Chapter 15
Spiritism Outlaws the Bible
To the true Christian the Bible is God's Word of truth --
God's communication to him. It has guided him by unerring precepts; it
has comforted him in his hours of sorrow; it has given him hope in place
of despair; it has set a light before his face which all the darkness of
this world can never dim. He has proved it to be all that it claims to
be. Knowing how it has proved itself true in its powers of consolation,
he has comforting satisfaction in knowing he can trust it for all the
future.
But with the ardent Spiritist, the Bible fades out of his life in
inverse ratio to the hold that Spiritism gains upon his soul. And then
comes positive denial of its fundamental principles, denial of Jesus
Christ as the Saviour of men, and denial of God Himself, except in a
ridiculously accommodated sense.
As frequently stated in these pages, the Bible teaches unequivocally
that the dead are asleep, and will continue in that condition until the
voice of God shall call them from their tombs. It is proposed in this
chapter to show how Spiritism specifically attacks that fundamental
principle of the divine plan, contradicting the Bible in deliberate and
uncompromising terms, and seeking, through demoniacal impersonation of
the dead, to prove its assertions and to demonstrate the Bible false.
The investigations conducted by Sir Oliver Lodge have convinced him
that there are intelligences communicating with him from "the
spirit world." By calling up incidents in the life of his son
Raymond, they have convinced him that they are what they claim to be,--
the discarnate spirit of that son. It never seems to have occurred to
that eminent physicist that fallen spirits are acquainted with the
details of the lives of human beings, and that they could carry on their
preparation for those impersonations through a lifetime. If Sir Oliver
had investigated his Bible as carefully and sincerely as he has
investigated the doings of beings he cannot see, he would have been
prepared for their deceptive impersonations and would not have been
ensnared by them. Whoever accepts Spiritism for what it claims to
be, should know this fact at the outset: he must discard the Bible for
what it claims to be. He cannot have both. Let us note a number
of quotations from the book "Raymond" that touch this point:
"There is no real breach of continuity between the dead and
the living. . . . Methods of intercommunion across what has seemed to
be a gulf can be set going in response to the urgent demand of
affection."--Page 83.
"He has gone, . . . but he is -- I venture to say -- certainly
not dead in the same sense as the body is dead. It is his absence
which allows the body to decay; he himself need be subject to no decay
nor any destructive influence. Rather he is emancipated."-- Page
297.
"It is well to be emphatic . . . in order to indicate our
disagreement with the policy of harping on worms and graves and
epitaphs, or on the accompanying idea of a general resurrection, with
reanimation of buried bodies. Hence in strenuous contradiction to all
this superstition comes the use of such phrases as 'transition' or
'passing,' and the occasional not strictly justifiable assertion that
'there is no death.' . . .
"They [those who say there is no death] definitely mean to
maintain that the process called death is a mere severance of soul and
body, and that the soul is freed rather than injured thereby. The body
alone dies and decays; but there is no extinction even for it -- only
a change. . . .
"We change our state at death and enter a region of--what? Of
ether, I think, and still more myriad existence."-- Page 298.
"There is no extinction, and the change called death is the
entrance to a new condition of existence -- what may be called a new
life. Yet life itself is continuous, and the conditions of the whole
of existence remain precisely as before."-- Page 306.
"I recommend people in general to learn and realize that their
loved ones are still active and useful and interested and happy--more
alive than ever in one sense. . . . What people should not do is to
close their minds to the possibility of continued existence."-- Page
342.
"I must confess that with some of the ecclesiastical
superstructure which has descended to us from a bygone day, a psychic
investigator can have but little sympathy. Indeed he only refrains
from attacking it because he feels that, left to itself, it will be
superseded by higher and better knowledge, and will die a natural
death [he is speaking of the domain of faith]."--Page 343.
One has gone a long distance on the back track toward heathenism
(which has always believed in Spiritism) and toward infidelity (which
has always denied and antagonized the Bible) when he can deliberately
place before the public such sentiments as are contained in the above.
If they are true, the Bible, with all it stands for, must be flung
aside, and we must then place all our hope and all our confidence for
the future in the fallible, uncertain, worthless, and contradictory
emanations from the spirits that impersonate the dead. When Christians
understand all that means, there will be no question as to their choice.
The Vale Owen scripts are saturated with the same contradiction of
the Bible's teaching concerning the condition of the dead. The following
will be found in Mr. Owen's books:
"We were with you, although you did not see us. . . . We
love to come and join with our fellow worshipers still incarnate, and
also to give what we are able to help in their worship."--" The
Life Beyond the Veil," book I, p. 55.
"Many, as you know, do not realize for some time the fact that
they are what they would call dead, because they find themselves alive
and with a body, and their previous vague notions of the after-death
state are not, by any means, lightly thrown away."--Id., p.
51.
"How would you begin to explain to one who had little idea of
a spirit world about him the truth of survival beyond the grave and
the reality of this life and all its love and beauty? First you would
probably endeavor to bring home to him the fact of his present actual
existence as an immortal being."-- Id., pp. 88, 89.
"Last week we received a woman who had left a husband and
three small children, and she begged to be allowed to go and see how
they were managing at home. She was so anxious that at last we took
her and arrived at evening time just as they were all sitting down to
supper."-- Id., pp. 146, 147.
"In birth the child comes forth out of darkness into the light
of the sun. In death the child is born into the greater light of the
heavens of God -- no more, no less. . . . By death he goes forth on
wider service. . . . Death therefore ends nothing, but carries forward
what has been begun."-- Id., book 3, p. 101.
"So we say that death is a sacrament, and indeed it is a very
holy thing."-- Id., p. 103.
Every assertion made in the above quotations is a distinct
contradiction of specific Bible teaching. If those statements are
correct, then the Bible is wrong and misleading, and never was true.
Take, for instance, the one in the third preceding paragraph. It is
there definitely asserted that the dead mother returned to her home. But
the inspired writer declares: "He [the dead] shall return no more
to his house, neither shall his place know him any more." The issue
is sharp and decisive, and there is no avoiding it.
Fremont Rider, a Spiritist author, bears this testimony:
"The Society of Psychical Research . . . has practically
demonstrated the existence of the soul as an entity, distinct from the
body." --"Are the Dead Alive?" p. 59.
"Our records [says Frederic W. H. Myers] . . . prove survival,
pure and simple; the persistence of the spirit's life as a structural
law of the universe; the inalienable heritage of each several soul. .
. . They prove that the surviving spirit retains, at least in some
measure, the memories and the loves of earth."-- Id., p. 147.
"'Do the dead return?' is best answered [says William T.
Stead] by asking another question: 'Do the dead depart?' I do not
believe the dead depart. They are still with us, closer and nearer
than they ever were before they laid aside this earthly vesture of
decay."-- Id., page 171.
"During the last sixty years [says Alfred Russel Wallace]
evidence has been accumulating in every part of the world which
affords demonstration that the so-called dead have never really died
at all, but have passed into a new and higher stage of existence. Many
of these are able to communicate with us, and most of them assure us
that when they wake from the sleep we call death, they find themselves
much more alive than ever they were before."-- Id., p. 221.
"How love grows and deepens on this side."--"The
Proofs of the Truths of Spiritualism," p. 3.
The Bible says: "Their love, and their hatred, and their envy,
is now perished." EccI. 9: 6.
"Death by no means ends all desires. . . . Here we still love
all we left on earth."-- Id., p. 58.
"Children, being immortal, begin to live in the next state of
existence just as they leave off living here. . . . They become happy
little souls full of fun, joy, and laughter."-- Id., p. 140.
It can thus be seen that whatever inconsistencies and contradictions
and absolute blunders and false statements show themselves in the
communications received from spirits, they are all in harmony in denying
the Bible declarations regarding the state of the dead. They all -- and
scores of pages of such testimonies could be given -- flatly contradict
God's Word upon this question. One is true; the other is false: and the
true Christian will have no hesitancy in deciding which is to be the man
of his counsel.
There are many questions upon which Spiritism contradicts the Bible.
Only a few will be cited here. Jesus Christ's words concerning our
attitude toward friends and enemies is expressed in these words:
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy
neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for
them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the
children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to
rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on
the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?
do not even the publicans the same?" Matt. 5: 43-46.
What says Spiritism?
"Don't bother yourself about trying to like people you've got
an antipathy for, it's a waste of you. Keep love for those who want
it, don't throw it away on those who don't."--"Raymond,"
p. 234.
The first of these two is godlike. The second is steeped in the
selfishness of Satan. In fact, it emanates from him, and not from the
poor lad whom he impersonates and misrepresents.
The Christian takes great joy and comfort in the thought that one day
he will see his Lord and Redeemer. Job, writing under divine
inspiration, declares:
"I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at
the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy
this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for
myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another." Job 19:
25-27.
The prophet Isaiah testifies:
"Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty: they shall
behold the land that is very far off." Isa. 33: 17.
Jesus Himself declared:
"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."
Matt. 5: 8.
The prophet-apostle John was inspired to declare:
"The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it [the earth];
and His servants shall serve Him: and they shall see His face; and His
name shall be in their foreheads." Rev. 22: 3, 4.
The testimony of Scripture is thus very plain and conclusive, that
when the work of redemption is finished, the ransomed ones will be with
their God and Saviour, and will see them and rejoice in their presence.
Let us see what Spiritism says on the same question:
"One of the elementary truths which it is necessary to
assimilate in order to progress, is that God is no more visibly
present here than He is in the earth life. They expect to see Him
bodily, and are much disappointed when they are told that that is
quite a mistaken idea of the way of His dealing with us."--"The
Life Beyond the Veil," book I, page 123.
"Have you seen Him then, Leader?
"In that form [a presence form, or vision] yes; but not in His
naked loveliness, as I have lastly told."-- Id., book 3, p.
123.
"So we passed before the altar, and at some distance away, and
then we too knelt down and adored the fount of Being, the One supreme,
who becomes manifest to us only by Presence Form, and that
rarely."--Id., p. 232.
"Two communicators sent messages, the first of whom spelt out
as a name Dorothy Pothlewaite,' a name unknown to any of us. . . . She
had been a Catholic and was still a Catholic, but had not fared better
than the Protestants; there were Buddhists and Mohammedans in her
sphere, but all fared alike; she had never seen Christ and knew no
more about Him than on earth, but believed in His influence."-- Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle, quoted from American Signs of the Times, June 22,
1920.
"Jesus Christ, we are informed in the work connected with the
name of Judge Edmonds, is so far advanced, that such spirits as those
of Swedenborg and Bacon, though they have been one or two centuries in
the spirit land, have not yet got even a sight of Him."--"Modern
Mysteries," p. 36.
"Oliver J. Lodge: Before you go, Raymond, I want to ask you a
serious question. Have you been let to see Christ? [Raymond's alleged
spirit replies] Father, I shall see Him presently. It is not time yet.
I am not ready. But I know He lives, and I know He comes here. All the
sad ones see Him if no one else can help them."-- "Raymond,"
page 207.
Some spirits admit seeing Christ, using the term in an accommodated
sense, and different from what we understand by the Scripture language
which speaks of that privilege of the redeemed. Others have never seen
Him; and still others, so far from seeing Him, have not learned anything
more about Him than they knew upon earth -- which evidently was
not a great deal. There seems to be an unbridgeable difference between
Spiritism and the Bible on this score as well. One Spiritist, reading
this scripture according to the incorrect punctuation, "I say unto
thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise," rejoices in the
prospect of being with Christ immediately at death; while the voices
from spiritland seem to be unanimous that no one sees Him immediately at
death, and some seem never to be able to reach His realm. (See "
The Proofs of the Truths of Spiritualism," p. 19.)
That text, when correctly punctuated -- and the punctuation was done
by men, and not by Inspiration -- does not teach that the soul goes
immediately to heaven. If it taught that, the Scripture would contradict
itself. Its teaching is this: "I tell you truly today, in spite of
these seemingly contradictory and apparently impossible circumstances,
you shall be with Me in Paradise." The adverb "today"
modifies the verb "tell" rather than the verb "shalt
be." A similar use of the word "today," accompanied by a
promise for the future, is found in Zechariah 9:12.
So, while our Saviour has not promised us admission to heaven at the
hour of death, He has promised us very definitely that we shall be with
Him where He is. To the sorrowing disciples He gave this comforting
assurance:
"In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I
would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto
Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14: 2, 3.
When the advent into those mansions takes place, is also clearly
revealed in this scripture:
"I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning
them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have
no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so
them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we
say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and
remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent ["
precede," R. V.] them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall
rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so
shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4: 13-17.
There is nothing uncertain about this. It is all plain and easy to be
understood. They see Him coming; they meet Him in the air; they go with
Him to be always with Him where He is. They lift up their eyes when they
see Him coming, and exclaim in glad ecstasy: "Lo, this is our God;
we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have
waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Isa.
25: 9. The inspired psalmist exclaims: "As for me, I will behold
Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy
likeness." Ps. 17:15. "They shall see His face; and His name
shall be in their foreheads." Rev. 22: 4.
Satan has sought to blind our eyes to these blessed and comforting
assurances, that he might turn us away from the Light of the world and
the Saviour of mankind, and send our feet down the slippery path to the
abode of eternal death. But the risen Christ still holds out these
blessed assurances, beckoning us with nail-pierced hands of love into
the way of faith and hope and righteousness, and into the light that
shines from the open door of the sanctuary on high.
I could ardently wish that I had exhausted the contradictions of
Spiritism against the Bible; but, like the fallen spirits themselves,
they are legion. It is impossible to exhaust them, for they are
continually being added to as the days go by.
The Bible teaches that a fire has been "prepared for the devil
and his angels" (Matt. 25: 41), which will destroy them and all the
wicked, root and branch. Mal. 4: 1-3. It will be a day of vengeance and
of complete destruction of all the workers of iniquity. 2 Thess. 1: 7-9;
2: 7-12. Spiritism has no place for this, and denies it by its teaching.
"There are, as we know, many 'angels of darkness' who are in
the darkness because of some twist in their natures, some obstinate
trait which prevents the good in them having its effect. And these one
day may pass us on the road of the ages, and become greater in the
kingdom of the heavens than we who now are more blessed than
they."--"Life Beyond the Veil," book I, p. 32.
There is no room in such a program for the destruction of sin and
sinners out of the world, as specifically pronounced in several
scriptures.
God has told us very pointedly of the culmination of His controversy
with sin, and has given us no hope that after this life there will be
opportunity to reform and to rise from sphere to sphere through efforts
of our own. The Scripture declares:
In the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be." Eccl.
11: 3. Where death leaves us, the judgment will find us. When the Christ
comes, bringing His reward with Him, those rewards are apportioned out
to each one "according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12. The
basis on which those rewards are made will never be changed. Before they
are given, this decree will have gone forth:
"He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is
filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be
righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And,
behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man
according as his work shall be." Rev. 22: 11, 12.
That means a judgment, for it is a decree, a sentence, handed down
from the Supreme Court of the universe. It is based upon human conduct.
The evidence is found in the records that have been kept by the hands of
angel witnesses. John had a vision of that judgment scene. It is
recorded in these words:
"I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from
whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no
place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God;
and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the
book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up
the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead
which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their
works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the
second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life
was cast into the lake of fire." Rev. 20: 11:15.
Ages ago men were warned of this. Says the writer of Ecclesiastes:
"God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing,
whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12:14. The
spirit, through Paul, declares that "we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in
his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or
bad." 2 Cor. 5:10. When Paul, standing before the Roman governor of
Israel, "reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to
come, Felix trembled." Acts 24: 25.
There is no more definitely established doctrine in the Word of God
than that of the judgment to come, which settles the eternal destiny of
souls. But Spiritism will have none of it. The idea of a judgment is
entirely ruled out of Spiritism's program, thus proving its antipathy to
another fundamental principle of Heaven's program. The Bible
specifically declares that there shall be a judgment. Spiritism denies.
"'Where is the Judge?' [one who had just "passed over is
alleged to have inquired. To this another is alleged to have replied,]
'My child, your judgment will take place whenever you desire, . . .
for you yourself are judge, and will mete out to yourself your
punishment.' "--"The Life Beyond the Veil," book I,
p. 135.
"We no longer think of 'rewards' and 'punishments,' but inevitable
results of conduct. This is why the 'judge' does not really
'judge,' but only selects or separates the 'goats' from the 'sheep;'
the only judge is conscience."--"The Proofs of the Truths
of Spiritualism," page 14.
More evidence could easily be given, but this will suffice. Spiritism
will not deny that it has ruled out the judgment. It has also ruled out
the Judge, ruled out the Saviour, ruled out the cleansing of this world
by fire, ruled out the destruction of the finally impenitent wicked.
Spiritism speaks of a god, but he is not a being, and exists nowhere in
particular. It admits a being called Christ; but He is many spheres
removed from those who "pass over," and seems to be still
moving on. In fact, every essential principle of the gospel as outlined
in the Bible is denied by Spiritism, or so interpreted as to be
emasculated and destroyed.
It is therefore plainly apparent that in that system we have a
propaganda that is diametrically opposed to Christianity, and has set
out to undermine every pillar of the faith once delivered to the saints.
The sooner Christians realize the nature of the enemy we have to deal
with, and the subtle methods of his attack, the better it will be for
both the church and the individual Christian. To be asleep when such an
attack is in progress is a criminal offense against the cause of Christ.
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