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Questions & Answers

Demons

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › Spiritual Life › Demons

The question

Do we believe in ghosts? Does it say anywhere in the Bible that we believe in ghosts? If not ghosts, do we believe in demons?

The answer

We do not believe in ghosts. The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke 16:19-31 reveals in the account of Lazarus and the rich man that the spirits of the departed have either gone to rest in the Paradise of joy with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the righteous, or they have gone to Hades with sinners that refused to repent. There are demonic forces that are spirits in Satan's clutches and try to interfere and instigate trouble for humans or possess the souls of some. Accounts in the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew 17:14-21 and St. Mark 9:13-29 record events where a young boy was possessed. St. Matthew mentions that the boy was possessed by a demon, whereas St. Mark refers to the evil force as an unclean spirit. Both terms are correct and synonymous. The Lord Jesus Christ expelled the demon or unclean spirit and stated that prayer and fasting are the only means for this kind to be exorcized.

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 2453 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.