REINCARNATION & GHOSTS
If a devout Christian, a member of the clergy for example, is asked about what reincarnation is, the answer invariably is: demonic possession. When I first heard that, I accepted it, but wondered how that could be the case. After enough time had passed ruminating on the subject, an answer was formed.
People who claim, or are thought to be the reincarnation of someone who lived at an earlier time, display memories of that previous life to the point of being able to describe the place in which they lived, food they ate, family members, friends, the politics of the time, etc., etc. How could this possibly be anything else but the reincarnation of that very person who lived and died before the person before you was even born? For the answer to that question, let's examine what a demon, or demonic spirit is.
Demons, or demonic spirits, are thought to be fallen angels and/or spirits of the Nephilim (the offspring of angelic beings--sons of God and the daughters of men--Genesis 6:2-4. The argument against them being fallen angels stems from Jude 6: "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." (Note: these may not be the ones that rebelled with Lucifer, but those "which...left their own habitation" to cohabitate with women in Genesis 6:2.) As to the latter, which would correspond to demigods (the offspring of the gods, Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon, etc., and mortal women), these were said to be dispossessed of their original bodies in the flood, and consequently, have been desirous of having bodies again, possess those of people currently living.
Whatever their pedigree, they are far older than those currently living, and, since people die, would have possessed hundreds, if not thousands, of people throughout history. Wouldn't it therefore stand to reason that they would bring those memories, esp. those of their most recent life, with them to their new host? Given that they wish to deceive people (note the lying spirit in I Kings 22:19-23; specif. vss. 21-22), they would confuse their hosts by tricking them into believing that those were their memories from their past lives, rather than those of an entity inhabiting their bodies along with them?
Think of them as like the goa'uld in the Stargate-SG1 TV series, only without a symbiote, and seemingly much more benign, but with sinister, motives nonetheless, and you'll have an idea of what you're dealing with.
GHOSTS
Most think of ghosts as the spirits of the dead who cannot rest because of some injustice done to them in life. The only way to get them rest is to help them rectify whatever wrong was done so as to bring them peace. This cannot be the case according to scripture. As to believers in Christ, Paul wrote: "...to be absent from the body" is "to be present with the Lord." II Corinthians 5:8. (See verses 6-8 for context.) As for nonbelievers, Christ said in Luke 16:22-23: "...the rich man also died, and was buried. And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments...." From this we clearly see that the spirits of men do not remain on earth after death; their destination determined by their belief in Him, or lack thereof, in life. This would clearly explain why reincarnated spirits and ghosts are/were not human.
So these apparitions must be something else. The case can be made that they are the spirits that possessed these people during their lives, that, for whatever reason, have not "moved on" to their next victims. They remain in the form of their recently deceased hosts, in the places where they lived, to deceive the living. They might even be there to take revenge on those who abused or otherwise wronged their previous hosts in some way. Deception is the ultimate goal though. You might aptly describe them as the Decepticons of the spirit world.
People who claim, or are thought to be the reincarnation of someone who lived at an earlier time, display memories of that previous life to the point of being able to describe the place in which they lived, food they ate, family members, friends, the politics of the time, etc., etc. How could this possibly be anything else but the reincarnation of that very person who lived and died before the person before you was even born? For the answer to that question, let's examine what a demon, or demonic spirit is.
Demons, or demonic spirits, are thought to be fallen angels and/or spirits of the Nephilim (the offspring of angelic beings--sons of God and the daughters of men--Genesis 6:2-4. The argument against them being fallen angels stems from Jude 6: "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." (Note: these may not be the ones that rebelled with Lucifer, but those "which...left their own habitation" to cohabitate with women in Genesis 6:2.) As to the latter, which would correspond to demigods (the offspring of the gods, Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon, etc., and mortal women), these were said to be dispossessed of their original bodies in the flood, and consequently, have been desirous of having bodies again, possess those of people currently living.
Whatever their pedigree, they are far older than those currently living, and, since people die, would have possessed hundreds, if not thousands, of people throughout history. Wouldn't it therefore stand to reason that they would bring those memories, esp. those of their most recent life, with them to their new host? Given that they wish to deceive people (note the lying spirit in I Kings 22:19-23; specif. vss. 21-22), they would confuse their hosts by tricking them into believing that those were their memories from their past lives, rather than those of an entity inhabiting their bodies along with them?
Think of them as like the goa'uld in the Stargate-SG1 TV series, only without a symbiote, and seemingly much more benign, but with sinister, motives nonetheless, and you'll have an idea of what you're dealing with.
GHOSTS
Most think of ghosts as the spirits of the dead who cannot rest because of some injustice done to them in life. The only way to get them rest is to help them rectify whatever wrong was done so as to bring them peace. This cannot be the case according to scripture. As to believers in Christ, Paul wrote: "...to be absent from the body" is "to be present with the Lord." II Corinthians 5:8. (See verses 6-8 for context.) As for nonbelievers, Christ said in Luke 16:22-23: "...the rich man also died, and was buried. And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments...." From this we clearly see that the spirits of men do not remain on earth after death; their destination determined by their belief in Him, or lack thereof, in life. This would clearly explain why reincarnated spirits and ghosts are/were not human.
So these apparitions must be something else. The case can be made that they are the spirits that possessed these people during their lives, that, for whatever reason, have not "moved on" to their next victims. They remain in the form of their recently deceased hosts, in the places where they lived, to deceive the living. They might even be there to take revenge on those who abused or otherwise wronged their previous hosts in some way. Deception is the ultimate goal though. You might aptly describe them as the Decepticons of the spirit world.
posted by Postmann | 11:48 PM
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