Is there anybody out there...?

Here's my October magazine article:

I love showing people around the church and talking to them about its history and also what's going on in the present. One of the most common questions from adults as well as children is: “Are there ghosts here?” - an understandable question given the graves that surround the church and probability of people also buried inside the church. But it's not an easy question to answer, at least not in a brief way.

This is because we need to be clear what is meant by the word 'ghost'. It is true that there is a 'spiritual dimension' to the universe in which spiritual beings exist. These beings are either good or evil; they are either obedient to God or they are in rebellion against him (Ephesians 6:12). These spiritual beings can manifest themselves in the world, and we often refer to them by the general terms 'angels' and 'demons' (for more on angels, read the Advent 2019 reflections on this blog). The difficulty comes because evil spiritual beings don't mind lying – they will masquerade as good angels (2 Corinthians 11:14) or even as deceased people.

The term 'ghost' usually refers to the 'souls' or 'spirits' of people who have died, which can appear and even communicate with those who are still living. Thus they are thought to be human rather than spiritual in origin (this is further confused by the common but incorrect view that we become angels when we die). However, there is no such 'limbo' state: “people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Jesus tells us (Matthew 25:31-46) that judgment leads either to an eternity in the presence of God or an eternity cut off from God's presence (which therefore cannot be in the world as God is present in the world). And Jesus' physical resurrection from the dead teaches us that our resurrection will also be physical – he even told his disciples “I am not a ghost!” (Luke 24:39). Humans are 'embodied souls' and 'ensouled bodies' (Genesis 2:7) - the two cannot be separated, that is why Paul teaches that at our resurrection we will receive immortal bodies (1 Corinthians 15:53).

So do ghosts exist? If you mean 'do the spirits of dead people hang around in the world?' then the answer is no. Some might point to mediums who have told them things that were only known by themselves and the loved one as proof that this is indeed the spirit of the dead person communicating. It may be true that no human could know those things but as these beings are supernatural, they have knowledge that humans don't. The medium may indeed be communicating with spiritual beings, but these beings are impersonating humans and must therefore be evil, as God has forbids us from trying to contact the dead (e.g. Leviticus 19:31, Deuteronomy 18:9-12).

Halloween is a time when evil spiritual beings are trivialised and rational people will claim to have seen ghosts or communicated with dead loved ones. There is only one person who has spoken to us after their death, the physically resurrected Jesus, and one of his messages to us is “stop doubting and believe” (John 20:27).

What does it mean to be human?

Here's my article for the August magazine:

A lot of magazines at the moment will be giving advice on how to get the perfect beach-body, although it might be a bit late for this year! We often have a love-hate relationship with our bodies and both those attitudes have their down-sides.

On the one hand our society tends to idolise the body. Body-worshippers, both male and female, can be found at the gym, in the beauty salons, and strutting the streets in their designer clothes. Beauty and physical fitness are seen to be the ideal; we are judged on both and if we fall short of the standard we are deemed less worthy, less love-able than others. At its extreme this leads to designer babies and aborting children with disabilities, but it also shows itself in the social media pre-occupation with selfies, 'likes' 'ops' and 'rates'. Idolising the body leads not only to vanity but also to body shaming and self-esteem issues.

On the other hand there can be a despising of the body where the 'spirit' of a person is seen to be the only authentic 'person' and the body is merely a vehicle for the spirit. In Christian Theology this is known as the heresy of 'Gnosticism' but it is a common belief of Eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, and the New Age beliefs inspired by them. This separation of body and spiritual means that the body can be used and abused in any way particularly if it will 'enhance' the spirit's well-being.

Christianity, however, gets a different perspective on the body from the Bible, and in particular from its key doctrines of creation, incarnation and resurrection. The Creation story in Genesis teaches that God made humans, male and female, as 'ensouled flesh' i.e. as physical bodies infused with his living spirit. Our bodies are essential to our being, so much so that God says that he forms us in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5) and the Psalmist speaks of God knitting and weaving us in our mothers' wombs so we are wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13-16). There is no separation between our bodies and our spirits: we are our bodies as much as we are our spirits.

The incarnation reminds us that not only did God make us to be flesh and blood, but that in Jesus he became human, complete with flesh and blood. Another heresy in the early church said that only Jesus' body was human, while his mind was divine. However, Jesus was like us in every way, flesh and blood (Hebrews 2:14,17) and mind too (Hebrews 4:15). Body and spirit together make up a human being and God affirmed the value of human beings by becoming one!

The resurrection accounts of Jesus make it very clear that he was raised physically and spiritually. Jesus even says to his disciples “Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have” (Luke 24:39). This tells us that we're not waiting for death to release our spirits from our bodies but that we're waiting for our bodies to be renewed to be imperishable, glorious and powerful (1Corinthians 15:42-44). So, whether you're beach-ready or not: love your body, care for your body and worship the God who created your body.