Over the years I have heard several stories from credible people about haunted buildings and other supernatural behavior. Recently a non-Christian neighbor told me about strange noises and objects moving in his home. How should Christians think about haunted places?

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Readers who grew up watching Scooby-Doo or reading the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series were trained to know that mysteries involving “haunted” spaces always have a rational, material answer. Sleuths must diligently inquire and discover the answer! However, as Enlightenment-era thinking fades in our culture, curiosity in the spiritual abounds. When personal friends report such strange activity or we ourselves experience mysterious events in particular places, questions of the supernatural arise in our minds.

God is not silent regarding spiritual activity in the world. Satan appeared in the garden of Eden in material form. He went “to and fro on the earth” and walked “up and down on it” in Job’s day (Job 1:7). He still “walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Demons asked Jesus’ permission to leave a man and occupy pigs in Mark 5. He sent them to the pigs, who then rushed into the sea. Jesus spoke of unclean spirits going out of a person and passing through waterless places seeking rest and finding none before returning to the person sevenfold to wreak havoc if the person did not seek the Lord (Matt. 12:43–45). Paul writes, “The prince of the power of the air is now at work in the sons of disobedience,” and there are “rulers…authorities…cosmic powers over this present darkness” (Eph. 2:2; 6:12).

The good news is that the ruler of this world has been cast out (John 12:31)! Jesus cast out Satan through His victory over temptation in the wilderness at the outset of His ministry and through the remainder of His ministry up through the cross, the resurrection, and His ascension to the right hand of the Father. Satan, now bound, operates in this age on a chain (Rev. 20:2), and Jesus is Lord of all (Acts 10:36).

Today, Christians on new mission fields frequently report supernatural activity. Satan does not willingly give up turf that he senses should belong to him. He seems to unleash his strongest attacks in places of spiritual weakness. Those who have been in locations where the worship of false gods is prevalent have sensed the darkness of such regions and places. Satan is still active.

We need not be dismayed, however, because Jesus has destroyed the power of the devil. Christ will be with His people wherever they go (Matt. 28:20), and He promises that He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). Indeed, supernatural forces work around us today in time and space, but Scripture teaches us that while Satan is active, he is defeated.

How ought Christians to respond to reports of supernatural activity in particular locations? The Puritan William Perkins once wrote, “In the molestation and annoyance of houses by spirits, two things are to be remembered. First, men must not consort together and abide there, where it is certainly known that the Lord has given the devil power and liberty, lest in doing so they tempt the Lord.” Jesus didn’t go into the wilderness to face Satan except by the leading of the Holy Spirit. We should not be self-confident and rashly insert ourselves into such circumstances without the leading of the Spirit ourselves. Be humble. Pray and rely completely on God who promises to be with you. Our confidence comes from the Lord’s Word and His presence and not any capacity to manipulate God, evil spirits, or anything else (Luke 10:20).

Second, Perkins says that in places and locations where it is obvious the Lord has given the devil power and liberty, we must “sanctify them to our use by the Word and prayer.” When Abram first arrived in the Promised Land, which was then filled with great evil, he first built an altar to worship the Lord (Gen. 13:3–4). We are never commanded to cast out evil spirits in Scripture, nor are we given formulas to manipulate spiritual forces. We have a higher calling. We worship the Lord of all. It is through His worship and praise that spaces are sanctified.

When friends relate possible supernatural experiences, we have a wonderful opportunity to warn them about the realities of spiritual darkness (while acknowledging there could be other causes). We can then call people to worship the living God and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who has cast out the wicked one so that we need not fear his presence in any place. Better yet, prayerfully offer to go with your friend to worship the true and living God in those places of concern and pray their hearts would be cleansed.

For further reading see William Perkins’ commentary on the subject in his The First Book of the Cases of Conscience. See also Fredrick S. Leahy’s Satan Cast Out: A Study in Biblical Demonology.

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Have a question on your heart that you’d like to see answered here? Send it to info@rpwitness.org.

James Faris and Noah Bailey | column editors