How Serious is the Belief in Trapped Spirits?

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann    

My interest in the theological issue of spiritism accelerated like a rocket when I realized the titanic With the American spiritual landscape littered with the rubbish of all manner of crazy ideas and beliefs, it has the dubious distinction of being the arch-heterodox belief of the day…that is my opinion and I am prepared to defend that sentiment.

The first argument is simple but profound: fifty percent of Americans now believe in trapped spirits. HALF—ONE OUT OF EVERY TWO!—OF THE POPULATION HAS EMBRACED THIS ERROR…HIGHER WITH THE YOUNGER CROWD…AND GROWING FAST EVERY DAY.  No need to drone on here, but what other specific belief error comes anywhere near that quantity of people? Number of people affected should certainly be considered when determining if an issue merits being called a crucial issue, should it not?  Spiritism is a crucial issue which must be passionately addressed because more people have embraced this erroneous belief than any other heterodox belief.

Certainly one can believe in ghosts and still be saved, because Scripture clearly teaches justification by faith alone (Rom. 4; 5:1) However, the ability to discern the relative importance of theological/spiritual beliefs is vital for effective Christian life and ministry. The relative importance of certain issues/beliefs can fall within four categories. 1. Absolutes define the core beliefs of the Christian faith…what one must believe to be saved (the belief in absolute truth is a distinct issue); 2. Convictions, while not core beliefs, usually have significant impact on the health and effectiveness of the church and individuals; 3. Opinions, are less clear issues and are usually not worthy of dividing over; 4. Questions are issues which are currently unsettled. These criteria, and the seven below, are designed to help sort through the myriad of issues we face by categorizing them into four distinct levels of seriousness…hope they will help you in the future with thinking through the significance of other issues as well.

Where an issue falls within these categories should be determined by weighing the cumulative force of at least seven considerations: 1. Biblical clarity; 2. Relevance to the character of God; 3. Relevance to the essence of the gospel; 4. Biblical frequency and significance (how often in Scripture it is taught and what weight Scripture places upon it); 5. Effect on other doctrines; 6. Consensus among Christians (past and present); 7. Effect on personal and church life…all the categories should be considered collectively in determining how important an issue is to the Christian faith. The ability to rightly discern the difference between core doctrines and legitimately disputable matters will keep the church from either compromising important truth or needlessly dividing over peripheral issues. (pg. 2502 ESV Study Bible, emp. added)

In a sense, the main goal of my book is to provide the cumulative evidence (mentioned above and other) to argue that the issue of trapped spirits lies within the realm of convictions—see above for distinctiveness of four categories of issues…#2. While a biblically accurate belief regarding spiritism is not a core/absolute issue (not necessary for salvation…belief in the deity of Christ is an example of a belief that is a core issue), it is an exceedingly important conviction or teaching of the bible. Belief in ghosts, and attempting communication with them, can do serious damage to the church and to an individual’s spirituality. I should hasten to add, it IS doing serious damage right now. Let us look at the relative importance the bible gives to this issue, and the ramifications for the spiritual and emotional health of people by looking at these seven points.

1. Biblical clarity—using accepted principles of hermeneutics, Deuteronomy 18:9-14 and Leviticus 20:6-8, 27 are they key texts relative to communication with the dead (this is a distinct issue which is beyond the scope of this newsletter, but I devoted an entire article on this), and they are clear and explicit regarding the exceptional wickedness of spiritism. God as Judge used Israel as executioner of the Canaanites due to the latter’s occult practices which included spiritism. The land had become so defiled by this and other occult practices that it was vomiting them out. As I mentioned, using sound interpretive principles, it is abundantly clear that these texts have priority over all other “ghost” related texts. Then, when we look at these texts, we see that they are transgenerational in their authority. As far as biblical clarity, these texts are as clear as clear can get. There should be no debate if you under Christ’s Lordship. Remember that Jesus Himself quoted from Deut. three times when countering Satan’s climactic temptations in the wilderness.

2. Relevance to the character of God—the notion of ghosts casts a shadow over God’s omnipotence, and goodness (actually ALL the attributes of God are frontally assaulted by this notion)…what kind of God would leave deceased babies here as spirit babies? That “God” would be Satan-like. Spritism implies that the Lord is not sovereign over His creation—a godlette or McGod. “They died so quickly their souls got stuck here.” Are we to believe that manner of death can snatch believers out of God’s hands? God forbid! I could go on and on here…

3. Relevance on the essence of the gospel—the perfection of the Person and work of Christ is seriously undermined and impugned if we believe that some people get trapped when they die. What are we saved from, if death is NOT a doorway to heaven?  A McSalvation at best. While it does not utterly ruin the atonement, as denial of the deity of Christ does, it comes perilously close to it. Was Jesus’s salvation perfectly efficacious or not? Is Jesus the Son of Man, the conquering Warrior over evil and death, or not? Is it good news to believe that God’s blood was shed, only to wake up in the front porch to hell?

4. Frequency and weight—while spiritism is not mentioned often in the bible, where it is mentioned, the utmost weight or gravity is placed upon this issue (see 1 above).

5. Effect on other doctrines—pull out a book on bible doctrine and you will see how EVERY doctrine is undermined by the notion of people getting trapped here. For example, the biblical doctrine of hope is hopelessly destroyed by this belief. Hope is certainty regarding our future glory—how can one enjoy this basic fruit of the atonement when the fearful prospect of possibly being trapped here is hanging over our heads? Hope is not only an important biblical doctrine, but it is also crucial for a healthy emotional state. Another example is the believers union with Christ—we are in Christ, and indissolubly united with the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. We are already in heaven with Jesus, in a very real sense (Col.3:3). Our union with Jesus is unbreakable, and it is the hub from which all other spiritual blessings flow. What does it say about that union, if we can be separated from Christ indefinitely in a paranormal gutter-world…Satan’s home turf? The same corrosive effects occur to many other biblical doctrines. Please check it out for yourself….it may cast a whole new light on this discussion.

6. The consensus of Christians (past and present)—from the early church fathers who railed against the same pagan Gnosticism as we do today, up until today, the monolithic consensus of the doctors of the church has been that death ushers everyone immediately into their eternal destiny. I do not know of a single judicious theologian, in 2,000 years of church history, who has believed in ghosts—death has always been seen as certain entry into either eternal life or eternal death. Are we so foolish to ignore their collective wisdom?

7. Effect on personal and church life—how can you live with joy inexpressible when you are speaking to demons, and are being demonically oppressed?  Because the spirit realm is the God ordained temporary home of most of the fallen angels (rest already in hell), then when people summon spirits they immediately find themselves playing in Satan’s sandbox…and they are trespassing, which gives the demonic legal right to attach and attack. Since the notion of ghosts is so hostile to all that we call holy, then belief/speaking to the dead seriously undermines the stability of a Christian’s spiritual foundation—like a three legged table, it would not take much a “bump” to cause them to crash. As I mentioned, this belief is extremely corrosive to all it comes in contact with—other orthodox beliefs held side-by-side with it, will tend to be affected by it, and not vice versa. Kind of like when a Christian marries a non-Christian, the latter tends to pull the Christian down…having a corrosive effect on their spirituality.

The Seven Trumpets

I’ve had a few supporters and friends ask about the “7 Seals/Trumpets” and if it is a real biblical event to come. This was provoked  due to watching the TV show Supernatural. Below are small explanations and or info on the matter broken down by each trumpet. This is a cue for the Apocalypse  to begin after or shortly after I believe. The book of Revelations is the 66 book in the bible but I personally don’t know if that has any relations to the number 666.

Associated with this wrath, seven angels appeared before John with seven trumpets. One by one, each angel sounded his trumpet. And as each trumpet sounded, it brought the plagues of the anger of God and the Lamb. Spiritually, this wrath of God began long ago and has continued up to the present day. It is still continuing and will rise to a crescendo at the apex of the reign of the beast who is still to come. And when it does, All these events will become physical, proving once again that in God all things go in pairs by opposites.

The first angel blew his trumpet and as soon as the mysterious notes sounded, hail and fire, mixed with blood, were dropped on the earth; a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of all trees, and every blade of grass was burnt. See Rev. 8:7

In reading these visions, remember that two fulfillments are always involved. One is spiritual, the other is literal. As these trumpets sound, spiritual warfare, catastrophe and violence sweep the earth, taking away the peace from a third of its people. At the very end, John's spiritual visions will invert and become physical -- providing a literal reality to his words. This is true of all the visions listed in the Book of Revelation's pages. In most cases, only the spiritual parts of these visions are explored. Their final physical realites are self-explanatory.

The second angel blew his trumpet, and it was as though a great mountain, all on fire, had been dropped into the sea; a third of the sea turned into blood, a third of all the living things in the sea were killed, and a third of the all ships were destroyed. See Rev. 8:8

The sea is the people. It is also the universe -- the lower waters. The mountain of fire is rage and the hatred which drives it.

The third angel blew his trumpet, and a huge star fell from the sky, burning like a ball of fire, and it fell on a third of all rivers and springs. This was the star called Wormwood, and a third of all water on earth turned bitter with wormwood, so that a great many people died from drinking it. See Rev. 8:10

 Out of the rage come philosophies of anger which seduce the mind and hypnotise the wicked into committing terrible sins. We have witnessed this in the teachings of Marx, Trotsky and Lenin and the raving philosophies of human extermination that flowed from the writings of Adolph Hitler. More of this antichrist wormwood is now stirring up a great violence in the Middle East.

Jesus told His disciples, "I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning." (Luke 10:18). The draconic source of the world's wormwood is made clear in this passage.

The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that the light went out of a third of them and for a third of the day there was no illumination. The same was true of the night.

 The Gospel will be banned. The Bible will be declared outlaw and burned. The churches of Christ will be expelled and the borders of the dragon's lands, a third of the earth, will be sealed to prevent the message of Christ's salvation from coming in.

John heared the sound of an eagle calling aloud as it flew high over his head, 'Trouble, trouble, trouble, for all the people on earth at the sound of the other three trumpets which the three angels are going to blow." See Rev. 8:12

When the fifth angel blew his trumpet, the first of the three great troubles heralded by this eagle came to pass.

John, in his vision, saw a star that had fallen from heaven on to the earth, and this fallen star was given the key to the shaft leading down to the Abyss. When he unlocked the shaft of the Abyss, smoke poured up out of the Abyss like the smoke from a massive furnace so that the sun and the sky were darkened by it. Out of the smoke dropped locusts which were given the powers that scorpions have on earth: they were forbidden to harm any fields or crops or trees and told only to attack the wicked -- those who were without God's seal on their foreheads. See Rev. 9:1

Here is a  reference to the mark of God and baptism in Christ. Anyone who has been baptized will be made immune to the troubles that flow from the trumpet of the fifth angel. This is a key argument in favor of infant baptism. The infants in Egypt whose houses had been washed in the blood of the paschal lamb were spared the ravages of the Avenger at the time of the Exodus. For more on this, refer to Chapter 13 of the 'Clock of God'. This vision in John's sequence initiates the 'three great troubles' which terminate the final moments of the millennium and which precede the arrival of the day of Armageddon.

The locusts which descend on the earth from the smoke pouring out of the Abyss had as their emperor, the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is 'Abaddon', or 'Apollyon' (the destroyer) in Greek. That was the first of the troubles; there are still two more to come. We will see further on that when the shaft leading to this Abyss is unlocked, accompanying all this smoke will be the re-emergence of the dragon who Christ had kept locked there throughout the millennium. Freed, he will come up in fury and mobilize all the nations for war.

When the sixth angel blows his trumpet, the second trouble will begin to occur. John heard a voice come out of the four horns of the golden altar in front of God. It spoke to the sixth angel with the trumpet, and said, 'Release the four angels that are chained up at the great river Euphrates'. These four angels had been put there for this specific moment in time, and now they are to be released to destroy a third of the human race. John was told that this army measured twice ten thousand times ten thousand mounted men. This is the fourth Persian empire, the beast with iron teeth that Daniel spoke about, and it will hurl at the West a huge force. See Rev. 9:13

As this massive army began to build, seven thunderclaps were heard to speak, (see Rev. 10:4) but the angel forbid John from revealing their words. These thunderclaps are words of prophesy, but they are reserved for the final age, and so their messages cannot be revealed until their own time has come. The words that these thunderclaps have been instructed to blare out are already beginning to sound and be heard -- but they are muffled by distance, so few are paying attention. It is certain that one of these thunderclaps was Lucia de los Santos of Fatima whose three prophecies pointing to the imminence of the end times captivated the entire Christian world for several decades, but faded quickly from sight at the very heighth of its fulfillment, blanketed by the elders and disinterest.

Please remember this is how I perceive things when doing my blogs. Just my humble opinion and I have a right to that despite my religious faith is Jesus. I don’t have a denomination as they divide people. Please stop putting me on a pedestal that I must adhere to if I choose not to hide my faith. NO WHERE does it say you have to be free of sin to do what I do. I became Ordained ONLY to further and support my studies. I am not nor will be in any leadership like my father Rev. Auld. I have a past with mistakes. So? Last time I checked Christ didn’t die on the cross of Calvary in vain.

Thank you again for reading my wee little blogs and the kind comments. Feel free to comment and discuss. You can disagree, it’s fine. I wont however, tolerate any type of bullying. Debating in a civil manner is just fine.I also take prayer requests that my fellow friend and Pastor prays over daily. If you are in need of help or have any questions that is ok too.

I also do Skype meetings for people who would like me to explain the possible dangers Demon/Ghost Hunting to they’re teams. No charge of course, but if anyone would like that service please let me know and we’ll set up a time that works for you. Just give me 2 days notice.

Have a fabulous week and get ready for next Sunday as I go over each signs of the Plague as presented in the Bible. Red Rivers, Locus etc.......Until then have a fabulous we my friends.

Wrtitten by Jennifer L. Auld
Biblicaldemonologist@gmail.com

Demons Are Real And They Can't Be Controlled

I have to discuss some topics that are graphic in nature but it has to be done in hopes it would help at least one person...some of this Blog will contain some disturbing content. Consider yourself forewarned.

We have people attempting to summon Incubus/Succubus demons for sexual pleasure and/or companionship. This is not safe and you will regret what you open up. Incubus/Succubus given legal ground are very hard to get rid of. We have people attempting Black Magic, Summoning Practitioners are fooled as they believe demons can be controlled and will do their bidding. The fact is these demons ONLY OBEY SATAN! Listen to me please....Do not be fooled. Do not let your curiosity get the better of your judgment! Seriously.....once you open yourself up to that it becomes very real. In a moment I will have scripture for you to read for yourself. I do not waiver outside of the Gospel, it's God's Word. Our instructions for life. No one is perfect. That is not what this is about. I'm receiving disturbing information and it concerns me. I will never say names of who confides in me or the church so this is my only way in doing so. Let Jesus Christ help you with any problems. There is no need to summon any dark force I beg of you. You will regret it. They can NOT be safely called upon.


There are many examples in the Bible that validate these demonic beings are very much real and the time they have is numbered. This is why I personally believe in my humble opinion the 2nd coming must be somewhat near. There are still more events that need to pass, but that's a whole other subject I can go over in another blog. It's not just the book of Revelations that discusses demons and what they're true nature is.

The following are verses from the Bible which speak about the enemy and his ways. There are more but here are many examples per request of a reader.

1 Peter 5:8 ESV / 155 helpful votes 

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

1 John 3:8 ESV / 101 helpful votes

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

John 8:44 ESV / 73 helpful votes

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

2 Corinthians 11:14 ESV / 61 helpful votes 

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

2 Corinthians 11:3 ESV / 58 helpful votes 

But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

John 10:10 ESV / 56 helpful votes

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Revelation 12:9 ESV / 47 helpful votes 

And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

Romans 16:20 ESV / 40 helpful votes 

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Helpful Not Helpful 

2 Corinthians 4:4 ESV / 31 helpful votes

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Luke 10:18 ESV / 30 helpful votes 

And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Matthew 16:23 ESV / 27 helpful votes 

But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Ephesians 6:12 ESV / 25 helpful votes 

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 4:27 ESV / 24 helpful votes 

And give no opportunity to the devil.
James 4:7 ESV / 23 helpful votes 

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Revelation 20:2 ESV / 20 helpful votes 

And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

I wish everyone a fabulous week. God Bless.

Written by Jennifer Auld

How Serious is the Belief in Trapped Spirits?

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann    

My interest in the theological issue of spiritism accelerated like a rocket when I realized the titanic With the American spiritual landscape littered with the rubbish of all manner of crazy ideas and beliefs, it has the dubious distinction of being the arch-heterodox belief of the day…that is my opinion and I am prepared to defend that sentiment.

The first argument is simple but profound: fifty percent of Americans now believe in trapped spirits. HALF—ONE OUT OF EVERY TWO!—OF THE POPULATION HAS EMBRACED THIS ERROR…HIGHER WITH THE YOUNGER CROWD…AND GROWING FAST EVERY DAY.  No need to drone on here, but what other specific belief error comes anywhere near that quantity of people? Number of people affected should certainly be considered when determining if an issue merits being called a crucial issue, should it not?  Spiritism is a crucial issue which must be passionately addressed because more people have embraced this erroneous belief than any other heterodox belief.

Certainly one can believe in ghosts and still be saved, because Scripture clearly teaches justification by faith alone (Rom. 4; 5:1) However, the ability to discern the relative importance of theological/spiritual beliefs is vital for effective Christian life and ministry. The relative importance of certain issues/beliefs can fall within four categories. 1. Absolutes define the core beliefs of the Christian faith…what one must believe to be saved (the belief in absolute truth is a distinct issue); 2. Convictions, while not core beliefs, usually have significant impact on the health and effectiveness of the church and individuals; 3. Opinions, are less clear issues and are usually not worthy of dividing over; 4. Questions are issues which are currently unsettled. These criteria, and the seven below, are designed to help sort through the myriad of issues we face by categorizing them into four distinct levels of seriousness…hope they will help you in the future with thinking through the significance of other issues as well.

Where an issue falls within these categories should be determined by weighing the cumulative force of at least seven considerations: 1. Biblical clarity; 2. Relevance to the character of God; 3. Relevance to the essence of the gospel; 4. Biblical frequency and significance (how often in Scripture it is taught and what weight Scripture places upon it); 5. Effect on other doctrines; 6. Consensus among Christians (past and present); 7. Effect on personal and church life…all the categories should be considered collectively in determining how important an issue is to the Christian faith. The ability to rightly discern the difference between core doctrines and legitimately disputable matters will keep the church from either compromising important truth or needlessly dividing over peripheral issues. (pg. 2502 ESV Study Bible, emp. added)

In a sense, the main goal of my book is to provide the cumulative evidence (mentioned above and other) to argue that the issue of trapped spirits lies within the realm of convictions—see above for distinctiveness of four categories of issues…#2. While a biblically accurate belief regarding spiritism is not a core/absolute issue (not necessary for salvation…belief in the deity of Christ is an example of a belief that is a core issue), it is an exceedingly important conviction or teaching of the bible. Belief in ghosts, and attempting communication with them, can do serious damage to the church and to an individual’s spirituality. I should hasten to add, it IS doing serious damage right now. Let us look at the relative importance the bible gives to this issue, and the ramifications for the spiritual and emotional health of people by looking at these seven points.

1. Biblical clarity—using accepted principles of hermeneutics, Deuteronomy 18:9-14 and Leviticus 20:6-8, 27 are they key texts relative to communication with the dead (this is a distinct issue which is beyond the scope of this newsletter, but I devoted an entire article on this), and they are clear and explicit regarding the exceptional wickedness of spiritism. God as Judge used Israel as executioner of the Canaanites due to the latter’s occult practices which included spiritism. The land had become so defiled by this and other occult practices that it was vomiting them out. As I mentioned, using sound interpretive principles, it is abundantly clear that these texts have priority over all other “ghost” related texts. Then, when we look at these texts, we see that they are transgenerational in their authority. As far as biblical clarity, these texts are as clear as clear can get. There should be no debate if you under Christ’s Lordship. Remember that Jesus Himself quoted from Deut. three times when countering Satan’s climactic temptations in the wilderness.

2. Relevance to the character of God—the notion of ghosts casts a shadow over God’s omnipotence, and goodness (actually ALL the attributes of God are frontally assaulted by this notion)…what kind of God would leave deceased babies here as spirit babies? That “God” would be Satan-like. Spritism implies that the Lord is not sovereign over His creation—a godlette or McGod. “They died so quickly their souls got stuck here.” Are we to believe that manner of death can snatch believers out of God’s hands? God forbid! I could go on and on here…

3. Relevance on the essence of the gospel—the perfection of the Person and work of Christ is seriously undermined and impugned if we believe that some people get trapped when they die. What are we saved from, if death is NOT a doorway to heaven?  A McSalvation at best. While it does not utterly ruin the atonement, as denial of the deity of Christ does, it comes perilously close to it. Was Jesus’s salvation perfectly efficacious or not? Is Jesus the Son of Man, the conquering Warrior over evil and death, or not? Is it good news to believe that God’s blood was shed, only to wake up in the front porch to hell?

4. Frequency and weight—while spiritism is not mentioned often in the bible, where it is mentioned, the utmost weight or gravity is placed upon this issue (see 1 above).

5. Effect on other doctrines—pull out a book on bible doctrine and you will see how EVERY doctrine is undermined by the notion of people getting trapped here. For example, the biblical doctrine of hope is hopelessly destroyed by this belief. Hope is certainty regarding our future glory—how can one enjoy this basic fruit of the atonement when the fearful prospect of possibly being trapped here is hanging over our heads? Hope is not only an important biblical doctrine, but it is also crucial for a healthy emotional state. Another example is the believers union with Christ—we are in Christ, and indissolubly united with the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. We are already in heaven with Jesus, in a very real sense (Col.3:3). Our union with Jesus is unbreakable, and it is the hub from which all other spiritual blessings flow. What does it say about that union, if we can be separated from Christ indefinitely in a paranormal gutter-world…Satan’s home turf? The same corrosive effects occur to many other biblical doctrines. Please check it out for yourself….it may cast a whole new light on this discussion.

6. The consensus of Christians (past and present)—from the early church fathers who railed against the same pagan Gnosticism as we do today, up until today, the monolithic consensus of the doctors of the church has been that death ushers everyone immediately into their eternal destiny. I do not know of a single judicious theologian, in 2,000 years of church history, who has believed in ghosts—death has always been seen as certain entry into either eternal life or eternal death. Are we so foolish to ignore their collective wisdom?

7. Effect on personal and church life—how can you live with joy inexpressible when you are speaking to demons, and are being demonically oppressed?  Because the spirit realm is the God ordained temporary home of most of the fallen angels (rest already in hell), then when people summon spirits they immediately find themselves playing in Satan’s sandbox…and they are trespassing, which gives the demonic legal right to attach and attack. Since the notion of ghosts is so hostile to all that we call holy, then belief/speaking to the dead seriously undermines the stability of a Christian’s spiritual foundation—like a three legged table, it would not take much a “bump” to cause them to crash. As I mentioned, this belief is extremely corrosive to all it comes in contact with—other orthodox beliefs held side-by-side with it, will tend to be affected by it, and not vice versa. Kind of like when a Christian marries a non-Christian, the latter tends to pull the Christian down…having a corrosive effect on their spirituality.

How Serious is the Belief in Trapped Spirits?

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann    

My interest in the theological issue of spiritism accelerated like a rocket when I realized the titanic With the American spiritual landscape littered with the rubbish of all manner of crazy ideas and beliefs, it has the dubious distinction of being the arch-heterodox belief of the day…that is my opinion and I am prepared to defend that sentiment.

The first argument is simple but profound: fifty percent of Americans now believe in trapped spirits. HALF—ONE OUT OF EVERY TWO!—OF THE POPULATION HAS EMBRACED THIS ERROR…HIGHER WITH THE YOUNGER CROWD…AND GROWING FAST EVERY DAY.  No need to drone on here, but what other specific belief error comes anywhere near that quantity of people? Number of people affected should certainly be considered when determining if an issue merits being called a crucial issue, should it not?  Spiritism is a crucial issue which must be passionately addressed because more people have embraced this erroneous belief than any other heterodox belief.

Certainly one can believe in ghosts and still be saved, because Scripture clearly teaches justification by faith alone (Rom. 4; 5:1) However, the ability to discern the relative importance of theological/spiritual beliefs is vital for effective Christian life and ministry. The relative importance of certain issues/beliefs can fall within four categories. 1.Absolutes define the core beliefs of the Christian faith…what one must believe to be saved (the belief in absolute truth is a distinct issue); 2.Convictions, while not core beliefs, usually have significant impact on the health and effectiveness of the church and individuals; 3. Opinions, are less clear issues and are usually not worthy of dividing over; 4. Questions are issues which are currently unsettled. These criteria, and the seven below, are designed to help sort through the myriad of issues we face by categorizing them into four distinct levels of seriousness…hope they will help you in the future with thinking through the significance of other issues as well.

Where an issue falls within these categories should be determined by weighing the cumulative force of at least seven considerations: 1. Biblical clarity; 2. Relevance to the character of God; 3. Relevance to the essence of the gospel; 4. Biblical frequency and significance (how often in Scripture it is taught and what weight Scripture places upon it); 5. Effect on other doctrines; 6. Consensus among Christians (past and present); 7. Effect on personal and church life…all the categories should be considered collectively in determining how important an issue is to the Christian faith. The ability to rightly discern the difference between core doctrines and legitimately disputable matters will keep the church from either compromising important truth or needlessly dividing over peripheral issues.(pg. 2502 ESV Study Bible, emp. added)

In a sense, the main goal of my book is to provide the cumulative evidence (mentioned above and other) to argue that the issue of trapped spirits lies within the realm of convictions—see above for distinctiveness of four categories of issues…#2. While a biblically accurate belief regarding spiritism is not a core/absolute issue (not necessary for salvation…belief in the deity of Christ is an example of a belief that is a core issue), it is an exceedingly important convictionor teaching of the bible. Belief in ghosts, and attempting communication with them, can do serious damage to the church and to an individual’s spirituality. I should hasten to add, it IS doing serious damage right now. Let us look at the relative importance the bible gives to this issue, and the ramifications for the spiritual and emotional health of people by looking at these seven points.

1. Biblical clarity—using accepted principles of hermeneutics, Deuteronomy 18:9-14 and Leviticus 20:6-8, 27 are they key texts relative to communication with the dead (this is a distinct issue which is beyond the scope of this newsletter, but I devoted an entire article on this), and they are clear and explicit regarding the exceptional wickedness of spiritism. God as Judge used Israel as executioner of the Canaanites due to the latter’s occult practices which included spiritism. The land had become so defiled by this and other occult practices that it was vomiting them out. As I mentioned, using sound interpretive principles, it is abundantly clear that these texts have priority over all other “ghost” related texts. Then, when we look at these texts, we see that they are transgenerational in their authority. As far as biblical clarity, these texts are as clear as clear can get. There should be no debate if you under Christ’s Lordship. Remember that Jesus Himself quoted from Deut. three times when countering Satan’s climactic temptations in the wilderness.

2. Relevance to the character of God—the notion of ghosts casts a shadow over God’s omnipotence, and goodness (actually ALL the attributes of God are frontally assaulted by this notion)…what kind of God would leave deceased babies here as spirit babies? That “God” would be Satan-like. Spritism implies that the Lord is not sovereign over His creation—a godlette or McGod. “They died so quickly their souls got stuck here.” Are we to believe that manner of death can snatch believers out of God’s hands? God forbid! I could go on and on here…

3. Relevance on the essence of the gospel—the perfection of the Person and work of Christ is seriously undermined and impugned if we believe that some people get trapped when they die. What are we saved from, if death is NOT a doorway to heaven?  A McSalvation at best. While it does not utterly ruin the atonement, as denial of the deity of Christ does, it comes perilously close to it. Was Jesus’s salvation perfectly efficacious or not? Is Jesus the Son of Man, the conquering Warrior over evil and death, or not? Is it good news to believe that God’s blood was shed, only to wake up in the front porch to hell?

4. Frequency and weight—while spiritism is not mentioned often in the bible, where it is mentioned, the utmost weight or gravity is placed upon this issue (see 1 above).

5. Effect on other doctrines—pull out a book on bible doctrine and you will see how EVERY doctrine is undermined by the notion of people getting trapped here. For example, the biblical doctrine ofhope is hopelessly destroyed by this belief. Hope is certainty regarding our future glory—how can one enjoy this basic fruit of the atonement when the fearful prospect of possibly being trapped here is hanging over our heads? Hope is not only an important biblical doctrine, but it is also crucial for a healthy emotional state. Another example is the believers union with Christ—we are in Christ, and indissolubly united with the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. We are already in heaven with Jesus, in a very real sense (Col.3:3). Our union with Jesus is unbreakable, and it is the hub from which all other spiritual blessings flow. What does it say about that union, if we can be separated from Christ indefinitely in a paranormal gutter-world…Satan’s home turf? The same corrosive effects occur to many other biblical doctrines. Please check it out for yourself….it may cast a whole new light on this discussion.

6. The consensus of Christians (past and present)—from the early church fathers who railed against the same pagan Gnosticism as we do today, up until today, the monolithic consensus of the doctors of the church has been that death ushers everyone immediately into their eternal destiny. I do not know of a single judicious theologian, in 2,000 years of church history, who has believed in ghosts—death has always been seen as certain entry into either eternal life or eternal death. Are we so foolish to ignore their collective wisdom?

7. Effect on personal and church life—how can you live with joy inexpressible when you are speaking to demons, and are being demonically oppressed?  Because the spirit realm is the God ordained temporary home of most of the fallen angels (rest already in hell), then when people summon spirits they immediately find themselves playing in Satan’s sandbox…and they are trespassing, which gives the demonic legal right to attach and attack. Since the notion of ghosts is so hostile to all that we call holy, then belief/speaking to the dead seriously undermines the stability of a Christian’s spiritual foundation—like a three legged table, it would not take much a “bump” to cause them to crash. As I mentioned, this belief is extremely corrosive to all it comes in contact with—other orthodox beliefs held side-by-side with it, will tend to be affected by it, and not vice versa. Kind of like when a Christian marries a non-Christian, the latter tends to pull the Christian down…having a corrosive effect on their spirituality.