We are not told that, here or anywhere else in the Bible. As I said, the story is related matter of factly with the presumption that ghosts exist.
The other mentions of ghosts were by citizens, who had their cultural superstitions, but it doesn’t, mean they are real.
Again, if they were exercising cultural superstitions in these instances, it would have been a perfect time for Jesus (or the Gospel writer) to offer a correction, which they do not, instead responding with the assumption ghosts do exist.
Can God cause a spirit to visit someone? Sure, he his able to do supernatural things like that, but I suspect it is very very rare, a d for very specific purposes.
A humber of “ghost hunters’ note that they became possessed, or “haunted” as they call it, and that is indicative of demon possessikn/attacks, souls that depart would not have suoernatural power like that almost assuredly.
The fact that these people end up demonically afflicted does not disprove the existence of ghosts. Most "ghost hunters" are frauds and the ones might happen to stumble upon or expose themselves to supernatural phenomena are probably not the best persons to discern if that activity is from God or from Satan. I personally think anyone who deliberately goes looking after ghosts (especially for the sake of a TV show) is opening themselves up to demonic activity and is a fool.
bible scholars debate whether it was the actual soul of Samuel or a lyign spirit that God allowed to deceive Saul-
[[it would have been a perfect time for Jesus (or the Gospel writer) to offer a correction, which they do not,]]
The fact that He didn’t doesn’t mean that it wasn’t anything but cultural superstitions-
[[Most “ghost hunters” are frauds]]
Agreed- Some are just ignorant of demons and the spiritual battle going on, and mistake demons for ghosts-
[[The fact that these people end up demonically afflicted does not disprove the existence of ghosts]]
That is true- but it strongly indicates it- along with hte verse about the chasm, as well as other verses that state that when the unsaved die, they ‘know nothing’ until judgement day and final judgement- indicate that what people mistake for ‘ghosts’ are really demons if they have infact had true experiences- (Hard to tell- people love to embellish, and often are too ready to declare something is a ghost when there are natural explanations-)
[[Samuel was a very special instance.
We are not told that, here or anywhere else in the Bible.]]
No- we aren’t however- it is an enigma, not a recurring thing that happens in the bible- so it stands to reason that it is indeed a special instance for the sake of deceiving Saul- God allowed a witch and demon to mislead Saul- (Though some scholars do say it was actually Saul=- i disagree- for various reasons- and think it much more likely that it was a demon)
[[I personally think anyone who deliberately goes looking after ghosts (especially for the sake of a TV show) is opening themselves up to demonic activity and is a fool]]
Totally agree-
here are a few verses that more strongly indicate that ghosts do not exist
6. Psalm 146:4 “For his spirit goes out and he returns to his earth and in that day all his thoughts are destroyed.”
7. Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 “For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.”
https://biblereasons.com/ghosts/
The last part of this verse is speaking of those who are unsaved and who die- note that they shall have ‘no part’ of anything in this life ever again
“never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.””
This and other reasons are why i think that any suggested ‘ghost activity’ is really demonic activity (or misinterpreted as ‘spiritual activity’ when there are natural explanations-
I saw a show on killer’s old place where the ‘investigators’ walked into a room, and a dresser door opened up as soon as they entered- right away they ‘determined it to be ghostly activity’ and all were in awe- no other explanation was even attempted by any of them- however- the house is very old, and the floorboards no doubt quite warped- the dresser door may easily have been lightly opened to begin with- and when the people walked into the room, the floorboards buckled and sunk, causing the door on the dresser to open up-
another show they were walking down a long corridor in an old insane asylum, and a ball came rolling across the hall into another room- again, right away- immediate declaration of ghost- Even by their ‘company skeptic’ lol- but i noticed as they passed the many empty rooms to where the ball was- and shined their lights inside the various room, all the windows were smashed out, and it was windy outside=- and it was likely the wind blowing the ball aroudn the corridors-