Pursuit of the Paranormal: One Christian's Perspective, Part 1

This is a two part post examining the relationship of Christianity with the paranormal, especially paranormal investigation.  Part 1 deals with acknowledging the existence of the paranormal.  Part 2 will look at some of the actual practices associated with the paranormal and explore if active involvement is forbidden for Christians.

Part 1: The Acknowledgment of the Paranormal

Many people believe that study or interest in the paranormal is antithetical to Christianity.  That couldn’t be further from the truth.  By definition, belief in God and Jesus is belief in the paranormal, that is outside the realm of the “natural” world.  The Bible is filled with accounts of paranormal activity; visits by angles, possession by demons, Satan interfering in the lives of people, and even references to spirits.  Even the most ardent branch of Christianity, the Roman Catholic Church, is pre-eminent in the belief of spirit encounters; they are the only established denomination with clergy specifically trained in exorcism.  On the other end of the Christian spectrum is the evangelicals who often are some of the first to be accusatory of paranormal research as sin.  At the same time they are the strongest adherents to the spiritual gifts Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 12:

7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.

Prophecy, miracles, speaking in tongues!  Are these themselves not paranormal?  The essential element here, is that Christianity should not be considered opposite of belief in the paranormal, and that they actually blend very well together.

Here is another, simple perspective.  Science cannot describe or prove the existence of the soul or spirit, that which in essence is core of human life.  Without going into the agonizing debate on what constitutes life, Christians, as well as many other religions, understand that the spirit or soul of a person exits the physical body at the time of death.  Much of the time paranormal investigation and research is nothing more than examination into experiences relative to these same spirits.  In a way, paranormal investigation is almost an affirmation of the Judeo-Christian view on life.  The only limiting factor is that it is possible to pursue these activities without claiming that Jesus is the Lord, and that only through Him can any person be welcomed into heaven (John 3:16 and 14:6, Acts 4:12), which is required to be called a Christian.

Patrick Holmes