Chris Cromell - Ghost Hunting: A Biblical Perspective

Ghost Hunting: A BiblicalPerspective

Chris Cromell

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2010 Chris Cromell

All Rights Reserved

Copyright 2010 by Chris Cromell

All rights reserved. No portion of this bookmay be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted inany form or by any means electronic, mechanical, recording,scanning, or other except for brief quotations in criticalreviews or articles, without the prior permission of thepublisher.

Scripture quotations taken from the NewAmerican Standard Bible,
Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,
1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

For my Christian Bloodbrothers

Thanks for the prayers guys

Turn on your television on just about anyweeknight and youll easily be able to find shows that focus on theparanormal. Our culture has become fascinated by the search forproof of the existence of life after death. Ghosts, vampires,monsters and werewolves dominate the airwaves as we try todiscovery the mysteries of the forbidden world. But what does theBible have to say about these things?

Type in ghosts or ghost hunting on anyinternet search engine and youll get anywhere from 500,000 totwenty-two million hits. Fascination with the paranormal haspeaked, and Im concerned that people are dealing with things thatare better left alone.

Ill be the first to admit that I myself haveclosely followed at least one ghost hunting television show overthe last couple of seasons. Ive had a paranormal experience of myown, which is what actually prompted me to get interested in thistype of thing. The more I watch, however, the more I question thewisdom of what it is that these paranormal sleuths are gettinginvolved in. This book examines the verses in the Bible that dealwith ghosts, spirits and demons, and confronts ghost hunting headon.

Its quite obvious that this book is quite smallin size, but it has been written in such a manner as to eliminateany fluff that might normally be present in a work of this kind.The scripture references that have been chosen for examples arequite direct and do not require much additional explanation. Myhope is that you could read the entire book in a single sitting ifyou so desire.

I would like to make one thing clear before wejump into the text. It should be fairly obvious what my actualconclusions are going to be: that the Bible does not condoneactivities that deal with the spirit world. The purpose of thisbook is to simply see exactly what Scripture says about theseactivities.

It is not my purpose to judge those whochose to do these things, nor do I condemn people who considerthemselves to be psychics, sensitives, or mediums. I am not yourpastor, your priest, or your counselor. I am simply someone who iswell versed in the Bible who has chosen to write about what it saysconcerning these things.

Having said that, I would welcome any and allconstructive feedback from you regarding this book. If you havequestions or comments for me, feel free to contact me atchrisjCromell@gmail.com. Ill do my best to get back to youquickly, but please know that my volume of email is quite high andit may take me a short time to respond.

I also will not be very likely to respond to anyemails that are unproductive in nature, such as attacks on mepersonally for writing this book. A work of this nature is bound tobe controversial, and this is something that I knew when I set outto write it, and is certainly something that you knew when youchose to buy the book.

Finally, Id like to let you know that I am hardat work on future volumes in this Perspective series,including UFOs: A Biblical Perspective and Crpytids: A BiblicalPerspective. I hope that youll stick around to see what I have tosay on those two topics.

Chris Cromell

September, 2010

Ghost hunters of the modern era have a varietyof tools at hand to help them in their trade. In the past, lookingfor paranormal activity involved nothing more than hanging aroundcemeteries or reputedly haunted houses late at night, waiting forsomething to make a noise. As in other fields, however,investigators now have modern technology to rely on, all of whichhelps to identify potential spirit activity.

Modern hunts are usually conducted by teams ofinvestigators who operate using an almost business-like model. Theyhave websites and radio shows which allow potential clients tocontact them with formal requests to investigate their hauntings.Some teams even advertise their services in the yellow pages oftelephone directories or on late night talk shows that deal withthe paranormal.

When a family needs help with a haunting, theywill initiate the contact with the ghost hunting group. Members ofthe team will then meet with the victims and learn about theirexperiences, asking for the location of hot-spots or triggers forparanormal activity. The team and client will agree upon a date andtime for the investigation, and then the actual work begins. Somegroups ask that the home or business owners not be present duringthe investigation, while others will allow them to remain onsite incase questions arise. In some instances, the group will call on theclient to get their help in recreating the scenarios that mighthave triggered a haunting.

Equipment such as infrared cameras, audiorecording devices, thermal imagers, electromagnetic fielddetectors, and even wild game trail cameras are placed throughoutthe location to try to capture spirit activity. Full sweeps of thelocation are done with the EMF detectors to get baseline readings,which can be compared to readings that are taken when and if aparanormal event occurs. Pictures are taken of the placement ofobjects in the house before the investigation in case something ismoved by a spirit.

Other tools like white noise generators to helpcapture disembodied voices, dowsing rods, and electronicthermometers are also widely used. In addition, people who considerthemselves to be psychic (or sensitive) are often involved in theinvestigation. It is thought that these mediums help to facilitatecommunication with ghosts.

Some teams actually gather their entire group ina prominent spot in the haunted location and verbally explain whothey are and why they are there. Ive even heard of ghost huntersasking permission of the spirits to conduct their investigation andgiving them detailed descriptions of their upcoming attempts tocontact those who are on the other side.

Most investigations take place in the dark hoursof the night, and when that time arrives the team will begin theirhunt in earnest. The members of the team will split into smallgroups who work together to conduct the investigation. Often theseghost detectives will sit together in a quiet room and askquestions of the spirits, trying to evoke a response that is laterheard upon playback of the audio recording devices. Occasionally, adisembodied voice will answer the investigators in real time,though this type of response is rare.

As the investigation progresses, pictures andvideo are taken in an attempt to catch spirit activity on camera.If the sound of someone singing triggers activity, then either teammembers or the location owners themselves will be asked to sing totry to elicit a response. Many different techniques are used to tryto make something happen.

In some cases, these hauntings are deemed to beof a malevolent nature and the hunt takes on a different nature.Investigators speak in belligerent and insulting tones, doing whatthey can to provoke a response. They will issue challenges to thespirits, taunting them into action. Often in cases like this actualexorcisms or cleansings may be performed using supposedly religiousrituals. Battles on the spiritual level occur as investigatorwrestles with ghosts, fighting to cast out the offending entity.All of this makes for great entertainment in the form oftelevision, books, magazines, movies and websites.