Ghosts
& Christianity
Back to: Ghosts
in Religion
Ghosts can be found within religion and Christianity.
Christianity, especially fundamental christianity, does not
believe in the existence of ghosts, due to the teaching of an eternal hell
. Fundamentalists
believe that people cannot become ghosts, as upon
death, one
will either find their self in either a state of bliss called, heaven,
or in an eternal place of suffering taught as, hell. Therefore,
there is no place left for a ghost to exist, as teachers of the religion do not
recognize any biblical passages stating to the contrary. Amazingly, Judaism teaches the existence of ghosts and ghost possession
, in stark
contrast to the religion that has its' roots in some of the
same
Catholicism, the forerunner to most other christian sects
and denominations does allow for the existence of ghosts, as it teaches a place
that exists between heaven and hell called purgatory. Purgatory is believed to be a place
for souls who die in a state of grace to go through temporary punishment as a
cleansing process, eventually preparing them for heaven. This idea of a
cleansing process is paralleled somewhat by the teachings of Judaism; and an
offshoot
of Catholicism,
Mormonism, teaches the eventual redemption of all
of mankind.
The Catholic idea of purgatory
has been described often as a place of intense, painful fire, though it
better metaphorically symbolizes the inner cleansing of a person,
as going through a refiner's fire. Roman Catholics believe the fate
of a person in purgatory can be affected by the actions of those on earth.
Perhaps, purgatory's cleansing process
is similar to how ghosts suffer, remaining earthbound, interacting
with the living, and in a state of trauma until they can move on unto peace
and continue their life journey.