Norway's Fascination with Ghosts

A recent New York Times article documents Norway’s fascination with ghosts. “While churches here may be largely empty and belief in God, according to opinion polls, in steady decline, belief in, or at least fascination with, ghosts and spirits is surging. Even Norway’s royal family, which is required by law to belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church, has flirted with ghosts, with a princess coaching people on how to reach out to spirits” (“Norway Has a New Passion: Ghost Hunting,” New York Times, Oct. 24, 2015). This is merely the latest in reports that have documented Europe’s growing love of the occult. “Palmistry, the crystal ball and astrology have never been so popular” (“Europe’s Love of the Occult,” New York Times, Aug. 15, 2007). Most European countries turned from paganism to Roman Catholicism in the first millennium; many of them turned to Protestantism in the second; now they are returning to paganism. Atheistic science leaves man empty, with the deepest questions unanswered. “Science” cannot answer the fundamental questions of life, such as where did man come from, why is he so dramatically different from the animals, what is man’s purpose, how should man live, is there a God and if so what is he like, and what happens after death?

(Friday Church News Notes, October 30, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

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