Question on contacting the dead (the Witch of
Endor story)
Posted: Aug 28/2k
This question came in a while back (her comments in bold, mine in "timid"...smile):
The story of Saul calling up Samuel from the grave -- I've heard so many
ministers and others over the years interpret the appearance of Samuel as an evil spirit masquerading as
the prophet (their reasoning being that it is impossible to contact the dead). I think that interpretation
cannot be substantiated by Scripture. I find that when the Bible presents a
story, it generally clarifies for the reader in asides or parenthetical
explanations when someone or some thing appeared to be one thing, but was
really something else. My question, first, is did Saul really contact Samuel?
yes and no...yes, it was really Samuel; no, Saul didn't 'contact'
him--God brought him up...the witch was so surprised by the whole deal, that it
is obvious she was NOT accustomed to
experiencing this!
It seems to me that contacting the dead IS
possible (any Scripture references
supporting or refuting this would be greatly appreciated);
the evidence (for both sides) is slim, but the following evidence
answers it for me...
the basic evidence is from the surprise of the witch in the
story...if they COULD contact them, then this famous witch would not have been
surprised at all...
but at the same time, we don't have enough data to know whether it
WAS Samuel or simply an apparition of him (i don't think we have ANY indication
that it was a demon in this case)...
otherwise, God would not have prohibited it in
the terms he used -- i.e., His "DO NOT DO" lists seem to treat it as
a real human choice, albeit one we are not to choose.
actually, this might be making too much out of the word
choice...they are also forbidden to bow down to other gods (but this doesn't
mean there actually ARE other 'gods')...and the passage in which the witches
are condemned actually do not forbid Israel from consulting the dead, but from
consulting those humans who claim to consult the dead...a slight difference...
the data is not conclusive, but for me, the data seems heavier
that the living do NOT have access to the dead, and that witch-based
'consultations' were like 'idol-based' worship, probably demonic...
the case of Saul and Samuel seems genuine, but notice that Samuel
says that SAUL 'brought him up', instead of
the witch...
not strong data, but I personally feel the scales are tipped in
favor of non-access, Samuel a divine exception (probably an apparition to
pronounce judgment on Saul)...
My second question is why do you think so many
Christians are reluctant to read this story at face value, and instead try to
interject other meanings into it?
i would assume it was out of fear of taking an extreme point and turning
into a paradigm case! we have tons of one-off experiences in holy writ, and we
made each oddity into a universal rule we would be in trouble!
so, I would think it might be along some lines like this...
(although, the earliest non-literal views were motivated by trying
to avoid some rather strong boundaries...in EBCOT, in loc., the commentator says this:
Early church fathers, fearful of affirming
that the prophet Samuel was a shade in Sheol, that a medium was an appropriate
intermediary between the divine and human worlds, and that necromancy is
efficacious, "proceeded to undermine the literal text with one of two
arguments: either sorcery is just demonic deceit, and what appeared was not
really Samuel, but a demon in his guise; or, Samuel was not really in Hades but
had been sent by God to announce Saul's fate"
Thanks again for your intelligent and wonderfully
helpful website --
thanks for your kind words!
i hope this stuff above helps some,
in His love,
glenn