IT may be argued that, since a large portion of the facts of Spiritism has already been admitted by us to be due to no fraud, so far as human instrumentality is concerned; and furthermore since many of these, such as "spirit" communications, are often of an exalted moral character, no blame from the character of false manifestations can logically attach to the true ones.
Truly so. But this does not establish the existence of the spirits of dead men; for as the more nearly a confidence man can simulate the character of a saint, the more likely he is to succeed in practising on the credulity of the people; so the more closely an evil spirit could transform himself into an angel of light, the more perfectly he would approach to a master stroke of diabolism. If these phenomena are the works of the spirits of devils, and if these malicious spirits, bent on the destruction of the souls of men, can palm themselves off as the souls of the dead, how could they better prepare mankind to fall into their snare than by leading them to believe no snare is possible? If souls are alive in another world, or sphere of being, and if there is no such thing as a devil bent on deceiving man to his ruin, who then will believe that any damage can accrue to the soul by any course of action in this world? It is a leading tenet of "spirit" teaching that the most nefarious life here results in nothing worse in the spirit world than a sort of temporary social ostracism, which is capable of being remedied by good behavior over there, if, indeed, progression there is not inevitable whether or no. All of which, and a thousand other things, show that the theory of the demon origin of both the teachings and manifestations of Spiritism, is perfectly adequate to explain them. Digressing for a moment, there is another trick of the devil which works admirably with many "scientific" minds. There is probably no other being in the universe whose excessive modesty prompts him to such painful straits to conceal his identity as does the devil's. He is anxious to be thought the soul of a dead man. But if this can not be done, he is willing to become an absolute nonentity. Hence it is that the supercilious rejection of the theory of "spirits" by the scientist is pushed on by his Satanic highness until our scientific friend, imagining himself emancipated from vulgar superstition, denies there is such a being as the devil. Poor man! dreaming himself to be—
"-owner of the sphere
Of the Seven Stars and the solar year,"
he is, in truth, but the dupe of diabolic spiritual hypnosis, adopting unquestioningly the suggestions of his master.
There is likewise another attitude which the enemy of souls is doubtless pleased to have men adopt toward himself. If a man were informed that a Mafia, a High Binders' society, or a Clan Na Gael, in secret nocturnal conclaves, were plotting his murder, he would scarcely consider it a subject for mirth. And yet while fiends are lurking along the moral highways of every soul to lure it to perdition, they would fain have us caricature them with horns, hoofs, and a barbed tail, discuss them facetiously, and dismiss them either as merely cynical wags of the spirit world, good-natured jinn full of harmless practical jokes, or else as fictions of medieval imagination.
The terrible earnestness of the unseen realities, even as a possibility, seems to be fast passing from the conception of the human race; and the attitude of "scientific" thinkers is contributing not a little to this result.
Returning to our first question, "Are any of the manifestations supernatural?" the answer we have given is, "Not necessarily supernatural, but undeniably superhuman." And we have preferred to show this supernormal quality concerning the physical rather than the psychical, because it is especially in the physical that there is the most intentional fraud committed. We wished to prove that they are not all mere simulated wonders. The psychical laws involved are of such a mooted nature at present, that the ultimate character of particularly mental phenomena must be determined largely from their moral bearings; and since the word "moral" in a scientific discussion seems to give the earache to so many modern physicists, we preferred to speak least about this phase, and to say what we wish to concerning it under our second question; namely, If these manifestations are superhuman, what is their source?
As to this second query, we have already found that the answer lies between the demons and departed souls. The question is on the identification of the spirits. That this can be done only from the moral standpoint, we have already shown. But lest our humble name should carry no weight, we shall quote from one ignorance of whom bespeaks a very limited preparation on the part of any critic to pass judgment on our position.
Professor Hyslop admits in the following extract all we claim:—
"Personal identity after death is the problem whose solution conditions inquiry into all others. I do not say or imply that any adequate answer [from the purely scientific standpoint] can be given to this question; for with that secondary personality and its deceptive, half-fiendish simulation of spiritistic ideas, and the possibilities of telepathy, whose limits no one can define at present, to say nothing of the ease with which the necessary phenomena can be fraudulently imitated, the task of proving identity, even in presumably genuine phenomena, is a gigantic one; and until it is done, skepticism regarding both the existence and alleged conditions of a transcendental life and consciousness must be conceded its rights."
It will be seen from the latter part of the last sentence that the writer is speaking of the scientific proof of a future life and its conditions, entirely separate from moral or Scriptural considerations. He further says:—
"Nor do I say that there is any hope of attaining knowledge of those conditions, even if it be possible to determine the fact of survival. This is a separate problem. But it is certain that if we wish to obtain any position making it rational to inquire as to the mode of life in another state of existence, we must in some way establish the veracity of the spirits which claim to reveal themselves to us. The alleged spirits, however, must prove their veracity by first proving their identity, their present and previous existence, and we may then reckon with their statements relative to their mode of life. There can be no truce with the man who does not see the priority of personal identity to all other questions of psychical research."
It is therefore perfectly plain that we can make no truce with Spiritism, even scientifically, until the spirits can prove they are not lying, by demonstrating that their claim to be disembodied souls is true. But while this is the one unchanging element in all their communications, it is not proved, has not been, and can not be. Their assertion that they are spirits of the dead, is really worth no more than would my asseveration be that I am the reincarnated soul of Napoleon Bonaparte.
It is sometimes argued that a spirit might prove his identity with some one who had once lived, by his memory of events in the life of that person. The reasoning is like this: I go to a spirit medium. This person goes into a trance; a spirit takes possession of her, and uses her as a means of talking with me. Or it may be that the communications are made by table-rappings or slate-writings without the trance state. Now, it is said, if the alleged spirit can recall spontaneously things in the life of the person whose soul it purports to be, events whose occurrence is demonstrably unknown to the medium, it proves its identity.
But this is actually less proof that the intelligence speaking through the "sensitive," as mediums are frequently called, is not that of a devil, than my knowledge of circumstances in the life of Napoleon is proof that I am merely an ordinary man like any one else. For I, dependent upon books for my information, could not be so well informed of the past as a spirit that has lived through all historic time and has had a large controlling participation in the lives of men.
This brings us to a realization of the ghastly fact, that the world at large, discarding for one reason or another the Word of God, the only source of ultimate truth concerning this great question, not willing to retain God in its knowledge, not willing to depend upon Jesus Christ for life, ready to accept any fable as proof that immortality is independent of the atonement, is open to the reception of the "doctrine of devils,"—which Inspiration indicates as a sign of the last days,—and is rapidly passing under the sway of demons.
Spiritism is the religion of deception, as Romanism is the religion of perversion, and nominal Protestantism the religion of apostasy.
Spiritists are of two classes, the deceivers and the deceived; and not infrequently the former are themselves self-deceived.
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Answer: Not even the medium himself. (Compare this scripture with Professor Hyslop's "secondary personality and its deceptive, half-fiendish, etc., . . . whose limits no one can define.") Doubtless greed for gain and the equally natural desire for notoriety constitute two of the main motives of mediums. But, under Satan's control, deception becomes the normal expression of a deep-seated instinct—an impulse, since the fall of Adam, naturally present in the heart of mankind. So profound, indeed, is this organic inclination—"a deception for the love of imposing upon humanity" (Jastrow),—that it is often practised by children so young that "motives for it can not be accurately determined."
"You would make a first-class medium." Little compliment this to one who realizes that such commendation is but a proof of his more than ordinary deceitfulness of heart.4
To the student of God's glorious Word, all these things are but—not the proof, for the Word itself is the proof; not the evidence, for the Word itself is the evidence; but—the answer to the statement found in His Word, that there is a "spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." Eph. 2:2.
No Christian can be a Spiritist. It is utterly impossible until darkness and light can occupy the same space at the same time,—till Christ and Belial can dwell together in holy concord.
Fearful indeed is the condition of those upon whom the control of this demon-spirit has become fixed and permanent; darkness becomes light, and light darkness; truth is error, and error truth. Their feet stumble on the dark mountain, and they fall to rise not again.
[The next article in this series is entitled "Scriptural Spiritism."]
