Spiritism Unmasked
By
W.E.Vine
Scanned, Edited, Forward and Formatted by Shaun Aisbitt
In the light of a sudden re-emergence of Spiritism into the mass media through syndicated television shows and popular appearances by such fakes as John Edwards and Sylvia Browne, I believe it is necessary to post this gem of an article written in 1920 by W.E.Vine (The author of Vines Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words). Basically it shows Biblically why Spiritism is an abomination in the sight of God, even if the channeller / Medium or practitioner claims to be Christian. I am in the process of writing an article which will go further into the tricks, admissions, fakery, avoidance techniques used by practitioners and historic exposures of Spiritism by experts in the field like the Magician 'The Amazing Randi' and Houdini. (S.Aisbitt 2nd July 2003)
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The Claims of Spiritism
Spiritism is based on the assumption that the spirits of the departed can
communicate with us, and accordingly it consists of efforts to enter into such
communications. Spiritists claim to prove that life exists after death, and
that the departed are able to render assistance to those still in the body.
They also claim that the teachings of Spiritism conduce to the present
comfort, the highest elevation, and the permanent blessing of humanity.
As to the first of these claims, the existence of life after death is one of
the great foundation tenets of Christianity. The assistance of Spiritism, even
if it were of bona fide value, would not be required to prove that. Nor is
there anything new in the belief that “the spirit world manifests itself by
producing effects in the physical world inexplicable by the laws of nature.”
That Spiritists do obtain communications with beings in the spirit world, has
long been undeniable. There is, of course, much that passes for the real thing
which is nothing but quackery and illusion. Making full allowance for this,
however, the evidences produced by Spiritism, subjected, as they have been, to
the severest tests, cannot be explained away. Psychical research yields an
increasing volume of evidence corroborating the fact, acknowledged for ages
past in human history, that certain powers of communication with spirit
intelligences exist.
The Claims of Scripture
The question is as to the real character of the beings who are the source of
the communications. Upon this the Bible provides abundant light. We are quite
prepared for the repudiation of the Bible as a divine revelation. Yet for
every argument advanced in disproof of it as a revelation from God, we can
advance a hundred in proof of the validity of its claims as such. We will
confine our attention to one in particular which bears directly upon our
subject.
To the unprejudiced reader of Scripture the fact is undeniable that the
prohibitions contained throughout this book had, as their underlying motive,
the direct welfare of those to whom the prohibitions were given. They are the
outcome of a wisdom which, acting for the best interests of men, has forbidden
only what would prove detrimental to them. Now in all the passages which deal
with the subject—and they are not only numerous, but are to be found in most
of the books which constitute the volume—Spiritism, in any and every shape or
form, is persistently and systematically prohibited. The fact is striking and
significant that writers whose books were written at intervals during a period
of fifteen hundred years, writers differing as widely as possible in status
and calling, writing, too, in countries as far distant from one another as
Italy from Chaldea, and without the possibility of arriving at the same
conclusion either by mutual consultation or by mere imitation of their
predecessors, adopt an identical attitude of condemnation of Spiritism, and
bear an absolutely consistent testimony regarding it. This forms a link in a
long chain of incontrovertible evidence that the book comes to us with divine
authority and inspiration.
The Testimony of Scripture
Taking representative passages, we find in the Pentateuch the following:
“Turn ye not unto them that have familiar spirits, nor unto the wizards; seek
not to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 19:31; see also 20:6
and 27).
“There shall not be found with thee anyone … that useth divination, one that
practiceth augury, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a
consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For whosoever
doeth these things is an abomination unto the Lord; and because of these
abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them [the nations] out from before
thee” (Deut. 18:10–12).
In the historical books it is said of King Saul, that he died, not only
because he kept not the word of the Lord, but also because “he asked counsel
of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire thereby” (1 Chr. 10:13); and of
Manasseh, that “he dealt with them that had familiar spirits, and with
wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to
anger” (2 Kin. 21:6).
Turning to the prophetic books we find denunciation following remonstrance
thus:
“When they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and
unto the wizards that chirp and that mutter: should not a people seek unto
their God? on behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead? To the law
and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this Word, surely there
is no mourning for them” (Is. 8:19, 20).
In the Acts of the apostles, the evil of sorcery is frequently exposed. In the
epistles, the apostle Paul gives warning that those who practice it shall not
inherit the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:20, 21). In the Apocalypse their doom is
foretold as the second death, and exclusion from the city of God (Rev. 21:8;
22:14, 15).
The argument is raised in regard to the Leviticus passage, that the same book
forbids the wearing of clothes of mingled materials, and that inasmuch as the
latter prohibition is inapplicable to present-day life, so is that against
dealing with familiar spirits. Such reasoning is almost too grotesque to
deserve notice. Regulations made for the people of Israel regarding food and
clothing were the outcome of the divine choice and care of the nation, and
were intended for their welfare in the special circumstances under which that
care was necessary. Certain prohibitions, in themselves of a salutary
character for that people, were applicable solely to them under the Mosaic
economy. The quotations just given suffice to show that the prohibitions
against all forms of Spiritism are not confined to Israel but are of universal
application.
Now the Bible has proved to be a means of enlightenment and advancement and a
benefit in every way, wherever it has been received, whether in the life of
the individual, or in the family, or in the nation; and this is the book
which, forbidding only what is deleterious, absolutely and from beginning to
end of its contents, prohibits Spiritism. Can it be conceived that God would
term “an abomination to the Lord” that which carried with it the welfare of
His creatures? On this showing alone Spiritism is injurious, and its
humanitarian claims are invalid.
Concerning the Departed
But this is not the only kind of testimony provided in Scripture. There is
instruction as to whether we are to look for the reappearance of the departed
in spirit form, or to receive communications from them. In the first place,
had this been so, we should have expected that a book which treats so
constantly of communications from the other world, would have given frequent
evidence of, and teaching concerning, such communications or appearances.
This, however, is not the case. On the contrary, Job says, “When a few years
are come, then I shall go the way, whence I shall not return” (Job 16:22), and
David says of his dead child, “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to
me” (2 Sam. 12:23). Significant also is the conversation in the spirit world
between Abraham and the man who had spent his days in selfish ease. In seeking
to persuade Abraham to send a messenger to his brethren still in the body, he
argues that “if one go to them from the dead, they will repent.” Abraham
replies, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be
persuaded if one rise from the dead.” He thus discountenances the idea of one
going in spirit form, and speaks only of the possibility that a messenger
should be sent in the body by means of resurrection (Luke 16:27–31).
Again, the Bible is a book which provides abundant comfort to those who are in
trouble. But there is never a hint in it that comfort for the bereaved is to
be derived from any sort of communication with spirits of the departed. When
the apostle Paul imparts consolation to the bereaved concerning their
departed, he does so as follows:
“If we believe [and the “if” is not hypothetical: the implication is that we
do believe] that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen
asleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word
of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the
Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. For the Lord
Himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;
then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up
in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the
Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:14–18).
If, as Spiritists say, “the early church was saturated with Spiritism”—an
absolutely gratuitous assumption for which there is not a shred of
evidence—here surely was the passage in which some reference might be expected
to the comfort to be obtained from messages from the departed. The churches,
however, were not so taught.
It is poor comfort that is not derived from sources absolutely reliable; and
to seek to obtain comfort by disobedience to God is, to say the least,
dangerous. There are unlawful means of procuring relief from sorrow, and
Spiritism is one of these. True Christians—and by that term we mean those who
by faith in the Son of God are in the enjoyment of vital union and communion
with Him—have for nineteen centuries derived genuine and lasting comfort
concerning their departed ones by the means thus graciously granted by God.
They know that those who have died in the faith are “with Christ,” that theirs
is bliss unspeakable, undimmed and uninterrupted, and that there will be
eternal reunion in resurrection glory at His Second Coming.
The Endor Medium
An appeal is made by Spiritists to the record in 1 Samuel 28, of King Saul’s
dealings with the woman at Endor, in order to show that Scripture testifies to
the reality of mediumistic communications, and therefore to justify the
practice. It is somewhat strange that any appeal should be made in this way to
a book which invariably passes condemnation upon Spiritism. Yet it is easy to
impose on those who are in comparative ignorance of the teachings of the Word
of God. There is one thing that the narrative referred to makes quite clear,
however, and that is that the Spiritism of modern times is identical in
character with that described in the Bible.
The parallel is worthy of notice. In the modern séance, there is the applicant
who seeks to obtain communication from a person who has departed this life;
there is the medium who passes into temporary sub consciousness or
unconsciousness in order to receive the communication; there is the “control,”
or the spirit-being whose special influence is regularly exercised over the
medium; and there is, hypothetically, the spirit of the departed person from
whom the message is desired. All this corresponds precisely with what took
place as recorded in 1 Samuel 28. The applicant was Saul—who, by the way,
would scarcely have had recourse to a practice which in his former days of
well-doing he had endeavoured to abolish from his kingdom, had this dealing
with spirits been mere illusion and jugglery, and not actually a dark and evil
reality. Then there was the woman, possessed of mediumistic powers. Thirdly
there was the “familiar spirit,” in present-day phraseology, “the control.”
Lastly, there was the departed prophet Samuel, from whom Saul hoped to receive
a message. The modern and the ancient methods are the same. Present-day
Spiritism is not a “new revelation,” but an old sin. The indictments of
Scripture therefore apply to the present practice. Moreover the identification
of the two is confirmed by the fact that the Hebrew word frequently used to
describe the practice signifies “one who consults the dead for information.”
In that particular instance, however, the normal method of procedure was upset
by God’s interposition, and that in a way which consistently stamps the divine
condemnation upon the practice. Without discussing here the much-discussed
question as to whether Samuel himself was actually sent, the facts are that
the machinery of the customary séance was entirely dislocated; the medium was
terror-stricken by the unusual revelation, an alarm intensified by the
disclosure of her applicant’s identity; the message was not given through her
mediumship at all, as was usual, but direct to Saul, and was a message, not of
quiet information, but of stern denunciation. God Himself intervened to take
things out of the hands of these Spiritists, and to communicate direct with
the king. The whole narrative, with the comment in 1 Chronicles 10:13 above
quoted, is condemnatory of the practice, and provides no ground of appeal
whatever for the Spiritist, nor any justification for having recourse to such
means of endeavouring to communicate with the departed. Nor, again, does the
extraordinary event, with its divine intervention, provide any reason for
supposing that the spirits of the departed come to the séance room or send
messages at all.
The Truth About the Spirits
We turn now to another side of the evidence provided by Scripture. The book
which has pronounced a ban on Spiritism makes known its true character. Those
who practice Spiritism claim that the spirits with whom communication is held
are those of human beings, but this has never been incontrovertibly
demonstrated. It remains yet with Spiritists to prove that the controls, and
the other spirits from whom their messages are derived, are human beings, and
not those who, possessed of a considerable amount of knowledge of human
circumstances, impersonate the departed with intent to deceive. This is of the
utmost importance in view of the fact that the Scriptures warn us of the
existence of evil spirits, and of their seductive activities. Satan, the
archenemy of mankind, is called “the deceiver of the whole world” (Rev. 12:9).
He is said to “fashion himself into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). Of the
work of other evil spirits and their influence over mankind the Bible gives
abundant evidence. It foretold that during the latter part of the present age
there would be a falling away from the faith on the part of some, “through the
power of seducing spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1), and that at
the close of this dispensation the world would come under a specially
organized activity of these beings (Rev. 16:13, 14).
The Hebrew and Greek words which describe these spirits have significant
meanings. The Hebrew word is shedim, which denotes “mighty ones”; the Greek is
daimones (or daimonia), i.e., “knowing ones.” Their superhuman power is
illustrated in the records of the Gospels and the Acts, and further in the
physical condition of modern mediums and other subjects of Spiritist control.
In regard to their knowledge, it is evident that demons have closely observed
the ways and doings of men, and the dealings of God with humanity. They have
thus been enabled to understand considerably the constitution of man and the
conditions of his life. They can have little difficulty, therefore, in
impersonating the departed, whose lives they have watched. Their knowledge of
human affairs, coupled with the fact that they act under the guidance of
Satan, enables them to predict the future to some extent. Further evidences of
their superhuman knowledge abound in Scripture (see Matt. 8:29; Mark 1:24, 34;
5:7; Acts 16:17, etc.). They are shown to be not only deceptive, but cruel
and, in many cases, unclean, and as seeking to control the bodies of men. They
instigate men to rebel against God (Rev. 16:13, 14).
An Important Distinction
Demon-possession is not mere mental disease. For—
(a) Luke, himself a physician, distinguishes thus between the two. He speaks
of a great number of people who came to be healed of their diseases, and,
under a separate heading, of those who were troubled with unclean spirits
(Luke 6:17, 18).
(b) Matthew’s Gospel makes a similar distinction:
“They brought unto Him all that were sick, holden with divers diseases and
torments, possessed with demons, and epileptic (a.v. lunatic), and palsied”
(Matt. 4:24).
Here again there is a clear differentiation between well-known mental
affliction and demon-possession.
(c) Mark’s Gospel bears the same testimony:
“They brought unto Him all that were sick, and them that were possessed with
demons … and He healed many that were sick with divers diseases, and cast out
many demons” (Mark 1:32, 34).
(d) Demons are mentioned no less than seventy times in Scripture, and never
once is the effect of their power referred to as a disease, but always as
demon-possession. Persons so possessed lost the power of individual will, and
their consciousness was yielded to the power of the demon. Hence the
supernatural utterances and strength manifested, and the abnormal movements of
the body while under such control; such indeed as are evidenced in the case of
modern mediums.
(e) The Chinese have separate names for idiocy, insanity, epilepsy, hysteria
and demon-possession. There are resemblances, of course, between the physical
disease and the case of possession, but the differences are great and are not
accountable by pathological diagnosis.
These differences are chiefly as follows:
(1) The person under the demon influence manifests an “automatic and
methodical acting of a new personality”; he refers to himself not in the first
person as in the case of a lunatic, but in the third person, as if speaking of
another being. In insanity the assumed personality is obviously unreal. Not
so, however, in the case of possession.
(2) A knowledge and power are evidenced, not possessed by the person affected
when in his normal state, and inexplicable by pathology. There is today, for
instance, the same recognition of, and hatred toward Christ, as in Scripture
instances, such as the incident of the girl mentioned in Acts 16. This is
especially the case in heathen lands, where aggressive mission work is carried
on.
(3) There is a direct change in moral character; mediums frequently evidence
antipathy to God, to Christ, to the Christian religion, and to prayer. The
following admission was recently made by a Spiritist: “So long as you reply to
our arguments with a text, we cannot teach you.” The tendency to moral
degeneracy is dealt with later on.
(4) Deliverance from the supernatural power comes when certain articles are
abandoned or destroyed such as rings or books, or, in heathen lands, idols,
shrines, etc.
The Reality of the Evil
These evidences are sufficient to give proof of the reality of
demon-possession both in ancient and modern times. In all these respects the
testimony of Scripture is corroborated by that from other sources. Those who
try to explain the phenomena by pathology and psychology are constantly
confronted with difficulties, which entirely disappear if the causes are
attributable to demon-possession. Those who today are engaged in psychical
research produce strong evidence that a distinct personality acts through the
medium under control. A distinction must be made, in passing, between a
demoniac and a demon-controlled medium. A demoniac is an involuntary victim,
though he may, by yielding to sin, have brought the trouble on himself, his
misdeeds opening the avenues of his being for demon aggression. A
demon-controlled medium is a willing subject though deceived.
Mediumship is practiced in China in much the same way as in the West. Thus an
applicant writes a charm for a medium. The latter takes an incense stick in
his hand, and stands still, thereby notifying his willingness for the unseen
being to take control. The charm is burned, the demon is worshiped and
invoked. The medium announces what spirit has descended, and gives
information. After returning to the normal state he often declares ignorance
of what he had been stating during the process. Automatic writing is carried
on in China in much the same manner. To a forked willow branch a pencil is
attached, and a sanded platter placed beneath. The medium goes through the
same process as just described. The pencil then traces characters on the sand,
and so information is obtained.
Varying Methods
While this manifestation of demon power corresponds to what prevails in highly
civilized lands, the activity of these powers of darkness is generally
displayed in heathendom in the more openly repulsive forms. The reasons are
not far to seek. Firstly, the true character and power of demons would
naturally be shown in a more congenial atmosphere, such as that of heathen
lands. Secondly, to adopt these methods largely where Christianity prevails,
would hinder the purpose and influence of Satan, as the revelation of his
character would prevent his work of deception. Thirdly, people of natural
enlightenment, who are equally the objects of his delusions, would repudiate
association with methods obviously debased. Accordingly in civilized
communities the powers of darkness must adopt more subtle means of turning men
away from God. The mode of activity is therefore adapted to varying conditions
of time and locality. For people of refinement and education the method must
be suitably alluring. In civilization, then, demon-control is dignified by
plausible and euphemistic phraseology, and disguised by more specious methods.
Demons are capable not merely of dragging men into sensuality, but of
persuading them to a life of asceticism, philanthropy, self-denial and
morality—all excellent things in themselves—deceiving them all the while as to
the path they are really treading, and blinding them as to the true character
of sin in God’s sight and the divinely appointed remedy. It is deplorable that
leaders of thought and men and women of influence are today being thus
beguiled, under the impression that they are merely engaging in psychical
research for the benefit of their fellowmen.
Concerning Doctrines
The “doctrines of demons” are first directed against the honour of Christ, who
is ever the object of satanic hostility. As long as the evil one has any
degree of liberty he will use it in antagonism against the Son of God. With
untiring effort, therefore, he and the hosts of darkness under him seek to
undermine the Christian faith. In the first epistle of Timothy the apostle
Paul, immediately after enumerating some of the great basic truths relating to
the Son of God, says, “But the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in later times
some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and
doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 3:16; 4:1). Special doctrines follow, which we
must notice presently, but clearly the contrast is first with the truths in
the preceding context relating to Christ.
When, therefore, we hear one of the leading present-day advocates of Spiritism
proclaiming that the sacrifice of Christ was not vicarious, that He “came to
place Himself before the tribunal of man’s judgment,” that He was simply a
perfect medium, that He “occasionally lost His temper,” that there is no
resurrection and no hell, we have no difficulty in tracing such teachings to
their satanic source, and in recognizing in them the outcome of the activities
of these seducing spirits. Of similar origin are the statements of Mr. W.
Stainton Moses, a noted medium of recent times, who repudiated the doctrines
of redemption and atonement, and declared that “Far too much stress is laid on
Christ’s death,” and that “It is no uncommon thing to die for an idea.” “This
idea,” he says, “of a good God sacrificing His sinless Son as a propitiation
for man, is repudiated as monstrous. Man is his own Saviour.” This, by the
way, is not the language of Scripture, which says that Christ “offered
Himself” (Heb. 9:14). The satanic source of the views of Mr. Stainton
Moses—himself a renegade from the Christian faith, and eventually harassed by
the spirit-beings under whose influence he had come—is suggested by his own
confession. “All the information ever given me,” he says, “in proof of the
presence of the departed, might in harmony with my experience of the spirits,
have been first obtained and then imparted by a false intelligence.” The
lamentable course of this man is a danger signal to those who are tempted to
practice Spiritism.
A Spiritist Conference
The following identification of the teachings of Spiritism with those
mentioned by the apostle Paul is remarkable. At a Spiritist conference
recently held in Rhode Island, U.S.A., at which eighteen states were
represented, the following four resolutions were passed:
1. That Sunday Schools should be discontinued;
2. That all Christian ordinances and worship should be abandoned;
3. That sexual tyranny should be denounced;
4. That abstinence from animal food should be affirmed.
The last two are precisely what the apostle predicted. The doctrines of demons
would be as follows: “Forbidding to marry [or rather “hindering marriage”],
and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with
thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth” (1 Tim. 4:3).
Admissions of Spiritists
That the spirit-controls of mediums are demons is confirmed by the testimony
of Spiritists of the present times. It has often been confessed by mediums in
the séance room that neither good angels nor the departed, but evil spirits,
are in attendance. They acknowledge that they are frequently deceived and
sometimes are in difficulty to determine whether they have been deceived or
not. What a contrast is here presented to the teachings of Scripture! In the
case of Spiritism there is acknowledged uncertainty; in the case of Scripture,
irrefutable declarations! A Spiritist recently confessed that
“most of the stories of returned friends are due to the work not of the latter
but of other spirits.”
Miles Grant, in “Spiritism Unveiled,” says:
“For seven years I held daily intercourse with what purported to be my
mother’s spirit. I am now firmly persuaded that it was nothing but an evil
spirit, an infernal demon, who in that guise gained my soul’s confidence, and
led me to the very brink of ruin.”
Madame de Morgan, in an address given before the Spiritualist Alliance, stated
that
“the resemblance [i.e., between the departed one and the spirit pretending
identity with that of the departed] never seems to be perfect.”
In a standard work explaining Spiritism, the writer says:
“Communications from the spirit-world are not necessarily infallible truth.”
A recent issue of The Occult Review contains the following statement:
“Spiritists are well aware of the awful peril of obsession by evil spirits.
Man has some very dangerous and powerful enemies behind the veil.”
Lying Theories About the Other World
That spirits appeal to God is no proof of the validity of their claims.
Unclean demons have confessed Christ. The cause of truth needs no assistance
from means which God has condemned. Christ and His apostles repudiated such
testimony (see Mark 3:11, 12; Acts 16:17, 18). Messages that come through
automatic writing professing to describe worlds after death, the people who
live therein, how friend meets friend, how youth and age are transformed, the
various pursuits and occupations in the different spheres, etc., are all
void of true proof as to their reality. The teaching of the Word of God shows
that they are illusory, and not only so, but that they are part of a scheme of
satanic deception to allure men away from God and the truth. And surely it is
not difficult to grasp the fact that deceptive spirits, acting through
automatic writing or through a medium in a state of sub consciousness, can
present a view of after-death circumstances which are not substantiated by
facts, but which, on the other hand, are merely blinds to keep the truth from
the human heart!
“The god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that
the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God,
should not dawn upon them” (2 Cor. 4:4).
It cannot be difficult to see that evil spirits, in order to allure men, make
the teachings they inculcate conform to a certain extent to the doctrines of
Christianity, omitting or repudiating at the same time those fundamental
truths relating to Christ and His redemptive work which are absolutely
essential for man’s salvation.
An unclean spirit does not become pure because an applicant for information is
reverent or intellectual. The character of the spirit remains the same though
its tactics may be plausible. Not even the best motive—that for instance of
seeking to get into touch with a departed relative—can purify an unholy
intercourse, or can transform disobedience into righteousness. Whatever the
means employed by the powers of darkness, their motives remain the same,
namely to hinder the work of God and extend the domination of Satan. We are
warned in the Word of God not to believe every spirit, but to prove the
spirits whether they are of God (1 John 4:1). Spiritists appeal to this
Scripture as a reason why people should attend séances and engage in the
practice of Spiritism. That is an entire misapplication of the passage. It
teaches, not that we are to tamper with Spiritism, but to test all teachings
by the Scriptures, since false doctrines are the work of evil spirits acting
through human teachers. To find oneself possessed of certain psychic powers
and so to begin to dabble in automatic writings and other forms of Spiritism
under the impression that this is only a means of natural and legitimate human
development, is to throw oneself into the snare of Satan, and to invite the
disastrous influence of the evil spirits who work under his direction.
Spiritists’ Confessions of Evil Effects
We shall now employ some testimonies of Spiritists themselves to confirm this.
(1) Sir William Barrett, in his book on Necromancy (p. 15) speaks of “the
steady downward course of mediums.” Yet we are told now that Christ was a
perfect medium. How absolutely void of the knowledge of the true Christ are
those who offer such poor flattery to the Christian faith! How simple it is,
after all, to create a Christ of one’s vain imagination! How easy to suppose a
being whose ways and deeds conform to the darkened thoughts of those who turn
from the light of the truth!
(2) It has been publicly stated by one of the leading present-day exponents of
Spiritism that “it has its dangerous element.” Verily to put oneself under the
power of evil spirits is dangerous. What a contrast to Christianity! Have the
true followers of Christ ever found Christianity a dangerous practice? Does
any danger lie there? We are told, forsooth, that Christianity has become
effete! And yet there are hundreds of thousands, who, true to their Master,
are ready today to lay down their lives for Him, and whose numbers are greater
than in any preceding generation of the present era! Let a man accept Christ
as his Lord and Saviour and at once he becomes the dwelling place of the
Spirit of God, and passes out of danger into safety.
(3) The celebrated medium D. D. Home, acknowledged that the spirits which
controlled him were gaining entire mastery of his being. Imagine the spirits
of departed friends doing this! The idea is preposterous. And as to those who
died in faith in Christ, what an outrageous slur upon their character to
suppose that they descend to the degradation that characterizes many séances,
or that they cooperate with mediums to the detriment of these latter persons,
and in disobedience to the Word of God!
(4) Sir Oliver Lodge, an advocate of Spiritism from the standpoint of
psychical research, has issued a warning, counselling “regulated moderation in
the use of unusual power in the psychic direction.” He advises anyone who has
the power of receiving communications in any form “to see to it that he
remains master of the situation.” “To give up your own judgment,” he says,
“and depend solely on adventitious aid, is a grave blunder, and may in the
long run have disastrous consequences.” Surely this piece of advice is
sufficiently condemnatory in itself.
(5) Similar to the warning just quoted is that of Professor C. Flammarion,
another exponent of Spiritism, who says:
“It is prudent not to give oneself exclusively to occult subjects, for one
might soon lose the independence of mind necessary to form an impartial
judgment.”
If that is true, what reliability can be placed upon the advice of those who
are practicing Spiritism? Such testimonies only fall in line with the warnings
of Scripture. To practice this sort of thing is to invite the disastrous
control of a power which is purposively inimical to us.
(6) Sir William Barrett, again, says:
“Spiritism is dangerous in proportion as it leads us to surrender our reason
or our will to the dictates of an invisible and often lying being.”
And again:
“Granting the existence of the spirit-world, it is necessary to be on one’s
guard against the invasion of our will (when so surrendered) by a lower order
of intelligence and morality.”
How different from Christianity! Were such warnings ever called for in the
case of Christians, to whom the injunction has been given “Yield yourselves
unto God”?
(7) The Spiritist, Mr. W. T. Stead, bore testimony to the immoral tendency of
Spiritism and to the blasted lives of many who practice it. Mediums have again
and again acknowledged that once the art of entering into
spirit-communications has been acquired, the influence of the spirit-being
becomes irresistible. The domination can scarcely be shaken off. In other
words, when the power of communication between a medium and the control is
established (“control,” is, by the way, a highly suggestive term), the demon
is unwilling to relinquish the relationship.
True Spiritualism
What a contrast, again, is presented to us between the foregoing testimonies
and the teachings of the Bible concerning the power of the Spirit of God in
relation to the Christian! What a contrast between the experiences of mediums
and the experiences of those who are governed and guided by the Holy Spirit!
For after all, there is a true means of intercommunication between God and the
soul of the one who is born again of the Spirit of God and has received His
Son.
“When He, the Spirit of truth is come,” saith the Lord, “He shall guide you
into all the truth; for He shall not speak from Himself; but what things so
ever He shall hear, these shall He speak; and He shall declare unto you the
things that are to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall take of Mine, and
shall declare it unto you” (John 16:13, 14).
This promise has been fulfilled in the experience of Christians ever since
Pentecost. Spiritism is a devilish counterfeit of this true Spiritualism, and
a soul-destroying substitute for it. The Spirit of God is the one channel of
communication between God Himself and the true Christian. Never was there any
need of warning as to moderation in opening the avenues of our being to the
benign influence of His Spirit. His control never works anything but the
utmost good. To obey the divine command “Be filled with the Spirit” is to
derive the highest benefit possible to a human being in this life. The
believer who thus enjoys constant communion with his Redeemer, experiences
that which produces true manliness and nobility and makes him a power for good
to his fellowmen. The enlightenment which is granted him, and the leading of
the Spirit of God, prove safeguards to him against attempting to follow the
spurious, delusive, and damaging practices and teachings of Spiritism.
Independent Testimonies
Turning to another class of testimony, the following is the verdict of a
doctor who for nearly half a century has been in contact with problems and
cases relative to Spiritism. Speaking of those who have developed their powers
as mediums, he says:
“The tendency in such is ever downwards. The body physically seems, sooner or
later, unable to bear the strain; the mind, in like manner, seems to lose its
fibre, its concentration; the moral character markedly deteriorates;
drunkenness and other vices prevail; and the whole condition becomes more or
less deplorable.”
The same author quotes Professor Hudson as saying that the exercise of
Spiritism
“produces mental deterioration which keeps pace with physical decline; and
which, no doubt, loosens all principles of morality and truth.”
Yet this is the “science,” or as Spiritists have decided to call it, the
“religion,” which claims to elevate humanity. In the disastrous practices
associated with this so-called religion, men, women and young people are being
encouraged to engage, under the pretext of the development of their latent
powers.
The late Reader Harris, K.C., recorded the following:
“The most remarkable case of mediumship I have met with was that of a young
lady, who commenced with a little seemingly innocent table-turning at a
children’s party, and finished up by death in a madhouse.”
The verdict of Mr. Birrell, at Bristol, is also worth recording. He said:
“The records of Spiritism leave me unconvinced. They lack the things of
morality, of grandeur, of emotion, in a word, of religion. They deal with
petty things, mere prolonged egoism, as if the one thing we want to be assured
of is continued existence and an endless capacity to exchange platitudes. A
revelation of the life beyond the grave ought surely, if it is to do any good
in the world, to be more stupendous than that—something of really first-class
importance. Otherwise we are just as well without it.”
These latter conditions are amply fulfilled in the teachings of the Bible,
which, in contrast to the blighting effects of Spiritism, has wrought untold
blessing in individual as well as national life. It has ennobled humanity,
transformed the life, and beautified the character, giving to all who have
accepted the Son of God as their Redeemer, a true and sufficient insight into
the conditions of the other world.
Periodic Outbursts
The spread of Spiritism is so rapid and general today as to demand some
account of its present significance. Seasons of approaching crisis in the
world’s history have almost invariably been accompanied by an outburst of
Spiritist activity. The regularity of this in the records of the Bible is
remarkable. There are abundant evidences from Scripture of the existence of
the evil in the days prior to the Flood.
Passing to the period of the exodus of Israel from Egypt, and their entry into
Canaan, not only are records given us of the work of Spiritism in Egypt as an
attempt to hinder the liberation of Israel (Ex. 7:10–22; 8:7), but in
Palestine the iniquity of the Amorites and other Canaanite nations had reached
a climax (see Gen. 15:16). That their sin was that of Spiritism is clear from
the divine injunction given by Moses, already quoted:
“When thou art come into the land … thou shalt not learn to do after the
abominations of those nations. There shall not be found with thee … one that
useth divination, one that practiceth augury, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer,
or a charmer, or a consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a
necromancer. For whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto the Lord:
and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from
before thee” (Deut. 18:9–12).
The next crisis, which occurred some five hundred years later, was that of the
appointment of a king over Israel. That event set up the throne upon which
ultimately the Messiah will sit, who is to wrest the world from the domination
of Satan. The devil therefore attempted to blast the nation with the influence
of Spiritism. That those who had “familiar spirits” (i.e., mediumistic
controls) were numerous, is clear from the fact that King Saul had taken
measures to purge the land from this evil, and that his drastic measures had
not been entirely successful (see 1 Sam. 28:3, 7).
Another crisis, again five hundred years later, was the removal of the nation
into captivity into Assyria and Chaldea. Spiritism had once more become
rampant among the people. The records of this are given in 2 Kings 17:17 and
21:6. The widespread extent of the evil is evidenced in the already-quoted
remonstrance of the prophet Isaiah against those who encouraged the people to
make applications to mediums (“them that have familiar spirits”), Isaiah 8:19,
20. This national sin brought down the judgment of God upon them.
Again, some five hundred years after the captivity, at the period of the life,
death and resurrection of Christ, and the time of Pentecost, a tremendous
manifestation of Spiritist activity took place. The records of the Gospels and
the Acts show that sorcery and demon-possession abounded. The crisis of the
coming of the Son of God and His redemptive work at Calvary, brought the
satanic hosts again into evidence. Christ and His apostles were constantly
confronted with the open hostility of demons. The agents of Spiritism were
active in opposing the gospel (see Acts 8:7, 9–11; 13:8–12; 16:16–18; 19:13).
Thus the personal intervention of God, in the coming of His Son and the gift
of the Holy Spirit, was the occasion of one of the greatest displays of
Spiritist activity up to that time.
The Modern Outburst
The obvious conclusion from the foregoing is that the worldwide Spiritist
activities of recent times, portend another great crisis in the history of
mankind. It seems necessary, therefore, to consider somewhat more closely the
circumstances of the present-day manifestation of satanic power.
The modern outburst of Spiritism has been dated from 1847, when, owing to
events in the United States, a widespread interest was aroused in mediumship.
Thence it extended to Europe. In 1871 the number of Spiritists in U.S.A. was
estimated at nine thousand. A recent estimate gives twenty million. The number
of periodicals representing their teachings is numerous, and these are
circulated in all the continents.
In the latter part of the last century a number of distinguished men became
interested in the subject, and in 1891 the Society for Psychical Research was
founded. The influence of this Society in the British Isles spread rapidly. In
1900 there were twenty-five Spiritist societies in the United States alone,
and the mediums there numbered ten thousand. Spiritism assumed a more
pronouncedly religious aspect; scores of churches were founded; Spiritist
ministers were ordained, and Sunday schools and day schools were established.
The institution of the Black Mass in Paris is well-known. The account of the
prohibition of this abomination appeared in the Daily Chronicle of March 4th,
1907. The institution has, however, been recently revived.
The Religious Tendency
The tendency to regard Spiritism as a religion has become very marked. Mr. W.
T. Stead represented it as the duty of all Christians to take up the study of
Spirit-return and ministry as a religious duty. Evidences of the response to
this are numerous. The following appeared in the British Weekly of November
4th, 1909:
“Probably no more surprising address has been delivered in a theological
college within our generation than that in which Dr. Amory Bradford urged the
students of Hackney College to occupy themselves with occult and
spiritualistic studies.”
The Guardian of February 10th, 1916, contained an article boldly advocating
intercourse with the dead. Again, in the British Weekly, of July 6th, 1917, we
find the following:
“Let science lead the way by all means. Borderland studies occupied thoughtful
minds in England for a generation before the war, and the three years conflict
has made us all Borderers.”
The war, of course, has given a tremendous impetus to Spiritism. Multitudes
who do not know the true and divinely appointed means of comfort in
bereavement, have had recourse to mediums and other agencies, either in
ignorance, or rejection, of God’s condemnation of the practice. How deplorable
it is that comfort should be sought by a means both contrary to divine
command, and spurious and delusive, and not only so, but actually under the
control of satanic power!
The Press—Religious and Secular
The tendency referred to above, to regard Spiritism as a religion rather than
a science, is drawing a large number of ecclesiastics into the ranks of the
Spiritists, and this is a further sign of the tremendous spread of the evil.
In the February 1920 issue of Nash’s Magazine, there appeared an article from
the pen of a well-known bishop of the Church of England, discussing the
attitude of the Christian church toward Spiritism. “Spiritualism,” he says,
“is in its nature the ally and not the enemy of Christianity.” This is a
surprising utterance from such a source. It is enough to refer to The New
Revelation, a recent production by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which may fairly be
said to represent the teachings of Spiritists today. The blasphemous
statements of that book against the Son of God expose Spiritism as the
deadliest enemy rather than the ally of the Christian faith. In addition to
the disparagement of His person, the writer denies the value of His atoning
work. He declares that inasmuch as “there never was any evidence of the fall
of man,” there is no justice in a vicarious sacrifice, nor in redemption from
sin. This—and there is much more of the same sort—is quite in keeping with the
tenets of Spiritists, who deny the essential and eternal deity of Christ, the
efficacy of His atonement, and the truth of His resurrection. How can
Spiritism be the ally of Christianity? The bishop further says that
“Christians are naturally drawn toward Spiritism, and indeed toward Spiritual
phenomena.” They certainly have not derived any inclination thitherward from
the teaching of Christ, nor from the Word of God. If any find themselves
“naturally drawn,” let them beware, lest they be found fighting against God,
and against their own welfare! The bishop bases his arguments on the
appearance of Christ to His disciples during the forty days immediately
succeeding His resurrection, and on their recognition of Him and the converse
they held with Him. It is scarcely consistent to use the great truth of the
Lord’s resurrection in order to support a heresy which denies it.
The following was a resolution recently moved in the house of Laymen:
“That inquiry into psychical phenomena, undertaken in a reverent and
scientific spirit, is consistent with the Christian faith, and may, under
God’s providence, be a means whereby doubting minds are confirmed in behalf of
our twofold nature, and of the personal continuance after death of the
spiritual part of our being.”
If those who profess Christianity were satisfied with the Word of God, they
would not need confirmation by such an inquiry. A lying spirit may say what is
true as well as anyone else, but the motive nevertheless is to deceive. Part
of the very deception of Spiritism is that it may teach an article of the
Christian faith, such as the belief of the future life, but this does not
constitute Spiritism an “ally of Christianity.” The apostle Paul did not
regard as an ally the girl-medium at Philippi who cried out, “These men are
servants of the most High God, which proclaim unto you the way of salvation”
(Acts 16:16–18). That statement was true, but Paul repudiated a testimony
derived from such a source. Spiritists boast that Spiritism will re-establish
the fading belief in a future life. In the case of no true Christian is the
belief fading. Moreover, the doctrine concerning the future life as taught by
Spiritists is that of a future developed from the present by a process in
advancing stages in various spheres. This is its “nobler gospel”! In reality
it is no gospel at all. It is a delusive perversion of the teachings of
Christianity.
An Ominous Increase
Such is the portentous advance of Spiritism that those who know that the
crisis of the next great intervention of God is near, are not surprised to
find a whole page of one of the most widely circulated newspapers of the day
devoted to news concerning the records of messages received by a clergyman
through automatic writing. It is not surprising to see the subject of
Spiritism taken up from time to time in the columns of almost every leading
newspaper in the world’s press. Nor is it surprising to find that séances are
being held in churches as a regular part of the ecclesiastical routine.
A medium recently said, “I learn from spirits that a vast spiritual movement
is working out a religious scheme.” This is no mediumistic illusion. Evil
spirits are doubtless thoroughly aware of future conditions. They know the
Scriptures. Another medium lately gave information as from a control, that in
a few years half the people in the world would be either Spiritists or would
engage in some form of Spiritism.
The Approaching Crisis
The evil must be expected to continue making rapid strides. No careful student
of Scripture will anticipate anything else. The Bible shows in what this
so-called religion will culminate, and what is the character of the coming
crisis, in which, as in similar circumstances in the past, the judgments of
God will inevitably descend upon the earth. Our Lord foretold that the
condition of the world just at the end of this age, prior to His return, would
be similar to that which prevailed in the days of Noah, and again in the days
of Lot’s sojourn in Sodom and Gomorrah (Luke 17:22–30). The record concerning
the former is that the earth was filled with corruption (Gen. 6:12). The
prophecy uttered by Christ is confirmed in many other passages of the Word of
God. Nowhere does the Bible teach that the latter part of this dispensation is
to be characterized by the moral improvement of humanity. The apostle Paul
pointed out that at this time men would give heed to seducing spirits and
doctrines of demons (1 Tim. 4:1; see also 2 Tim. 3:1–5). The book of the
Revelation shows that just before the establishment of the kingdom of God and
the authority of Christ in the earth, by the execution of divine judgment upon
the ungodly, the activity of Satan and his hosts of evil spirits will be
greater than ever. The announcement of the impending inauguration of the
kingdom in chapter twelve, verse 10, is accompanied by the following warning:
“Woe for the earth and for the sea; because the devil has gone down unto you,
having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time” (v. 12).
The next chapters speak of the two great world rulers, through whom Satan is
to control human affairs for a short time at the close of this age. Under them
the world will be in such a state as to necessitate the retributive
intervention of God, as was the case in the days of Noah. The description
given of the second of these two potentates suggests that they will exercise
Spiritist powers (Rev. 13:11–18). This is made clear by the fact that they
will act under the direction of Satan (v. 2), and from the statement in
chapter sixteen, verses 13 and 14, that the spirits of demons speak through
both of them. In this last passage the second ruler, again symbolized like the
first by the term “beast,” is also called “the false prophet.” The evil
spirits will use them to organize mankind in general rebellion against God.
For this state of things Spiritism is undoubtedly preparing the way. The
spirits of demons, acting through the practices and teachings of Spiritists
are, by the most seductive methods, leading multitudes in rejection of God’s
commands, and in denial of His Christ. The divine judgments must ere long
descend upon this state of things. Disobedience to God brings first the
retribution of delusion, and then judgments upon the iniquity. Of these we
have a solemn instance in the words of Isaiah concerning Egypt of old:
“The spirit of Egypt shall be made void in the midst of it; and I will destroy
the counsel thereof: and they shall seek unto the idols, and to the charmers,
and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards; and I will give
over the Egyptians into the hands of a cruel lord” (Is. 19:3, 4).
The circumstances of the crisis that is now approaching are given in
considerable detail in the Word of God. By the personal intervention of
Christ, the church, the true church, consisting of all who, having been born
of the Spirit of God, are followers of Christ, will be removed from the earth
(see 1 Thess. 4:15–17). The Lord Jesus will subsequently be revealed from
heaven
“with the angels of His power in flaming fire rendering vengeance to them that
know not God, and to them that obey not the Gospel” (2 Thess. 1:7–8).
A Final Warning
Let Christians take heed against being drawn into tampering with Spiritism in
any form. To play at planchette with the idea that it is an innocent toy, or
to engage in thought-reading, table-turning, palmistry and clairvoyance, is to
throw oneself into the devil’s snare. Many a one has been allured into things
of this sort at a social gathering, and has thereby entered on a course
leading to results ruinous both to soul and to body. We should beware of
counting trivial the character of that which we do not understand. Attempts to
communicate with the other world through Spiritism are Satan’s substitute for
the work of the Holy Spirit, who leads us constantly into communion with God
the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
Let us beware of what is called “The New Revelation.” Spiritism is an ancient
practice, by which for ages man has been allured to his destruction by Satan
and his hosts of darkness. Let us never forget that
“our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities,
against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Let us
“take the whole armour that we may be able to withstand in the evil day, and
having done all, to stand.”
The end of this age is drawing near. The “day of salvation” has already been
lengthened out in the long-suffering of God. Satan knows his time is short,
and is busier than ever alluring men to their doom by the false gospels of
Spiritism, Theosophy, and other deceptions. Should the reader as yet know not
the joy of God’s pardoning mercy through the death of Christ, and the gift of
eternal life in Him, this may be freely obtained. The divine conditions are
simple. They are “repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ”
(Acts 20:21). That those by whom this booklet is read—and who have not
received the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, by faith in Him, on the ground
of His death for their sins—may be delivered from the blinding delusions of
Satan and his hosts, and saved from coming doom, is the earnest prayer of the
writer. “He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God
hath not the life” (1 John 5:12).
W.E.Vine 1919