JOEL - The term "ghost" has been used in a few scriptures
refering to our spirits, where for instance a body has
given up the ghost(Gen. 49:33, Acts 5:10) or at the
Lord's death where He "yielded up the ghost"(Matt.
27:50), or His spirit.
Then there is the perverted deffinition of ghost, made
famous during the dark ages and in today's movies and horror stories,
which describes ghosts as
hideous demons of an unseen world that haunt old
houses and graveyards or appear in bodily form to
frighten mortals. These include apparitions, goblins,
spectors, spooks, sprites, faries and
the like. These do not really exist except in the
minds of those who claim to see them.
There are however both good and evil spirits that can
and do appear and interact with mortals. There have
been many reports of spirits of those who have passed
on who have appeared to loved ones for various
reasons. These are personal manifestations meant
solely for the benefit of the recipient.
Brigham Young taught that the spirit world is right
here on earth with us[Discourses of Brigham Young, ed.
John A. Widtsoe, pp. 376-81. Salt Lake City, 1946.],
perhaps making it easy for spirits of the deceased to
appear to people from time to time as the Lord allows
and according to one's faith.
They are not spirits that are angry and won't leave.
The evil spirits who torment people and posess their bodies may be those who
followed satan and never obtained a body.
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