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SPIRITISM BAPTIZED

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 18, 1877

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 49, No. 3.

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SPIRITISM BAPTIZED.

By Uriah Smith

The more discerning among spiritists are discovering that however little morality there may be in the land, the masses have not yet lost all sense of decency. They therefore propose to keep their practices in the dark, and bring the tone of their utterances more into accord with the creeds of orthodoxy, accompanied no doubt, meanwhile, with a great deal of mental reservation. Thus baptizing their philosophy, they hope for greater success in its promulgation. And we think there is some ground for such an expectation. The churches have in their creeds that which is both the foundation and superstructure of spiritism,—the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. And when spiritists shall have adopted some of the forms of godliness, and in words at least shall indorse some of the main features of the common creeds, how can the two bodies fail to run together any more than two drops of water can be held in contact and yet fail to unite? It is evident, from the first part of Rev. 18, that the churches will yet become the strongholds of this delusion; spiritism and orthodoxy will unite, if not in name, *at least in sympathy, character, and work; and it looks to us that the true policy is now struck by which to accomplish this work.
The Spiritual Scientist, as able an organ as spiritism ever had, in its issue of Aug. 3, 1876, gave utterance to the following thoughts on this point:—
“While spiritual societies throughout the United States are languishing, and many lecturers are meeting with small success, it cannot be said that the interest in spiritualism itself is declining; on the contrary, the spirit world is as active as ever, opening new channels for communication, and attracting attention by their surprising manifestations. The number of speakers increases rather than diminishes—why, then, is it that spiritual lectures are not better attended and the societies more generally supported?”
“We answer that it is the fault of the lecturers and societies. They do not attract attention and command support for the simple reason that they do not furnish what the people require. The time has been when the most popular lecturer was he who could be the most bitter in his attacks on the Bible, and a belief in God or Jesus Christ. This stuff was then in demand, and many feebler intellects joined in the iconoclastic onslaught. The interest in this direction is diminishing; those who supported these lectures have either seen the uselessness and folly of such a warfare, or else become so very radical that they are ‘small gods’ in themselves—lacking, however, the creative power, even of raising the ten cents necessary for an admission to one of these entertainments.”
“Although we have said that these wholesale attacks on Christianity serve no useful purpose, we do not wish to be misunderstood. The Christian religion, so called, teaches many glaring errors, and against these, spiritualism is, of necessity, arrayed; but the conflict must be one of argument, not of invective. Some of our spiritual lecturers evidently feel that they are nothing, if not radical, and their arguments, if any are used, are clothed in such coarse language that the lecture, taken as a whole, is simply a denunciation of Christ, the Bible, and the beliefs of the Christian sects.”
“To close the ear of reason in the one whom you desire should hear and accept your opinions, you have only to offend his prejudices at the outset, ridicule what he considers sacred, denounce his belief, and hint in strong language that he and all of his kind are, and have been for years past, great fools, while you are the gifted individual who has discovered the great truth which is to supersede them. Yet this is done by many who call themselves spiritual lecturers. It is a constant tearing down,—not a building up. It is a taking away something, but offering nothing to take its place. While this continues, spiritualism, as a movement, and the lecturers or societies who depend upon it for support, will meet with little or no success. True, they occasionally have an audience; but it is composed mostly of combative temperaments, who relish inharmony and discord. They have not the elements of unity in their midst, and malign each other as unsparingly as they in common denounce Christianity.”
“The teachings of spiritualism inculcate harmony in the individual as well as in a collection of individuals. Are we having spiritualism preached to us by some of our spiritual lecturers? ‘A tree shall be known by its fruits.’ True spiritualists are now and ever have been ready to organize. The motive—to DO GOOD UNTO OTHERS. The lectures needed are those which shall awaken the voice of the spirit in man, arouse the nobler sentiments, lead him to practice continence, honesty, and charity; not injure self or family, but to silence every unjust, unchaste, uncharitable, or unforgiving prompting, to teach of the spirit-world and of FUTURE PENALTIES, as well as future rewards. The coming lecturers who are to meet with great success are those who can respond to the requirements of the present moment and give the people the bread of life, not husks.”
In the same issue, J. M. Peebles, a name well known outside of spiritism, sets forth a creed to which he could subscribe, as follows:—
“As a spiritualist, I believe: In one living and true God—the Infinite Presence of the universe—Wisdom and Love.
“I believe in Jesus Christ as teacher, mediator, Saviour, accepting Peter’s definition (Acts 2:22), ‘Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles, wonders, and signs that God did by him.’
“I believe in the Holy Spirit—that it fell upon the apostles—was poured out upon the Gentiles, and is a constantly descending afflatus from the Christ Heavens.
“I believe in inspiration, a spiritual inflowing from the divine Fountain. Prophets and apostles, martyrs and poets, have been inspired in all ages.
“I believe in the beauty of faith, the necessity of repentance, and a just and adequate punishment for all sins in violation of law.
“I believe in Heaven and hell, as conditions rather than locations. Depraved, selfish spirits suffer the keenest remorse in the lower spheres. ‘The kingdom of God is within you,’ said Jesus.
“I believe in spiritual gifts, prophecies, dreams, clairvoyance, visions, trances, and spirit materializations, as demonstrating a future conscious existence. In fact, this is not belief, but positive knowledge; and thus conditioned, I have obeyed the apostolic injunction, ‘Add to your faith knowledge.’
“I believe in a natural and spiritual body, and when death transpires, each individual commences the hereafter life precisely as he left this, mentally and spiritually; but all, there as here, are the subjects of progression.
“I believe in trying the spirits, accepting only such teachings as are pure, holy, spiritual, and Christ-like.
“I believe in salvation through divine obedience—through Christ, just as I believe in buds and flowers and harvests through the quickening sunshine.
“I believe in the church of God, the church of humanity, the holy, apostolic church within whose pale may be found purity and peace, spiritual gifts and ‘all things in common,’ as upon the day of Pentecost. This is the living church of Christ enfolding believers.
“Touching the moral influence of these doctrines, the speaker said that if a demonstration of the soul’s immortality, the certainty of punishment, the happiness derived from purity, goodness, and holiness, the harmony between religion and science, the conscious presence of ministering spirits, and a continuous baptism from the Christ Heavens, would not tend to better the world, he could not conceive what would. Add to this, he said, the fact that none have secrets—God, angels, spirits, know them all. Our souls are as the leaflets of open books, and self-denial and purity of life the only passports to Heaven.”
These are strange utterances for a spiritual paper. The reader will not fail to notice how very similar some of them are to the language used by orthodox writers, especially in some of the points presented by Mr. Peebles. If this does not mark a new departure in this movement, and one which will give it more favor among religious denominations and all the better classes of people, we greatly misjudge. But none need be deceived; for spiritism does not propose to change its character, and that has already been revealed by its ultra speakers and writers in a manner too plain to be misunderstood, and too general to be covered up.
U. S.