knowledge gained in such a quest is guaranteed to be false—and most likely the result of demonic deception. We must instead be content with what God has revealed in scripture. Therefore, the last implicit prohibition is this:
- Do not seek hidden knowledge from the dead.
Conclusion
In summary, analysis of the explicit commands and implicit principles found in the Bible yields the following rules for interacting with the dead:
- Do not worship or sacrifice to the dead.
- Do not trust words of the dead over scripture.
- Do not be deceived by humans or demons impersonating the dead.
- Do not seek hidden knowledge from the dead.
Note that these forbidden activities are quite different from the modern practice of ghost hunting in its purest sense: to observe, record, and explain paranormal phenomena.
That’s not to say that all ghost hunters keep to this strict definition. Many are quick to believe every anomaly is a ghost and to trust the words of the dead without question. Some even enter into a paranormal investigation with the intent to uncover the secrets of the afterlife. This type of ghost hunting falls dangerously near to the activities forbidden in scripture, and should not be practiced by any Christian.
However, if one’s only goals are to study and potentially debunk paranormal phenomena—and as long as one takes the proper precautions against malicious spiritual influences—then no explicit command or implicit principle has been violated. Therefore, it is permissible for a Christian to engage in ghost hunting. In fact, if done properly, paranormal investigation can free people from deception by debunking false claims and providing natural explanations for frightening occurrences.
To ensure they stay on the right side of scripture, a Christian ghost hunter should adhere to the following rules:
- Do not attempt to provoke or initiate communication with a spirit.
- If a spirit attempts to communicate, do not respond.
- If a spirit conveys a message that agrees with scripture, believe it for its concordance with scripture, not because it came from a spirit.
- If a spirit conveys a message that contradicts scripture, consider it demonic and end the investigation.
These rules allow a Christian to observe, record, and attempt to explain supernatural phenomena, while forbidding more direct interactions, such as séances.
Above all, remember that Jesus has already told us everything we need to know about life after death:
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Curiosity is good, but do not allow it to lead you away from the truth of the gospel.