SPIRITUALISM without doubt is ancient sorcery, reappearing under a different name, but with totally unchanged characteristics. And when I tell you that in the city of Boston there is now a magnificent temple for the worship of Spiritualism, which, being interpreted, means for the practice of demonology and witchcraft; when I remind you that this dark system claims from ten to twenty millions of devotees, who have been discipled within the less than fifty years of its modern manifestation, and when I repeat its proud boast that it has gone forth unto the kings of the earth and has royal apostles in many of the thrones and palaces of the Old World, you will see that it is no mere insignificant superstition, utterly unworthy of notice. The theory that Spiritualism is a system of sheer imposition is not the one now held by the most candid Christian investigators, nor is it the one most accordant with fact and Scripture. The Bible explicitly forbids intercourse with spirits of the other world, and it would not forbid what is impossible. "There shall not be found among you anyone 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. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord." Deut. 18:10-12. And not only are these things an abomination, but a crime punishable with death. "A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death" (Lev. 20:27), saith the Lord.
Our rational age congratulates itself on having outgrown the belief in such puerile superstitions. But incredulity is often the next-door neighbor to stupidity; and he who boasts himself too wise to believe in the existence of evil spirits, may be the easiest prey to their seductions. God and the devil, the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness, are both realities; and in proportion to our belief and realization of the supernal will be our apprehension and dread of the infernal. And not only is the reality of fallen spirits distinctly taught in Scripture, but their power to produce startling miracles.
In Thessalonians we are told that "the working of Satan" is "with all power, and signs, and lying wonders," and in the Apocalypse we have the prediction of "the spirits of demons working miracles." The man who supposes131that Satan would undermine the belief in the supernatural, is utterly ignorant of his devices. He has a creed to inculcate and a code of infernal morality to propagate, and he would employ miracles to authenticate his doctrines. Let us remember indeed that in the emergence of modern Spiritualism Satan actually comes on the stage as a defender of the faith. "This generation has fallen into doubt concerning the immortality of the soul," say his ministers, the mediums or soothsayers, "and we propose to demonstrate this doctrine to you by calling up your dead and letting them speak to you."
Thousands of once professed Christians who are now in the coils of this delusion were first seduced by the plea of larger knowledge and firmer faith concerning the unseen. The ear having been thus gained for the communications of the departed, the instruction has gone on—no rude denials at first but the most soothing platitudes and the most subtle counterfeits, till little by little the whole system of evangelical faith has been supplemented by that soul-destroying creed, "the doctrine of demons." I say "of demons," for I have no question that what are supposed to be departed friends speaking from beyond the veil are in reality fallen spirits, foul, malignant, and seducing, sent to beguile men into the allegiance and worship of Satan. And here as elsewhere the evil one follows most closely the divine method—first teaching through rapping, planchette, and mediumistic writing, and then miracles of physical healing and materialization to accredit these teachings—"speaking lies in hypocrisy" and confirming the word spoken by Satanic signs and wonders following.
And from this statement . . . turn to the latest claim of Spiritualism: that in materialization the spirits of the departed now actually reappear, habited in flesh and blood, and hold communion with their friends; then listen to the concessions of some of the ablest Christian investigators of this system, who are constrained to admit that they have seen such forms conjured up at seances, that they have handled them with their hands, and, after the most diligent caution against fraud and deception, have been compelled to concede the apparent reality of the phenomena. What a frightful suggestion, we do not say demonstration, is there here of the triumph of seducing spirits in their last irruption upon a fallen race!