<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"]How is it different from talking to the dead?</font><hr></blockquote><p><br><br>(fred) I am not completely sure of your question, but the witch was known for being someone who could conjure up the dead. Much like that Edwards fellow on TV. I would believe that the witch's contacts were not the dead at all, but evil spirits. However, in this instance, it was the real Samuel, because the purpose of Samuel's appearing was to pronounce judgment upon Saul. When I write that it is "not the norm for talking with the dead," I do not mean to say that necromancy is a real occurence. In other words, men cannot bring the dead back to ask them question about the after life and so forth. <br><br><br><blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"]Can it be pared with the parable in Luke but the rich ruler who spoke to Abraham after living a life with no concern for anything but his pleasure?</font><hr></blockquote><p><br><br>I would say that it is different because all of these individuals were passed from our life to the next. Basically, the rich man was not alive on this earth talking with Abraham, but he was dead, in torments. <br><br>Fred <br><br>

"Ah, sitting - the great leveler of men. From the mightest of pharaohs to the lowest of peasants, who doesn't enjoy a good sit?" M. Burns