The Progress of Spiritualism by George Ide Butler

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 2, 1872

The Progress of Spiritualism.

By George Ide Butler

The work of spiritualism we regard as a leading sign of the last days; and, as such, its progress is a matter of great interest to us, which should be carefully considered. Perhaps the history of the world has never shown more rapid progress from so insignificant and feeble a beginning, with peaceable means.

Commencing near Rochester, N. Y., in 1848, by strange and unaccountable raps on the walls of a house, it has spread over the earth in twenty-four years, and numbers, with its mediums and believers, many millions in the United States alone. It has been introduced to the leading courts of Europe, and crowned heads have observed with astonishment and faith the performances of this unseen agency. Scientific men, judges of courts, lawyers, physicians, ministers, and men of influence, are numbered among its believers. And if in our villages, remote from the busy marts of trade, avowed spiritualists are often few in number, yet in our larger towns—the centers of influence and commerce, in which public opinion is largely directed—its votaries are plenty enough. Its progress in numbers, wealth, and influence, is too evident for any well-informed man to deny, and, of course, is very gratifying and hopeful to its adherents, and it gives them great faith that it will ultimately form the leading religion of the world. The cause of this progress, which is certainly nothing less than wonderful, cannot be ascribed to its superiority in holiness, love of truth, or increase in virtue and righteousness, or fear of God. For it is notorious that the writings of leading spiritualists, the ones to whom we should naturally look to get the real spirit of the system, abound in denials of the existence of a personal God, of the doctrines of Christ, and of his existence before his birth into this world, and of the authority of the Bible; they also break down the distinction between right and wrong, deny the existence of evil and the accountability of man to any higher authority than himself, and contain expressions blasphemous in character, and denials of truth, settled by the consent of ages.

That it should make such progress in view of such principles, is no great compliment to the spiritual discernment of this age; and this progress can only be accounted for by considering the peculiar miraculous manifestations that have attended it from the beginning of its work. These have carried it forward in spite of the abominable character of its teachings. Its infidelity is notorious. Its connection, more or less, with free-love and other abominations, is generally understood, and yet in this nineteenth century it has made most rapid speed. There can be no doubt, however, that it would have made even a greater advance, had these hideous features been more concealed. They have caused multitudes to take their stand against it who would otherwise have hailed its manifestations with rapture, as furnishing the needed demonstration of the immortality of the soul, thus bridging over the gap left open by the lack of Scripture evidence. But early instruction in morality and respect for the Bible have not lost their influence, and consequently the deformities of spiritualism cause them to shrink back with fear from recognizing it as from any good source. God has, in mercy, permitted its true character to stand out clearly in the first stages of its progress, that all honest lovers of truth need not be deceived as to its nature.

We believe there are plain prophecies in the Scriptures that show that this delusion will become nearly universal, and will constitute the “hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth.” How can it become so when there are so many that have taken their stand against it? We believe it must yet put on more of a religious garb. We think the Scriptures plainly show this must be so in order that certain prophecies be fulfilled, and that it is even now assuming this phase, and that things are so shaping that this can be discerned without difficulty. Let us notice several scriptures that seem to refer to this subject:—“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, behold, he is in the desert, go not forth; behold he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matt. 24: 23–27.

The connection very plainly shows that this work is to be seen just before Christ comes. It is introduced immediately after the great papal tribulation, or persecution, of twelve hundred and sixty years. It comes up as a counterfeit and deceptive work, designed to show that the Lord will not come in a literal, personal manner, but in some spiritual way. The Saviour guards this point thus: “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.” This shows plainly that the design of this deceptive work is to teach just the contrary.

Again, it will claim to be the real coming of Christ. “There shall arise false christs, showing great signs and wonders,” &c. A false christ is one that claims to be the genuine, but is not. We believe spiritualism has a large place in the fulfillment of this prophecy. It comes at the right time, and in the right manner. Its manifestations generally occur in the “secret chambers,” or retired room. It claims to be the second coming of Christ.

Said the Truth Seeker, a spiritualist paper, in its prospectus, “It shall be the organ through which the christs of the last dispensation will choose to speak.” The Spiritual Telegraph says, “Hearken then to the voice of wisdom, O ye inhabitants of the earth, and be not blinded as to your Lord’s appearing; for he is already in your midst.” The italics are mine. Again, Mrs. Conant, in the Banner of Light, Nov. 18, 1865, says, “Spiritualism is that second coming of Christ.”

We know they do great signs and wonders, and millions are ensnared by them. Thus far all is very plain. But how are the very elect of God in danger of deception from them? The elect are those who are trying to honor and obey God, and who believe his word. In order for them to be deceived, or to be in danger in that direction, something must come up having an appearance of the genuine article. We are in danger of being deceived by counterfeit money, because it has a look like the true. So in this case something must come up that looks like the true. But the general character of the teachings of spiritualism in the past has had no appearance of true religion. They are simply blasphemous in their denials of God, of Christ, and the Scriptures. So we look for something different that will have a great appearance of piety and religion, but will really deny its vital principles.

Again, Paul says, “Whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” 2 Thess. 2: 9–11. Here we have the same idea of deception and strong delusion brought to view. They have something they think is truth and that has a resemblance to genuine religion, and yet is a delusive snare.

In 2 Tim. 3, we have a wonderful description of the main characteristics of the last days, showing the condition of society, the character of the youthful generation, and especially of the mass of professors of religion. Verse 5: “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” “Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.” These are certainly professors of religion. Verse 8 carries the matter further: “Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth; men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further; for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.”

The very ones who resist the truth, as the magicians did in Moses’ time, are the same class as those “who have the form of godliness, but deny the power;” in other words, those who profess religion—not atheists and infidels. How did Jannes and Jambres withstand Moses? Whenever Moses wrought miracles by the power of God, these men wrought miracles by the power of Satan, to deceive. Professors of religion are going to do this in the last days. This is where false christs and false prophets are going to deceive all but the elect. This will take place in the “last days;” but “they shall proceed no further; for their folly shall be manifest to all men, as theirs also was.” As they met a sudden destruction with Pharaoh and all his host, so shall these by the coming of Christ.

The same idea is also manifest in connection with the fall of mystic Babylon. Rev. 18: 2. Many commentators agree that in this term is embraced corrupted religion, which is worldwide in extent. As the word Babylon means confusion, mixture, it embraces that mixed state of truth and error commingled in a thousand different forms. The time comes in the last days when great light is given and rejected, and, as the consequence, a moral fall takes place. The consequences of that fall are seen in the verse above referred to. Babylon becomes “the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit.” As Babylon is certainly a professedly religious body, and as these spirits become the animating power of that body after the Lord leaves it and calls his people out, I cannot see how the conclusion can be escaped that these spirits are to take a religious guise, and that they will deceive the people by this means.

Has not Satan always worked through a counterfeit system? It is astonishing how many forms paganism has in common with true religion. False prophets always existed side by side with the true. In the Saviour’s time, those most bitter toward him were the religionists of that age who had the popular ear, and Paul says in his day there were “false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” 2 Cor. 11: 13, 14. That is, Satan, the great angel of darkness, can make himself appear like an angel of God. If Satan has wrought in this way in the past, shall we doubt that in his last and greatest deception he is going to excel himself in this respect? We do not believe that his Satanic works are going to be shown as plainly all through as they have been thus far in spiritualism; but we expect to see it take on a religious garb, and claim to be the veritable religion of our Lord Jesus Christ. In no other way, it seems to us, can these scriptures have a complete fulfillment. And now, do the events taking place around us point in this direction? This is our next inquiry.

It has been the case since the advent of spiritualism, and is largely so still, that the ministers of the popular churches of our land have spoken against it, and have denounced it, and have given its true character. But there are signs that show it is becoming more popular among those who have the public ear. I will here give an extract from a sermon by the Rev. O. B. Frothingham. I think he is a minister of the Unitarian church. This was published in the Springfield Republican, of May 26, 1871, one of the most influential papers in New England, and was designed to prove the immortality of the soul. He is one of the most popular lecturers of our day, a man of intellect and eloquence, and, so far as I know, has never called himself a spiritualist, or identified himself with them. His words, of course, are all the more noticeable for this reason. Having given some of the usual reasons for a belief of this doctrine, and having spoken of the growing skepticism on the subject of the soul’s immortality, and of the danger of its losing its hold in the popular mind, Mr. F. says:

“The advent of spiritualism saved the popular belief in immortality from the danger of, if not total, yet partial, eclipse. To the multitude of mankind, spiritualism brought a new revelation; and the eagerness with which it was welcomed, showed the need of it that was felt. Hundreds of thousands—nay, millions in America and in Europe, in sober England and mercurial France—hailed the promise of communication with rapture. People of every degree and class—the instructed and the uninstructed, toilers and thinkers, mechanics and mathematicians, merchants and men of letters, tradesfolk and philosophers, physicians, lawyers, professors, judges, divines—investigated and embraced it. It met the crying demand for palpable evidence, for substantial and incontrovertible facts. It challenged the experimental method of modern science; it courted skepticism; it offered proof for tradition, law for miracle, the confirmation of the senses for the dogma of faith. It came to the doubting disciple and said: ‘Reach hither thy fingers and behold my hands; reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing.’ The Baron de Guldenstubbe of Paris, attests that more than fifty persons, among whom were barons, princes, counts, colonels, physicians, men of culture, and artists of renown, witnessed again and again the astounding phenomenon of direct communication by writing from invisible beings.

“That a belief thus attested and published should have spread like a new gospel of the kingdom, is not wonderful. It would have been wonderful had it not. It was what the world was waiting for. It came as an answer to passionate prayer. It was the bringing of life and immortality to light that desponding humanity groaned for. The shadowy realm came into view; the gloomy barriers of the sepulcher disappeared; the dividing flood was dried up; voices were heard from the silent land; the bleak waste of the Beyond was lively with happy forms; dirges changed into songs; the raiment of mourning fell off. The heart reached out its eager hands once more, and was thankful to embrace something more substantial than a shade. The family in Heaven and earth was re-united.”

This man claims to be only a “thoughtful looker on,” a minister of the gospel, and is a popular orator. That such men should speak thus is certainly a sign of the times, and shows whither we are drifting.

To this we would add the manifestations in Beecher’s church, an account of which recently appeared in the Review. I clipped the same account from the columns of the Springfield Republican, and it was no doubt published extensively elsewhere, and these were most certainly remarkable occurrences. This matter went so far that it was commonly reported that Mr. Beecher had fully committed himself as a spiritualist. But he made a public statement in the papers that he had not yet taken this position, not denying, however, but that he had been much interested in the subject and was favorably impressed. Here is a great fact, and we think no well-informed man will deny it, who is candid, that this most popular pulpit orator of our land has been looking into this subject with great interest, and that surprising manifestations have taken place right before a crowded audience in his own church, while he himself was holding services, and that he has manifested quite a strong leaning in the direction of their views and philosophy. This is certainly a very large straw, showing the direction of the current.

Now we have no idea that should Mr. Beecher take this stand fully, he would resemble in his utterances those spiritualists who blaspheme and deny the God of the Bible, and boldly deny distinctions of right and wrong. Mr. B. would no doubt give us a very pretty and seemingly beautiful theory of morality, in which love and goodness would largely figure. And here it seems to us the “deception” spoken of in the prophecies is coming in, a largely spiritualizing method of interpreting the Scriptures is to be adopted so that it can be made to harmonize with infidel geology, or almost anything else desired by the interpreter and be pleasing to the popular ear, while this modern philosophy will be the ruling spirit.

Great outward respect can thus be shown for the Bible, but precious little real respect for its plain commands. To my mind, it is astonishing what progress has been made in this direction all over our land within the last few years. It is seen especially in the prevalent ideas concerning future punishment, even among those whose creeds proclaim the doctrine of endless torment for the wicked. How common it was a few years since to hear ministers discourse largely of a burning hell to be maintained to all eternity, as the abode of the wicked. Who ever hears of it now? The prevalent idea is, that mainly of the spiritualists that men’s spirits go into the other world to live about as they do here so far as moral ideas are concerned. To be sure they will suffer pangs of conscience if they have done wrong, but it will not be so very hard after all; for they were liable to that in this life; but many of them seemed to endure all the pains that conscience inflicted with remarkable ease. Why may they not in the future life, then?

The cardinal doctrine of spiritualism that men go into the other world to live in this respect as they lived here, is becoming exceedingly common, and it is rare that men can be found holding the immortal-soul theory, who are believers in any punishment but a mental or a figurative one. And such ideas of God’s goodness are being generally entertained by our greatest public teachers; so that it is thought he will not punish any one very much for sin. This is another direction in which the popular ideas

of theology are rapidly approximating the spiritualist theory.

Now let the belief become general that the friends who have passed away (whose spirits our popular preachers tell us are hovering around us, beholding with interest all we do), can communicate with us, that their loving influence is all about us, and where is the difference in essentials between spiritualism and popular theology? And is not this view very taking in its character, yea, most enticing to those who have lost friends?

I know this view to be wonderfully increasing all over our country among those who abhor the blasphemous utterances of spiritualists, and would not for the world be identified with them; and some are certain that they daily have the influences of dear departed ones about them. Now let these influences increase till the forms of departed friends appear, and are apparently recognized, and the churches of our land generally recognize them as such, and place themselves under their care, and we have a very alluring form of error, most captivating and lovely indeed to those who believe in it. How much would declarations of the Bible influence such? They would consider they had actual demonstration, and they would weigh but little.

Now when we realize that these are “the spirits of devils working miracles,” “Satan transformed as an angel of light,” “a class who shall deceive if possible the very elect,” “Satan working with all power and signs and lying wonders,” we can realize that this will be an “hour of temptation,” that will try all the dwellers on the earth. And nothing short of a thorough belief in the Bible statement that the “dead know not anything,” and kindred declarations, and a daily, living experience of the Holy Spirit’s influence on the heart can preserve us from it. The Spirit’s influence we believe to be the “eye salve” which is designed to make us see clearly. If we are accustomed to its holy, melting tenderness, it will enable us to distinguish the true from the false. How much we need to seek it, and enjoy it. It will only be given to the pure in heart.

In this way, substantially, do we believe the church organizations of our land will come under this influence. The signs of the times show they are ripe for it, and already some of the most popular leaders are strongly leaning that way; and thus can this error become clothed with a religious garb, and led on by the prince of devils, ready to do the final work prophesied of it in the Holy Scriptures. Certainly the progress that has been made is surprising, and we are prepared for almost anything in the future. Enough has already transpired to show the great day of the Lord is near, even at the doors.

GEO. I. BUTLER. Trenton, Mo., March 20, 1872.