for the fulfilment of the Saviour’s prophecy that in the last days many
false Christs and false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many. See
Matt. 24:24. A prospectus of the _Truth Seeker_ contained these words: “It
shall be the organ through which the christs of the last dispensation will
choose to speak.”
A little later, July 19, 1862, there was published in the _Banner of
Light_ a lecture on Spiritualism by Mrs. C. L. V. Hatch, in which she
spoke of Christ as follows:—
“Of Jesus of Nazareth, personally, we have but little to say.
Certain it is, we find sufficient that is divine in his life and
teachings, without professing to believe in the fables of
theologians respecting his birth and parentage. We are content to
take the simple record as it stands, and to regard him as the son
of Joseph and Mary, endowed with such purity and harmony of
character as fitted him to be the Apostle and Revelator of the
highest wisdom ever taught to man. It is the fundamental article
in the creed of modern Christianity, that Jesus was divine in his
nature, and of miraculous origin and nativity. Now, no human being
of ordinary intelligence, unwarped by educational bias, would ever
profess to believe in such a monstrous figment, which only shows
the blindness of superstitious prejudice.”
Here is something twenty-four years later. A séance reported in the
_Banner of Light_, Oct. 9, 1886, gives the following questions and
answer:—
“_Ques._—Do ‘spirits’ generally believe in the divinity of Jesus
Christ; that he was the Son of God; that he was crucified, dead,
and buried, and rose again the third day for the saving of all who
should believe in him?
“_Ans._—No; spirits generally—advanced spirits, those who are
intelligent, having studied deeply into the principles of life—do
not accept the theory of the divinity of Jesus Christ; they do not
believe that he was crucified for mankind, in the accepted
understanding of that term.”
Some years ago a class was formed in New York City for the purpose of
investigating what is called the spiritual philosophy. Before that class,
Dr. Weisse said:—
“Friend Orton seems to make rather light of the communications
from spirits concerning Christ. It seems, nevertheless, that all
the testimony received from advanced spirits only shows that
Christ was a medium and reformer in Judea; that he now is an
advanced spirit in the sixth sphere; but that he never claimed to
be God, and does not at present. I have had two communications to
that effect. I have also read some that Dr. Hare had. If I am
wrong in my views of the Bible, I should like to know it, for the
spirits and mediums _do not contradict me_.”
The peculiar insult here purposely offered to the Saviour will be
appreciated when it is noted that at about the same time the spirits
located Thomas Paine, the well-known skeptic, in the seventh sphere, one
sphere above that of Christ. He must therefore have progressed very
rapidly, seeing he so quickly surpassed Christ, who had over 1700 years
the start of him.
Before the same class Dr. Hare is reported to have spoken as follows,
which we give without assuming any responsibility for the spiritual
grammar therein exhibited:—
“He said that he had been thus protected from deception by the
spirits of Washington and Franklin, and that they had brought
Jesus Christ to him, with whom he had also communicated. He had
first repelled him as an impostor; but became convinced afterward
that it was really him. He related that he had learned from that
high and holy spirit, that he was not the character that
Christendom had represented him to be, and not responsible for the
errors connected with his name, but that he was, while on earth, a
medium of high and extraordinary powers, and that it was solely
through his mediumistic capabilities that he attained so great
knowledge, and was enabled to practice such apparent wonders.”
When Christ was upon earth, it was envy, jealousy, and malice that moved
the Pharisees against him (Matt 27:18); and it seems that he is followed
by the same feelings in the spirit world. This is natural; for he who
fired the hearts of the Pharisees with their malignant spirit, is the same
one, as we have seen, who is working through the powers of darkness in the
unseen world to-day. Any way to degrade Christ in the minds of men to a
level with, or below, the mediums of our time, and make it appear that
they can do as great wonders as he, seems to be the object in view.
There is plainly manifest an irrepressible desire on the part of spirits
and mediums to show Christ to be inferior to the leaders of other great
religions of the world, as Buddha, Confucius, Zoroaster, etc. Thus, at a
seance held in 1864 (_Banner of Light_, June 4), the spirits were
questioned as follows:—
“_Ques._—Have you ever seen Confucius or Zoroaster?
“_Ans._—Yes, many times.
“_Q._—In the order of degree, which stands the higher in moral
excellence—Jesus Christ, Confucius, or Zoroaster?
“_A._—Confucius stands in morality higher than the other two....
Jesus himself claims to have been inspired to a large extent, by
this same Confucius. And if we are to place reliance upon the
records concerning each individual, we shall find that Jesus spoke
the truth when he tells us that he was inspired by Confucius.”
Indeed! Where are the records referred to? Where and when did Jesus
“speak” the words attributed to him? And where does he tell _us_, that he
was inspired by Confucius? So we are to believe, are we, that the gospel
of Jesus Christ, is only a rehash of what was originally wrought out in
the brain of Confucius, and not words fresh from the fountain of light
given him by his Father in heaven, to speak, as he claimed them to be? Yet
he was a high and _holy_ medium. We wonder what standard of holiness and
perfection the spirits can have.
But still later, in 1896, we find the spirits putting forth the same
teaching in reference to Jesus Christ. In “Automatic, or Spirit Writing,”
pp. 148, 149, we have this:—
“_Ques._—Do you accept Jesus as the model of spiritual knowledge?
“_Ans._—Shall you give us a better example?
“_Q._—Well, we are willing to accept him as one of many, but not
as chief.
“_A._—Change the name. Call him by other names—Buddha, Krishna, or
Mohammed, the spirit is one—is ever and ever the same. Spirit is
one, not many, however often the name is changed.
“_Q._—Were not Jesus, Buddha, and Mohammed distinct personalities?
“_A._—No more than all atoms emanating from the same source—parts
of the great All of Being, partaking of the general
characteristics of the grand whole—but yielding to environments,
showed marked individualism, such as the force of the times in
which they appeared would create in their characters.
“_Q._—Are these leaders of religious thought not distinct
individualities now?
“_A._—No, not on spiritual planes, which do not recognize any
now.”
Thus they persist in denying that Jesus holds any pre-eminent position as
a religious teacher. He may as well be called Buddha, Krishna, or Mohammed
as Jesus. They are all the same spirit, all atoms of the great “All of
Being,” all as much alike as three drops of water from the same ocean, and
what is more bewildering still, they have now all lost their individuality
in the spirit world. How, then, can it be told that Christ is in the sixth
sphere, and Paine in the seventh? Such teachers, though they may claim to
be good spirits, are branded as antichrist by both John and Jude. John
says: “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is
antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son.” 1 John 2:22. Again,
“Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh
is not of God.” 1 John 4:3. According to the spirits, Jesus Christ has no
more come in the flesh than have Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, Zoroaster,
or any other religious teacher. They all simply yielded to their
environments, and showed marked individualism while on this earth, and
have now become absorbed in the “great whole” in the spirit world. Thus,
as Jude says (verse 4), they deny “the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus
Christ.”
So much for their denial of Christ in his person. They also deny him in
his offices; for to deny and ridicule what he came to do, is one of the
most effectual ways of denying him. The great work of Christ was the
shedding of his blood to atone for the sins of the world; and the spirits
are particularly bitter in denouncing that idea. If such sentiments were
uttered only by open and professed scoffers, it would not do so much harm;
but it is not unusual to find those bearing the title of “Reverend”
descanting on these themes in a manner to show themselves antichrist,
according to the definition of that term by John. And even this need not
surprise us; for the sure word of prophecy has foretold that some who have
once held the true faith will depart therefrom to give heed to seducing
spirits, and doctrines of devils. 1 Tim. 4:1.
One R. P. Wilson, to whose name is attached the ministerial title, in his
lectures on “Spiritual Science,” said:—
“Although as a believer in true spiritual philosophy, we cannot
receive the orthodox views of salvation, yet we recognize the
birth of a Saviour and Redeemer into the universal hearts of
humanity, _wherein truly the deity is incarnate_, dwelling in the
interior of man’s spirit. We believe that each soul of man is born
with his or her Saviour within them; for as man is an embodiment
of the universe in epitome, he contains in his central nature an
incarnation of deity. The germ of immortal unfoldings resides
within the spirit of it, which needs only appropriate conditions
to call forth the expanding and elevating powers of the soul.”
In “Spiritual Science Demonstrated,” p. 229, Dr. Hare said:—
“Since my spirit sister’s translation to the spheres, she has
risen from the fifth to the sixth sphere. It has been alleged by
her that her ascent was retarded by her belief in the atonement.”
A “spirit” calling himself Deacon John Norton, as reported in the _Banner
of Light_, said:—
“I used to believe in the atonement; I honestly believed that
Christ died to save the world, and that by and through his death
all must be saved if saved at all. Now I see that this is folly—it
cannot be so. The light through Christ, the Holy One, shone in
darkness; the darkness could not comprehend it; and thus it
crucified the body, and Christ died a martyr. He was not called in
that way, that by the shedding of his blood, the vast multitude
coming after him should find salvation. Everything in nature
proves this false. They tell me here that Christ was the most
perfect man of his time. I am told here also that he is worthy to
be worshiped, because of his goodness; and where man finds
goodness he may worship. God’s face is seen in the violet, and man
may well worship this tiny flower.”
In the pantheism of Spiritualism, every object in nature, the tiny flower,
the pebbles, the trees, the birds and bees, are worthy to be worshiped as
much as Christ. In one breath the spirits extol him as a most perfect man,
pre-eminent in goodness and worthy to be worshiped, and in the next, place
him in a position which would make him the greatest fraud and impostor
that ever lived. Such inconsistencies show that Christ is a miracle which
evil men and evil angels know not how to dispose of.
As they deny Christ, they must, logically, deny the doctrine of his second
coming. This doctrine is made of especial importance and prominence in the
New Testament. The nature of that coming, its manner, and the
circumstances attending it are so fully described, that no one who adopts
the Bible view can possibly be deceived by false christs. But the church
and the world have been turned away from the true doctrine of the second
advent, and the way is thus prepared for the great deceptions of the last
days. Spiritualism is one of these, and claims that it is itself that
second coming. Joel Tiffany, a former celebrated teacher of Spiritualism,
has said:—
“I must look for the coming of my Lord in my own affection. He
must come in the clouds of my spiritual heavens, or he cannot come
for any benefit to me.”
And through Mrs. Conant, a famous medium of the early days of
Spiritualism, the controlling spirit said:—
“This second coming of Christ means simply the second coming of
truths that are not themselves new, that have always existed....
He said, ‘When I come again, I shall not be known to you.’
Spiritualism is that second coming of Christ.”—_Banner of Light,
Nov. 18, 1865._
But the Bible description of this event is, the revelation of the Lord
himself in the clouds of heaven in the glory of the Father, the
reverberating shout of triumph, the voice of the archangel, the trump of
God, the flash of his presence like that of the lightning, the wailing of
the tribes of the earth, as they thus behold him, while unprepared to meet
him, and the resurrection of the righteous dead. And where and when have
these inseparable accompaniments of that event been seen? They do not
occur when a person is converted from sin, nor do they occur in the dying
chamber, nor have they occurred in Spiritualism; and until they do take
place, the second coming of Christ is not accomplished.
Many seek to dispose of such testimony as this, by making it all
figurative, or meeting it with a bold denial, as in the case of the
resurrection of the body. And the way has been too well prepared for this
condition of things, by much of the teaching of popular orthodoxy, which
turns the early records of the Bible into childish allegory, perverts the
true doctrine of the coming and kingdom of Christ, and denies the
resurrection of the dead, by destroying its necessity through the
immortality of the soul. On the vital point of the resurrection, Dr.
Clarke makes this noteworthy remark:—
“One remark I cannot help making,—The doctrine of the resurrection
appears to have been thought of much more consequence among the
primitive Christians than it is _now_! How is this?—The apostles
were continually insisting on it, and exciting the followers of
God to diligence, obedience, and cheerfulness through it. And
their successors in the present day seldom mention it! So the
apostles preached, and so the primitive Christians believed; so we
preach and so our hearers believe. There is not a doctrine in the
gospel on which more stress is laid; and there is not a doctrine
in the present system of preaching which is treated with more
neglect.”—_On 1 Corinthians 15_ (_original edition_).(3)
In view of the way the Bible has been treated by its professed friends, it
is no wonder that infidelity prevails, and Spiritualism prospers.
3. _They Deny the Bible._—The denial of God and Christ, as set forth above
is, of course, a denial of the Bible; and not much need therefore be added
on this point. We quote only a few representative utterances. Doctor Hare
(“Spiritual Science Demonstrated,” p. 209) says:—
“The Old Testament does not impart a knowledge of immortality,
without which religion were worthless. The notions derived from
the gospels are vague, disgusting, inaccurate, and difficult to
believe.”
As to the Old Testament, it would seem doubtful whether Mr. Hare ever read
far enough to find (1) Job exclaiming: “For 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; though my reins be consumed within me” (or, as the margin reads:
“My reins within me are consumed with earnest desire [for that day];”) or
(2) David: “I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness;” or (3)
Isaiah: “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they
arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust;” or (4) Ezekiel:
“Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up
out of your graves;” or (5) Daniel: “Many of them that sleep in the dust
of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and
everlasting contempt;” and (6) Hosea: “I will ransom them from the power
of the grave, I will redeem them from death.” Job 19:25-27; Ps. 17:15;
Isa. 26:19; Eze. 37:12; Dan. 12:2; Hosea 13:14. And as for the New
Testament, it is no doubt “disgusting” to many Spiritualists to read that
“the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have
their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the
second death;” and that without the city “are dogs, and sorcerers, and
whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and
maketh a lie.” Rev. 21:8; 22:15.
Communications from spirits are offered in place of the Bible as a better
source of instruction, the Bible being denounced, as above quoted, as
“vague, inaccurate, and difficult to believe.” A brief comparison of the
two will furnish pertinent evidence on this point. Take, on the Bible
side, for example, a portion of the record of creation (Gen. 1:1-5):—
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the
earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face
of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And
God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light
from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness
he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first
day.”
The facts stated in this record, the profoundest minds can never
comprehend; the language in which they are expressed, a little child can
understand. The statements are plain and simple, a perfect model of
perspicuous narrative. Place by the side of this an account of the same
event, as given us from the “spheres.” The spirits have undertaken to
produce a new Bible, beginning, like the old, with the creation; and this
is the way it starts out, through the mediumship of “Rev.” T. L. Harris:—
“1. In the beginning God, the Life in God, the Lord in God, the
Holy Procedure, inhabited the dome, which, burning in magnificence
primeval, and revolving in prismatic and undulatory spiral,
appeared, and was the pavilion of the Spirit: In glory
inexhaustible and inconceivable, in movement spherical, unfolded
in harmonious procedure disclosive.
“2. And God said, Let good be manifest! and good unfolded and
moral-mental germs, ovariums of heavens, descended from the
Procedure. And the dome of disclosive magnificence was heaven, and
the expanded glory beneath was the germ of creation. And the
divine Procedure inbreathed upon the disclosure, and the
disclosure became the universe.”
We will inflict no more of this “undulatory spiral” nonsense on the
reader. He now has both records before him, and can judge for himself
which is the more worthy of his regard. There have been Spiritualists who,
writing in their normal state, and not yet fully divorced from the
influence of their former education, have acknowledged the authenticity of
the Bible, and the doctrines of Jesus as recorded in the gospels. But
these, it is claimed, are to be understood according to a spiritual
meaning which underlies the letter; and this spiritual meaning generally
turns out to be contrary to the letter, which is a virtual denial of the
record itself. But the quotations here given (only a specimen of the
multitudes that might be presented) are given on the authority of the
“spirits,” whose teachings are what we wish to ascertain.
They Deny All Distinction Between Right And Wrong.
There is implanted in the hearts of men by nature, a sense of right and a
sense of wrong. Even those who know not God, nor Christ, nor the gospel,
possess this power of discrimination. This is what Paul, in Rom. 2:15,
calls “the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also
bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else
excusing one another.” That this distinction should now be denied by a
class in a civilized community, professing to be advanced thinkers and
teachers, among whom are found the learned, the refined, and the
professedly pious, shows that we have fallen upon strange times. To be
sure, many of them talk fluently of the beauty and perfection of divine
laws; but in the sense in which they would have them understood, they rob
them of all characteristics of law. The first great essential of law is
authority; but this they take away from it; the next is penalty for its
violation; but this they deny, and thus degrade the law to a mere piece of
advice. The “Healing of the Nations,” an authoritative work among
Spiritualists, pp. 163, 164, says:—
“Thus thy body needs no laws, having been in its creation supplied
with all that could be necessary for its government. Thy spirit is
above all laws, and above all essences which flow therein. God
created thy spirit from within his own, and surely the Creator of
law is above it; the Creator of essences must be above all essence
created. And if thou hast what may be or might be termed laws,
they are always subservient to thy spirit. Good men need no laws,
and laws will do bad or ignorant men no good. If a man be above
law, he should never be governed by it. If he be below, what good
can dead, dry words do him?
“True knowledge removeth all laws from power by placing the spirit
of man above it.”
A correspondent of the _Telegraph_ said of this work, “The Healing of the
Nations:”—
“According to its teaching, no place is found in the universe for
divine wrath and vengeance. All are alike and forever the object
of God’s love, pity, and tender care—the difference between the
two extremes of human character on earth, being as a mere atom
when compared with perfect wisdom.”
This is a favorite comparison with them,—that the difference between God
and the best of men is so much greater than the extremes of character
among men,—the most upright and the most wicked,—that the latter is a mere
atom, and not accounted of in God’s sight. That there is an infinite
difference between God and the best of men, is all true; for God is
infinite in all his attributes, and man is very imperfect at the best. But
to argue from this that God is inferior to man, so that he cannot discern
difference in character here, even as man can plainly discern it, seems
but mad-house reasoning. What would we think of the man who had the same
regard for the thief as for the honest man, for the murderer as for the
philanthropist? To ignore such distinctions as even men are able to
discern would destroy the stability of all human governments; what then
would be the effect on the divine government? God has given his law—holy,
just, and good—to men, and commanded obedience. He has attached the
penalty to disobedience: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die,” “The wages
of sin is death.” Eze. 18:20; Rom. 6:23. And in the judgment, the
distinction God makes in character will be plainly declared; for he will
set the righteous on his right hand, but the wicked on the left. Matt.
25:32, 33.
This view of the failure of law, and the absence of all human
accountability, naturally leads to a bold denial of sin and the existence
of crime. The “Healing of the Nations,” p. 169, says: “Unto God there is
no error; all is comparatively good.” The same work says that God views
error as “undeveloped good.” A. J. Davis (“Nature of Divine Revelation,”
p. 521) says: “Sin, indeed, in the common acceptation of that term, does
not really exist.”
A discourse from J. S. Loveland, once a minister, reported in the _Banner
of Light_, contained this paragraph:—
“With God there is no crime; with man there is. Crime does not
displease God, but it does man. God is in the darkest crime, as in
the highest possible holiness. He is equally pleased in either
case. Both harmonize equally with his attributes—they are only
different sides of the same Deity.”
In “Automatic Writing” (1896), p. 139, a question was asked concerning
evil, meaning sin and crimes among men. The spirit answered that these
were conditions of progress, and were so necessary to elevation that they
were to be welcomed, not hated. The questions and answers are as follows:—