Do Eastern Orthodox Christians believe in ghosts?

Answer 1

There is very little that is "dogma", or that which is required to believe or follow, in the Eastern Orthodox Church. While the Church Fathers and the history of the Church does offer personal opinions of certain very holy people on the subject of "ghosts", the Church cannot ex-communicate someone for simply "believing in them" , as an example.

The Eastern Orthodox Church is very fluid about what it considers necessary, or absolute in terms of belief. A person is free to "believe" in ghosts, that is to say, to believe that they exist. It is much harder to quantify what the Church actually teaches as necessary practice, regarding them.

I am an Orthodox Christian of many, many years. I am also a former occultist, and in my former life, I was trained as an empathic medium. That kind of training doesn't disappear simply because I converted to Eastern Orthodoxy. Nor does my experience with spirits disappear, simply because of my conversion.

As an Orthodox Christian I feel it is my duty to say, that although people certainly shouldn't run around seeking out ghosts, or other spiritual experiences, it is also true that "ghosts" that is the spirits of the departed, certainly DO exist and sometimes interact with the living. Denying this, doesn't make it "fantasy" or "demonic".

While all the usual caveats do apply (as in the first answer given, which frankly reads like a very Protestant answer), I think it is very important to point out that the Eastern Orthodox church does not believe in "purgatory" (a Roman Catholic belief), and neither does it believe in "soul sleep" (as do many Protestants). Therefore, the souls of the departed must exist somewhere within God's universe, and as an Orthodox Christian, I see no theological reason why they could not conceivably exist within the the boundaries of earthly existence, experiencing the "particular judgment" while awaiting the Final Judgment.

With regard to the dead, it is very important that we pray for them, and since the Church teaches that the dead do hear and experience our prayers, it is a bit illogical for the Church to then turn around and say that they are not somehow, "here". That kind of logic is simply not tenable and ghosts either exist, or they don't.

As for myself, I believe that they do, and I also believe that we must pray for them, that thier souls may be saved, and that they find peace, wherever it is that God allows them to be.

Answer 2

Some do and some do not.