Martin Luther on Samuel at Endor
MARTIN LUTHER was once asked whether Samuel really appeared to the woman at Endor, when consulted by Saul? He answered, "No, 'twas a spectre, an evil spirit, assuming his form. What proves this is, that God, by the law of Moses, had forbidden man to question the dead; consequently, it must have been a demon which presented itself under the form of the man of God. In like manner an abbot of Spanheim, a sorcerer, exhibited to the emperor Maximilian all the emperors, his predecessors, and all the most celebrated heroes of past times, who defiled before him each in the costume of his time. Among them were Alexander the Great and Julius Cæsar. There was also the emperor's betrothed, whom Charles of France stole from him. But these apparitions were all the work of the demon."-World's Crisis.