SUBJECT:   Ghosts and spirits

QUESTION:  In Mark 6:49, did the disciples think they saw a ghost?  Would this verse support the idea of or belief in ghost?

ANSWER:

No.

Generally, people in those days did not believe in ghost like modern man does today.  They did believe in beings from the spirit world, meaning demons and angels.  The commentary shows that in Mark 6:49 they thought it was some sort of spirit.

Notice the commentaries:

Mark 6:49

But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out:

[They supposed it had been a spirit] That is, by whom the storm had been raised. ~from Adam Clarke's Commentary

Mark 6:49

But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out:

But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out-"for fear" (Matthew 14:26). He would appear to them at first like a dark moving speck upon the waters; then as a human figure; but in the dark tempestuous sky, and not dreaming that it could be their Lord, they take it for a spirit. Compare Luke 24:37. ~from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary

Mark 6:45-56

They were frightened at the sight of him, supposing him to have been an apparition; They all saw him, and were troubled (v. 50), thinking it had been some daemon, or evil genius, that haunted them, and raised this storm. We often perplex and frighten ourselves with phantasms, the creatures of our own fancy and imagination. ~from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible

Note:  As one can see from the commentaries, they thought they saw a spirit.

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