Spiritism.
One doctrine that is necessary, according to the teaching of Spiritists themselves,
before
Spiritism can be accepted is that the soul is immortal. Another necessary doctrine
is that the dead are in reality not dead, but living upon another plane. Anyone
who accepts the teaching of Scripture concerning the dead, that they 'know not anything',
that there is 'no device nor wisdom in the grave', and that the dead are asleep until
the resurrection, are armed against this subtle error, but Christians who believe
that the soul of man is immortal, and that the dead are now alive, either in purgatory,
paradise, or heaven, are exposed to this dreadful system of deceit. No man has ever
received a message from the dead. What he has received is a message from demons,
impersonating the dead and using the seance or the planchette as a means of introducing
the doctrine of demons.
Spiritism is as old as mankind. Its first appearance is in Genesis 3, and a study
of Satan's
methods recorded there will illuminate Spiritism to-day: his method, deceit; his medium,
a woman;
his means, a lie instead of God's Word.
Modern Spiritism, or, as it is called, Spiritualism, dates from 1848, when in New
York it
made its first appearance. Since then it has spread over the earth like a plague.
It was computed in
1894 that there were 60,000,000 Spiritists, and 200 journals and magazines published
in the exclusive interests of Spiritism. There may be some who read this pamphlet
who endorse the teaching advanced by an American publication which states, as to
sin :
'The only scriptural, the only rational, the only true solution lies in the acceptance
of God's
grand dictum that all is out of Him, and through Him, and for Him'.
Apart from sin, according to this teaching, we should never have had the delicious
sense of
God's fatherly affection. And as to Satan, the same teaching has it, that he did
exactly what God had planned he should do. We are glad to know that many who have
endorsed this teaching out of a desire to glorify God, do most emphatically repudiate
Spiritism, and in all Christian love we would ask such to ponder the words of a Spiritist
in a book entitled, 'Whatever is, is Right' :
'What is evil? Evil does not exist; evil is good'.
'What is a lie? A lie is truth intrinsically: it holds a lawful place in creation,
it is a necessity'.
'What is virtue? Virtue is good and sin is good. The woman who came to the well
of Sychar
was just as pure in spirit before she met Christ, even though she was a harlot, as
she was afterwards when she went to live a different life. There's no difference
between Herod the murderer of babes in Bethlehem, and Christ the Saviour of men'.
'Christ and the devil are both alike'.
'No matter how bad that path may be: whether it be the path of the liar, or the murderer:
it is
the path of Divine ordination and Divine destiny'.
It is far from our intention to give the impression that those to whose teaching we
have
referred above can endorse such blasphemy, but we do ask any who have been attracted
by it to see how it approximates in its logical issues with this monstrous doctrine
of demons known as Spiritism.
Satan is both a liar and a murderer; that is the teaching of Scripture, and one who
teaches
that Satan did exactly what God planned he should do gets perilously near to endorsing
the last
quotation of the Spiritist given above.
Spiritism denies the Scriptures to be the Word of God, denies the Deity and true manhood
of
Christ, and denies His redeeming and atoning Blood. Spiritism leads to immorality,
and prepares the way for the final great sowing of the 'tares', 'the children of
the wicked one'; for it denounces what it is pleased to call 'sexual tyranny', and
advocates the abolition of marriage, as Scripture has foretold :
'It is the sublime mission of Spiritism to deliver humanity from the thraldom of matrimony
and to establish sexual emancipation'.
The fact that these matters are objectionable must not allow a false modesty to hide
these
solemn issues. On every hand these doctrines of demons are manifesting themselves,
and we must
'cry aloud and spare not' if we would be faithful.
In every department of life 'emancipation' is the word that is uppermost. To be 'modern'
one
must throw aside all bondage. Thus we get New Art, New Music, New Literature, the
essence of
which is mainly rebellion against all accepted canons. In politics, in domestic affairs,
in religion is
sounded the same cry of 'emancipation', while all the time those who shout the loudest
are the most tightly bound slaves of Satan. 'The truth shall make you free'. All
other 'freedom' is a snare.