Questions and Answers 210 - 214

 

Question 210: I saw this new video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwg3TCt3Xe4) by Fr. Maggos from Annunciation Church in Rochester where he discusses the topic "Are There Ghosts in the Bible?" He emphatically says no, ghosts do not exist. What is your take on this?

Answer: I know nothing of the priest, but the video does a really horrible job treating the subject. In fact, it all comes off as very Protestant. I will treat this subject in a much more in-depth fashion hopefully in the near future, so I won't get into all the details here, but this subject is a much bigger subject than what is presented here, and only shows me that he has done extremely little to no research on the subject. First of all, ghosts are mentioned in the Bible in one way or another in more places than what he covers here, so he conveniently or ignorantly has skipped most of the best references, but only touched on the more well known passages of the Witch of Endor and the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man. Second, in the Orthodox Church, we have a rich tradition of 2,000 years that has addressed this subject in various ways, so to skip over that and dismiss it while making a conclusion by only concentrating on a few select Scripture passages comes off as very Protestant to me and he barely touches the surface of the issue. Lastly, I will say that even the two examples he brings up show how much ignorance he has of the subject. Regarding the Witch of Endor, there have been various interpretations of that story, and while some Church Fathers dismiss that the ghost of Samuel appeared, not all do, and he doesn't mention that. But even worse, in his interpretation of the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, he completely misquotes what Jesus said. As opposed to what Fr. Maggos teaches, Jesus never said that there is a gulf between this life and the afterlife. I know many people misread this parable to say this, but it shows their unfamiliarity with the parable when they do it. In fact, what Jesus teaches is that there is a gulf between Abraham's Bosom (Paradise) where Lazarus is and Hades where the Rich Man is, so that Lazarus cannot cross over and grant relief to the Rich Man who is asking for it. When the Rich Man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to his relatives to warn them of their fate after death, Jesus denies the request not because it can't be done or because there is a gulf, but because people in Hades have lost all privileges of having their prayers answered, so instead of sending Lazarus, Abraham leaves the relatives of the Rich Man to their own fate. For these and other reasons, I find nothing good about this video, except the background spookiness, which is a plus for at least getting into the "spirit" of Halloween.

Questions and Answers 113 - 117

Psychic Abilities

Question 113: Do you believe psychics have real abilities?

Answers: It depends what you mean by "real abilities." I think a better way to ask the question, and what I think your implying, is whether or not psychics can predict the future. Let's be clear on one thing: many psychics are frauds. However, there are psychics out there who truly believe they have the ability to predict the future. It seems to me that what they do is follow their intuition, but they believe they have more accurate and sensitive intuitions than an average person, which is an ability they believe can be harnessed by anyone with some training, sort of like what they call a sixth sense. When they are wrong about something, they simply shrug it off as a misinterpretation of their intuition. Most psychics would not call this intuition, as they like to speak of it in spiritual terms, but I believe what they are speaking about is intuition. There could possibly be a demonic element as well, where a demon may suggest to them something they know will be true, and in this way deceiving both the psychic and the one getting their reading. This is true for mediums as well. I once knew a former professional psychic who converted to Christianity who explained to me that she now believed that when she was a psychic that it was a mixture of both intuition and demonic. When I was younger I myself was tempted with something that could be described as psychic ability when I was able to predict things that were virtually impossible to predict, but I quickly dispelled it and interpreted it as a demonic temptation.

Questions and Answers 80 - 86

About the Shroud of Turin

Question 80: I am wondering whether you would consider updating the articles you have included on the Shroud of Turin at your Mystagogy site. I’m Orthodox, and even without the Shroud would be a convinced Christian. All I care about is the Truth and that we all bear witness to that as best we can. What I have learned is unless the experts who have thus far examined the Shroud are unqualified or lying (and they are not all Catholics or even all Christians from what I understand), the Shroud is beyond a shadow of a reasonable doubt that described by the NT as enclosing the Body of the Lord after His death. I have from time to time been following the research, so I didn’t always think this, but recent discoveries have changed my mind, and I’m very inspired by how the Lord seems to have left Himself yet another extremely powerful witness to His life, death and resurrection (as well as corroboration of certain records we have of the history of this holy relic). In a skeptical age, I like to see those in the Church taking advantage of this, not joining the skeptics in casting doubt unless that is truly warranted. You were apparently skeptical in 2012? There have been developments since then. Perhaps a fresh look at all the evidence and a 2019 update at your site would be timely and edifying of the faithful, and a fitting challenge to the skeptics.

Questions and Answers 26 - 30

Introducing the Bible to Children

Question 26: Is there a book you can recommend for children to introduce them to the Bible?

Answer: Yes, there are three things I would recommend for children, only because these are what introduced me to the Bible, and every parent should provide these for their children.

1. Superbook (the animated series)

Questions and Answers 14 - 19

Stolen Relics of Saint Anastasia the Pharmakolitria and Saint Polycarp of Smyrna

Question 14: Can you give us an update on the stolen relics of Saint Anastasia and Saint Polycarp in Greece?

Answer: As far as I know, though there have been arrests in the cases, the skull of Saint Anastasia the Pharmakolitria and the right arm of Saint Polycarp of Smyrna remain missing. This is especially sad to me, since Saint Anastasia appeared to my grandfather who was a lamp lighter in her church in Nicomedia when he was a child and healed him of a terminal illness, and through the information provided by the Mystagogy Resource Center the right arm of Saint Polycarp was brought to Romania by Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and venerated by over a million people. These two great treasures are a major loss for Greece, and we should pray for their return.