Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States
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What is the Church’s viewpoint on ghosts? Are there spirits that linger in the world with unfinished business? If they do exist, is there such a thing as a good spirit?

There is no unfinished business after one's death that a spirit can accomplish. The Lord Jesus Christ assured us in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man that no one can continue in any capacity from one realm to the other (Luke 16:19-31). However, there are demonic forces in the world. Several scriptural passages mention these, such as the following: Job 1:6-12, 4:15; Matthew 8:28-34, 12:43-45; Luke 8:26-39; 1 Corinthians 10:20-21; Ephesians 6:10-12; 1 John 4:1-6; Revelation 9:1-7. People worshiping idols and fabricated gods are in Satan's clutches. Satan is the master deceiver and uses his power of deception to lure people away from the truth. The Lord Jesus Christ clearly told us: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). Everything else is a lie and the father of lies is Satan (John 8:44). Spirits are either angelic or demonic. Angels are selected messengers, ministers of fire (Hebrews 1:7) sent by God to certain people with a very specific message. They identify themselves and purpose as did Archangel Raphael with Tobit (Tobit 12:15) and Archangel Gabriel with Zacharias (Luke 1:19). Angels do not merely roam around, and neither do the ghosts of people that have passed away. This is clearly a satanic belief. Satanic spirits are commissioned by Satan to distort the truth about God and create doubt in people's minds. Satan's lies are subtle and smooth. That is why so many people reject the true doctrine and follow strange fables (2 Timothy 4:3; 2 Peter 1:16). We must be guarded by putting on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). As Christians, we ought to be cognizant of the angels and saints and the cloud of witnesses that surround us (Hebrews 12:1-2). Their function is to pray for us and intercede on behalf of God's children. In addition, know that God appoints a guardian angel to each one of us at baptism. This angel is not required to appear to us in any shape or form, but is assigned to accompany us throughout our lives, praying that we follow the Lord Christ, resist temptation, reject evil, live a life of repentance, and grow in virtue. Not only that, but the Holy Spirit Himself dwells in us (1 Corinthians 6:19) by the power of the Holy Mysteries of the Church. 
 
"You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error" (1 John 4:4-6).
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