SPIRITUALISM by James White

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 24, 1859

SPIRITUALISM.

By James White

In view of the testimonies given in relation to spirit manifestations, we are constrained to believe that they are caused by spirits. It is not possible to believe that so many men of distinguished intelligence, judgment and apparent candor, could be deceived by a mere cheat, or trick, and then engage with such ardor to deceive others. These manifestations have endured the closest scrutiny, and most thorough investigation, and yet what is called the Cause of Spiritualism, is advancing more and still more rapidly. Those who can, under such circumstances, receive the testimony of those who cry, "Humbug," "trickery," &c., are more to be charged with credulity, than the most ardent Spiritualist.

CHARACTER OF THE SPIRITS.

The question now arises, What kind of spirits are these? Are they what they profess to be, namely, the spirits of the dead? We answer, They are not; and give the following reasons:

(1.) They profess to be commissioned by God to visit this world to communicate instruction for the benefit of mankind. That this is not so is evident from the fact that God has forbidden necromancy in his word. Deut. xviii, 11; Isa. viii, 19. And admitting that the dead know a thousand times more than the living, it is certain that God does not commission them to come to this world to lead men to break the divine command.

(2.) They cannot be spirits of the dead, because the Bible teaches that the dead have not knowledge. "For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything; neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." Eccl. ix, 5, 6.

Says David: "Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee." Ps. cxix, 175. Why David! Cannot your soul praise God when separated from the body, and you are dead and buried? Let him answer: "The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." Ps. cxv, 17.

These manifestations cannot be from the Spirit of God, neither can they be good angels, ministering unto certain ones, from the fact that they profess to be something else; and the Spirit of God and good angels will tell the truth. Then what are they? We answer: They are lying spirits, the messengers of the father of lies. The fact that they are very numerous is no objection to this view. The unclean spirit that was cast out of the man from among the tombs, by our Lord, answered, "My name is legion; for we are many." Mark v, 1–13. That the Devil has angels or messengers to go at his bidding, and carry out his purposes is evident from the following texts: "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." Jude, verse 6.

"And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought, and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." Matt. xii, 7–9. "Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his angels." Matt. xxv, 41.

Now when these spirits visit individuals, professing to be the spirit of Paul, Peter, John or James; of the Patriarchs, Prophets; Dr. Franklin, Washington, Paine, Calhoun, or some dear friend, or perhaps a lovely infant recently buried, they come with a lie in their mouths. It is no such thing! Behold the deception! Job says of the dead, "His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them." Job xiv, 21. But these spirits testify that they know all about the condition of the living.

Solomon says of the dead: "Neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." Eccl. ix, 6. But these spirits, in many cases, act a very conspicuous part in what is done under the sun. They rap, write, play on musical instruments, and move chairs, tables, &c.

David in speaking of man says: "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." Ps. cxlvi, 4. Here are three inspired witnesses perfectly agreeing in their testimonies that the dead have not knowledge. Therefore the testimony of these rapping and writing spirits, in regard to themselves, is false, and the reader must allow us to call them lying spirits.

They say one great object of their manifestations is, to convince the world of the immortality of the soul, that all men have immortality. But the Bible plainly teaches that immortality, or eternal life, is the gift of God through Jesus Christ, and consequently, conditional. "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. vi, 23. "Who will render to every man according to his deeds; to them who by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, and honor, and immortality; eternal life." Rom. ii, 6, 7. Certainly, God does not require man to seek for immortality if all men now possess it!

Paul says to Timothy: "Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and the only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, &c." 1 Tim. vi, 15, 16.

These spirits teach that all men possess immortality; but St. Paul teaches that it is possessed by the King of kings and Lord of lords only; and that Christ has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel; [2 Tim. i, 10;] and that it is to be put on at the sound of the last trump, at the second appearing of Christ. 1 Cor. xv, 52–54.

Although these spirits generally appear very good and pious, and profess that their mission is to improve the spiritual good of mankind, yet it is evident that they are commissioned by the great author of lies, from the manner they treat the word of God.

The holy Apostle says: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim. iii, 16, 17. But these spirits teach that the Sacred Volume is imperfect, and that they have come to correct its errors. That it is quite out of date, its light being eclipsed by the glory of these communications from the spirit world. The truth is, that the Bible doctrine of life and immortality alone through Jesus Christ, and that conditional, is perfectly destructive of their whole philosophy; therefore they declare that the Bible is not purely the word of God.

We give the following from a work entitled, Spirit Rapping Unveiled, by H. Mattison, A. M.

"A. W. Hoar, medium," represents the spirit of St. Paul as going through the Bible, and speaking of the different books on this wise: GENESIS.—"About as true as any fictitious work that is now printed." p. 10. EXODUS.—"As good a book as could be expected in that day."—Ibid. LEVITICUS.—"Not directly from God as man supposes." p. 12. NUMBERS.—"Such an absurdity as that [the facts stated in chapter 1st,] ought to be cast into the lowest depths of the infernal regions." p. 12.—JOSHUA.—"Almost the whole book is false."—Ibid.—JUDGES.—"About the same as the others; and it needs no argument to show that it is void of inspiration." p. 14. RUTH.—"Without inspiration, the same as the others." p. 15.

"SAMUEL.—'A part of it is correct.' p. 15. KINGS.—'Multitudes of mistakes—not correct—no inspiration.' pp. 16, 17. EZRA.—'By a person bearing its name, without inspiration.' p. 17. JOB.—'Written through mediums—would have been correct, had it not been that man destroyed its purity.' pp. 18, 19. PSALMS.—'Written in the same way, and some of them are correct.' p. 19.

"The rest of the books in the Old Testament are said to be 'somewhat correct in the main' [p. 20;] and in reference to the whole, this 'spirit of darkness' says: 'Let me say unto you, O, man at this day, in regard to the Old Testament, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.' p. 21. In the same strain this medium passes on through the New Testament, exclaiming, as he passes from book to book, through the gospels, epistles, and Apocalypse, 'not correct,' 'mistake,' 'fictitious,' 'contrary to the will of God.'

"The Bible when first written was nothing more than a book written through mediums, as I am now writing through my medium." St. Paul through Mr. Hoar, p. 9.

"John Wesley is represented as saying: 'The men who wrote the Bible were not always under full control of the spirit communicating, so that many errors crept into the Bible. . . . The Bible has more good teachings than any other work, and has more evil; choose the good, discard the evil.'"

The New Era publishes a letter from Rev. James Smith, A. M., London, July 8th, 1853, from which we extract the following:

"The Old Testament is but the skin of the old Serpent. But who will say that God did not make that skin? It is the use that is to be made of the Bible, rather than its origin that should be discussed. I believe the Old Testament to be divine; but I creep out of it as a chicken out of an egg, when I have exhausted its nourishment." "The living law is more than a rule that God has given me. It is God himself using us as mediums. It is the living God, not the dead Rule that will interpret the word of God." "We want the living law that will show us what great service the Bible has done, and what mischief it has done; and how to transform its evil into good, its nonage into maturity, its sourness into sweetness."

We copy from Mr. Mattison's work, a few testimonies from these spirits relative to our Lord Jesus Christ.

The spirit of John Wesley is represented as saying: "Jesus was a great and good man; but there was nothing more miraculous about his conception, birth, life, and teachings than any good man. Jesus never taught the people to pay divine homage to him; he never taught that he was the Son of God, except in the sense in which other men might be the sons of God." Unfoldings, p. 7.

"What is the meaning of the word Christ? 'Tis not, as is generally supposed, the Son of the Creator of all things. Any just and perfect being is Christ. The crucifixion of Christ is nothing more than the crucifixion of the spirit, which all have to contend with before becoming perfect and righteous. The miraculous conception of Christ is merely a fabulous tale." Telegraph, No. 37.

"The spirit of Channing says: 'The spirit of Lazarus had not entirely left the body; he was in a trance. Christ in his superior condition saw this, and by his magnetic power restored the action of the system. The same was done at the restoration of the maid.' Telegraph, No. 34."

"The spirit of Christ was not wholly separated from the body when he was placed in the tomb, and the guardian spirits, who had attended him through life, using him as a medium, rolled away the stone, restored the spirit to the body, and Christ walked bodily out of the tomb. Sometime afterward he died naturally, his body was left to moulder back to dust, and his spirit, seen only by those who were mediums, ascended to heaven." From Dr. Bristol's letter.—Telegraph, No. 34.

These spirits also testify that there is no Devil, nor evil spirits. This really looks like Satan's masterpiece. He is advertising throughout the earth

through these spirits, that he does not exist! If he can only make them believe this, then he is ready for his last great deception.

This reminds us of a story which well illustrates the case. It is in substance, this: "The notorious robber, George Cole, of England, whenever he wanted to perpetrate an act of some dreadful villainy, would get some suitable tool to advertise his having been hanged ! or imprisoned ! or transported to Botany Bay ! Thus, suspicion was allayed; and his villainous deeds more easily accomplished."

"The imagination of evil spirits is an image only belonging to the human mind while such mind is yet in an unenlightened or undeveloped state, &c." Love and Wisdom, p. 98. "I asked if there was any Devil. Answer: 'No.' 'Are all spirits happy after death?' 'Yes, measurably.' 'What church is nearest right?'—Answer: 'Universalist doctrine is nearest right.'—Telegraph, No. 3." "There are no bad spirits; that is, no devils or demons. Those spirits we have conversed with will not allow us to use the term."—Supernal Theology, p. 71. "The spirits utterly disclaim all truth in the imaginations of individuals who believe in the doctrine of evil spirits." Teacher, p. 116.

They are "familiar spirits." They sustain the very character of the familiar spirits named in the Bible, as the following text shows: "And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper [margin, peep, or chirp] out of the dust." Isa. xxix, 4.

All will see the identity of this low rapping spirit, and the low whispering, or peeping spirit named in the text. The one named in the text was a "familiar spirit;" so is the other. They are almost always ready to communicate, especially with those who are entirely devoted to them. They will rap, write, move, or throw things about, play musical instruments, and direct persons from place to place. Though they sometimes appear very religious, yet they are not very particular with whom they are so familiar; communicating in their low manner freely with the vicious, as well as the virtuous. We will here give the principal passages in which reference is made to "familiar spirits," to show in what light they are held by the Bible.

"There shall not be found among you . . . an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer." Deut. xviii, 10, 11.

"Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God." Lev. xix, 31.

"And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among the people." Lev. xx, 7.

"Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her and enquire of her." 1 Sam. xxviii, 7.

Poor fallen man! When forsaken by God he fills up the cup of his iniquity by consulting a familiar spirit! For it is said: "So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it." 1 Chron. x, 13.

"And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter, should not a people seek unto their God?" Isa. viii, 19. J. W.