The afterlife seems to be an irresistible lure for those of us on this side of the barrier of death. We long to know if there really is life after death. We dearly miss our dead loved ones, desiring at times to be able to speak to them again. And we wonder whether what our churches tell us about heaven and hell is all true.
Churches aren’t the only ones speaking about the afterlife. A popular branch of the occult, spiritism, claims to be able to cross the divide into the spiritual domain of God and angels, reaching those who have died. In the last few decades, the New Age movement has tapped into these interests. Popularized by actress Shirley MacLaine, the New Age movement teaches that, through a medium or channeler, we can communicate with the spirits of those who have died.1
Outside of the New Age movement, many other people claim to be mediums. A quick survey of the Internet uncovers thousands of websites devoted to contacting the dead. A common claim of spiritists is to be able to communicate with the spirits of dead humans or with other nature spirits or angels through a medium or psychic reader. They use séances, trances, meditation, and telepathy to reach the spirits.2 Another name for this type of activity is necromancy.
Usually spiritism is connected to divination, attempting to learn the future or other secrets. Presumably, the dead have access to knowledge about these things that we in this life cannot know.
Is there anything to spiritism? Can we really contact people who have died? The Bible gives us some clues. First, the Scriptures teach us that we do survive death. The apostle Paul anticipates what happens to the follower of Christ at death:
Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
2 Corinthians 5:6–8
Paul clarifies for us that to live in this life, to be “at home in the body,” means that we are not in heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ. He looks forward to death and being “away from the body and at home with the Lord.” Jesus himself promised life after death in his conversation with a woman whose brother had just died: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (John 11:25–26).
Can mediums communicate with those who have died? The Bible gives only a small bit of evidence that humans can access deceased humans through spiritism. And it is not conclusive evidence. For example, King Saul sought to speak to Samuel the prophet after Samuel had died. Saul solicited a medium to call up Samuel’s spirit:
The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?”
The woman said, “I see a ghostly figure coming up out of the earth.”
“What does he look like?” he asked.
“An old man wearing a robe is coming up,” she said.
Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.
Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”
1 Samuel 28:13–15
We cannot be sure that Samuel’s spirit actually appeared to Saul. It may have been a demonic impersonation of Samuel intending to deceive Saul. We do not have enough evidence from the Bible to confirm occult access to the spirit world. Nor can we be sure that demonic activity is behind necromancy. The Bible strongly warns people to stay away from such practices, especially those who follow Jesus Christ. We should not seek to learn secrets or what the future holds through these occultic means. God will let us know all we need to know about the future. Listen to Isaiah the prophet’s rebuke when Israel sought out mediums: “When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?” (Isaiah 8:19).
It seems unwise and dangerous to seek knowledge through spiritists because evil spirits have the ability to deceive us when we enter into their domain and ignore the almighty God who promises His protection and guidance.