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Who You Gonna Call?

Derby’s new super-hospital is making a chaplain available following reports of a ghostly figure in the building.

Staff at Derby City General hospital, where a £334m building project is ongoing, have reportedly seen a mysterious apparition in the building.

Managers said they took information from staff seriously and were working with the chaplaincy to ease fears.

But they denied any suggestion that an exorcism or similar ceremony was being planned for the hospital.

The Reverend Canon Elaine Jones, an advisor to the bishop of Derby on the paranormal, said she had been asked to visit and investigate the claims.  (read more)

When I first heard this story on the radio, I was mildly amused. Ghosts, who believes in ’em? But it just took a couple of minutes reflection to make me realise that I have no more right to dismiss a sincerely held belief in ghosts as anyone has to dismiss my belief in the risen Christ. Not only that, but this story has hit the British media in a big way and does open up all sorts of opportunities to talk about broader spiritual issues, which can but be a good thing (just like the agnostibus issue).  The problem is that I haven’t a clue what I think about ghosts other than ‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy’ (that’s Hamlet, not the Bible).

5 replies on “Who You Gonna Call?”

A large percentage of Americans claim to be Christian. At the same, many Americans believe in ghosts, even though popular ghost lore is incompatible with Christian teaching about the life, death, and the soul. I’m eager to see more theological reflection on ghost lore. Perhaps I’ll even do it myself.

Please do, Mrs Chaka. Given the profile that ‘ghost stories’ have in the west, we need a thought through response and I’ve not been able to find anything.

Surely as Christians we should believe that evil spirits are at work in the world today, as they were in Jesus’ day. I’m not sure that the Bible is explicit about them inhabiting buildings, but they clearly do inhabit people and animals. So I think we need to take seriously such reports as indicating demonic activity. I’m surprised that someone like you, Eddie, who has worked in Africa does not understand this.

I am glad that C of E bishops don’t ridicule the idea but have advisers about such matters who can investigate them. I trust that Canon Jones is aware of the authority she has in Christ over all powers of evil (indeed which all Christians have, whether approved by a bishop or not, although people without the right experience should be very careful about getting involved), and will be able to deal appropriately with any evil powers that may be involved.

I’ve found when talking to teenagers that asking them about ghosts is a great way of getting into talking about spiritual things. Lots of teenagers fall over themselves to tell you about their or their relatives experiences with ghosts. It’s not hard to move from there onto the possibility of God and what they think.

I’m not sure you need a comprehensive theology on ghosts to be able to talk to others about them. In fact, it’s probably good for us to be able to have a spiritual conversation where we don’t consider ourselves to be the experts. Hey, we might learn something!

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