Spiritualism

What are the characteristics of spiritualism?

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Bible believers are commanded to seek out and rely on the Holy Spirit and to put all of their trust in God alone for protection. The Bible forbids the practices of necromancy, which is talking to the dead, and divination, which is asking spirits for advice. These activities are connected to idolatry and false gods (Deuteronomy 18:10–12).

Acts 19:19, for example, forbids burning magic books and implies that following Christ is incompatible with such activities. Let us put our faith in God for direction and safety.

1. 1.DOES the Bible teach that there are spirit beings?

   Bible⇒ Hebrews 1: 7.

2. 2.Spirits being angels, how' many classes are there of them?

   -- Two, the good and the evil.

3. 3.Do both classes communicate with mankind?

   Bible⇒ - Yes. Good (Hebrews 1: 14; Judges 13: 3-21) ; evil (2 Corinthians 11: 14; Matthew 25: 41; 1 Peter 5: 8)

4. 4.What is Spiritualism?

   -" The belief that the spirits of the dead in various ways communicate with and manifest their presence to men, usually through the agency of a person called a medium."- Standard Dictionary.

5. 5.Can the dead return to communicate with the living?

   Bible⇒ Job 7: 10; Ecclesiastes 9: 5, 6; Psalms 146: 4 .

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7. 6.Does the Bible recognize that there are lying spirits?

   Bible⇒ 1 Kings 22: 22 .

8. 7.To whom do all lying spirits belong?

   Bible⇒ John 8: 44 .

9. 8.What power do Satan and his angels possess?

   Bible ⇉ 2 Corinthians 11: 14, 15

10. 9.What comes to those who give heed to these lying spirits?

    Bible ⇉ Leviticus 19: 31

    In a sermon on ' Spiritualism an Imposture,' Rev. T. De Witt Talmage said : ` Spiritualism takes advantage of those who are weak and morbid with trouble. We lose a friend. The house is dark, the world is dark, the future seems dark. If we had, in our rebellion and weakness, the power to marshal a host and recapture our loved one, we should marshal the host. Spiritualism comes in at that moment, when we are all worn out by watching, — all worn out, body, mind, and soul, — and says : " Now I will open that door ; you shall hear the voices. Take your places around the table ; all be quiet now." ... 0, 1 hate Spiritualism, because it takes advantage of people when they are weak, and worn out, and morbid under life's bereavements and sorrows ! . . . If Spiritualism had its way, it would turn the world into a pandemonium of carnality. It is an unclean and adulterous system.' — "Bible Readings for the Home Circle," pp. 534, 535.

11. 10.What phases of spirit work are named?

    Bible ⇉ Deuteronomy 18: 10, 11

    The phenomenal aspect of modern Spiritualism reproduces all essential principles of the magic, witchcraft, and sorcery of the past. The same powers are involved, the same intelligences are operating."— F. F. Morse, in " Practical Occultism," p. 85.

12. 11.How does the Lord regard all these things?

    Bible ⇉ Deuteronomy 18: 12.

13. 12.Whose children are they who use sorcery?

    Bible ⇉ Acts 13: 8-10.

14. 13.Will any such go into the kingdom?

    Bible ⇉ Revelation 21: 8; Revelation 22: 14, 15.

15. 14.Have people been saved from these deCeptions?

    Bible ⇉ Acts 8: 9-11; Acts 16: 16-18

16. 15.What promise may be ours?

    Bible ⇉ 2 Corinthians 6: 17, 18

    Ques.— Have you ever seen Confucius or Zoroaster ? " Ans.— Yes, many times. "Qum — In the order of degree, which stands the higher in moral excellence — Jesus Christ, Confucius, or Zoroaster ? " Ans. — 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." — Banner of Light, June 4, 1864.

    " That Spiritualism is a doctrine of the devil is admitted by some of its own advocates. In the Banner of Light, Nov. 4, 1865, is the following question and answer, the answer being given by a controlling spirit through a Mrs. Conant, at that time a well-known medium : " Ques. — Do you know of any such spirit as a person we call the devil? " Ans. — We certainly do. And yet this same devil is our god, our father.' " Dr. A. B. Childs, in a work entitled, ` Christ and the People,' says that what is called the devil is the Spirit of God in nature.' And in another work entitled, Better Views of Living,' the same author says, It is the mission of the devil, yet unthought of by men, to carry them through the hell of earth, and prepare them for the heaven of the.spiritual world.' That the spirits who speak through modern mediums are deceptive is also admitted by leading authorities. Thus Dr. Childs, in the Banner of Light, Oct. 26, 1864, said : " Nor can we doubt, I think, that there are a diverse host of badly misdirected spirits. The lower spirits seek to undo the good work of the higher, and to harass and to annoy and subject to suffering, medium and sitter. They will deceive vs for their amusement. Where is the medium but what has either seen or felt this ? I have both. But wise spirits, who are to us the revelators and executors of the divine will, designedly deceive us for our good." — " Bible &indents Library," No. 112, p. 11