SOMETIMES A SEEMINGLY SILLY QUESTION HIDES KEYS TO
OTHER DOORS
This question on ghosts and their clothing came to me as I saw an online photograph allegedly of the ghost of an American Civil War soldier. It was said that this photo was tested and declared legit and not tampered with. The ghost appeared to be deliberately staring at the camera; in fact, I got the impression he (or it) was posing for the camera. You could even make out the brass buttons on his rebel-gray coat. I found the photo intriguing.
Having served 20 years in the army, and personally finding all that day-in-day-out uniform stuff tedious, many questions started popping up regarding ghosts in “vintage” clothing;
My thoughts went along this path: “Why is he still wearing his uniform? What, is he going to wear that for eternity? He’s no longer on the Confederate Army’s payroll. Heck, he might have even died and been buried in that uniform; so why is he still wearing it? Maybe he still likes being seen in his uniform and is trying to look good; if so, for who?”
These questions and speculations evolved into a puzzler that I kept wresting with. Once I came to my conclusion, a large universal truism was revealed. However, a much more challenging puzzle arose:
“How did his material uniform stay with his immaterial soul after death – or was he issued a new uniform made of the stuff of the spirit world? If so, did he make it himself or did others in the spirit world make these items for him?”
So the confederate ghost, and a few other ghosts in vintage clothing that I have personally seen, all raise challenging questions – for those of us who question such things as ‘why do ghosts wear clothes and where do they get them?”
Many, if not most, people assume that clothing is an earthly convention used for:
a) Warmth and protection from the environment;
b) Long-standing social and religious taboos on public nudity;
c) Social status and fashion, or group identification.
So it would stand to reason that after we die that we:
a) no longer threatened by earth’s environment;
b) No longer a part of earth’s society and subject to its laws and norms;
c) No longer part of the social status and fashions of earth’s societies.
One would think that after one’s death, the need for clothing in the spirit world would vanish along with all earthly social conventions regarding our clothing habits. It all rots or is burned away to dust: the clothing and the flesh together. Do a search on the internet for “real ghost photos” and you will see evidence that the need to drop the convention of clothing after death is apparently not the case. My own encounters with spirits also say this is not the case.
This seemingly trivial and silly question of spirits and clothing is actually a significant piece in the puzzle of our own spirituality while yet on earth and in the next world. Likewise, it is no mistake that it is a piece of the fabric of the story of the fall of man, the original sin, and subsequently the Easter story and man’s redemption.
According to the bible, people first started wearing clothing for reasons of moral modesty the instant Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge. At that moment they, and every man and woman ever born after them, were bestowed with something very unnatural to earth’s animal kingdom as they received “godly” knowledge and self-awareness. Before Adam and Eve gained this quality, they were as innocent as the animals and in that regard essentially no different – aside from the special distinction of being made in the likeness of God and the angels. Understand that this drama took place in a very special garden.
The Garden of Eden was God’s own garden that He made on a yet unfallen and unpolluted earth and it was a place He enjoyed spending time in. Adam and Eve, while still as innocent as the rest of the animal kingdom, were the center piece of God’s special garden – maybe something like His favorite pets in one of His favorite places. In this state, we find that:
Adam and his wife were naked and they felt no shame. Genesis 2:25
Skipping ahead to Genesis 3, immediately after the serpent had convinced Eve to eat of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge, we find this concerning nudity and clothing:
When the woman saw that the fruit was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
The eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and they made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
But the Lord God called the man, “Where are you?”
The man said, “The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate it.” Genesis 3:6-11
Everybody in this situation is in big trouble - and they know it. The sin also tarnished the purity of the Garden and they subsequently were put out. From this, it is directly implied that modesty, in regards to clothing and covering one’s body in the presence of others, is a godly virtue and quality.
The self-awareness sort of knowledge Adam and Eve fell into previously belonged to an order reserved for the angels who are referred to in the Old Testament as “the Sons of God”. In this awareness, one is held accountable for one’s actions. Just as the Angels are and some were cast out of God’s Presence and into damnation – so are humans held accountable and receive the same rewards: a membership to hell or heaven.
Consider this;
If a bear attacks and kills a child, do you think that the bear committed a sin? No, tragic as it is, we instinctively do not ascribe sin to animals – even dangerous ones. Sin requires a special knowledge of good and evil and that is where humans and angels share some common territory. Hence the old saying is true:
“To err is human; to sin divine.”
In this way, through the actions of Adam and Eve, sin came in and grew and spread. Soon after man’s fall in the Garden of Eden we read of Cain killing his brother Able – and soon after that, man’s wars are told of and genocides, rape, and all manner of suffering and sin follow. But the very first thing that Adam and Eve became aware of was that they were going about nude in God’s garden. So they fashioned clothing as quick as they could because they did not want their one parent, God, to see them that way any more than you would want to walk around naked in front of your parents. This all ties directly into the question “Why Do Ghosts Wear Clothes?”
There arose an unusual enigma with the Adam and Eve story: mankind received the ability and the consequences of something previously reserved for a higher order than what was intended for humans on earth. If you ever wonder why animals instinctively fear us, and why we are so different than all the animals on earth – this is why; humans became unnatural when they ate from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge. With the knowledge of right and wrong, something previously reserved for the order of the angels, came shared consequences:
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment. 2 Peter 2:4
So on one hand, man’s accountability for sin is a responsibility of angelic proportions. But man can not meet that responsibility to make it right. Yet it is man’s place to make this right. It would take a very special man indeed to make this right. One who was God, but who also was born a man and walked the earth just like one of us – just like us but pure and blameless:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Regarding the answer as to why ghosts wear clothes:
Consider the following scripture that implies that God’s Presence is everywhere and His authority is unchallengeable:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
THE AUTHOR’S ANSWER TO WHY GHOSTS WEAR CLOTHES:
So with God’s Presence everywhere, (after all, it is His creation); it stands to reason that ghosts wear clothing because God’s authority and statutes apply to the spirit world the same as here on earth. This is evident from the days of Adam and Eve where it is demonstrated that those with knowledge of good and evil, don’t go about publically nude.
It stands to reason that as God walked the Garden of Eden, He was undoubtedly dressed in glorious robes – thus giving Adam and Eve (created in His image) a heightened painful awareness of their nakedness before Him. God’s laws exist in the spirit world just as they do here on earth.
Put it this way; would you walk around naked in front of your parent’s in their house? We instinctively know this is not right – a knowledge that defines us apart from all the animal kingdom. The same applies to the spirit realms - outside of hell. The answer to this question validates God’s omnipotent Presence and authority – in both the here and the here-after.
This also helps validate the reality of Hell.
Consider: because the act of clothing oneself in the presence of others appears to be a godly convention, it stands to reason that beings in a state of utter rage and rebellion against God and His order do not adhere to the convention of clothing as such would be a hated vestige of the One they war and rebel against. There is but one place where God’s Presence is absent – Hell. Jesus Himself bore this out in his story of souls of the rich man in hell and Lazarus in heaven:
“…a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from [heaven] to [hell] cannot, nor can anyone cross over from [hell] to [heaven].” Luke 16:26
Scriptural Evidence that Demons Hate the Practice of Clothing
They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice,
“What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.
Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.
A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. Luke 8:26-33
Later in this scripture, after Jesus had cleared the possessed man of the Legion of demons, the man put some clothes on. So it is clear that he was not nude out of personal preference.
Something Outside of the Bible:
This is non-scriptural, so take it as you will. In studying people’s Near Death Experience accounts, where people claim to have died, entered into the afterlife, and returned to their biological bodies to ‘live’ and tell of it; one thing is constant:
Those that went to hell, without exception, ALL had their clothes stripped off by demonic hordes before entering. Furthermore, all the human souls these people claim to have seen in torment in hell were utterly naked. I am not going to quote any of these encounters here. They can be found on any simple internet search of the words “NDE hell”.
Finally, and I had to speculate on this question: Why do some people desire to go about publicly nude? Sigmund Freud said people who feel the need to practice what he termed exhibitionism (i.e. public displays of nudity) are inwardly trying to get free of something, and in going publicly nude, they are ultimately attempting to shed more than just their clothes. Personally, like with most things, I respect each person’s own ways and beliefs on nudity – just don’t do it around my kids! Thank you! ;-)
Having directly addressed this chapter’s title question as to why ghosts wear clothes, which revealed a truism supporting God’s omnipotent Presence in all creation (except hell), it is time to move on and address something of an enigma:
Where and How do Ghosts Get Their Clothing?
Now this “outrageous” question is very intriguing to our limited minds of spirit-charged clay; that is, provided one pauses to think and ponder this question.
Many ghosts that have appeared to the “living”, have appeared wearing the clothes they presumably knew during their mortal time on earth (robes, boots, hats, jackets, buckles and belts, sometimes even antique weapons and women in elaborate dress and fashion and etc) . This also raises questions as to the true nature of time, energy and the material world during their mortal lives – and subsequently to the true nature of our own time, energy and “material” world during our lives in real time.
Think about this – ruminate on it for a while before continuing on. . .
"Why Do Ghosts Wear Clothes?" was taken from the book "Life In Between" (by Tim Shenk of Upstate New York) - available on Amazon.com in either e-book (Kindle) or paperback. What follows is a list of what this comprehensive book covers concerning God and the angels, ghosts, hauntings, demon and other paranormal. Highly recommend checking it out.
OTHER DOORS
This question on ghosts and their clothing came to me as I saw an online photograph allegedly of the ghost of an American Civil War soldier. It was said that this photo was tested and declared legit and not tampered with. The ghost appeared to be deliberately staring at the camera; in fact, I got the impression he (or it) was posing for the camera. You could even make out the brass buttons on his rebel-gray coat. I found the photo intriguing.
Having served 20 years in the army, and personally finding all that day-in-day-out uniform stuff tedious, many questions started popping up regarding ghosts in “vintage” clothing;
My thoughts went along this path: “Why is he still wearing his uniform? What, is he going to wear that for eternity? He’s no longer on the Confederate Army’s payroll. Heck, he might have even died and been buried in that uniform; so why is he still wearing it? Maybe he still likes being seen in his uniform and is trying to look good; if so, for who?”
These questions and speculations evolved into a puzzler that I kept wresting with. Once I came to my conclusion, a large universal truism was revealed. However, a much more challenging puzzle arose:
“How did his material uniform stay with his immaterial soul after death – or was he issued a new uniform made of the stuff of the spirit world? If so, did he make it himself or did others in the spirit world make these items for him?”
So the confederate ghost, and a few other ghosts in vintage clothing that I have personally seen, all raise challenging questions – for those of us who question such things as ‘why do ghosts wear clothes and where do they get them?”
Many, if not most, people assume that clothing is an earthly convention used for:
a) Warmth and protection from the environment;
b) Long-standing social and religious taboos on public nudity;
c) Social status and fashion, or group identification.
So it would stand to reason that after we die that we:
a) no longer threatened by earth’s environment;
b) No longer a part of earth’s society and subject to its laws and norms;
c) No longer part of the social status and fashions of earth’s societies.
One would think that after one’s death, the need for clothing in the spirit world would vanish along with all earthly social conventions regarding our clothing habits. It all rots or is burned away to dust: the clothing and the flesh together. Do a search on the internet for “real ghost photos” and you will see evidence that the need to drop the convention of clothing after death is apparently not the case. My own encounters with spirits also say this is not the case.
This seemingly trivial and silly question of spirits and clothing is actually a significant piece in the puzzle of our own spirituality while yet on earth and in the next world. Likewise, it is no mistake that it is a piece of the fabric of the story of the fall of man, the original sin, and subsequently the Easter story and man’s redemption.
According to the bible, people first started wearing clothing for reasons of moral modesty the instant Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge. At that moment they, and every man and woman ever born after them, were bestowed with something very unnatural to earth’s animal kingdom as they received “godly” knowledge and self-awareness. Before Adam and Eve gained this quality, they were as innocent as the animals and in that regard essentially no different – aside from the special distinction of being made in the likeness of God and the angels. Understand that this drama took place in a very special garden.
The Garden of Eden was God’s own garden that He made on a yet unfallen and unpolluted earth and it was a place He enjoyed spending time in. Adam and Eve, while still as innocent as the rest of the animal kingdom, were the center piece of God’s special garden – maybe something like His favorite pets in one of His favorite places. In this state, we find that:
Adam and his wife were naked and they felt no shame. Genesis 2:25
Skipping ahead to Genesis 3, immediately after the serpent had convinced Eve to eat of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge, we find this concerning nudity and clothing:
When the woman saw that the fruit was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
The eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and they made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
But the Lord God called the man, “Where are you?”
The man said, “The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate it.” Genesis 3:6-11
Everybody in this situation is in big trouble - and they know it. The sin also tarnished the purity of the Garden and they subsequently were put out. From this, it is directly implied that modesty, in regards to clothing and covering one’s body in the presence of others, is a godly virtue and quality.
The self-awareness sort of knowledge Adam and Eve fell into previously belonged to an order reserved for the angels who are referred to in the Old Testament as “the Sons of God”. In this awareness, one is held accountable for one’s actions. Just as the Angels are and some were cast out of God’s Presence and into damnation – so are humans held accountable and receive the same rewards: a membership to hell or heaven.
Consider this;
If a bear attacks and kills a child, do you think that the bear committed a sin? No, tragic as it is, we instinctively do not ascribe sin to animals – even dangerous ones. Sin requires a special knowledge of good and evil and that is where humans and angels share some common territory. Hence the old saying is true:
“To err is human; to sin divine.”
In this way, through the actions of Adam and Eve, sin came in and grew and spread. Soon after man’s fall in the Garden of Eden we read of Cain killing his brother Able – and soon after that, man’s wars are told of and genocides, rape, and all manner of suffering and sin follow. But the very first thing that Adam and Eve became aware of was that they were going about nude in God’s garden. So they fashioned clothing as quick as they could because they did not want their one parent, God, to see them that way any more than you would want to walk around naked in front of your parents. This all ties directly into the question “Why Do Ghosts Wear Clothes?”
There arose an unusual enigma with the Adam and Eve story: mankind received the ability and the consequences of something previously reserved for a higher order than what was intended for humans on earth. If you ever wonder why animals instinctively fear us, and why we are so different than all the animals on earth – this is why; humans became unnatural when they ate from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge. With the knowledge of right and wrong, something previously reserved for the order of the angels, came shared consequences:
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment. 2 Peter 2:4
So on one hand, man’s accountability for sin is a responsibility of angelic proportions. But man can not meet that responsibility to make it right. Yet it is man’s place to make this right. It would take a very special man indeed to make this right. One who was God, but who also was born a man and walked the earth just like one of us – just like us but pure and blameless:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Regarding the answer as to why ghosts wear clothes:
Consider the following scripture that implies that God’s Presence is everywhere and His authority is unchallengeable:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
THE AUTHOR’S ANSWER TO WHY GHOSTS WEAR CLOTHES:
So with God’s Presence everywhere, (after all, it is His creation); it stands to reason that ghosts wear clothing because God’s authority and statutes apply to the spirit world the same as here on earth. This is evident from the days of Adam and Eve where it is demonstrated that those with knowledge of good and evil, don’t go about publically nude.
It stands to reason that as God walked the Garden of Eden, He was undoubtedly dressed in glorious robes – thus giving Adam and Eve (created in His image) a heightened painful awareness of their nakedness before Him. God’s laws exist in the spirit world just as they do here on earth.
Put it this way; would you walk around naked in front of your parent’s in their house? We instinctively know this is not right – a knowledge that defines us apart from all the animal kingdom. The same applies to the spirit realms - outside of hell. The answer to this question validates God’s omnipotent Presence and authority – in both the here and the here-after.
This also helps validate the reality of Hell.
Consider: because the act of clothing oneself in the presence of others appears to be a godly convention, it stands to reason that beings in a state of utter rage and rebellion against God and His order do not adhere to the convention of clothing as such would be a hated vestige of the One they war and rebel against. There is but one place where God’s Presence is absent – Hell. Jesus Himself bore this out in his story of souls of the rich man in hell and Lazarus in heaven:
“…a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from [heaven] to [hell] cannot, nor can anyone cross over from [hell] to [heaven].” Luke 16:26
Scriptural Evidence that Demons Hate the Practice of Clothing
They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice,
“What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.
Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.
A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. Luke 8:26-33
Later in this scripture, after Jesus had cleared the possessed man of the Legion of demons, the man put some clothes on. So it is clear that he was not nude out of personal preference.
Something Outside of the Bible:
This is non-scriptural, so take it as you will. In studying people’s Near Death Experience accounts, where people claim to have died, entered into the afterlife, and returned to their biological bodies to ‘live’ and tell of it; one thing is constant:
Those that went to hell, without exception, ALL had their clothes stripped off by demonic hordes before entering. Furthermore, all the human souls these people claim to have seen in torment in hell were utterly naked. I am not going to quote any of these encounters here. They can be found on any simple internet search of the words “NDE hell”.
Finally, and I had to speculate on this question: Why do some people desire to go about publicly nude? Sigmund Freud said people who feel the need to practice what he termed exhibitionism (i.e. public displays of nudity) are inwardly trying to get free of something, and in going publicly nude, they are ultimately attempting to shed more than just their clothes. Personally, like with most things, I respect each person’s own ways and beliefs on nudity – just don’t do it around my kids! Thank you! ;-)
Having directly addressed this chapter’s title question as to why ghosts wear clothes, which revealed a truism supporting God’s omnipotent Presence in all creation (except hell), it is time to move on and address something of an enigma:
Where and How do Ghosts Get Their Clothing?
Now this “outrageous” question is very intriguing to our limited minds of spirit-charged clay; that is, provided one pauses to think and ponder this question.
Many ghosts that have appeared to the “living”, have appeared wearing the clothes they presumably knew during their mortal time on earth (robes, boots, hats, jackets, buckles and belts, sometimes even antique weapons and women in elaborate dress and fashion and etc) . This also raises questions as to the true nature of time, energy and the material world during their mortal lives – and subsequently to the true nature of our own time, energy and “material” world during our lives in real time.
Think about this – ruminate on it for a while before continuing on. . .
"Why Do Ghosts Wear Clothes?" was taken from the book "Life In Between" (by Tim Shenk of Upstate New York) - available on Amazon.com in either e-book (Kindle) or paperback. What follows is a list of what this comprehensive book covers concerning God and the angels, ghosts, hauntings, demon and other paranormal. Highly recommend checking it out.