MODERN SPIRITUALISM BRIEFLY
TESTED BY SCRIPTURE
BY
ALGERNON J. POLLOCK,
I. ORIGIN AND GROWTH
Modern Spiritualism claims as its birthday March 31, 1848, and the place of its birth Hydesville, Wayne County, New York, U. S. A.; but it is in reality almost as old as the world's history, and will go on to its close. That the number of adherents of Modern Spiritualism is amazingly large is borne out by Dr. F. Maack, of
II. ATTRACTIONS OF SPIRITUALISM
Spiritualism, like all systems of error, works to a large extent underground. It does not present itself in its true colors to the uninitiated. Once a dupe is caught in its toils he is drawn farther and farther away from God. Some are attracted to it through sheer curiosity. The love of the unknown allures them. Some, believing it to be mere trickery, think they can detect the fraud, and so get entangled in the real thing. That there is trickery in it is certain; but with full allowance for all this, there are effects produced which can be attributed only to the influence of personating demons.
Others again are drawn into it by the deep desire to fill the aching void made by the death of a loved one. When David, after agonizing prayer for the life of Bathsheba's child, heard of his death, he asked, "Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, BUT HE SHALL NOT RETURN TO ME" 2 Samuel 12:23. David evidently knew nothing of intercourse with the spirits of the departed.
III. REFUSES TEST OF SCRIPTURE
A well-known spiritualistic author, writing under the nom de plume, "
The author of "Outlines of Spiritualism for the Young," says: "To assert that it [the Bible] is a holy and Divine book, that God inspired the writers to make known His Divine will, is a gross outrage on, and misleading to, the public...The truth is, the Old Testament is neither more nor less than Jewish history...The New Testament is made up of traditions and theological speculations by unknown persons. A book so full of errors...requires to be read with care" ("Outlines," pp. 13,14). Refusal of the Bible could not be more explicit.
IV. MODERN SPIRITUALISM FORETOLD
The rise and progress of Modern Spiritualism is clearly indicated in Holy Scripture: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats" 1 Timothy 4:1-3. The gravity of the warning is emphasized by the way it is introduced, "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly."
"SEDUCING SPIRITS"
So crafty is the enemy that the spirits often advise the uninitiated to pray and to read the Bible. While the immediate purpose of such advice is to gain the victim's confidence, the ultimate object is to undermine faith in the Scriptures. The spirits giving such advice are well described as "seducing spirits."
A lady, a Christian worker, was persuaded to attend a Spiritualistic meeting. She was advised to read the Bible and pray. This led her to believe that the spirit of a Christian was speaking to her. When the "seducing spirits" had thus gained her confidence, they led her to question certain parts of the Bible. The result was that she became a complete infidel, going absolutely to the bad, not only spiritually but morally. "By their fruits ye shall know them."
In the temptation in the wilderness we see how Satan quoted Scripture, leaving out an essential part for his evil purpose; and we see how a text of Scripture sufficed for his defeat. Scripture clearly indicates deceitfulness as his chief characteristic. 2 Corinthians 2:11; 2 Corinthians 11:14,15.
V. THE BIBLE OPPOSED TO SPIRITUALISM
Before quoting a few texts, so dreaded by "
Under the heading of "Biblical Spiritualism," if you please, the author of "Outlines" quotes a number of passages of Scripture in the vain endeavor to prove that the Bible is not opposed to Spiritualism. In every passage he quotes except one (the well-known case of the witch of Endor), we are given instances of angelic visitation. Mark well: in no instance does he quote the plain condemnations of Spiritualism the Bible contains. Is this honest? But since he appeals to the Bible, to the Bible we are well content to turn.
1. Old Testament Condemnation
"And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I ?will cut him off from among his people" Leviticus 20:6; also 19:31.
"A man also, or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones" Leviticus 20:27.
"There shall not be found among you any one that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer" Deuteronomy 18:10,11.
"They shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils" Leviticus 17:7; Deuteronomy 32:17; Psalm 106:37.
"And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter; should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? [See R.V.] To the law and the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" Isaiah 8:19,20.
From the foregoing we see in the Old Testament, that
1. Spiritualism is sternly forbidden by God.
2. It is defiling.
3. Its followers GOD would destroy.
4. Its mediums, THE PEOPLE were commanded to stone to death.
5. It is no new thing. Satan and his myriads of demons have been busy at their work of deception ever since the Fall.
6. It is not an advance on Christianity, as some affirm, but a backward movement to the worst features of heathenism.
Isaiah 8:19,20 is especially conclusive; plainly showing that it is wrong for the living to seek the dead, rather than God Himself. Spiritualism is the setting aside of God Himself, hence of morality, uprightness, and every true principle.
2. New Testament Condemnation
"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit in the wilderness to be tempted of the devil" Matthew 4:1.
This proves that there is a personal devil. Indeed, only one person is called in Scripture the devil, the Greek word meaning the accuser. Demon is really the correct description of the myriad fallen spirits who own Satan as their prince. Matthew 12:24.
"They brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed [Greek: daimonizomai ?demonized or demon-possessed] with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and He healed them" Matthew 4:24.
This passage is most important, as from it and other Scriptures it is plain that demon-possession is distinct from disease, though the two are often, and naturally, present together; for disease is the product of sin. It has been contended that demon-possession and lunacy are the same, but this Scripture shatters that contention, as it differentiates between them:
"There met Him two possessed with devils ?and, behold, they cried out, saying, ... Art Thou come hither to torment us before the time? ... So the devils besought Him, saying, If Thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. And He said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine; and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down into a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters" Matthew 8:28-32.
"And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art Thou come to destroy us? I know Thee who Thou art, the Holy One of God" Mark 1:23,24.
These passages prove that demons know and recognize the authority of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God; that they are aware of their future, and dread it.
"Jesus ... rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him" Mark 9:25,26; Revelation 18:2.
From these Scriptures and the preceding one Mark 1:23, 24 we learn the unclean character of these seducing spirits. Further, that they are strong, sullen and vicious, and can hurt their victims physically to a dangerous degree.
The case is cited of a minister who took up automatic writing. At first the communications were pure, and expressed in beautiful language. After a time they became mixed with obscene language. Then he heard voices, and things so preyed upon his mind that he became insane, and died in three months, raving mad.
The following well-known passage from Spiritualistic literature is very significant: "They come, THE DOOR ONCE OPEN, in crowds, in riotous invasion. They run, they leap, they fly, they gesticulate, they sing, they whoop, and they curse .... Mind, body, soul, memory and imagination ?nay the very heart ?are polluted by the ghostly canaille."
May God preserve the writer and reader from ever opening the door to such diabolical wickedness; or if already opened, may he or she seek the power of Him, who is stronger than the strong man armed, even of the Lord Jesus Christ.
"Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils" Luke 8:2.
"And Jesus asked him saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion, because many devils were entered into him" Luke 8:30.
Here is evidence that more than one demon may take possession of the human body. Mediums admit that at times several spirits control them, and hence the incoherency of the messages.
"A certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us ?the same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation?But Paul being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of the Lord Jesus to come out of her.And he came out the same hour" Acts 16:16-18.
"Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preacheth. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man, in whom the evil spirit was, leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded" Acts 19:13-16.
The contrast between these passages is deeply instructive. The damsel, possessed by the evil spirit, advertises Paul and his companions as "servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation." Her conduct, very like that of modern mediums, who advise the reading of the Bible and prayer, did not deceive the Apostle. Observe how the Apostle uses the name of One whom he knew; whereas the exorcists, mere imitators, said, "We adjure thee by Jesus whom Paul preacheth," that is, One of whom they knew nothing for themselves. The consequences were disastrous; for instead of resisting the devil, and the devil fleeing, as in Paul's case of exorcism, the demon urged his victim to deeds of violence.
"The things which the Gentiles (heathen) sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, ands not to God" 1 Corinthians 10:20,21.
This passage proves that behind heathendom, idol worship, sun worship, etc., there is demon power; that heathendom with its frightfully wicked, base, voluptuous customs, is a vast system of Spiritualism. Missionaries in
"And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone and of wood .... neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts" Revelation 9:20,21.
"They are the spirits of devils, working miracles" Revelation 16:14.
Revelation 9:20,21 clearly identifies the worship of devils with that of idols of gold, etc., and shows how violence and immorality are its accompaniments; while Revelation 16:14 adds the power of working miracles.
The reader now has before him most ample testimony from Scripture as to the source of Spiritualism, its wickedness and powers, and of the utter condemnation meted out to it by God.
3. The One Possible Exception
There is possibly one solitary instance in Scripture in which God permitted the spirit of one departed to revisit the earth for a specific purpose. (See 1 Samuel 28:3-25). We have here either a piece of skilful acting on the part of the witch of Endor; or, what seems more natural, there was a real appearance of Samuel at the behest, not of the witch, but of God Almighty Himself. King Saul, after a long course of evil, was in sore straits. In his dilemma he enquired of the Lord, but He did not answer him, "neither by dreams, nor by Urim nor by prophets." Disguised, Saul asked the witch to bring up Samuel. God then intervened. He restrained the personating demon from appearing at the medium's behest, and, judging from the matter-of-fact narration, allowed the spirit of Samuel to appear. The medium was evidently astonished beyond measure. "When the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice," charging Saul with deception. This is the only case on record in the Scriptures where, apparently, the spirit of one departed has been permitted to revisit the earth for a specific purpose, whereas Spiritualists claim that there is continual intercourse between living persons and departed spirits. And note, Samuel did not come at the call of the medium of Endor, and God will not allow the spirits of the departed to be at the beck and call of any medium, who may be of questionable character. 1 Chronicles 10:13,14 specifically tells us that Saul died for his transgressions, including his invoking the demon's aid: "So Saul died for his transgressions, ?and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it; and enquired not of the Lord."
VI. CONCEPTION OF CHRIST
We have seen how the blessed Saviour went about "healing all that were oppressed of the devil," showing what He thought of Spiritualism. Yet, in spite of such plain testimony, Dr. Wisse, a noted Spiritualist, said: "All testimony received from advanced spirits only shows that Christ was a medium or reformer in
The late Gerald Massey, poet, and Spiritualist, wrote: "I do not find that Christ claimed for Himself more than He held out as possible for others. When He identified Himself with the Father, it was in the oneness of mediumship. He was the great Medium or Mediator." (NOTE: Another noted Spiritualist, Dr. J. M. Peebles, wrote, "The Apostle (Paul) with a singular clearness of perception pronounced the Nazarene a Mediator, i.e., a Medium, between God and man.)
Could profanity go farther? The Lord Jesus again and again claimed for Himself that which He could share with none other.
"For there is one God, and ONE MEDIATOR between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time" 1 Timothy 2:5,6, shatters the whole of his contention. The daring of confounding medium with Mediator is awful. A blow against redemption is thus aimed. It is not scholarship or philosophy, but profanity and knavery. We may well ask, Why cannot Spiritualism leave Christ's name alone? They seem impelled to endeavor to get His support for their system. It only proves most conclusively that Spiritualists feel the reality of Christianity and of Christ, and are forced to these attentions. They are not continually fighting against Mohammedanism and Brahminism and the like.
VII. THE DENIALS OF MODERN SPIRITUALISM
Modern Spiritualism denies,
1. The inspiration of the Bible.
2. The fall of man.
3. The Deity of the Lord Jesus.
4. The atoning value of His death.
5. The existence of a personal devil.*
6. The existence of demons.
7. The existence of angels.
8. The existence of heaven.
9. The existence of hell.
(NOTE: "All spirit people of wisdom, knowledge and love say there is no burning hell ?no fearful devil." ?"Outlines," p. 15.)
Enough has been written to prove the above statements, but it is as well to place it in clear tabulated form, so that the reader may see that Spiritualism is the absolute negation of Christianity. In 1866 at a Spiritualistic conference held at
1. To abandon all Christian ordinances and worship.
2. To discontinue all Sunday Schools.
3. To denounce sexual tyranny.
4. To affirm that animal food should not be used.
We have so far had ample Biblical proof that 1 Timothy 4:1-3 applies to Spiritualism in its prediction that in the latter times some would depart from the faith and would pay heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. To this Nos. 3 and 4 resolutions carry us on to "forbidding to marry" and "commanding to abstain from meats." And yet with all this negation of Christianity Spiritualists continue in many cases to be members and ministers of churches, calling themselves Christian Spiritualists. For instance, the late Revelation H. R. Haweis, M. A., Incumbent of St. James? Marylebone, a special preacher in Westminster Abbey, and Royal Institution Lecturer, said in 1900 in an address:
"Spiritualism fitted very nicely on to Christianity; it seemed to be a legitimate development, not a contradiction, not an antagonist?Spiritualism had rehabilitated the Bible ?They [spiritualistic phenomena] occur every day in
VIII. "THREE-BLACK I'S" OF SPIRITUALISM.
The Frank Swainson in his addresses on Spiritualism speaks of its "three black I抯 ?Infidelity, Insanity and Immorality."
1. Infidelity
In a Spiritualistic book, "Whatever Is, Is Right," circulating among a certain section of advanced Spiritualists, we read the following:
"What is evil? Evil does not exist, evil is good." "What is a lie? A lie is the truth intrinsically; it holds a lawful place in creation; it is a necessity." "What is vice? Vice and virtue, too, are beautiful in the eyes of the soul." "What is virtue? Virtue is good and sin is good. The woman who came to the well of Sychar was just as pure in spirit before she met Christ, even though she was a harlot, as she was afterwards when she went to live a different life. There's no difference between Herod the murderer of the babies in
2. Insanity
Dr. Forbes Winslow, Oxford Lecturer on Mental Diseases, of
Sir William Crookes, claimed by the Spiritualists as a strong sympathizer, wrote: "After witnessing the painful state of nervous and bodily prostration in which many of the experiments have left the medium fainting, pale, breathless, I cannot doubt but that the violence of psychic forces means a corresponding drain on the vital forces."
Is this the high and holy substitute for Christianity? Is this the glorious effect of truth?
3. Immorality
Mr. T. L. Harris, once a Spiritualistic medium, testifies that the marriage vow imposes no obligation on the Spiritualistic husband. They have been known to abandon their own wives, and prefer the company of those of whom the spirits told them that they had a closer spiritual affinity to them. Mrs. Woodhull, elected three years in succession as president of the Spiritist Societies in
The charge against the "three black I's" of Modern Spiritualism is well proved.
IX. WHAT SPIRITUALISM OFFERS
I shall now describe what Spiritualism offers in place of the Bible as our guide, Christ as our Saviour, heaven as our eternal home. According to the author of "Outlines," man is made up of a soul, a spiritual body, and a physical body.
"There is something more than the nerves which we cannot see, because it is as fine in its nature as the perfume of flowers. This fine something is called 'nerve-aura'...All above what is required for daily use is thrown off like perfume from flowers?Our spiritual bodies are formed of this fine nerve-aura, which is spiritualized matter. When our spiritual friends and guardians visit us, they ?look ?at our spiritual bodies, and by their purity or otherwise, they can see at a glance what kind of lives we live?People who indulge in evil habits, such as opium or tobacco smoking, and laudanum and intoxicating drink, carry the appetite with them at death; it is because some of the narcotic and alcohol from these things help to compose the spiritual body, that they crave or hunger for their kind. So that these spirit people seek those in the body who still indulge in these bad habits, and get their craving satisfied through other people" ("Outlines," pp. 30-32).
So we read on:
"I have explained to you how the spirit-body is formed that it is the spiritualized or refined particles of our physical body: so that you will understand me when I tell you that the spirit world is made up of refined or spiritualized particles given off by the earth. Every blade of grass, every tiny flower, shrub and tree, insect and animal, by their lives cause matter to become refined and spiritualized, which then ascends high above the clouds, and there spreads out in a broad belt, and surrounds the earth, like the rings of Saturn surround that planet. There are a great number of these rings or zones, one beyond the other, which may be called spirit worlds" ("Outlines," p. 33).
Then we are told in "Outlines" that in the spirit-world souls may do wrong there, as they do here. When they do, they reap what they sow, and are punished, and thus they are gradually purified and blessed they become their own saviours, though why they should need to be saved seems a mystery.
We read also that after death, if the spiritual life is kind, and gentle and good, the grosser elements of the spiritual body are eliminated, leaving the body more refined and spiritual; so that it can rise into a higher zone, which, in its turn, is composed of the more refined and spiritualized elements eliminated from this higher zone, and the third zone is composed of the still more refined and spiritualized elements from the second, and so on. And yet people who are too "clever" to believe the Bible are so foolish as to believe such bombastic nonsense put forward without one atom of proof.
X. SHIRKS AWFUL PROBLEMS
In "Outlines," while there is a stout refusal of the doctrine of total depravity, and the fall of man is denied, (NOTE: "Thus, by his (man's) intellectual faculties, moral powers, and spiritual nature, he is "God manifest in the flesh.'"--"Outlines.") there is no attempt whatever to adequately explain the awful sorrow and suffering in this world, and the still more awful sorrow of death. We are told God is too good to allow man's fall or the existence of what is malevolent, like Satan and his demons; but the present awful state of things, which God has allowed for His own wise and inscrutable purpose, the author of "Outlines" shirks and must shirk. He throws away the only lamp of truth ?the Word of God. Can we wonder that he walks in darkness, and that his wisdom is folly indeed, fraught with awful consequences?
We have now had ample proof from Scripture that Spiritualism is in reality demonism. Nay, more; in some way or other every form of evil has its origin, I believe, in this cult. Heathendom in its nameless horrors is Spiritualism. All false religions bear features of their common parent. They may vary as to details, and contradict each other (for Satan must have many baits for many minds), but the essence of all evil teaching is Satanic, and therefore Spiritualism in its essence.
XI. THE POWER OF CHRIST扴 NAME
While it is well that we should be aware of the awful power of Satan, the believer has no need to be personally afraid, if only he keeps near to the Lord and cleaves to His Word.
"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" James 4:7.
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour; whom resist, steadfast in the faith" 1 Peter 5:8,9.
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand" Ephesians 6:10-13.
"Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them [that is, spirits that confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh]; because greater is He that is in you [that is, the Holy Ghost], than he that is in the world [that is, the devil]" 1 John 4:4.
We may walk serenely through this evil world, conscious of the Lord's protecting hand, just as Elisha was calm, conscious that he was protected by the mountain being full of horses and chariots of fire. With all the glittering rewards of divination within the reach of the covetous Balaam, if only he would curse God's people, he was obliged to cry out, "Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel" Numbers 23:23.
A friend has just given me an authentic instance of the power of Christ's name. A Spiritualist in Bradford invited a Christian neighbor to one of their meetings. The Christian, wearied by her neighbor's importunity, made a compact with her, that if she attended once she would never again be invited. They went to the meeting. After a little while the medium, who had no previous knowledge of her, declared there was a Christian present, and until that Christian left the room they could not proceed. The Christian kept her seat. After a few minutes the medium again said there was a Christian present and insisted that the person should leave the meeting. The Christian lady thereupon retired. When her neighbor returned home, she informed her that the meeting proceeded after she left without any further difficulty. Such is the power of Christ's name.
A SCRIPTURAL TEST
Amidst all the abounding evil, the uninstructed believer might well be bewildered. But Scripture furnishes a simple but thorough test of every system of teaching. It will be seen that the Person of Christ is the test.
"Every spirit that CONFESSETH NOT that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is not of God; and this is that spirit of antichrist" 1 John 4:3.
"He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son" 1 John 2:22.
"Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost" 1 Corinthians 12:3.
