1. The Bible
The Old Testament draws a distinction between mediums and necromancy. As we have seen in earlier posts, a medium is one who has a "spirit of the dead" or a "spirit from the ritual pit" or a "knowing spirit". It is this spirit that gives the medium its power and knowledge. Necromancy is the actual practice of contacting the dead. All of this falls under what the Bible calls "divination"- the means of acquiring secret or future knowledge through various forms. The types of divination condemned in Scripture are necromancy, astrology, rhabdomancy (a diving rod which people consulted, Ez. 8:17; Hos. 4:12), hepatoscopy (examining the liver of animals, in which the liver acts as an omen), the sacrifice of children by burning them in the fire, and teraphim (some type of idol or household god).
Both the Old and New Testament have strong words regarding contacting the dead and using spirit mediums.
“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God."- Leviticus 19:31
“If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people."- Leviticus 20:6
“When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, ..."- Deuteronomy 18:9-14
"Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy,drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."- Galatians 5:19-21
"But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”- Revelation 21:8
There is an interesting narrative in Acts 16 which connects divination with demon possession. "And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying." (Acts 16:16). The phrase "spirit of divination" is literally "a spirit, a python." The background of this phrase comes from Greek mythology. I don't have the space to go into the development of the legend, because it is lengthy, but basically a "python spirit' became associated with a serpent who was an oracle inspiring spirit. As etymology progressed, the phrase "python spirit" became associated with a demon possessed person involved with divination. So here, this slave girl is possessed with a demon that gives her the powers for her oracles.
2. The Paranormal
As we have just seen, attempts to contact the dead go way back in history. However, in the 19th century, interest in spirit mediums and contacting the dead became very popular. In fact, even though you may know him for his Sherlock Holmes book, Sir Author Conan Doyle was an avid spiritualist who had great interest in seances and spirit mediums. The rise of interest in these types of phenomena in the UK and America can be attributed to three sisters from New York- the Fox sisters- who are considered to be the founders of modern Spiritualism. The sisters, from oldest to youngest were Leah, Margaret, and Kate. Basically, the two younger sisters used "rappings" to convince their older sister and others that they were talking to spirits. Kate and Margaret eventually became well know mediums. Following in their wake were hundreds of people who rose up and began to say that they too could communicate with spirits. They were eventually exposed as frauds, and even decried Spiritualism and were regretful that such a movement was started because of them. But it was too late, the movement had a life of its own now. Despite their confession, there are still some who consider that the only explanation for some of their cases is the paranormal.
This causes us to doubt the truthfulness of much modern day mediums. While they should be looked at with skepticism, based on what Scripture says, we, as Christians, must not rule out the fact that there are indeed genuine mediums out there, and that contacting the dead through seance can be done. As far as the modern paranormal scene is concerned, both necromancy and spirit mediums are considered real. In fact, spirit mediums will often accompany paranormal investigators on their "ghost hunt". The hope is that the spirit medium will be able to communicate with any spirits there, relaying information that might be needed to help determine how the ghosts can be helped. The belief of those in the paranormal field are similar to those in the Bible. Each considers the medium to be in contact with some sort of external spirit. The difference is that where Scripture condemns such a practice, paranormal investigators approve of it, and even see it as a vital part of what they do.
3. Parapsychology
Scientific investigation into mediumship and necromancy have been difficult because many have been proven to be frauds, or have no paranormal powers whatsoever. However, there are other cases that have shown genuine paranormal phenomena. In those cases, parapsychologist say that they can be categorized as follows:
1) Some cases fit the evidence of ESP. The medium is actually not in contact with a spirit, but rather a person who knows information about said person being contacted. It could also be ESP in relation to contacting a person in the past. Based on the laws of physics, time, and relativity, this is actually possible.
2) Super ESP. Super ESP is a theory that says that someone can move anywhere in the world to gather information paranormally from people's minds and object, and to know where to find these minds and objects (much like Professor X from the X-men when he is hooked up to Cerebro), so that they may take the data and impersonate someone who has died. Yet there have been no studies to confirm the actual existence of Super ESP.
3) The actual contacting of the dead. There are some cases that cannot be explained by simple ESP. Since Super ESP cannot be proven the only other explanation is that actual contact is being made. This seems to be the better option.
Closing Remarks
By now, you should see a common thread between all three fields- they acknowledge that in some cases, the phenomena is real. But what are we to make of their differences? Granted, I think some mediumship can be explained by ESP, but not all of it. Also, as Christians, how should we view the current phenomena of contacting the dead? That is what I wish to address in closing out this post.
First, when we look at the Scriptures (especially the OT ones) in their context, the prohibitions are aimed at a practice that was meant to undermine Yahweh's moral authority and credibility. In other words, the ancient practices sought to gain information outside of God, which meant that God was either incompetent or untrustworthy.
Second, we have to ask, is this the motive of modern parapsychologists? Their motive seems to be quite different. Rather than seeking to show God as not credible, many are seeking to show that modern mediumship proves the existence of God and the supernatural, and that they are trying to gain a deeper empirical understanding of the nature of man and life after death.
Third, we must evaluate this and see that even if their motive is different, does that make it right? While I am all for the field of parapsychology and trying to use scientific research to gain more insight to some of these phenomena, the Biblical prohibition seems to indicate that such things in and of themselves are not only morally wrong, but are prohibited for our protection. The problem with holding a seance, using a Ouija board, channeling a spirit, automatic writing, etc. is that there is great danger present. There is much about the other side that we do not know, and opening ourselves up to it in a way that is outside of God's will can open us up to all kinds of evil, malevolent beings. Therefore it seems to me, that no matter the motive, the end goal of contacting the dead is still to get information, or why even do it? In the end, it is this seeking of information outside of God that is condemned. He has given us what we need to know about the supernatural in His Word. To illicit information outside of that, no matter the motive, is an affront to God. In saying this, I am not condemning parapsychology and its research, because much of it is beneficial. What I am warning against is the intentional contact of the dead and use of a medium to gain knowledge. In Scripture, it is the practice itself, not just he motive behind it, that is condemned. This means that Christians should avoid using mediums and any type of tool to contact the dead. If God wishes for you to hear from a ghost, then like in the case of C.S. Lewis, J.B. Phillips, and others, He will do it for His end and for His purposes. We should not go outside of God to seek those experiences on our own. In the end, that is what God is condemning.