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Spiritualism 
 
 NECROMANCY 
 
 REV. A. B. MORRISON, 
 
 Of the Southern Illinois Conference. 
 
 OS 
 
 CINCINNATI:^ 
 HITCHCOCK AND WALDEN. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 NELSON AND PHILLIPS. 
 
 1873. 
 

 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, 
 BY HITCHCOCK & WALDEN, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 A FTER the publication of our two ser- 
 ^ ^ mons, or lectures, on Spiritualism and 
 Necromancy, our mind turned naturally to a 
 further investigation of the claims of spirit- 
 ualism ; and as we studied the subject deeper 
 and closer, we determined to write out our 
 discoveries and deductions, for our own use. 
 This we have done in the form of lectures, 
 something after the manner of sermonizing; 
 for such is our habit of thought. 
 
 The production has been so interesting to 
 us, and our former publication having received 
 such favor, we have been encouraged to give 
 this also to the public ; being impelled to do 
 
 so with strong hope of doing some good, by 
 
 i 
 
II PREFACE. 
 
 arresting the tide of the ruinous heresy of 
 spiritualism. We are aware that we shall 
 meet the anathemas of those who have already 
 fallen into this snare of the devil ; but we 
 hope to win back, to God and reason, honest 
 souls who have been tempted to tamper with 
 this serpent of sin. 
 
 In our fifth and seventh lectures we look, 
 too, for opposition from " the orthodox ;" but, 
 after careful study, aided by such helps as 
 we could command, we have deliberately and 
 solidly concluded that " the Man of Sin " is 
 not the " Old Man at Rome." We are willing 
 to admit that he is a sinner, and that he is 
 possessed of the spirit of Antichrist ; but we 
 can not determine, by Bible or history, that 
 he is the Antichrist of prophecy. Our sev- 
 enth lecture, on the Spirit of Inquiry, or 
 Office and Use of Philosophy, is largely 
 extracted from a review we wrote, a year 
 ago, of Dr. Cockers " Greek Philosophy ;" 
 and, as it had never been given to the public, 
 
PREFACE. Ill 
 
 and seemed to us to meet and express a felt 
 want of our nature, so evidently manifest in 
 the restless instability of man away from his 
 God, we determined to insert it in this publi- 
 cation. Having prepared it in a little different 
 form for ministerial criticism, we submit it to 
 the laity without fear, trusting that it will do 
 good, by showing in easy thought to the com- 
 mon reader that man, estranged from God by 
 sin, is ever restless and unsatisfied until he 
 be restored to the Father, through the merit 
 of the Son. The other chapters treat directly 
 of Spiritualism, with all its diabolism and 
 hatefulness. 
 
 We have in crude outline another work, 
 showing the true medium of spirit-communi- 
 cation, which may or may not go to the public. 
 Future circumstances shall determine. 
 
 A. B. M. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 I. Spiritualism and Necromancy, ... 9 
 
 II. Spiritualism an Agency of Satan, . 36 
 
 III. Spiritualism and Demonology, ... 62 
 
 IV. Spiritualism an Agency of Satan, . 83 
 V. Spiritualism and Antichrist, ... 98 
 
 VI. Deception of Spiritualism, . . . 112 
 
 VII. The Spirit of Inquiry in Man, . . . 126 
 
 VIII. A Word to Spiritualists, . . . 146 
 
 IX. Bible Spiritualism, . . . . . 166 
 
 X. Spiritualism a Lover of Darkness, . 186 
 
 3 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 TT7R0M its earliest history, Methodism has 
 -*• carried on a vigorous warfare in defense 
 of spiritual Christianity. It has been not only a 
 stirring appeal and invitation of mercy to sinners, 
 but also a bold note of warning to souls who have 
 fallen into the snares of false religion. Our fa- 
 thers were conspicuous for their boldness and 
 readiness in attacking vagaries of unbelief, and 
 every form of false doctrine. In this country, the 
 itinerant ministry has pursued the same methods. 
 But the concessions that our Government makes 
 to religious liberty and freedom of speech and 
 worship, offer facilities for the propagation of false 
 
 5 
 
6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 religion, of which the spirit of evil has been alert 
 to take advantage. 
 
 The author of this little volume has chosen to 
 appear in print, not to achieve the notoriety of 
 authorship, but to carry the practical results of 
 his pastorate into a wider field. In the course 
 of his regular duties, the delusion known as 
 spiritualism, through the advocacy of one who 
 had formerly been a Methodist preacher, produced 
 bewilderment and perplexity in the minds of some 
 over whom he had spiritual care. He wisely 
 entered the lists in defense of the truth as it is 
 in Christ. The success of his public effort, em- 
 bodied in two sermons, called for their publication 
 as desirable and profitable to his Church ; and 
 out of these has grown this larger essay. 
 
 Spiritualism has had a wonderful growth in the 
 United States in the twenty-five years since the 
 Misses Fox, of New York State, first gained the 
 public attention. By bold assertions and shrewd 
 practices, it has bewildered and entrapped some 
 honest people whose curiosity was excited, and 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 they have received spiritual harm. For modern 
 spiritualism, as a system of religious thought and 
 faith, is identical in origin and analogous in spirit 
 and practice to that of demonology, which In- 
 spiration has described as the doctrine of devils. 
 It has borne no good fruit. . The classes it attracts 
 by its teachings, and whose lives it fails to reform, 
 are a standing proof of its worthlessness as a 
 religious system. It has swept many into the 
 most vicious forms of immorality and wickedness. 
 It has added nothing to our knowledge of this life 
 or of the world to come. 
 
 This pernicious belief has but to be examined 
 and judged by the light of the Sacred Scriptures, 
 the teaching of history, and in its unvarying 
 tendency to pervert the moral life of its disciples, 
 to be seen in its true character. This is the aim 
 of the author of this volume. He defines and 
 sets forth its proper character and constant tend- 
 encies, comparing it with the spiritualism taught 
 in the Word of God. We commend it to all 
 who are seeking to know the truth. We are 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 confident that its perusal will prove a benefit to 
 those whose minds are in doubt and need such 
 light as its pages offer. A knowledge of its 
 contents will prepare any one to ward off the 
 subtleties of the deceiver of souls, and establish 
 the conviction that spiritualism is the most dan- 
 gerous form of unbelief with which Christianity 
 
 has now to contend. 
 
 * Benj. St. James Fry. 
 
 St. Louis, June 6, 1873. 
 
Spiritualism and Necromancy. 
 
 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 " There shall not be found among you any one that 
 maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or 
 that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an en- 
 chanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consul ter with famil- 
 iar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do 
 these things are an abomination unto the Lord : and because 
 of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them 
 out before thee." — Deut. xviii, 10-12. 
 
 OINCE the unfortunate fall of our race, 
 ^ every recorded act of man has been in 
 clear demonstration of the Bible doctrine of 
 our alienation from God and from righteous- 
 ness. And it has ever been the studied policy 
 of Satan, that old seducer, so to blind the 
 eyes of men as to keep them in ignorance 
 
10 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 of God. A thousand years ago, this was no 
 difficult task ; but, with Bible-houses and a 
 free press, Satan must bestir himself, or the 
 light of the ages must fall on and illuminate 
 the eye of reason in the masses of men. So, 
 the very Pandoras box of hell has, within a 
 hundred years, been opened out to earth's 
 inhabitants, for the tangling of their feet and 
 the snaring of their souls ; and every-where 
 men are seeking to hew out to themselves 
 new cisterns, in the vain hope of finding in 
 some one of them the elixir of the soul's life. 
 It is not a new weapon of war that Satan 
 uses, when he throws the blinding cloud of 
 doubt over the mental vision of man — bring- 
 ing in strong delusions, trusting that men 
 may believe a lie that they may be damned ; 
 for he has been all too successful in the ruin 
 of souls with this weapon to abandon it now. 
 Nor does he hesitate in using things real to 
 induce men to believe things unreal ; nor the 
 contrary, the use of things unreal to induce 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. II 
 
 men to believe things real. All this to delude 
 men, and keep out, or shut out, the light of 
 the Gospel, and the true service that God 
 requires. Anciently, he habitually used the 
 art of the magician and soothsayer, sorcery 
 and divination ; to-day, he uses the arts and 
 sciences, perverting them. He seizes the 
 Bible doctrine of spirit communication, abus- 
 ing and perverting it into a lie. The warfare 
 is the same ; the weapons are nearly identical. 
 Their appliance only is different ; then he 
 used magic, now he uses spirit. We notice : 
 i. Ancient necromancy and modern spir- 
 itualism are identical. By the term necro- 
 mancy, we mean now to include the theory 
 that men on the earth are able, by spirit 
 alliance, to converse with the spirits of the 
 dead, and thereby get a knowledge of the 
 spirit-world ; for a necromancer is properly 
 one who pretends to foretell future events by 
 holding converse with departed spirits, and 
 one who uses sorcery and enchantments. 
 
12 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 Young says, "A necromancer is a trick- 
 ster." Gregory says, " Conjuration, or the 
 black art." Necronite is, in the Greek, 
 "fcztid" while necropolis is the city of the 
 dead, with whom the ancient necromancer 
 claimed to be on familiar terms, and with 
 whom they claimed to converse at pleasure; 
 and by such conversation they claimed to 
 know future events. For this purpose they 
 used divination, of which there were many 
 sorts, as is implied in the original expression 
 here, " Kasem y Kasamim" — seeking to know, 
 by unlawful arts and practices, things secret 
 or to come. They were very superstitious ; 
 and, by closely observing the planets and the 
 weather, they pronounced one day lucky and 
 another unlucky. By such means they ob- 
 tained the mastery of the superstitious minds 
 of the masses, who had no means of refuting 
 them ; for they were also jugglers, causing 
 things by some secret art to assume a false 
 appearance, and thus would practice illusions 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 3 
 
 on the people's fancy, and deceive by the 
 slight of hand. These pretenders were wont 
 to use superstitious words in their incanta- 
 tions ; and, by observing the waters, looking 
 through smoke, and other foolish ceremonies, 
 they conjectured the destiny of the spirit. 
 They used witchcraft, or were admitted to be 
 in league and covenant with the devil, by 
 whose help they deluded the people's senses, 
 etc., through evil arts. The word is "nackash" 
 where it is in the plural ; it is sorcerer, who 
 is one who transforms natural things so as to 
 deceive the eye, not only deceiving, but get- 
 ting possession of the will-power of the 
 deceived. 
 
 The word is sometimes translated sooth- 
 sayer — sooth and say; for they pretend to 
 know and tell the events of life and future 
 things. And because of this, then secret, 
 power of mesmerism — for it was nothing 
 else — they were called charmers ; for, at this 
 
 juncture, the devotee would, by means of 
 2 
 
14 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 ventriloquism, make the astonished subjects 
 believe that they were in familiar conversation 
 with the spirits of the dead. Hence Moses, 
 in the text, calls them "consulters with fa- 
 miliar spirits. ,, The original word is " Shoel 
 Ob" and is, literally, " one who speaks out of 
 his belly," and inquires of Ob, which means 
 a bottle, and was the name given by the He- 
 brews to the spirit, and was aptly applied to 
 those deceivers ; for, during the process of 
 their divinations, or seance (sa-ance), they 
 distended their bodies violently, as a leather 
 bottle full of new wine. Galen says, " Such 
 persons violently distend their bodies like 
 leather bottles full of wine, ready to burst, 
 and speak as if their voice was sent from 
 their bellies." Whoever has witnessed the art 
 and heard the words of the professional jug- 
 gler will comprehend this, and also see that 
 such shabby tricks are not yet extinct ; but, 
 with the practice of such arts, the heathen 
 nations of the land which Israel was to occupy 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 5 
 
 and possess, were able to palm themselves off 
 as wizards and necromancers ; for these terms 
 were not then offensive. The one signified 
 " a knowing man ;" the other, " a consulter 
 of the dead." Their manner of doing so was 
 to lie down in some dark place in the night, 
 usually on or at the grave of him whose 
 spirit they would consult, and then, after 
 muttering strange and unintelligible words, 
 in low, solemn, guttural sounds, would pretend 
 to have communion with the spirit, and would 
 sometimes claim to have seen the spirit. 
 Such, then, is a brief outline of ancient 
 necromancy. 
 
 My proposition identifies modern spiritual- 
 ism with it ; and, if the identity be maintained,* 
 we need but refer to the terrible maledictions 
 of God upon the one, to be conscious of his 
 disapprobation of the other. 
 
 Diviner, observer of times, enchanter, witch 
 a consulter with familiar spirits, a wizard, and 
 a necromancer, signified the same characters, 
 
16 SPIRITUALISM AND NECJROMANCY. 
 
 in the performance of their several practices ; 
 as the term architect signifies builder, who 
 may be laying the foundation, or mounting 
 the turret. So, for convenience, we may use 
 the general term "necromancy," and notice its 
 work, as compared with spiritualism. 
 
 The necromancer pretended to know, by 
 means of spirit communication, future events. 
 Webster says, "By magic, enchantment, witch- 
 craft, and divination, by the assistance of evil 
 spirits ;" that is, as we understand him, by 
 help of the devil. Now, is there any thing in 
 spiritualism like this practice ? 
 
 A medical medium, or clairvoyant, in Bos- 
 ton, on Washington Street, advertises after 
 this manner: 
 
 "MAGNETIC TREATMENT! 
 BUSINESS MEDIUM! 
 
 Turkish Love Powders ! Something New ! 
 Ladies in trouble I Fi?idhig lost property"- etc. ; 
 
 and all this she pretends to carry on by aid 
 of the spirits of the ancients, for the moderate 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 7 
 
 sum of two dollars ! not including medicines, 
 some particular kinds of which are exorbi- 
 tantly high. 
 
 It is estimated that the fifty medical medi- 
 ums in Boston realize an aggregate income of 
 six hundred thousand dollars, for soothsaying 
 the fortunes of the thousands who go to their 
 seances daily ; and it is worthy of note, that 
 nearly all mediums who have the shrewdness 
 to do so, resort to the medical trick for gain, 
 in money and lust. But we notice : 
 
 The necromancer was a consulter with fa- 
 miliar spirits ; that is, they pretended to talk 
 with the spirits of the dead. Webster says, 
 u Familiar spirit, a demon or evil spirit, sup- 
 posed to attend a call." 
 
 By this means, the damsel spoken of in the 
 sixteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles 
 " brought great gain to her masters ;" and, 
 like the modern follower of the Fates, they 
 were quite angry when the circle was broken, 
 and the power of the medium blasted by the 
 
1 8 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 name of the Lord Jesus. Sorcery was a rec- 
 ognized practice in the days of the apostles, 
 and Simon Magus supposed it was by this 
 means the Holy Ghost was given. But, are 
 there any such practices in spiritualism ? Let 
 us see. Here is an abstract from the Boston 
 Daily News, July 25, 1872 : 
 
 " Mrs. Harding, a noted medium of Boston, 
 gets two dollars for getting dead relatives to 
 come and converse with their living friends. 
 Hundreds visit her daily. To get a ' setting/ 
 you must send in your application several 
 days in advance, otherwise your desire to con- 
 verse with a relative will be denied. This 
 woman was in poverty five years ago, when 
 she hit upon the happy art of clairvoyance, or 
 spiritualism ; now, her income is said to be 
 eighty dollars per day." 
 
 " By her soothsaying her masters had great 
 gain " (Acts xvi) ; and, by Mrs. Harding's 
 spiritualism, she has, in five years, sprung from 
 poverty to a princely fortune. The same paper 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 19 
 
 says her house, at No. 4 Concord Square, cost 
 her twenty thousand dollars, and is furnished 
 at an expense of eight thousand dollars, while 
 her bank account is as creditable as the largest 
 wholesale houses in the city. In a business 
 sense, with her, spiritualism is no " humbug." 
 
 But the necromancer of Moses* day was also 
 a wizard. In plain English, a wizard is a 
 conjurer, or one who resorts to tricks and 
 sleight of hand, for the purpose of causing im- 
 aginary things to seem true, making the un- 
 real to appear real, the false to seem true, etc. 
 
 Dr. Waterland, an author of some note, 
 says it properly means one who. consulted the 
 dead, and he describes their manner of doing 
 so : " They, the ' wizards/ went to the grave 
 of the dead in the night, stretched themselves 
 upon them, and muttered as from the belly, 
 or in ventriloquism. ,, To this Isaiah is thought 
 to refer, in the nineteenth verse of the eighth 
 chapter. Hear the quotation: "And when 
 they shall say unto you, Seek unto them 
 
20 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards 
 that peep and mutter : should not a people 
 seek unto their God ?" Then Isaiah chal- 
 lenges thus : " To the law and to the testi- 
 mony : if they speak not according to this 
 word, it is because there is no light in them." 
 
 Now, are there any such "peepings" and 
 mutterings in spiritualism ? Let us see ; 
 and we will not, dare not now, descend to 
 the low, sluttish seance of home manufac- 
 ture, where the lowest order of ignorant 
 men and women cherish the baser passions, 
 whose spawn is treachery and free-loveism, 
 and the consequent concomitant, violation of 
 the conjugal vow; but we prefer giving its 
 fairest lights. 
 
 An unmarried and, we are told, eloquent 
 divine, of Alton City, determined, some 
 months ago, to " leave his own little corner 
 of the Lord's vineyard to grow up in weeds," 
 and visit the great Mecca of spiritual man- 
 ifestation, which " Mecca " is an obscure 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 21 
 
 village in the State of New York, called Mo- 
 ravia ; and the result of his visit is in print, 
 and so becomes public property. We quote 
 only a few of the leading features of the 
 article ; for, as it appeared in the St. Louis 
 Democrat, July ioth, most of you have read it. 
 
 He says : " Kind reader, imagine yourself 
 in a country house," etc. ; " a circle of seven 
 is formed, hands are joined, the medium faces 
 us." " The light is excluded ; but a lamp is 
 burning." " The only door is bolted ;" " now 
 the lamp is extinguished — all is dark." Sud- 
 denly, " the piano begins to play. Nothing is 
 touching the keys ; but the playing goes on." 
 " Now, voices, seemingly above us, join in the 
 song with great power and sweetness." The 
 author does not tell us whether he learned 
 the tune or not, nor the name of the song. 
 We shall in a moment speak of optical 
 illusion. 
 
 But, just now, we have something that re- 
 minds us of the wizards that "peeped" — the 
 
22 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 evidence of sound. A little study of the 
 habits of the ancient necromancer will fully 
 explain this sound, or those " peepings." 
 They — while in the dark — muttered, murmur- 
 ing words that seemed to be the voice of 
 another. So Mrs. Andrews — who was our 
 author's medium — with a knowledge of mes- 
 merism and ventriloquism, while in the dark, 
 spake and sang, as did the wizards of Moses* 
 day. But now, while the mind is beclouded, 
 and every nerve of the soul is on the stretch, 
 it is a fitting time for yet other display of 
 the spirits. 
 
 Accordingly, " mysterious lights began to 
 dance in circles about the room ;" which was 
 doubtless but an optical illusion, aided by the 
 magic-lantern in the hand of Mrs. Andrews, 
 who was just then behind the "velvet curtain 
 of the cabinet." And now, while the mind is 
 so entranced, "soft voices whisper startling 
 things in our ears" — whether those "startling 
 things" were of earth or of heaven the 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 23 
 
 narrator does not tell us — but "delicate hands 
 thrill us with gentle and affectionate touches, ,, 
 and " tender lips kissed mine." No marvel 
 that he was speechless. We have read, in 1 
 Samuel xxviii, 7 (it was after Saul had got 
 tired serving Israel's God, and God had for- 
 saken him), he said to his servants, " Seek me 
 a woman that hath a familiar spirit." At En- 
 dor, he found just such a woman, and her per- 
 formances were so overpowering that Saul fell 
 down in a swoon. 
 
 But our author was now sufficiently wrought 
 up to get nearer the medium, which he did, 
 even shutting the door of the cabinet after 
 her ; which door, you will bear in mind, only 
 extended part way up, the upper portion of 
 the aperture being covered with a " black- 
 velvet curtain ;" and, to his amazement, out 
 thrust an " armless hand" — it was a pretty 
 hand — "white as snow." And it, in a know- 
 ing way, " tapped him on the hand and arm." 
 After this, faces, heads, etc., appeared ; and 
 
24 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 did n't look at all ghostly either, but were 
 perfectly natural. 
 
 Permit us to remark here, that we would 
 suppose any such ocular demonstration, pur- 
 porting to be spirit, would startle the fears of 
 one so orthodox as we are told the narrator 
 is ; for Jesus said, to his doubting disciples, 
 " Handle me, and see, for a spirit hath not 
 flesh and bones as ye see me have." 
 
 Surely, the man must have forgotten his 
 Bible, to have believed those Moravia women 
 were spirits, after they had played the piano 
 for him ; had sung sweetest music to 
 him ; had familiarly patted him on hand 
 and arm — ah ! had embraced, " hugged, and 
 kissed him." We say, after all this, the man 
 must have forgotten the Scriptural declara- 
 tion, "A spirit hath not flesh and bones." 
 But do you ask for an explanation of these 
 singular manifestations on other than spiritual 
 development ? Very well. There are times 
 in the life of almost every one, when they are 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 25 
 
 easily led into illusions. We once, out of 
 curiosity, visited a noted French spiritualist 
 during the seance. He seemed to take off 
 his head ; and then, by aid of ventriloquism, 
 the severed parts held familiar conversation. 
 But he as readily conversed with any friend 
 you might wish to hear from. Now, what 
 sane man will say those acts or tricks of the 
 artful juggler were real ? But, to hundreds 
 of men and women, they were as real as are 
 the late developments at Moravia, in New 
 York. Our purpose in referring to those 
 wonderful manifestations has been to show 
 that necromancy has only changed in name; 
 that its practices are common to-day, in 
 Europe and America, under the Christian 
 name of spiritualism ; and this we have plainly 
 done by comparative analogy. And now we 
 are ready to examine a second proposition, 
 namely : 
 
 2. Spiritualism is a dangerous delusion. 
 
 We wish to premise, with this thought : 
 
26 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 Christian men seldom fall into this heresy 
 while Christians, or, falling into it, are seldom 
 Christians after it; and, because of this, the 
 danger is all the more to be dreaded. It can 
 not be denied there are men, all through the 
 land, avowed spiritualists, who were once 
 Christians. Fifty years ago, in this country, 
 when men lost the grace of God out of their 
 hearts, they were at once restless and unhappy 
 until they returned. To-day, spiritualism 
 seizes such men, and at once, with its semi- 
 diabolism, settles the soul in apathetic ease, 
 keeping up the dangerous delusion by flooding 
 the country with pretended messages from 
 the dead. 
 
 Isaiah said to all such : " To the law and to 
 the testimony : if they speak not according to 
 these words, it is because there is no life 
 in them." 
 
 That is, as we understand the prophet, let 
 this dispute be determined by the Word of 
 God, which is the law. 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 2J 
 
 He was now speaking of apostate Israel- 
 ites (see Isaiah viii, 19), who had sought 
 "familiar spirits, and conversed with wizards, 
 who peeped or muttered," and declares, "If 
 they will not go by God's word, trouble, dark- 
 ness, and the dimness of anguish shall finally 
 come upon them." The Scriptures speak 
 elsewhere of certain characters who are given 
 over to believe a lie that they may be damned. 
 
 Hence the danger of the delusion. It is a 
 law in physiology, that the effect of opinion 
 on mind is as the reality. The man who 
 studies physical anatomy until he finds a weak 
 spot in his frame, will at once become a 
 chronic invalid on the physician's hands. 
 
 So men and women, falling into the power 
 of some designing schemer, in some dark 
 room set apart for seance, and seeing strange 
 sights, their untrained ears listening to the 
 peepings of the wizard, will first of all be 
 put under the enchanter's spell. After that, 
 not all the world — no, not the world's great 
 
28 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 Redeemer — can convince them that they have 
 not heard the voice and seen the shape of the 
 spirits. To reason with them, and to under- 
 take to show them the unchristlikeness of 
 such foolish diabolism, but maddens them. 
 Nine out of ten have a morbid, mental de- 
 pression, bordering upon mania. They lose 
 their interest in rational things. Their busi- 
 ness goes down, and most of them go to 
 poverty and want ; for it is only the designing 
 knaves of the circle who amass wealth by 
 filching it from the pockets of their dupes. 
 
 At a spiritualists' picnic in Island Grove, 
 in the East, the present season, one poor 
 " Simple Simon " importuned the company for 
 one hundred dollars, to enable him to perfect 
 a wonderful invention which he claimed Hin- 
 doo and Egyptian spirits had revealed to him. 
 They were old spirits too, some of them seven 
 hundred years old. An old lady wanted eight 
 hundred dollars, to help her in the performance 
 of spiritual cures. 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 29 
 
 Nothing is more evident than that the 
 leaders in spiritualism advocate the heresy 
 from the most sinister motives ; but it is al- 
 most equally apparent that the victims of it 
 seldom escape the snare. Hence, we pro- 
 nounce it a very dangerous delusion. But, 
 again : 
 
 3. Spiritualism is terribly wicked and false. 
 It is a noteworthy fact, that the advocates of 
 heresy are flippant with Scriptural quotations, 
 until the Scriptures condemn them ; then 
 they abandon the Bible for tradition, or for 
 infidel productions. Spiritualists are no ex- 
 ception to the rule ; for in argument they in- 
 variably commence with the Bible, but end 
 with the revelations of the seance, and thus 
 close the mouth of the unbeliever, for the 
 simple reason few sensible men have been on 
 the other side and come back to report ; and 
 respectable people, who have some regard for 
 their reputation, do not like to go "capering" 
 about in dark corners and dens to- hunt up 
 
30 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 the spirits. So the argument is ended when- 
 ever the spiritualist declares himself to have 
 had a statement from some spirit, received in 
 some dingy back-room, where decent people 
 would not dare to go. But we deny the right 
 for this barest assertion, and propose showing 
 the wickedness and falsity of the terrible 
 heresy, by its own practices and by the Word 
 of God, the Bible : 
 
 Deuteronomy xviii, 12: "For all that do 
 these things are an abomination unto the 
 Lord." 
 
 Deuteronomy xviii, 14 : " For these nations, 
 which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto ob- 
 servers of times, and unto diviners : but as 
 for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered 
 thee so to do." 
 
 Leviticus xix, 31: "Regard not them that 
 have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, 
 to be defiled by them." 
 
 Leviticus xx, 6 : " And the soul that turn- 
 eth after such as have familiar spirits, and 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 31 
 
 after wizards, I have set my face against that 
 soul, and will cut him off from among his 
 people." 
 
 Leviticus xx, 27: "A man also or woman 
 that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, 
 shall surely be put to death." 
 
 Exodus xxii, 19: "Thou shalt not suffer a 
 witch to live." 
 
 Now, read the case of Manasseh. He 
 reigned in Israel something over fifty years ; 
 but toward the close of his reign he did that 
 which was evil in the sight of the Lord, for 
 which God sorely punished him. 
 
 What were his crimes ? The record is in 
 2 Kings xxi ; he became an observer of times, 
 and used enchantment, and dealt with familiar 
 spirits, and wrought much wickedness in the 
 sight of the Lord. " Therefore," saith the 
 Lord, " I am bringing such evil on Jerusalem 
 and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both 
 his ears shall tingle." The affliction came, and 
 the poor old backslider, being in sorrow and 
 
32 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 penitence, returned unto his God. But Isaiah 
 says: "When they shall say unto you, Seek 
 unto them that hath familiar spirits : should 
 not a people seek unto their God ?" 
 
 Malachi, to show God's displeasure, says, 
 " I will come near to you to judgment, and 
 will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, ,, 
 etc. 
 
 " By their fruits ye shall know them," said 
 Jesus ; and by this unfailing rule may we try 
 spiritualists. 
 
 And, first, who are spiritualists ? Who, O 
 who, in any country or town ? 
 
 Second, what have they done ? Has science 
 been promoted by them ? have the industries 
 been advanced ? has society been elevated and 
 made better by spiritualists ? Rather, has not 
 the tendency been directly the reverse of all 
 this ? Those we have known have not been 
 patterns of piety ; and not one in a thousand 
 has made any claim to the Christian relig- 
 ion. Robert Dale Owen, a noted infidel and 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 33 
 
 free-lover, is an acknowledged light in the 
 motley company ; so is Victoria Woodhull. 
 
 Thi :.: are their practices? But, 
 
 known, we may not answer this question in 
 public. 
 
 Fourth, to become a spiritualist is to ab: 
 don all Scriptural hope of heaven. 
 
 God's plan of life provides that nothing un- 
 clean, impure, or unholy can ever enter heaven. 
 
 Spiritu: units the vilest with the pure. 
 
 God says, (l Except ye repent, ye shall all 
 likewise perish." 
 
 But spiritualism makes no difference, after 
 
 h, between the good and the bad ; for 
 
 their professed messages from those of every 
 
 grade of character, while on earth, are of the 
 
 same complexion. 
 
 But Malachi says, " Then shall ye return, 
 and discern between the righteous and the 
 wicked, between him that serveth the Lord 
 and him that serveth him not." 
 
 David says, "The wicked shall be turned 
 
34 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 into hell, with all the nations that forget 
 God ;" but in the creed of the spiritualists 
 there is no such place of habitation. 
 
 The Lord Jesus says, "These shall go away 
 into everlasting punishment ;" but the only 
 everlasting punishment in spiritualism is pos- 
 sible delayed spiritual development. 
 
 God's Word says, "The soul that sinneth, 
 it shall die ;" but spiritualists deny all such 
 Scripture, and so are without Scriptural hope 
 of heaven. 
 
 But, to conclude, we may ask, since spirit- 
 ualism can not be maintained by the Bible, 
 but is strongly condemned wherever it is 
 spoken of in the Scriptures, as we have 
 plainly shown, how can a good man or woman 
 embrace it ? 
 
 It never reforms heart or life, and why 
 should good men wish to embrace it? It 
 helps no one in the life that now is ; why, 
 then, should men practice such folly? And, 
 finally, it never yet smoothed a dying pillow ; 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 35 
 
 why should men throw away religion for such 
 unsatisfying chaff? May God save us from 
 its power here, and save us in endless life 
 hereafter, through Jesus' merit! Amen. 
 
II. 
 
 SPIRITUALISM AN AGENCY OF SATAN. 
 
 " Get thee behind me, Satan." — Jesus. 
 " Neither give place to the devil." — Paul. 
 
 r I ^HE cunning and malignity of Satan can 
 **- never be fully understood in this life. 
 But is there such a being? The name, Devil, 
 comes to our language from the Greek word 
 diabolos, which signifies calumniator, or ac- 
 cuser. He is represented in the Scriptures 
 as a fallen spirit, or as a wicked angel — an 
 enemy of the human race and a hater of God. 
 He is in the Scriptures spoken of by the 
 various names which express his character, 
 such as serpent ; for in that character and 
 form he deceived the federal head. But he 
 can assume a variety of forms, and can appear 
 
 either as an angel of light or as an angel of 
 36 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 37 
 
 darkness. Because of this, David calls him 
 a dog and a fowler; Jesus calls him a wolf; 
 he is also called a lion and an adder, — all 
 of these names being expressive of his 
 character. 
 
 He was not always a devil, but was created 
 an angel of light, and of high order. How he 
 became a devil we need not be curious to 
 know, since the Scriptures, it must be con- 
 fessed, are not very explicit on the subject. 
 Nor have chronologists been definite as to 
 the time. 
 
 Some time, in the unchronicled past, he 
 became envious of Jehovah, because of God's 
 great glory ; and, being but a finite creature 
 in knowledge, he could not know the power 
 of God. Hence, he conceived the thought of 
 revolt. Counseling with the unwary, he drew 
 a multitude of heaven's inhabitants into his 
 treasonable plot. 
 
 God suffered long and was kind ; and not 
 until Satan's treason became open revolt did 
 
38 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 he prepare the place of punishment, and cast 
 the rebels into it. 
 
 Because of this defeat, and the consequent 
 ruin, he became the sworn enemy of God and 
 of man. There is nothing in the Scriptures 
 to warrant the conclusion that Satan has 
 aught against our race ; but, being the foe of 
 God, and seeing that God created man for his 
 own glory, and that he has set his heart upon 
 him to magnify him or to exalt him, he hates 
 the man because God loves him. 
 
 But we are aware that the ever-busy mind 
 of man is ready to ask, Did the great Author 
 of all good, in creating all things for his own 
 glory, also create Satan, who may very justly 
 be styled the author of all evil ; or was it by 
 some strange transmutation in spirit-alchemy 
 that this foe to our race came into being ? 
 
 We deem the question already answered 
 above ; for the Scriptures teach plainly that 
 he was created an angel of light. And we 
 are ready to admit that we can only account 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 39 
 
 for his wonderful transmutation on the hy- 
 pothesis of angelic probation. It is a princi- 
 ple in the government of God, that all his 
 intelligent creatures be perfectly happy. They 
 could not be so unless perfectly free. They 
 can not be free unless under law. But there 
 can be no law without a penalty. This, we 
 think, is evidently God's rule for the govern- 
 ment of man, and it must have been similar 
 in the control of angels. Satan and a host 
 of others " kept not their first estate ;" and, 
 as man, they failed in their probation. 
 
 How long they remained in such failure, 
 prior to the creation of man, we have no 
 means of knowing. 
 
 But men now ask, Why did not the great 
 and all-wise God destroy Satan ? In the an- 
 swer, you have the solution of the indestruc- 
 tibility of spirit ; for the soul of God's intelli- 
 gent beings can not become extinct. Hence 
 Satan lives, and must continue to live ; and 
 while he lives will do all the evil he can. 
 
40 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 And he will drag down to his own miserable 
 death-home as many souls as he is able to 
 delude. And this he will do out of revenge- 
 ful hate for the God he failed to dethrone, 
 simply because he sees the manifest love God 
 has for man ; and, he infers, to ruin man is to 
 be avenged upon God. We are aware that 
 all this is at variance with the vagaries of 
 men who deny the personality of the devil ; 
 and that it is directly at variance with the 
 Universalist's theory of the eternal pre-exist- 
 ence of evil, on the hypothesis of opposites, 
 claiming a counterpart for all things ; such as 
 light — darkness ; cold — heat ; sweet — bitter ; 
 good — bad, etc. ; thus of course defining what 
 we call the devil as but a principle, whose 
 opposite is God. But that such deduction is 
 fallacious and self-contradictory, is apparent ; 
 for it refutes the plain Word of God when it 
 says, " God is." To evade this, however, the 
 cunning polemic assumes that, as God is, so 
 Satan is ; and this is claimed upon the above 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 4 1 
 
 hypothesis of counterparts. If this were true, 
 then would the fall of man by the personal 
 temptations of an individual devil be a mean- 
 ingless tissue of mythical stories, as it stands 
 in the Bible. For, throughout all the Word 
 of God, Satan is spoken of as an individual 
 being separate and apart from all other beings. 
 Plainly it is said, the angel of God disputed 
 with the devil about the body of Moses. But 
 when Paul spoke of fightings without, he only 
 spoke of fears within, and said, "When I 
 would do good, evil is present with me ;" 
 showing this, plainly, to have a tempting devil 
 without and an evil nature within were very 
 different things. 
 
 Again : that the theory of the Universalist 
 is a fallacy, is evident from the positive ne- 
 cessity of final disposition of the opposing 
 forces. For the good, this is easy, assuming 
 for it greater force and strength ; for the re- 
 sult of continued struggle must be the final 
 overthrow of all evil, and must end in the 
 
42 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 triumph of all good, thus securing the com- 
 pleted welfare of all men. What becomes of 
 the priority of reasoning, on the basis of op- 
 posites, Universalists have not yet told the 
 world. Hence, the world persists in the ar- 
 gument, If good and evil are coeval, then 
 they must be coexistent ; and since John saw 
 " the great dragon cast out, who is called 
 Satan, that old serpent, the devil, who de- 
 ceiveth the whole world " (see Rev. xii, 9), the 
 Christian world continues to believe the 
 Scriptural declaration, " Resist the devil, and 
 he will flee from you," and are careful to 
 heed Paul's counsel, " Neither give place to 
 the devil." . 
 
 But again, as already intimated, we infer 
 the distinctive individuality and personality of 
 the devil, from the names given him in God's 
 Word, all of which are expressive of his per- 
 sonality. In Revelation ix, 11, he is called 
 the "angel of the bottomless pit." In John 
 xii, 31, he is- said to be the "prince of this 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 43 
 
 world ;" but in Ephesians he is called the 
 "prince of darkness." Many Scriptures set 
 forth the low, vicious, cunning boldness with 
 which he tries to drag down the souls of 
 men ; for, while the Bible uses the definite 
 article the to describe Satan, it must be un- 
 derstood that he is not alone in his work of 
 diabolism, for there are whole troops of devils. 
 
 " They throng the air, they darken heaven, 
 And rule this lower world." 
 
 Matthew and Luke give an account, in 
 their Gospels, of one possessed with devils ; 
 and the plural is most used in the New Tes- 
 tament Scriptures when they speak of those 
 possessed of the devil. Out of Mary Magda- 
 lene Jesus cast seven ; and in the country 
 of the Gergesenes those cast out were called 
 legion, because they were many. 
 
 But all these, it must be noted, were sub- 
 ordinate to Satan, who was their ruinous 
 counselor in heaven, and whose fortunes they 
 
44 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 have been doomed to follow. And by these 
 assistants he carries on, in every age, an 
 unrelenting warfare upon our race. The 
 trail of the serpent is left on every page 
 of the history of the past, and the evidence 
 of his operations is seen through the whole 
 course of earthly affairs. In the Christian 
 age, "the mystery of iniquity" is the center 
 of his system. Opposition to the cross of 
 Christ is its leading characteristic ; but its 
 modifications are innumerable. 
 
 We give Catholicism full credit for all the 
 iniquity of which her mysteries are author ; 
 but we can not regard Popery as fully answer- 
 ing the description of " the mystery of in- 
 iquity" in its maturity, as set forth in the 
 Scriptures. Popery may be the highest type 
 of it, and we think it is ; but Paul said, in 
 his day, " The mystery of iniquity doth already 
 work." Catholicism, as we see it, was not 
 known to Paul ; but "the mystery of iniquity" 
 was then working ruin. And from that day 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 45 
 
 to this, each generation has witnessed some 
 new feature of the predicted abomination. 
 Delusions and corruptions have crept in, and 
 multiplied around us. Hostility to the Gospel 
 is found in systems, opinions, and practices 
 subversive of the true faith, sufficient to 
 startle the advocate of salvation through faith 
 in Jesus Christ. It is true, these evil devices 
 of Satan are as yet disjointed and various ; 
 but the fear is, they will eventually coalesce 
 and constitute an infamous whole, under the 
 leadership of Satan. In the memory of the 
 present generation, many sects of antagonistic 
 principles have become united. Usually, this 
 occurs by the strong swallowing up the weak. 
 And to-day Popery, in true gamboge style, is 
 making giant efforts to absorb all there is of 
 strength and beauty in the Protestant Epis- 
 copal Church. With this, Satan would be in 
 triumph ; but in other departments, and with 
 other Christian Churches, he can not hope to 
 succeed in this direction. Hence, his resort 
 
46 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 to other means with which to work " the mys- 
 tery of iniquity." And what, among Chris- 
 tians, could do the work better than conten- 
 tion and strife ? For the destruction and 
 overthrow of nationalities, he uses these most; 
 but for the ruin of Christian Churches he 
 uses heresy, false and dangerous doctrines, 
 even doctrines of devils. Of this the apostle 
 gives due warning when he says, " The Spirit 
 speaketh expressly that in the latter times 
 some shall depart from the faith, giving heed 
 to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils ;" 
 or, as the last word should be rendered, 
 "demons." It would then read, Giving heed 
 to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, 
 or the emissaries of Satan. The word di- 
 abolos f from which the name devil is derived, 
 is never used in the plural when applied to 
 Satan. So, whenever the word " devils" 
 occurs in the New Testament, it should be 
 understood as demons, or as inferior fallen 
 angels, subject to Satan. And now, in this 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 47 
 
 aspect of the workings of "the mystery of 
 iniquity," what more aptly illustrates it than 
 spiritualism, as known in modern days ? 
 
 A liberality of sentiment has been allowed 
 to find place among nominal Christians, that 
 sees, in the idolatry of the nations, accepted 
 worship of the true God, under different sym- 
 bols ; and thus they not only legalize all forms 
 of worship, but approve idol worship. This is 
 in direct opposition to the plain Word of 
 God ; for it every-where condemns false gods 
 with holy severity, speaking of them, in terms 
 of indignation # and contempt, under such 
 titles as "abominations," "no gods," "shame," 
 " stocks," " stones," " vanities," " devils." The 
 heathen worshiped a multitude of such. What 
 correct thought could they have of Deity ? 
 For, in common reason we may argue, every 
 deity they had, above one, was an evidence 
 of their ignorance of the true God of heaven 
 and earth, and showed beyond cavil that they 
 had no true knowledge of the "one true God 
 
48 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 over all." To this must be added the gross 
 and sensual conceptions in their minds of 
 their images and deities, the amours, lusts, 
 quarrels, and many other mean qualities, 
 which they attributed to their gods. We 
 shall by this, we think, see plainly that the 
 heathen world has no true knowledge of God, 
 as he is to the Christian revealed in revelation 
 and nature. 
 
 But it may be necessary, to clear our way 
 for the discussion of the true character of 
 spiritualism, to consider the words devil and 
 demon more fully. Let us, then, give atten- 
 tion to the use of the terms, both in Scripture 
 and in that class of ancient writings known 
 as the classics. 
 
 In Homer, the demons and gods of the 
 heathen always mean the same, and the words 
 are used interchangeably. And while we ad- 
 mit that the application of the word was 
 sometimes modified, yet it is worthy of note 
 the identity was never lost sight of. 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 49 
 
 The Greek philosophers speak of demons 
 as an intermediate class between gods and 
 men, calling them either gods or demons ac- 
 cording as they understood them to send 
 blessing or cursing on their subjects. Their 
 superior gods were not supposed to send 
 either cursing or blessing upon men, nor in 
 any way to interfere with the affairs of earth. 
 Because of this view of the gods, the masses 
 were given almost wholly to demon-worship. 
 Fear being the moving impulse, the evil 
 demons must be propitiated. But they also 
 deified warriors, philosophers, and heroes ; 
 and this, doubtless, was what first led in that 
 age to the application of the word demon to 
 the souls of the dead. 
 
 Plato did not relinquish the original mean- 
 ing of the word, but he attached a new 
 meaning to it ; for he calls the souls of dis- 
 embodied men demons, and seems to have 
 some vague reference to the original creation 
 of man in the image of God. This Platonic 
 
50 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 use of the term gradually prevailed, at times 
 nearly excluding its original or earlier sense. 
 Josephus, in his "Jewish Wars," following 
 this interpretation, says, "Those that we call 
 demons are the spirits of wicked men." 
 
 Thus we find, in classical usage, first, de- 
 mons were regarded as gods, holding interme- 
 diate place between men and other or higher 
 gods ; and, second, they were the souls of de- 
 ceased men. The good and evil demon, 
 spoken of by Socrates, seems to have refer- 
 ence only to the conscience bearing witness 
 for or against us. 
 
 When the word occurs in the Old or New 
 Testament, we might reasonably look to find 
 it very much modified. 
 
 Thus, in Deuteronomy xxxii, 17, it is said: 
 "They sacrificed unto devils [demons], not to 
 God ; to gods whom they knew not, to new 
 gods that came newly up, whom your fathers 
 feared not." 
 
 Paul doubtless refers to this sin, when 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 5 1 
 
 reproving the Corinthians for mingling hea- 
 then rites with Christian ordinances, saying, 
 "The Gentiles sacrifice to demons and to 
 God, and I would not that ye should have 
 fellowship with demons." 
 
 The word was used by the Athenians, as 
 signifying inferior deities, when they said of 
 Paul, " He seemeth to be a setter forth of 
 strange gods ;" and as Paul stood on Mars' 
 Hill for the defense of the truth, he said, " I 
 perceive that in all things ye are too super- 
 stitious." Good authority claims that this 
 might have been rendered, " In all things ye 
 are much given to demon-worship." And 
 this would have given no offense ; for the 
 Greeks would have understood it as an im- 
 plied, but mild, reproof of over-zeal, demon- 
 worshiper being understood in Athens as a 
 pious man. As we have shown, they em- 
 ployed the term as interchangeable, expressing 
 either cne fear of God or the fear of demons. 
 
 But the word demons, in the New Testa- 
 
52 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 ment Scriptures, often expresses definitely 
 malignant spirits. Such terms as the follow- 
 ing establish this: "unclean spirits," " spirits 
 of wickedness," "evil spirits." 
 
 The gods worshiped by the heathen, in 
 Paurs day, were certainly believed to be re- 
 ally-existing evil demons ; for they applied 
 this very name to the beings they worshiped ; 
 and the accusation of the Jews, that Jesus 
 cast out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of 
 devils — or demons, by the prince of demons — 
 appears conclusive as to the sense in which 
 the word was employed. The reply of the 
 Lord sanctions this understanding. In like 
 manner, when the Seventy returned, and re- 
 ported that even the devils were subject to 
 them through his name, Jesus replied, saying, 
 "I beheld Satan falling from heaven as 
 lightning." 
 
 Well, it is affirmed with very great confi- 
 dence by spiritualists, that they are, in this 
 the nineteenth century, in easy and direct 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 53 
 
 communication with spirits ; that they con- 
 verse with them, and receive most interesting 
 information from them of the state of the 
 dead in particular, and of the spirit-world in 
 general. 
 
 That they are in communication with 
 spirits, we allow. But two things we deny to 
 spiritualists throughout these pages : First, 
 that they hold any kind of intercourse in 
 their seances with the spirits of the dead, or 
 the souls of those who once lived on the 
 earth in mortal bodies ; and, second, that 
 they ever receive any trustworthy or reliable 
 information, from the spirits answering their 
 call, of the spirit-world, because, as we have 
 indicated and shall plainly prove, the spirits 
 answering such call are lying spirits, or de- 
 mons. We have admitted they are in spirit- 
 communication with spirits, and are ready 
 also to admit that they do, by the various 
 spiritual mediums or channels of spirit-commu- 
 nication, receive messages from those spirits ; 
 
54 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 but those spirits, we are sure, are — as we 
 have said — demons, and are full of lies. 
 
 For many years, like hosts of honest Chris- 
 tians, being alarmed at this species of diabol- 
 ism, we tried to keep it out of sight, to ex- 
 plain it away, to shame it down, by calling it 
 jugglery, tricks, sleight of hand, etc. ; but, 
 after thorough study, we have become con- 
 vinced that all attempts to explain the phe- 
 nomena of spiritualism by the operation of 
 natural laws are wholly futile and unsatisfac- 
 tory. And though it be true there is much 
 of low cunning, knavery, jugglery, and sleight 
 of hand practiced with it, for the purpose of 
 gain and for other reasons, yet the name and 
 character, the intelligence and learning, of 
 some of its adherents, forbid us to call in 
 question the statements they make. Nor can 
 we in many cases pronounce it jugglery. 
 
 The contradictions of some of the spirits 
 do not prove there were no spirits present; 
 they may only prove the bungling work of the 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 55 
 
 medium, or performer. If the spirit of Wes- 
 ley or of Calvin is made to utter a blasphemy 
 in one circle in New York, and to pronounce 
 a blessing in a circle in Chicago, while it 
 tells political lies at the same time in St. 
 Louis, it proves most certainly that the spirits 
 of Wesley and Calvin were not present in 
 any of those circles ; but it by no means 
 proves that the blasphemy, blessing, and polit- 
 ical falsehoods did not have a spirit author in 
 each circle. 
 
 The Word of God plainly gives warning 
 that men will give heed to seducing spirits, 
 and to the teachings of evil demons. And if 
 the manifestations of spiritualism should be- 
 come tenfold more startling than any thing it 
 has yet shown to the world, it would only be 
 in accordance with what the Scriptures affirm 
 is to precede the time of the end ; for the 
 coming of the wicked one is, as Paul sets it 
 forth, " after the working of Satan, with all 
 power and signs and lying wonders " — the 
 
56 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 last expression referring not to spurious mir- 
 acles, but to miracles performed in support of 
 falsehood. Again, it is said of Satan, " He 
 doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire 
 come down from heaven in the sight of men, 
 and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth 
 by those miracles which he had power to do." 
 Need we marvel if the approach of that con- 
 summation of ungodliness be marked with 
 "the mystery of iniquity" and startling im- 
 postures ? And who, in the face of these 
 Scriptural warnings, will fail to see in modern 
 spiritualism, with its recent manifestations, 
 that " the mystery of iniquity doth already 
 work ?" 
 
 Let us remember we have been faithfully 
 warned of these impostures ; and let us be 
 guarded against them. For there shall arise 
 false Christs in those days, say the Scriptures, 
 and false prophets, who shall show signs and 
 wonders, insomuch that if it were possible 
 they would deceive the very elect. Behold, 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 57 
 
 says the Divine witness, " I have told you." 
 We must not be supposed to believe that any 
 thing so stupid and bungling as spiritualism 
 is, can be the complete fulfillment of these 
 solemn warnings ; but it is evidently a warn- 
 ing to the watchful believer as to the source 
 of danger to the cause of Christ. 
 
 Nor are we, as Christians, to treat this 
 monstrous iniquity with simple contempt ; for 
 it has power — power that is acknowledged in 
 God's Word ; power that is all the more dan- 
 gerous because of its hidden mysteries ; power 
 to deceive and then destroy. Few, if any, 
 even of earth's wisest thinkers, can withstand 
 this power of demons, unless they be aided by 
 an abiding and saving faith in Jesus Christ. 
 Is it not true that men of master minds, with 
 all the mental culture that earth could give, 
 have fallen before this Juggernaut of devils, 
 as readily as the tender reed goeth down be- 
 fore the tempest ? Witness the scholarly 
 Robert Dale Owen, and many others of 
 
5 8 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 greater strength of mind and of purer morals, 
 to say nothing of the hundreds and thousands 
 of ordinary minds, who, like the tiny minnows 
 of the deep, have gone with the great levi- 
 athans down to moral death. Ah ! if we 
 could stop here, then the danger would be 
 less alarming. But, alas ! multitudes of Chris- 
 tians, and even Christian ministers, have been 
 numbered with its ruined victims ; and to-day 
 the earth witnesses the sad spectacle of men 
 who once claimed to feel the vows of God 
 upon them, and who were not disobedient to 
 the heavenly calling, but, feeling a Christ-like 
 burden for souls, were wont to go forth in the 
 name of the Master, striving to make the 
 world better by pointing it to the Lamb of 
 God, but now advocating the doctrines of the 
 prince of darkness, on no other authority than 
 that they are wholly unable to explain the 
 demon-like apparitions of the dark seance of 
 modern spiritualism. One such fallen minis- 
 ter, of Unitarian faith, was wont to teach in 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 59 
 
 the name of Jesus in this city ; but, alas ! the 
 dark, damning snare of demonology tangled 
 his feet and strangled his love for the minis- 
 try of the Gospel of Christ, supplanting it 
 with strong admiration for "the mystery of 
 iniquity ;" and now, instead of preaching 
 Christ to the people, he strongly advocates 
 spiritualism. And others of this city, and all 
 through the land, good lay members of the 
 Church of Christ, have become sadly entan- 
 gled in this hateful net of Satan, so much so 
 that their faith in Jesus Christ as a Savior 
 has become shaken. 
 
 It is sad to consider the change this moral 
 bane has wrought in such victims. Once they 
 were active members of the Church of God, 
 delighting to do him service ; but, from the 
 day that the poison of spiritualism entered 
 their souls, they have been as barren of spirit- 
 ual duty as of spiritual enjoyment. 
 
 And now, in conclusion of this chapter, 
 suffer a word of exhortation. Can we, as 
 
60 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 Christians, and especially as Christian minis- 
 ters, stand, with hands folded, idly by, and see 
 this great mystery of evil ruin our people, as 
 it creeps stealthily in, doing its hellish work 
 in the dark ? Nay, let us take the alarm. 
 " The mystery of iniquity is already beginning 
 to work." Let us, in the name of morality 
 and religion, make ourselves masters of the 
 mystery, by study, faith, and prayer ; and let 
 us give timely warning. Thus many may be 
 saved from its damning power, for our encour- 
 agement in the work. Let us remember that, 
 as in apostolic days, Satan can not stand be- 
 fore the name of Jesus, whenever that name 
 is used in faith and sincerity. "Jesus I 
 know," said the devil, on one occasion ; and 
 in the name of Jesus may we conquer spirit- 
 ualism, which is but a manifestation of Satan's 
 power. 
 
 "Jesus, the name high over all, 
 In hell or earth or sky ; 
 Angels and men before it fall, 
 And devils fear and fly. 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 6 1 
 
 Jesus, the name to sinners dear, 
 
 The name to sinners given, — 
 It scatters all their guilty fears, 
 
 It turns their hell to heaven. 
 
 Jesus the prisoner's fetters breaks, 
 
 And bruises Satan's head ; 
 Power into strengthless souls he speaks, 
 
 And life into the dead." 
 5 
 
III. 
 
 SPIRITUALISM AND DEMONOLOGY. 
 
 " But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled 
 Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted 
 from the simplicity that is in Christ." — 2 Cor. XI, 3. 
 
 \I7E have, in the former pages of these 
 
 * * lectures, identified spiritualism with 
 
 the work of Satan. We now come to speak 
 
 of it directly as an agency of demons. We 
 
 are aware that many good and wise men, with 
 
 a holy horror for strife and a timid fear of 
 
 agitation, are wont to regard this dangerous 
 
 heresy as an innocent or harmless something 
 
 that time will cure, hence there is no need 
 
 of meeting it with argument. But, Christian 
 
 reader, just look about you for one moment 
 
 at the ruin it has wrought, before you hastily 
 
 pass judgment upon it as an innocent delusion. 
 62 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 63 
 
 How many, who were once Christians, and 
 were happy, are now the dupes and advocates 
 of this delusion ! How many families in this 
 Christian land have had the domestic peace 
 of the family band hopelessly destroyed by 
 this doctrine of devils ! for it will not be de- 
 nied that it panders to all that is carnal in 
 our race. 
 
 Universalism teaches the final salvation and 
 happiness of all mankind ; but it earnestly 
 enjoins chastity, virtue, and the sanctity of 
 the conjugal relation, in the life that now is. 
 And because of these virtues, they are really 
 valuable accessions to any community ; for 
 their leaders not only teach good morals, but 
 practice it in their every-day life, and some 
 of them are model patterns of uprightness. 
 And yet orthodox Christians feel perfect 
 license to cry out against their heresy, and to 
 warn them of the dangers of a hell which 
 multitudes of honest Christian Universalists 
 will never find. 
 
64 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 But here is a doctrine of devils, believed in 
 and practiced by men and women of every 
 grade of morals and intellect, a doctrine 
 which strikes at the very foundation of human 
 society, and destroys the bonds of human 
 happiness, because it destroys the family tie, 
 or disregards the marriage relation. That it 
 has done and is doing all this, none convers- 
 ant with its workings will deny. Events, 
 under the spiritualistic teaching of Robert 
 Dale Owen and the accomplished Fanny 
 Wright, at New Harmony, Ind., can not be 
 forgotten, by many citizens of Ohio, Indiana, 
 and Illinois, to this day. They are certainly 
 remembered in New Harmony. Events of 
 similar character have occurred elsewhere — 
 yea, are transpiring now — under the same 
 ^baneful doctrine of demons, and its sister 
 heresy, free-loveism ; for they were brooded 
 by the same demon. Especially is it true, 
 now, in the State of New York, in Louis- 
 ville, Ky., as well as many other places in 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 6$ 
 
 the United States, in London, and nearly all 
 over Europe. 
 
 Is it a time, we ask, for silence ? Nay, as 
 we are to watch for souls, let us raise the 
 alarm by crying out to the people, " Neither 
 give place to the devil. ,, For we may be 
 assured that something more potent than 
 silent contempt is necessary, if we would see 
 spiritualism overthrown. It must be met, 
 firmly and logically, with Scriptural and rea- 
 sonable argument, if we would save reasonable 
 men and women from its delusive power. The 
 phenomena are as startling and bewildering 
 to the intellect of the refined and educated 
 as its doctrines are pleasing to the affections 
 and passions of the depraved men and women 
 who gloat over its disclosures. 
 
 But its advocates err when they assert it 
 as new or novel. Its practices were as largely 
 indulged in, in the days of Moses, as they are 
 to-day ; and the sin of necromancy was as 
 sternly denounced in the Word of God then 
 
66 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 as was the sin of adultery in the days of 
 Jesus. 
 
 If, then, the Bible treats it so gravely, let 
 us calmly but firmly consider the subject. 
 
 The fall of man was no mere accident ; but 
 was the result of a well-developed plot for 
 his ruin, conceived with intelligence, and ex- 
 ecuted with great skill. The being who de- 
 vised it has since gradually brought man 
 under a malignant system of delusion, and 
 has ever evinced a deep and infernal design 
 against God and man. And O, how cun- 
 ningly are his plans designed for the ensnar- 
 ing of the human soul ! Whether we look at 
 the pagan, Jewish, or Christian systems, we 
 every-where see corrupt panderings to the 
 solicitations of depravity, all ministering to 
 the pride, folly, and selfishness of fallen man. 
 This, of itself, ought to convince every ra- 
 tional mind that the designer and executor of 
 such skillful snare must be directly opposite 
 to the source of all good; and this opposite, 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 6j 
 
 we maintain, is Satan. And we rejoice that 
 we have an infallible guide in establishing 
 both the existence and character of demons ; 
 for there is a being whose dark deeds and 
 malicious operations are frequently referred to 
 by inspired writers, called by them the devil; 
 and to question his existence is simply to 
 confess ourselves his dupes. 
 
 We have given, in a former chapter, some- 
 thing of the Bible account of the original life 
 and position of Satan and his angels, or com- 
 rades and assistants ; but we may farther 
 quote from Jude. He says, of demons, " 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." And Peter says, 
 " God spared not the angels that sinned, but 
 cast them down to hell, and delivered them 
 into chains of darkness." Of Satan, Christ 
 said he was a murderer from the beginning, 
 and abode not in the truth. 
 
68 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 From these and kindred Scriptures we 
 deduce the following facts : 
 
 1. The devil and his angels were once holy 
 intelligences in heaven, but fell from their 
 original condition. They once stood in holy 
 purity before God, and fulfilled the end of 
 their creation. But they were soon involved 
 in wretchedness and ruin ; for they abode not 
 in the truth. They sinned. " They kept not 
 their first estate." They left their former 
 habitation ; but did not, could not, go beyond 
 Jehovah's power. By creation, then, they 
 were highly exalted ; and, because of this 
 exaltation, their terrible fall is all the more 
 appalling. 
 
 2. But, it is also evident, they were, in their 
 creation and first position, free agents ; and 
 this is the ground of their condemnation. 
 "They kept not their first estate." This, of 
 necessity, implies perfect moral freedom. 
 Satan became the father of lies, from choice. 
 He and his angels are voluntary transgressors, 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 69 
 
 The actions of a being destitute of volition 
 must forever be free alike from praise and 
 blame. Satan and his comrades sinned, and 
 thus became the voluntary instruments of 
 their own fall. 
 
 3. They are reserved in darkness, to be 
 punished at the Judgment of the Great Day. 
 Their present abode is hell. The Greek term 
 is Tartarus. Robinson's Greek Lexicon de- 
 fines Tartarus as the abyss of Hades, where 
 the shades of the wicked are imprisoned and 
 tormented. M'Knight speaks of it as a deep 
 place under the earth ; but the Greeks spoke 
 of Tartarus as in the air, or as airy Tartarus. 
 This term, then, as used by the apostle Peter, 
 would not only give the idea of a place of 
 punishment for wicked spirits, but would by 
 many be understood as being in the air. And 
 this agrees with the general idea of the Bible ; 
 for the Old Testament represents Satan as 
 going up and down in the earth, tempting 
 men. The New Testament gives the same 
 
fO SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 idea. He walketh about as a roaring lion ; 
 and he is called the prince of the power of 
 the air. We are said to wrestle, not with 
 flesh and blood, but with the rulers of the 
 darkness of this world, and with spiritual 
 wickedness in high places. This must be 
 understood as direct contests with demons 
 who inhabit the air. But whether this be 
 their usual abode, authors are not agreed, nor 
 is it an essential difference ; for, whatever be 
 the present abode of fallen spirits or demons, it 
 is evident they have not yet met their final 
 doom, for they are reserved in chains to the 
 Day of Judgment to be punished. This is 
 proven by their memorable inquiry of Jesus, 
 "Art thou come hither to torment us before 
 the time ?" Chains of darkness, then, must 
 be understood simply to restrain them in their 
 degraded state. Ancl this shows their fallen 
 estate in terrible contrast to their former 
 place. Once they were angels of light, free 
 to range the domain of light, but now 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 7 1 
 
 " reserved in chains of darkness. " And though 
 Satan can for a purpose appear as an angel 
 of light, yet even then his true abode is dark- 
 ness. Once more : chains of darkness do 
 not confine the devil and his angels to any 
 certain spot or place, but simply to a certain 
 condition. 
 
 We get the character of Satan from the 
 names given him in the Scriptures. He is 
 called an adversary, an enemy, a tempter, a 
 deceiver, a murderer, and a liar. Surely, from 
 these characteristic titles we may know his 
 character ; for if it were possible to combine 
 all that is foul and false in one being, it would 
 not be more hideous than the character given 
 to Satan in the Holy Scriptures. And, most 
 certainly, every true Christian heart on earth 
 must recoil from the slightest touch of this 
 subtle, false accuser of God and man. The very 
 mention of his name in connection with the 
 acts of men should at once raise the alarm. 
 But is it not a sad reflection, that he is not 
 
J2 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 only consulted as a " familiar spirit/' and his 
 aid invoked in the furtherance of devilish 
 lusts, but his communications to the seance, 
 given in person to the medium, or else re- 
 vealed by some one of his legion helpers, is 
 preferred to all Scripture and all intelligence 
 and reason ? 
 
 Most certainly, no Christian could be in- 
 duced to take part in the dark circle with 
 spiritualists, if they were apprised of the 
 fiendish character of the "familiar spirits" 
 consulted. But it is the province of Satan to 
 hold his subjects in the dark. And, since it 
 is true that Satan and his devilish helpers 
 were in being before our world began, they 
 have been acquainted with all who lived on 
 the earth before us, as well as with all who live 
 here now ; it is not a marvel that they find a 
 medium of communicatian with those who are 
 willing to consult them. Nor is it strange 
 that such old reporters can and do make 
 startling revelations about the unseen world. 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 73 
 
 But it must always be borne in mind that 
 Satan is the father of lies ; yea, " is a liar from 
 the beginning, and the truth is not in him." 
 If he were an unskillful bungler, then he need 
 not be dreaded ; but, alas ! he is full of cun- 
 ning art, and is an able debater. The Scrip- 
 tures represent him as securing his infamous 
 objects by guile and deception. And this in- 
 genuity is what is to be dreaded ; for he has 
 no power to compel obedience to his will, not 
 even over the weakest child of grace. 
 
 It ought to be an alarming fact to spiritu- 
 alists, that no medium ever thinks of asking 
 God's blessing on the "circle," in the name 
 of the Lord Jesus. We are willing to assert 
 that, if any medium — so called — will, before 
 sitting down at the seance, earnestly invoke 
 the presence of God, in faith and sincerity, 
 and then receive any kind of communication 
 from "familiar spirits," we shall be ready to 
 recant much that we have written in these 
 pages. We are willing to stand pledged to 
 
74 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 this ; for, in all cases where God is acknowl- 
 edged, Satan has no power. Had he resorted 
 to coercive force in the instance of the Fall, 
 the effort must have been a failure ; but, by 
 subtlety and deception, his success was readily 
 accomplished. True, he announced a false- 
 hood that was alarming ; but that falsehood 
 was made plausible by ingenious reasoning. 
 It ought to be kept in mind by all genera- 
 tions, that when Satan holds any communi- 
 cation with mortals, it is in a false character. 
 He came to Eve in the body of a serpent, 
 and assumed great wisdom. His announce- 
 ment was, Eat of this forbidden tree, and ye 
 shall be as God. This seemed desirable, and 
 the snare was a success. 
 
 To the infidel, he comes in the dark, dis- 
 mal body of the charnel-house, asserting 
 "death an eternal sleep." But man's every 
 impulse cries out against annihilation. Satan, 
 in argument, holds up the rottenness and 
 corruption of the grave, and demands, " Can 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 75 
 
 these bones live ?" and the skeptic is con- 
 firmed. 
 
 To the scientist, he comes in the form of 
 science and reason, and plausibly argues " the 
 eternal pre-existence of matter ;" and this, by 
 the materialist, is accepted as more reasonable 
 than revelation. 
 
 But in every age he comes to the restless, 
 longing souls of those who are unwilling to 
 serve God, but who are not willing to stifle the 
 hungry longing within them for the spirit-life, 
 in the form of " familiar spirits;" and, by pre- 
 tended messages from the dead and revelations 
 of the unseen spirit-world, he is enabled to 
 gain full possession of the mind and reason 
 of the poor unfortunate spirit, to the ruin of 
 the soul ; for, after that, his only oracle is 
 spiritualism. And this is Satan's wisdom, to 
 blind the eyes of men's understanding. O, 
 how false and subtle is he ! Falsehood and 
 deceit are his chosen instruments for securing 
 the present and eternal ruin of our race. 
 
76 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 In all heathen lands, he rules the masses 
 with cruelest despotic power. Even in meas- 
 urably enlightened pagan nations, their ora- 
 cles are but caricatures of consulting the God 
 of heaven, largely mixed, it is true, with hu- 
 man trickery. But in this way the ruler of 
 darkness secures, in all heathen nations, the 
 undivided homage of both the deceiver and 
 the deceived. 
 
 The systems of divination used by such 
 nations are fearful engines of mischief; for 
 they enslave and degrade every faculty of the 
 soul. Nor is there material difference in the 
 incantations used by them from the means 
 employed by spiritualists in Christian lands. 
 Pagans, in their divinations, predict future 
 events by the air, by the planets, by the flight 
 of birds, by the inspection of the human hand, 
 and by various other equally foolish means. 
 But these are without a knowledge of God's 
 Word. Hence, Satan holds them captive by 
 his will, without resort to the revelation of 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. yy 
 
 the Scriptures of Divine truth. For it is 
 characteristic of Satan's strategy to adapt his 
 work to the means in the hands of the people, 
 or to gauge his operations by the intelligence 
 of the people he would destroy. It is com- 
 paratively easy for him to control the dark 
 and beclouded mind of the heathen and pa- 
 gan ; but in all Christian lands there is a 
 knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, revealing 
 to men a knowledge of the spirit-world and 
 the true state of the souls of the departed. 
 Hence, to make his fiendish work a success 
 in such lands, he must pervert the Word of 
 God ; and this he does, with both cunning 
 and wisdom. Witness his flippant and un- 
 warranted quotation and interpretation of 
 Scripture, made to Jesus, when he was ex- 
 hausting all his skill in tempting him. And 
 are not all spiritualists as profuse in their 
 quotations and interpretations of the Word 
 of God ? Yea, many leading spiritualists are 
 
 avowed exponents of the Scriptures. 
 6 
 
78 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 But it will doubtless be asked by the advo- 
 cates of the seance y Is there any proof that 
 spirits have any thing to do with the systems 
 of divination practiced by the heathen? We 
 answer, the proof is plainly given in the six- 
 teenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. 
 The spirit in the maiden was a spirit of divi- 
 nation, and carried on the work of deception 
 by instructing the damsel in the art of his 
 science, or in soothsaying. The spirit that 
 possessed her also knew the character of the 
 apostles, and indorsed them as servants of 
 the most high God ; and it even acknowl- 
 edged them as teachers of the way of salva- 
 tion — the purpose being, no doubt, to pervert 
 such teaching, by mixing with it the doctrines 
 of devils. This grieved Paul sorely ; and he, 
 in the name of Christ, rejected such testi- 
 mony, and commanded the spirit to come out 
 of the young woman, which it did, to the dis- 
 may of her masters; "for by her soothsaying 
 she brought much gain to her masters. ,, 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 79 
 
 The power of Satan to corrupt Christianity 
 is recognized in all the Epistles to the early 
 Churches. The first manifestations of this 
 was by false or Judaizing teachers, substitut- 
 ing the deeds of the law for the righteous- 
 ness of Christ. Paul seems to be the first to 
 detect the infernal source of such teaching, 
 and gives the alarm in the eleventh chapter 
 of 2 Corinthians, saying : " But I fear, lest 
 by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve 
 through his subtlety, so your minds should be 
 corrupted from the simplicity that is in 
 Christ. . . . For such are false apostles, 
 deceitful workers, transforming themselves 
 into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel ; 
 for Satan himself is transformed into an angel 
 of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his 
 ministers also be transformed as the ministers 
 of righteousness ; whose end shall be accord- 
 ing to their works." 
 
 Here, then, is plain evidence of the power 
 of Satan, through the medium of men, to 
 
80 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 corrupt even the Gospel of Christ. Let spir- 
 itualists who bring new doctrines from the 
 spirits of the dead, as they suppose, beware. 
 Such falsities are from no departed spirit of 
 any mortal who ever lived on this earth, but 
 are from fallen spirits, or demons, who only 
 seek to pervert the way of salvation into a lie, 
 by substituting a gospel of their own. Should 
 not the words of warning given by St. Paul 
 be tremblingly heeded by all who are tempted 
 to tamper with the spirits of demons ? Hear 
 Paul, in Galatians i, 8 : " Though we, or an 
 angel from heaven, preach any other gospel 
 unto you than that we have preached unto 
 you, let him be accursed." 
 
 But, notwithstanding the apostle's warning, 
 Satan succeeded in corrupting the Gospel, by 
 setting in motion " the mystery of iniquity," 
 which led to most blasphemous apostasy. 
 This apostasy was manifested in the early 
 ages of Christianity, in the form of works, 
 penance, etc., much of which has entered into 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 8 1 
 
 and remains in the Catholic Church. Pray- 
 ing to the holy virgin, to saints, and bowing 
 to images, have no other origin. But Satan, 
 seeing that this was not sufficient corruption 
 of the Gospel of Christ, and that many Cath- 
 olics were true Christians, despite those great 
 errors — and seeing, too, that millions would 
 never be corrupted through the Satanic her- 
 esies of Catholicism — "the mystery of in- 
 iquity " must work outside of that great 
 Church organization, as well as within it. 
 Hence, the characteristics of this dark mys- 
 tery are seen to thicken in the Protestant 
 world, in every age. 
 
 It is now the boast of the dupes of this 
 heresy of demons, that their numbers are in- 
 creasing annually — not realizing that the in- 
 crease of this mysterious abomination is an- 
 other proof of the truth of the Bible, which 
 points specifically to the multiplication of signs 
 and lying wonders, especially in the last days. 
 
 If Satan put it into the hearts of Ananias 
 
82 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 and his wife to lie even unto God, we may 
 infer there is nothing too dark or damning 
 for him to do, The proof of the inspired 
 declaration, that the god of this world has 
 blinded the eyes of the people, is on every 
 hand ; and among the very strongest proofs 
 of this is the increase of spiritualism. Noth- 
 ing but the pure Gospel of Christ is able to 
 meet it. 
 
IV. 
 
 SPIRITUALISM AN AGENCY OF SATAN. 
 
 " Jesus I know, and Paul I know ; but who are ye ?" 
 
 Acts xix, 15. 
 
 nPHROUGHOUT the Dark Ages, when 
 ^ the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus 
 was corrupted by gross admixture of super- 
 stition and paganism, the popular mind was 
 ruled by superstitious awe, and terror of 
 ghosts, hobgoblins, necromancy, and witch- 
 craft. It was the constant effort of Satan to 
 pervert the light of the Gospel of Christ, and 
 to turn science and philosophy against the 
 very means by which the mind of the student 
 had been enlightened for the successful pur- 
 suit of them. Hence, all belief in the super- 
 natural and spiritual must be rejected as un- 
 
 philosophical, illogical, and incorrect. Partly 
 
 83 
 
84 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 by the Reformation, but mainly by the unsat- 
 isfied longing, and the bitter waitings of 
 humanity for a spirit-life beyond, has this 
 heresy of Satan and the infidel been, in mod- 
 ern days, suppressed and hushed up. And all 
 the old, corrupt superstitions of materialism 
 have been revived ; and to-day we witness the 
 anomalous spectacle of the very characters 
 who once called it childish and the weakness 
 of folly to believe in the spirit-life, not only 
 the avowed advocates of it, but, with all the 
 desperation of despair, invoking the evidence 
 of demons to prove something tangible re- 
 garding the disembodied soul of humanity. 
 
 The question between Christians and this 
 sect of infidels, who go by the pleasing name 
 of spiritualists, is not about the possibility of 
 spirit-communication, but about the character 
 of such communication. Christians have ever 
 allowed the ministration of spirits, and have 
 also understood the power of Satan in holding 
 the souls of men captive at his will. 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 85 
 
 But the quarrel is between this class and 
 themselves, when they wrote on the tomb- 
 stones of their own children, " Death is an 
 eternal sleep." 
 
 The Word of God plainly teaches there are 
 legions of evil spirits, or demons, who are 
 ever ready to answer the call of those who 
 invoke their presence ; for thus they are doing 
 the pleasure of their chief, in perverting the 
 grace of God and deluding the souls of men. 
 
 The claim of the spiritualists, that spirits 
 answer their call in the darkness of the seance, 
 will not be denied by any who have made^ 
 themselves familiar with the many Scriptural 
 expositions of the dark and damning deeds 
 of demons. Jesus and his apostles frequently 
 came in contact with those who were pos- 
 sessed of demons. We are aware that some 
 pretenders have assumed to defend revelation, 
 by explaining such demoniacal possession as 
 only the result of natural disorder, or of phys- 
 ical derangement. But all such attempted 
 
86 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 explanation is at the expense of the Divine 
 Word itself; for it explains away the express 
 language of inspiration. And thus, in their 
 bungling attempts to explain a mystery, they 
 unconsciously exhibit the Lord Jesus and his 
 apostles as confirming the superstitions of the 
 age ; for they recognized Satanic possessions 
 wherever they met them — yea, and they were 
 also recognized by the demons of possession. 
 All through the New Testament Scriptures 
 this is found true. Divination and soothsay- 
 ing, telling of things unseen, and foretelling 
 future events, are all characteristics of demo- 
 niacal spirits. 
 
 There are two forcible examples given by 
 the evangelists, that forbid the evasions to 
 which we have referred. Bishop Warburton 
 aptly remarks : " Our indulgent Master has 
 been pleased to guard this important truth 
 against the most plausible evasions of self- 
 conceited men, to cut off all escape from a 
 forced concession of the mighty hand of God, 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 87 
 
 compelling his most averse creatures to ac- 
 knowledge his sovereign power. One of those 
 cases is the temptation of Jesus by the devil 
 in the wilderness ; the other is the possession 
 of brute animals." The Savior of men, with 
 all the infirmities of our race as a man, was 
 nevertheless the victim of no bodily disorder 
 or physical ailment ; and he was on this occa- 
 sion subject to the buffetings of Satan, and 
 only by his Divinity was able to overcome 
 the Satanic power that assailed him. Nor 
 can it be argued, as some have supposed, 
 with those who were the victims of Satan's 
 power, that he was under any kind of mental 
 delusion ; for the infinite mind of the Messiah 
 was far above all such suspicion. But the 
 evidence of the power and presence of de- 
 mons, in the case of the Gaderenes and the 
 swine, is equally forcible ; for they at once 
 recognized Jesus as the Christ, and besought 
 him, if they were cast out, to be permitted to 
 enter the swine. 
 
88 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 We will not argue that a diseased mind 
 may not conjure up all manner of chimeras 
 and delusive, startling things ; but, most cer- 
 tainly, none will assume that any such men- 
 tal aberration afflicted a great herd of swine 
 all at the same time, and instantly, so that 
 they simultaneously rushed to their own ruin 
 in the sea. Plainly, we are driven to admit 
 both the presence and power of the demons, 
 or deny the authenticity of the whole narra- 
 tive ; for the brutish instinct of the animals 
 could never have moved them thus, in har- 
 mony, to hurry to their own destruction. 
 
 But, if further evidence of the presence and 
 possession of demons be desired, it may be 
 stated they were ever subject to the name of 
 Christ. Take the case given in Acts xix, 14. 
 There were seven impostors, who had doubt- 
 less discovered the truth of the statement we 
 have just made, and seeing that devils were 
 subject to the order of Paul when he used 
 the name of the Lord Jesus, and finding a 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 89 
 
 man possessed, they determined, either for 
 the public notoriety it would give them, or 
 for gain, to imitate Paul. Accordingly, in the 
 name of Jesus, whom Paul preached, they 
 commanded the unclean spirits to come out 
 of the man. They — the spirits — recognized 
 the name of Paul and of Jesus, but refused 
 to recognize the authority of these impos- 
 tors to use such names ; and they were in- 
 sulted and roused to fury at the audacity 
 and imposition of the men. They terribly 
 frightened the hypocrites ; for the man pos- 
 sessed leaped upon them and overcame them, 
 so that they were glad to escape without their 
 clothes, being wounded. 
 
 If it be objected that these cases have 
 nothing to do with modern spiritualism, we 
 answer, they prove beyond dispute that de- 
 mons can act through the human organiza- 
 tion ; that they not only can do so, but 
 actually have made both men and women 
 mediums of utterance and actions. The fact 
 
90 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 of their doing so now may be plainly in- 
 ferred. Bear in mind, in all cases demonology 
 has been practiced in opposition to the Word 
 of God, beginning with Satan's contradictions 
 in the Garden of Eden, and coming down to 
 the sorcery of Simon Magus and Elymas. In 
 all cases, each act of the demon has been in 
 flagrant opposition to the Word of God. And 
 another noted feature of demonism is this : 
 wherever God's presence is invoked, demons 
 have no power. We have asserted, in a former 
 chapter, that no spiritual "circle" dare invoke 
 the blessed presence of the living God in 
 their nightly sessions. Such invocation would 
 be disastrous to the revelations of the spirits. 
 And wherefore ? we ask. Ah ! those dark 
 spirits know the power of the living God ; 
 and, because of that power, they are not 
 likely to put in an appearance where such 
 presence is first sought. And now, if we are 
 correct — and spiritualists will not deny it — 
 may we not infer — yea, may we not assume 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 9 1 
 
 positively — the spirits who answer the call of 
 the medium are not the spirits of those who, 
 like ourselves, once lived on the earth encum- 
 bered with mortal bodies ? for they, by the 
 teachings of spiritualism, are now in paradise, 
 and ought to have no occasion to fear the pres- 
 ence of God. For it must be remembered that 
 spiritualists claim to receive communications 
 from the spirits of those who all their lives 
 professed to love God, and who, dying in the 
 true faith of the Gospel of Christ, went in holy 
 triumph to possess the spirit-land. Surely, these 
 will not be afraid to visit the circle where God's 
 blessing and his presence is sought in prayer. 
 Why, then, O deluded spiritualist ! why not 
 pray to the God of revelation, when you sit 
 down in the dark seance for mere fragmentary 
 revelations of the spirit-world ? Ah ! the ar- 
 gument is against you. The spirits that an- 
 swer your call are demons, who only reveal 
 things to you as their father, the devil, in- 
 structs or permits. And, as he is the father 
 
92 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 of lies, you dare not with safety put any con- 
 fidence in the communications he may permit 
 you to receive. 
 
 We have already taught in these pages 
 that the Scriptures nowhere authorize the 
 belief that the spirits of departed men, and 
 especially of good men, ever held communi- 
 cation with mortals on earth, through the 
 medium of spiritualism. There is, however, 
 one exception, and it is the case of Samuel 
 and Saul. It is plainly stated that Samuel 
 appeared unto Saul at the instance of the 
 witch of En-dor. We stated this case in our 
 chapter on Spiritualism and Necromancy; but 
 as we have now assumed the ground that 
 only the spirits of demons answer the call of 
 the spiritual medium in the seance, we deem 
 it proper to consider more fully this only ex- 
 ception. And we note, first, the medium, or 
 witch, did not herself expect the veritable 
 person of Samuel to appear. She doubtless 
 supposed that, as usual, some demoniacal 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 93 
 
 spirit would answer her call, who would per= 
 sonify the dead prophet, Samuel, and who 
 would, by his deceptive cunning, delude Saul, 
 and bring gain to her ; but when she realized 
 that it was Samuel who appeared, she was 
 the worst scared witch that ever held seance 
 in spiritual circle on this earth. Whether 
 she had been acquainted with the prophet in 
 his life-time, and thus was enabled to recog- 
 nize him on sight, or whether the spirit of 
 some demon revealed to her both Samuel and 
 Saul, we can not tell ; but we do know that, as 
 soon as Samuel appeared, she was enabled to 
 see through the disguise of Saul. That there 
 is not profound mystery in the whole trans- 
 action, will not be assumed ; or that we can 
 unravel the mystery by any logic of Scripture 
 or reason, we will not claim. It may have been 
 that some demon was enabled or permitted to 
 take possession of the well-known frame of 
 the dead prophet — or, what seems more likely 
 to us, was permitted to assume some spectral 
 
94 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 semblance of the man of God, and also to 
 mimic the familiar sound of the prophet's 
 voice, and thus deceive the wretched king 
 and the terribly frightened woman. But, 
 whether the one or the other of these be 
 true, we can not suppose that the repose of 
 this servant of God could be broken, either 
 by the wickedness of Saul or the incantations 
 of the witch. 
 
 There is nothing in it all to prove the 
 false claim of spiritualism, that the spirits of 
 the dead speak to the living through the 
 spiritual medium ; for the form of the prophet 
 is seen, and his voice is heard, as though he 
 were personally present. And there is not 
 the slightest indication that the spirit of the 
 prophet was speaking through the person of 
 the medium, or of the presence of invisible 
 agency. 
 
 Witchcraft often took the form of necro- 
 mancy, or pretended consultation of the dead. 
 The heathen, to this day, pretend to call up 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 95 
 
 the dead by their incantations. But God's 
 Word gives no countenance to the supposition 
 that the spirits of the dead answer such call. 
 It does, however, abundantly prove the agency 
 of evil spirits, not only among Jews and idol- 
 ators, but also among professed Christians. 
 
 As soon as "the mystery of iniquity " be- 
 gan to work, we find the agency of demons 
 at work, as busily as among the heathen in 
 the days of the prophets, striving often to 
 counterfeit the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Paul, 
 meeting this dangerous heresy of demons, 
 gave the alarm, by exhorting the brethren to 
 believe not every spirit, but to try the spirits, 
 and see whether they be of God. Because 
 of the persistence of demons in their efforts 
 to counteract the effect of the Gospel of 
 Christ, it became necessary to give warning 
 of the great sin of consulting "familiar spir- 
 its " and seeking intercourse with the dead. 
 Paul enumerates, as a work of the flesh, 
 witchcraft, and adds, "They that do such 
 
96 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 things shall not inherit the kingdom of 
 God." 
 
 It is not .surprising that a benighted hea- 
 then should have faith in witchcraft and divi- 
 nation ; but is it not a matter of astonishment 
 that an intelligent being, in a Christian land, 
 in this age of culture and science, should bow 
 down to the same stupid work of devils ? The 
 vague, unsatisfying reports of those modern 
 diviners about the spirit-world, not to speak 
 of their frequent contradictory character, we 
 would suppose would be enough to convince 
 an intelligent mind of the absurdity of spirit- 
 ualism, as known in our day. But that men, 
 with an open Bible in their hands, revealing, 
 in flashing light, the indignation of Jehovah 
 against all who do such things, will yet per- 
 sist in such practices, is to us unexplainable. 
 
 In our first chapter on this subject, we made 
 this statement : " Christian men seldom fall 
 into this heresy while Christian, or, falling 
 into it, are seldom Christian after it." And 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 97 
 
 the argument we then used is abundantly- 
 sustained by the Word of God. Saul never 
 thought of going to the witch for consultation 
 until his sins had led him away from God, 
 and his fear for the future drove him to con- 
 fer with the demon's spirit that possessed her. 
 Other cases might be given, full as pointed ; 
 but we have extended this chapter already 
 beyond intended limits. And it will be con- 
 ceded by all — but spiritualists — that spiritual- 
 ism, being Antichrist, will not be, never has 
 been, indulged in by Christians, until after 
 they have forfeited the favor of God, and have 
 ceased to be Christian. 
 
 And now we beg of all Christians, as did 
 St. Paul, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, 
 but try the spirits whether they be of God." 
 "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who 
 are ye?" 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND ANTICHRIST. 
 
 " But if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are 
 lost : in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds 
 of them which believe not." — 2 Cor. IV, 3, 4. 
 
 A LL Protestant writers, so far as we know, 
 ^ ^ interpret Antichrist, or "the Man of 
 Sin," as signifying Popery, or Romanism. 
 And now, if we dissent, we are aware that we 
 at once become subject to the charge of most 
 flagrant heretical notions. But, after the most 
 careful study of which we are capable, we are 
 convinced it would be just as reasonable to 
 interpret the Koran as the foundation of Mor- 
 monism ; for, to our mind, there is no founda- 
 tion in truth for any such exposition, only as 
 it may be applied to Romanism as to the 
 
 heresies of any other system of errors. The 
 98 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 99 
 
 great measuring of swords that has been 
 going on between Protestants and Catholics 
 for many years, on this basis of conflict, is 
 the veriest folly. We also take occasion to 
 say, in this place, that the great phantom of 
 "political Romanism," that has been so dex- 
 terously and zealously paraded before the 
 American people for half a century, as if it 
 were the only form of diabolical hatefulness 
 that was worthy of the steel of the earnest 
 Protestant polemic, has, in our judgment, but 
 shown the shortsightedness of the zealot. 
 We are aware that we are differing, now, from 
 the popular idea of Protestant thinkers and 
 writers on this important subject ; for they 
 interpret the " Man of Sin," with admirable 
 unanimity, to mean the Pope of Rome. Our 
 reasons for dissent shall be apparent hereafter. 
 It is just now popular with this class of 
 writers to predict the great battle of God, the 
 war of the spirits, the fight between Gog and 
 Magog, speedily to take place on this proud 
 
100 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 American Continent ; and some possess enough 
 of the prophet's ken — we had almost said are 
 foolhardy enough — to locate the center of 
 conflict in the Mississippi Valley. But the 
 years go by, and the conflict is not apparent ; 
 or, certainly, not more so than it was three 
 centuries ago. 
 
 If it were possible for the Gospel polemic 
 to lay aside his theological lens, and adjust 
 the non-partisan glasses of the statesman, 
 and then retrospect this great but new nation, 
 he would discover other elements of danger 
 as potent as that of Romanism ; and, indeed, 
 would see in Romanism elements of danger 
 only as they are apparent in any corrupt and 
 fallen Church, cursed with devilish and inor- 
 dinate greed for gain and worldly glory ; for 
 such Church, corrupted by demons and wholly 
 destitute of the spirit of Christ, will not hes- 
 itate to use all means, fair or foul, for the 
 accomplishment of its aims, on the plea of 
 devils, that the end justifies the means. Such 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 10 1 
 
 Church is dangerous to the life of the nation, 
 because its lust for power and wealth would 
 unite Church and State. But, in this sense, 
 the Catholic Church is not a particle in ad- 
 vance of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
 only as it has advantage in numbers. But 
 who — unless it be the persecuted Cheney, of 
 Chicago — would think of designating Bishop 
 Whitehouse "the Man of Sin," or the Prot- 
 estant Episcopal Church " the mystery of in- 
 iquity!" Yet there is as much authority, and 
 as good Scriptural warrant for it, when Anti- 
 christ is properly understood, as there is for 
 heaping unqualified epithets upon the Cath- 
 olic Church, or for interpreting "the Man of 
 Sin" as the Pope of Rome. 
 
 We do not thrust ourself forward as an 
 apologist for Rome, nor for the Catholic 
 Church ; but we must protest against charg- 
 ing an offense upon a people who are just 
 about as corrupt as Satan can make them, of 
 which they are not guilty, any more than are 
 
102 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 Protestant organizations who have departed 
 from the true faith of the Gospel of Jesus, 
 and who practice the corruptions of depravity, 
 and who advocate the doctrine of demons. 
 And all these we find in many factions and 
 sects, but in none more than the one which 
 goes by the name of spiritualism ; for this 
 one pre-eminently practices the doctrines of 
 devils, with scarce an admixture of Gospel 
 truth. 
 
 In the early ages of Christianity, the man- 
 ifestations of a personal Antichrist were as 
 confidently looked for as was the second 
 coming of Christ. Irenaeus, who had been 
 instructed by the disciples of John, Papias, 
 and Polycarp, asserts that Antichrist is the 
 designation of an individual whom Satan 
 shall use as his instrument to deceive those 
 who dwell on the earth, for three years and a 
 half; and that this false prophet, in support 
 of his impious claims, shall work miracles ; 
 and, at last, the usurper shall be destroyed 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 103 
 
 by the return of Christ to the earth. Now, 
 while we would not rely wholly upon Irenseus 
 in support of a Bible doctrine, yet this, we 
 think, may be taken as proof of the prevail- 
 ing opinions of those early days about the 
 great Antichrist : First, that he should come, 
 as some very wicked person ; second, that he 
 should rule, supreme, for a short time ; and, 
 third, that after his short but terrible reign, 
 Christ should return and establish his own 
 everlasting kingdom, to the utter destruction 
 of " the Man of Sin/' or of Antichrist. 
 
 But, before this occurs, the Jews are to be 
 restored to Palestine — mark, not converted to 
 Christ, but restored in unbelief — and shall, at 
 the coming of Antichrist, possess Palestine 
 as an independent state. This must be plain, 
 because it is during this Jewish prosperity 
 that Antichrist shall appear. And, according 
 to the prediction of our Lord, the authority of 
 Antichrist will then be acknowledged by the 
 whole Jewish nation : " I am come in my 
 
104 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 Fathers name, and ye receive me not. When 
 another shall come in his own name, him will 
 ye receive." 
 
 The Lord Jesus, and the apostles too, 
 plainly predict the apostasy of Christendom, 
 and describe their corruptions as waxing 
 worse and worse, until, like the Jews before 
 them, in the abuse of God's goodness, his 
 judgments overtake them, and they are cut 
 off. In the present condition of the general 
 Church of Christ, we can plainly trace the 
 fulfillment of these predictions ; for, though 
 it be true there is real piety, and much vital 
 godliness, in many branches of the true 
 Church of Christ, yet, it is an alarming fact, 
 "the mystery of iniquity doth already work," 
 and the leaven of corruption hath already 
 pervaded much of the mass. For this and 
 many other generations, this leaven of un- 
 righteousness may be partially stayed by the 
 full and earnest consecration of heart and life 
 to the service of Christ, by those who love 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 105 
 
 our Lord Jesus in faith and sincerity. But the 
 destiny of the mystery is to reach its climax 
 in " that Wicked One." 
 
 However much the Popes of Rome have 
 exalted themselves before men, and however 
 arrogantly they have assumed the prerogatives 
 of God, it can not be said of them they sit 
 in the temple of God ; nor that they show 
 themselves God, and demand the worship 
 that should be given to God. Not even Pope 
 Pius the Ninth, with the devilish infallibility 
 dogma to back him, dares claim divine wor- 
 ship ; but Antichrist shall exalt himself above 
 all that is called God. How, then, can he be 
 the Catholic Pope of Rome? 
 
 We are in the habit, as Protestants — and, for 
 aught we know, Catholics do the same thing — 
 of interpreting the wonderful vision of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar as a symbol of the kingdom of 
 God, which shall break in pieces and destroy 
 all other kingdoms. The stone cut out with- 
 out hands, which crushed and destroyed the 
 
106 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 great image, we interpret as the Gospel of 
 Christ, or the Christian Church ; and the 
 image, that is crushed and destroyed by this 
 stone, we, as Protestants, interpret to be the 
 Catholic Church. And, in turn, Catholicism 
 interprets this same image as the foul heresy 
 of Protestantism ; and this, with them, is 
 Antichrist. That both are in error, we think 
 is evident, because of the character of the 
 image, and also of the stone. The image 
 represents the succession of four monarchies : 
 the Babylonian was succeeded by the Medo- 
 Persian ; it by the Grecian ; and the Grecian 
 by the Roman. This great image was finally 
 destroyed with the stroke of a stone ; and, 
 after this destruction of the image, the stone 
 filled the whole earth. 
 
 Now, on the supposition that this image is 
 " the Man of Sin," and that Christianity is to 
 overthrow it, we must note two things about 
 the stone : First, it was cut out without 
 hands, thus precluding the possibility of all 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 107 
 
 human agency in its formation, while it is 
 claimed by all Christians that human agency 
 and human instrumentality are distinguishing 
 features of the Christian dispensation ; but, 
 second, the stone did not expand until after 
 the image was wholly destroyed. Christianity 
 has expanded a millionfold, but "the Man of 
 Sin " is not crushed. We may add one other 
 thought about the stone. It did not change 
 the character of the image, but with fury 
 destroyed it ; whereas, the great aim of 
 Christianity is to convert and save. 
 
 But, by applying the image to the Catholic 
 Church, we involve ourselves in yet greater 
 difficulty; because, first, in the king's vision 
 the stone came in contact with the image 
 after the division of the Roman Empire ; 
 whereas, Christianity came in contact with 
 the Empire while it was at its greatest glory 
 and in its strongest unity. Moreover, though 
 the Roman empire has been overthrown, it 
 did not fall by Christianity, but by barbarians. 
 
108 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 Then, it follows, both the stroke of the stone 
 and the destruction of the image are yet in 
 the future. And since the kingdom of Christ 
 is already reaching out to fill the world, we 
 can not conclude that the stone of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar's dream represents it ; and, since 
 Catholicism is not crushed, but is in great 
 power, that it was symbolized, by the great 
 image, as " the Man of Sin." 
 
 But now, while we have assumed — and, we 
 think, maintained — that Antichrist is not Ca- 
 tholicism, and that the image of the beast is 
 not the Pope of Rome, but is a great and 
 powerful wicked monster of a man that is yet 
 to come, we are ready now to take ground 
 definitely — as we have already implied — that 
 Antichrist, in substance and principle, is 
 manifest in all the workings of Satan among 
 men. Especially is the spirit of* Antichrist 
 seen in the workings of Satan, developed in 
 all heresies and false doctrines. 
 
 It is the prerogative of God to forgive sin, 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. IO9 
 
 and he alone hath power to do so ; for he 
 alone hath the words of eternal life. But 
 Catholicism grants absolution, grants indul- 
 gences, curses and blesses her votaries at 
 pleasure ; and this is Antichrist. 
 
 Again : it is the prerogative of the Lord 
 Jesus to make intercession for sinners ; for, 
 " if any man sin, we have an advocate with 
 the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous." 
 Catholicism substitutes the intercessions of 
 the priesthood, of fallible men, for that of 
 Jesus. It will not be denied that few of 
 the rank and file — the membership — of the 
 Catholic Church ever pray to God the Fa- 
 ther, through Jesus, his Son. And this is 
 the spirit of Antichrist. 
 
 Again : the Lord God is supreme. " Thou 
 shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him 
 only shalt thou serve ;" but Catholics worship 
 the Host, and pray to the Virgin. And this, 
 too, is the spirit of Antichrist. 
 
 But are there no other forms of heresy that 
 
110 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 partake of the spirit of Antichrist, by per- 
 verting the Word of God and substituting the 
 doctrine of demons? 
 
 David says, "The law of the Lord is per- 
 fect, converting the soul ;" but infidelity and 
 and spiritualism reject the law of the Lord as 
 it reveals the plan of life and salvation through 
 Jesus Christ, and substitutes the dim readings 
 of nature, and the dark, bungling, contradic- 
 tory revelations of demons, through a human 
 medium. And this is the spirit of " that 4 
 Wicked One," "the Man of sin." 
 
 Or, again, God's Word very plainly puts a 
 difference, in time, between him that serveth 
 God and him that serveth him not ; and, for 
 the spirit-life, God has very plainly defined 
 the abode of both good and bad. But spirit- 
 ualism, for the life that now is, sets aside the 
 Word of God for the indulgence of the gross- 
 est vice, and receives the communication of 
 demons concerning the future state ; while 
 the infidel sneers at the idea of sin in this 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 1 1 
 
 life, assuming there is no Supreme Being to 
 be sinned against, and for the spirit-life he 
 feels contempt. Both, in their way, are found 
 fighting against God. And this is plainly 
 the spirit of that Antichrist. And thus they 
 are lost to the power of the Gospel of Jesus ; 
 for they, being blinded by the god of this 
 world, follow his devices, and are led captive 
 by him at his will, beyond the reach of the 
 light of the Gospel. 
 
 There is about as much hope of a demon's 
 redemption as there is of the final salvation 
 of a confirmed infidel or of a full-fledged 
 spiritualist, they being fully given over to 
 reprobacy of mind, to believe a lie that they 
 may be damned. The Gospel is hid to them. 
 " But if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them 
 that are lost : in whom the god of this world 
 hath blinded the minds of them which believe 
 not." 
 
VI. 
 
 DECEPTION OF SPIRITUALISM. 
 
 " It shall even be as when a hungry man dreameth, and, 
 behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty." 
 
 Isaiah xxix, 8. 
 
 " But the multitude of the proud shall be like the small dust ; 
 And like the flitting chaff, the multitude of the terrible." 
 
 Bishop Lowth. 
 
 QOLOMON said, "There is a way that 
 
 ^ seemeth right unto a man ; but the end 
 
 thereof is the way of death. " The cunning 
 
 of the adversary of our race is evidenced 
 
 in his gilding the pathway to ruin, so that it 
 
 seems more pleasant and attractive to the 
 
 traveler's eye than all others. The ability 
 
 manifest in this will be apparent, when we 
 
 consider that directly the reverse is true. 
 
 The way of holiness is a highway ; a narrow 
 
 way, strait and clean ; a pleasant way, full of 
 112 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 113 
 
 grandest mountain scenery ; a bountiful path- 
 way, hanging full of the richest clusters of 
 grapes on every hand. Yea, it is crowded 
 with all manner of richness and good things, 
 exactly suited to the want and taste of the 
 immortal spirit of the traveler. But, with all 
 this, its pleasure can only be enjoyed, and its 
 richness possessed, by such as walk in the 
 path ; and the beautiful scenery can only be 
 discerned by those whose feet press the 
 heavenly road, and whose spiritual eyes look 
 out from Pisgah's top into the valley of Esh- 
 col. Because of this, poor benighted way- 
 farers look in vain for the beauty of the way. 
 And, moreover, the prince of darkness has so 
 beclouded the mental vision of the wayfarer, 
 that he not only sees no beauty in the path 
 of life, but to him it seems, of all other ways, 
 the most gloomy ; for Satan hath blinded his 
 eyes. But what is more strange than all this 
 is, the pathway of sin is broad and ugly, full 
 of the foulest things outside of perdition, and 
 
1 14 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 the worst possible company crowd the road 
 horribly. The drunkard and the thief, the 
 liar, the whoremonger, the harlot, and the 
 churl, the blasphemer, the murderer, the gam- 
 bler, and the infidel, are all on this road. 
 
 The road itself is horrible. Quagmires, 
 deep, dark, and dangerous pitfalls, are yawning 
 all the length of it. And, besides, it is but a 
 short journey on it until the traveler finds 
 himself smothering in the slough of despond, 
 which dangerous lagoon stretches clear across 
 the way. And yet this terrible road seems 
 the right one to multitudes, who do not 
 realize that the end is death. 
 
 Satan is ever industriously employed in 
 strewing the way with such seductive pleas- 
 ures as will most likely delude the sense and 
 deceive the eye. And by this means he gilds 
 the pleasures of sin with an attractive charm, 
 which so entrances the giddy pleasure-seeker 
 that Satan can readily convince him that any 
 thing so pleasant must be innocent and 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 115 
 
 harmless ; and, if harmless, then it must be 
 right. Once settled in this, he will not only 
 indulge in the practice, but will quite ear- 
 nestly defend the sin. This is but a natural 
 process. 
 
 Take, as a sample in proof of this, the 
 lover of strong drink. No sober man will 
 advocate intoxication, But men have drunk 
 to excess, and defended the right, for many 
 generations ; because, first, they have tasted 
 the dangerous draft, and have been thrilled 
 with the intoxication. True, there was the 
 smiting of the conscience, and the sense of 
 shame and degradation ; but they have drunk, 
 and drunk again, until, in self-defense, for 
 protection from the stings of conscience and 
 for a covering of their shame, they have 
 hunted for arguments to prove the correct- 
 ness of the hateful practice. These, by Sa- 
 tan's aid, tKey have soon found, and, find- 
 ing them, they became confirmed drunkards. 
 After this, all words of reason and argument 
 
Il6 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 are lost on them; for they are now fortified 
 in their own ruin. 
 
 This might be illustrated in many ways. 
 Men loving sin, and being naturally opposed 
 to the law of the Lord, the common resort 
 is, either to pervert the Word of God by 
 false interpretation, or to deny it wholly. Of 
 the latter class is the open infidel and the 
 atheist, who, like David's fool, say in their 
 hearts there is no God. But of the former is 
 the heretical perverter of the Word of God, 
 of every grade and order. 
 
 And chief among them all are the modern 
 spiritualists. We say modern spiritualists, be- 
 cause the spiritualists of olden time made no 
 claim to a belief in the law of God. And al- 
 though it is true that very many of the modern 
 spiritualist lecturers and writers deny God and 
 revelation, yet many of them are "avowed be- 
 lievers in the Scriptures of Divine truth. All 
 these, assuming belief in God's Word, are yet 
 not content with the revelation that it makes of 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 117 
 
 the spirit-world ; and rejecting the truth of its 
 teaching, that no traveler to the bourne of the 
 dead can ever return at the bidding of sinful 
 mortals, they resort to the professed spiritual 
 medium, allow themselves to listen to — ah ! 
 and to receive as worthy of credit — the con- 
 tradictory and absurd telegrams of demons as 
 authentic dispatches from their dear friends 
 who inhabit the spirit-world. And,- as mar- 
 velous as it seems to a believer in the plain 
 Word of God, whose stamp of condemnation 
 is upon all such unlawful means of obtaining 
 intelligence from the spirit-world, this class 
 of dreaming fanatics receive such reports of 
 demons as more reasonable than Scriptural 
 truth. They are as in a feverish dream, and 
 suppose that they have intercourse with the 
 dead. Some that we could name are so in- 
 fatuated with this belief, that with them the 
 control and care that the spirits have of the 
 believer in their agency wholly supersedes the 
 providence of God. 
 
Il8 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 A lady, whose culture and refinement is 
 acknowledged by those who know her — whose 
 name we suppress — is in possession of a 
 very pretty home in the most aristocratic 
 part of the city, and has, in connection with 
 her residence, a very great variety of flowers. 
 These flowers, in their season, show remark- 
 able thrift and care in their resplendent 
 bloom. This lady matron, who is an avowed 
 and somewhat noted spiritualist medium, on 
 being asked by a lady friend, who was de- 
 lighted with the beauty of the flowers, how 
 she managed to have such great success in 
 floral culture, gravely responded : 
 
 "Ah, my dear! the work is nothing. I give 
 myself no concern about the flowers. I trust 
 their keeping wholly to the spirits. They do 
 it all. I have only to be careful to leave a 
 bucket of water where they can get it every 
 night — for they are fond of water — and all the 
 rest they do for me." 
 
 Now, dear reader, do you smile at such 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 119 
 
 presumption ? So did we when we first 
 learned of the incident ; but, we can assure 
 you, no full-fledged spiritualist will think of 
 criticising such confidence in the watch-care 
 of the spirits. 
 
 This same lady is in the habit of placing 
 plate and chair at the table at each meal, 
 where a daughter — long since deceased — was 
 wont to sit during her life-time. And this 
 she does in full confidence that the spirit of 
 the daughter is present at the table of her 
 mother, each day, for her daily bread. Is the 
 mother foolish ? Yes : there is no question 
 of that with sane people. But the proof is 
 not wanting that hundreds of spiritualists 
 are equally foolish ; though most of them ex- 
 hibit the insanity of the blind stupor in a 
 different way. For all of them, in the very 
 act of receiving spiritualism, discredit the 
 Scriptures, provoke Jehovah, and offer an in- 
 sult to the intelligence of man. But "as a 
 hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth," 
 
120 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 but, alas ! there must be; an awakening ; " and 
 when he awaketh his soul hath appetite." 
 
 Solomon says, "Know thou that for all 
 these things God will bring thee into judg- 
 ment." " Then," says Malachi, " shall ye re- 
 turn, and discern between the righteous and 
 the wicked, between him that serveth God 
 and him that serveth him not." 
 
 These foolish and wicked triflings, this 
 presumptuous setting at naught of the plain 
 Word of God, may endure for a time ; yea, 
 the cunning, crafty perverter of the Scriptures 
 may hold blindly on to his delusion during 
 , his natural life-time ; but there cometh a day 
 of awakening, a day of arousing up from the 
 delusive dream. And then, alas ! though in 
 the terribly delusive dream the appetite was, 
 or seemed to be, sated, yet now, at the waken- 
 ing, " the soul hath appetite ;" that is, the 
 soul is not satisfied, the intellectual being is 
 disappointed. As the wrecked mariner, cast 
 on desert shore, naked, thirsty, famishing 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 121 
 
 with hunger, falls into troubled slumber, he 
 dreams, and in the vision he is again at 
 home, surrounded by all that heart could 
 wish ; he and his friends gather around the 
 festal board ; they eat, drink, and are merry ; 
 the feast is of most prodigal provision — all 
 have eaten to the full ; but " he awaketh and 
 his soul hath appetite." Then is the desola- 
 tion and destitution of the poor mariner 
 doubly terrible. 
 
 We are sad with our reflections when we 
 remember there are thousands of dreaming 
 immortals, cast on the sterile reef of spirit- 
 ualism, slumbering away in the fateful dream 
 .of the carnally secure, refusing to be wakened 
 because the illusive spell of demons is upon 
 them ; and, with dogged persistence, continue 
 to build their hopes of a blissful immortality 
 on this foundation of demoniacal possession. 
 
 But both the faith and practice of men is 
 to be finally tested ; and, doubtless, to this 
 testing the apostle refers, in the third chapter 
 
122 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 of I Corinthians, when he says, "For other 
 foundation can no man lay than that is laid, 
 which is Jesus Christ. Now, if any man 
 build upon this foundation, gold, silver, pre- 
 cious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's 
 work shall be made manifest ; for the day 
 shall declare it, because it shall be revealed 
 by fire ; and the fire shall try every man's 
 work, of what sort it is." 
 
 Men can go through the world with any 
 heresy, their love of carnal pleasure lifting 
 them above the fear of consequences. And 
 often not until the final hour of life do they 
 awake to the terrible delusive dream. Then 
 the bitterness of death is doubly bitter. But 
 awake from the stupor of heresy men must, 
 and that, too, unexpectedly, suddenly. 
 
 Jesus said, "In an hour that ye think not 
 the Son of man cometh ;" and the Lord God 
 has said, "I will laugh at your calamities, 
 when your fear cometh as desolation." 
 
 In closing this chapter, we earnestly but 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 23 
 
 kindly ask all intelligent spiritualists if an 
 instance can be given where the believer in 
 spiritualism triumphed over the fear of death, 
 with an intelligent triumph. Such informa- 
 tion, from reliable source, might modify our 
 horror of the monstrous heresy. 
 
 St. Paul said, "The sting of death is sin, 
 the strength of sin is the law; but thanks be 
 unto God, who giveth us the victory through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 Multitudes have in all ages believed this ; 
 and, going to God in the name of Jesus 
 Christ, have passed from under the ban of 
 the law, and have been enabled to triumph, 
 through Jesus, over the last enemy, which is 
 death. Paul, addressing those of this faith, 
 said, in holy exultation, "This is the victory 
 that overcometh the world, even our faith." 
 
 Compared with this holy, triumphant ex- 
 pectancy, the vague, unsatisfying contradic- 
 tions of spiritualism are as the blackness of 
 darkness, even for this life. But for the 
 
124 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 death-hour, and the life to come, there is no 
 word in the English language that is bold 
 enough to show the contrast between him 
 who, in full confidence of the truth of revela- 
 tion, meets the final foe, and, in the strength 
 that Jesus gives, passes over into the land 
 of the blessed, and him who, in life, substi- 
 tuted for the Word of God the confusing and 
 uncertain revelations of the spiritual seance. 
 
 The servant of God, in such hour, exclaims, 
 "I know that my Redeemer liveth," and 
 shouts, with David of old, " Though I walk 
 through the valley and shadow of death, I 
 will fear no evil ;" or, with Paul, he will 
 shout the victory in words like these: "For 
 we know that if our earthly house of this 
 tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building 
 of God, a house not made with hands, eternal 
 in the heavens." 
 
 Now, what is the language of the spirit- 
 ualist in the trying hour ? Ah ! what ? Let 
 the dumb, confused stupor of such, in the 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 25 
 
 terrible trial, show to all living the dangerous 
 
 deception of the frightful heresy ; for it is 
 
 the delusion of demons seeking the ruin 
 
 of souls. 
 
 9 
 
VII. 
 
 SPIRIT OF INQUIRY IN MAN; OR, THE 
 OFFICE OF PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge 
 of the truth."— 2 Tim. hi, 7. 
 
 "For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found 
 an altar with this inscription, To the Unknown God. 
 Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto 
 you." — Acts xvii, 23. 
 
 A CHEMICAL test, dropped into a qui- 
 -*■ ^ escent mass, will effect a combination 
 of new affinities ; but, before such affinities 
 are formed, there must be first a separation 
 of elements, an active effervesence, then the 
 combination. 
 
 This may illustrate what is going on con- 
 tinually in human Society. Events occur, 
 
 questions arise, which compel the separation 
 126 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 27 
 
 of opinions, and the passing over to opposite 
 poles of antagonistic forces. 
 
 Before the chemical test, the old mass 
 seemed to be in harmonious rest. So, where 
 no test question of Divine truth assails the 
 moral quiet of the unregenerate, there is the 
 quiet of the grave. But since the entrance 
 of sin into the world, there has been the dis- 
 turbing element ; for righteousness and sin 
 can never live in harmony. These are the 
 antagonistic forces, out of which must come 
 the new affinities and the final harmony. 
 But as the forces are opposing, there must 
 be, during the formatory stage, much disquiet. 
 
 The Gospel of Jesus Christ falls upon the 
 moral mass of our race much as the chemical 
 test. But men have volition ; and though 
 disturbed, yet, loving the old element of sin, 
 they "do always resist the Holy Ghost." 
 And yet, being once disturbed, our race has 
 never been able to find quiet while resisting 
 the truth of the Gospel. 
 
128 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 This may, in part, account for the many 
 devices of men looking after rest for the dis- 
 turbed quiet of the heart. The struggle is 
 no new one, only it develops in different 
 forms in almost every age, it being the evi- 
 dent practice of Satan, when beaten at one 
 point, to concentrate his forces on another, 
 ever counting it victory so long as he can 
 keep men from finding the true God, from 
 whom man is estranged. The Lord has 
 largely defeated him in this, by planting in 
 man a desire to find his way back to God, 
 and by holding out to his stumbling feet 
 lanterns for the pathway, in the heavens 
 above and in the earth beneath, all seeming 
 to say, Come back to God, come back to God ! 
 To the myriad beckoning hands in nature, 
 God has added all truth, in morals and sci- 
 ence, to aid benighted man in his search for 
 the living God ; for it is evident that the tend- 
 ency of all true science is to the acknowl- 
 edgment of the true God of heaven and earth. 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 29 
 
 Dr. Cocker has plainly shown, in his 
 " Greek Philosophy/' that even the Greeks 
 were very largely indebted to Hebrew re- 
 ligion for their philosophy. Christianity, it is 
 true, in the third and fifth centuries, became 
 somewhat imbued with the Platonic school 
 of Greece; yet the philosophy of the Greeks 
 imbibed a religious hue from the Christianity 
 of the Hebrew. 
 
 That the Greeks were not aware of the 
 former, nor the Christians of the latter, does 
 not disparage the fact, nor disprove the as- 
 sumption. Nor yet is it a marvel ; for only in 
 the light of developed ages do we read clearly 
 the pages of the past. 
 
 The millions of to-day read as blindly the 
 printing of the every-day page of history as 
 did the Athenians in Paul's day bow to the 
 unknown god whom they ignorantly wor- 
 shiped. But the student of to-day, aided by 
 the light of reason, science, and revelation — 
 standing with Paul, on Mars' Hill, at Athens, 
 
130 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 surrounded by the temples, statues, and altars 
 which Grecian art had consecrated to pagan 
 worship — would read, with the enthusiasm of 
 the Christian philosopher and scientist, the 
 unseen hand of Deity, guiding, in all this 
 sculptured grandeur, and controlling, in all 
 the mazes of their confused wisdom, to the 
 one uncontrollable, resultant development of 
 the unknown God, so boldly declared unto 
 them by St. Paul. 
 
 To the Christian student, it is a pleasing 
 reflection God's revelation of himself is as 
 positively and — to him — as plainly recorded 
 in the Book of Nature as in the Book of Rev- 
 elation, or the Bible ; for it may be readily 
 shown that, while the rejector of the Bible, 
 and those ignorant of the Scriptural revela- 
 tions of Deity, fail to find God in nature, yet 
 the legitimate tendency of the diligent study 
 of nature, guided by reason alone — which, 
 when enlightened, always demands cause for 
 effect — is the development of the Supreme, 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 131 
 
 or great First Cause. Nor have the efforts 
 of infidels been able to show the contrary, in 
 this or any other age ; though the most sci- 
 entific analyses of the germinal properties of 
 life have been invoked by Darwin and others. 
 
 For what does all the learned research of 
 those able and scholarly naturalists show, if 
 it be not the necessity of some great First 
 Cause for all things ? True, they have gone 
 into the secret and labyrinthian mazes of the 
 hitherto undiscovered germinal properties of 
 life, or protoplasm ; but beyond this, while 
 they reject the Bible, they can not go — and 
 so have stood, and must forever stand, con- 
 founded by their own wonderful discoveries. 
 As with the ancient skeptic naturalist, so 
 with the modern, each arriving in his turn at 
 the limit of his power in research. 
 
 But no such altar and inscription would 
 have been erected and inscribed as Paul saw 
 at Athens, had not the philosophy of the 
 Greeks constantly led them on to the discovery 
 
132 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 of the " unknown God, whom they ignorantly 
 worshiped." 
 
 Our convictions of the sequel of unfinished 
 explorations in the field of science, must, of 
 course, be founded upon the results of the 
 past research of the scientist. And by this 
 rule we see, first, the unsatisfied longing of 
 the mind of each philosopher for yet greater 
 discoveries, even after the rules of his craft 
 are fully exhausted ; and, second, that the 
 ever-restless spirit within him urges him on 
 to such efforts of discovery as will lead to the 
 attainment of the end. 
 
 And as correct rules in philosophy must 
 lead to the solution of all philosophical 
 problems, so the legitimate tendency of the 
 philosophical research of the ancients was to 
 lead them through nature up to nature's God. 
 And if it be asked, If modern theorists fail 
 to find the true God, and even hold the exist- 
 ence of Deity as doubtful, then can it be in- 
 ferred that the ancient philosopher would ever, 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 33 
 
 unaided, have gained a knowledge of the un- 
 known God ? we answer, Knowledge is not 
 intuitive, but a desire for knowledge is ; or, 
 at least, man is not wanting in an internal 
 incentive to the acquisition of knowledge. 
 
 Assuming, with Job, "There is a spirit 
 within man, and the inspiration of the Al- 
 mighty giveth him understanding/* and if, 
 when correct geometrical rules are observed, 
 then the most difficult problems in geometry 
 are solved, does it not follow that the phi- 
 losophical research of the ancients, which led, 
 even in the first years of Christianity, to the 
 acknowledgment of the existence of the un- 
 known God, in ideal, have led them — possi- 
 bly — in other generations, to grasp the reality 
 of such being, made, in nature, manifest and 
 known ? 
 
 But if it be objected such assumption argues 
 against the necessity of Divine revelation, we 
 answer, This was the time of "the fullness 
 of the Gentiles," and Christ, the hitherto 
 
134 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 unknown, must now be manifest unto Greek 
 as well as unto Jew. And while the Jew, by- 
 aid of the Divine prediction of his coming in 
 prophecy, could readily receive him through 
 penitence and faith as the Christ, " the sent 
 of God," so the learned Greek, whose philos- 
 ophy had led him no farther than the ideal 
 unknown, would be able, by adding to his 
 philosophy the revelations of the New Testa- 
 ment Scriptures, to receive him whom Paul 
 so eloquently declared unto them. 
 
 But if, again, it be urged that the modern 
 scientist is as far from a knowledge of the 
 true God as were the ancients, we again an- 
 swer, the tendency of all true science is to 
 the discovery of first or elementary cause, 
 which is the self-existent. And it is known 
 to every student that the speculative vagaries 
 of the ancients will not compare with the 
 more reasonable productions of such men as 
 Renan, Darwin, Huxley, or even Owen. 
 
 So far as we know, all modern, rationalistic, 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 35 
 
 material theorists allow primal cause for all 
 things, stumbling only on the nature and 
 character of such primal cause. A learned 
 author, from whom we have already quoted, 
 says, u Science is inevitably approaching the 
 idea that all kinds of force are but forms or 
 manifestations of some one central force, issu- 
 ing from some one fountain-head of power." 
 Modern writers, of nearly all classes, acknowl- 
 edge the form of force, which is a type of all 
 the rest, is consciousness of living effort in 
 volition. All force, then, is of one type, and 
 that type is mind. In its last analysis, ex- 
 ternal causation may be resolved into Divine 
 energy. The great astronomer, Herschel, 
 says, " The force of gravitation is the direct 
 result of a consciousness, or will, exerted 
 somewhere." 
 
 And now, if this conclusion results from a 
 scientific study of the heavens, without the 
 aid of revelation, may not the humble Chris- 
 tian, with the revelation of Jesus Christ, 
 
136 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 heartily exclaim, " Power belongs to God ?" 
 And is he not justified in believing that it is 
 through Divine energy that all things are, 
 and are upheld; and that in God we live and 
 move and have our being ? 
 
 Those who resign the government of this 
 world to Satan, may see nothing in the phi- 
 losophy of the ancients but a simple creation 
 of Satan ; but he who believes that the entire 
 control and progress of humanity is in the 
 hand of a merciful Providence, must see that, 
 in the purposes of God, even ethnicism has 
 fulfilled some end, and that heathenism has 
 at least shown the want, and to some extent 
 prepared the mind for the advent, of Chris- 
 tianity ; for, it must be noted, God has never 
 left himself without a witness, in any nation. 
 True, the religion of the Athenians was not 
 able to release them from the guilt of sin, nor 
 redeem them from its power or make them 
 pure and holy ; and thus, practically, it brought 
 them no nearer to God. But it did awaken in 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 37 
 
 them a conscience, and educate it ; and it de- 
 veloped in them more fully the sense of sin 
 and guilt, and made them conscious of their 
 inability to save themselves. And thus it 
 created in them a felt want of something 
 more than mere embellishment and culture ; 
 and, the moment such sense is aroused, man 
 sees the importance and feels the need of 
 being saved from the consequences of sin by 
 a higher power. 
 
 ^Esthetic taste had found, in Athens, full 
 gratification. Poetry, sculpture, architecture, 
 were all brought to the highest perfection ; 
 but the need of something higher, deeper, 
 and more true, was not only felt, but was 
 written on the very stones ; so that, while the 
 solid granite grandly expressed the flashing 
 power of their genius, it also held in inefface- 
 able grasp the wailings of the prompter of 
 that genius — the wailings of an unsatisfied 
 soul. To fill this void, or to satisfy this 
 hunger, they erected an altar to the unknown 
 

 138 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 God, and ignorantly worshiped him. They 
 had lords many, and gods many ; but, in the 
 erection of this altar, they confessed a felt 
 want of something higher than all these. 
 
 The strength and weakness of heathen 
 mythology consisted in the contradictory 
 character of their deities ; for through it all 
 there is a blending of the natural and the 
 supernatural, the human and the Divine. 
 Zeus, the eternal king, the immortal ruler, 
 whose will is ever sovereign, has something 
 of human weakness. God and man are thus 
 in some mysterious way united. And may 
 we not consider this as in evidence of the 
 deepest longing of the human heart — that is, 
 an unconquerable desire to bring God nearer 
 to the human apprehension and closer to the 
 human heart ? Hence, also, the hold paganism 
 had, in Paul's day, upon the Grecian mind. 
 
 But in this human aspect was also found 
 its weakness ; for, when philosophic thought 
 is brought into contact with and permitted 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 39 
 
 critically to test mythology, it dethrones its 
 false gods. 
 
 The age of spontaneous religious senti- 
 ments must be succeeded by the age of re- 
 flection. Popular theological faith must be 
 put into the crucible of dialectic analysis, 
 that the frivolous and the false may be taken 
 from the pure and the true. For the reason 
 of man must be as well satisfied as his heart ; 
 and faith in God must have a logical basis. 
 It must be founded on demonstration and 
 truth, and the question, Is God cognizable by 
 the human mind ? must be reasonably an- 
 swered. And if this can be achieved, then a 
 deeper foundation is laid in the mind of hu- 
 manity, upon which Christianity can rear her 
 higher and nobler truths. And by this rule 
 of philosophy Paul declared, " That which 
 can be known of God is manifested in their 
 hearts, God himself having shown it to 
 them ;" and with such thought he proceeded 
 to say, "As I passed by and beheld your 
 
140 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 sacred objects, I found an altar with this 
 inscription upon it, To the unknown God." 
 
 This idea of a God who is the uncondi- 
 tioned cause of all things, may have been 
 possessed, unacknowledged, by Paul's audi- 
 tors ; yet, doubtless, it was in consequence 
 of his discovery of this fundamental prin- 
 ciple of all religion, that emboldened him 
 so eloquently to declare the true God, in the 
 midst of so much idolatry. We infer this ; 
 for a mere blind impulse never guides man to 
 the true end of his being. A simple tendency 
 to the perfection of his nature, without a re- 
 vealed object, would be but mockery and 
 misery — an ignis-fatuus, perpetually alluring, 
 but always deceiving him. 
 
 The idea of God is revealed to man in the 
 spontaneous development of his intelligence. 
 And the existence of a supreme reality, cor- 
 responding to and represented by this idea, 
 is rationally and logically demonstrable, and 
 therefore justly entitled to take rank as part 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 141 
 
 of our legitimate, valid, and positive knowl- x 
 edge. 
 
 But it must not be supposed that such 
 conclusions were reached more frequently by 
 philosophers of Paul's day than by the mere 
 scientist of the present time ; for many of 
 them, as is the scientist of the present day, 
 were in the habit of resolving all substances 
 into self-existent being, simply upon the hy- 
 pothesis that all knowledge is limited to 
 material phenomena ; that is, to appearances 
 perceptible to human sense. Thus, we can 
 not know the essence of any object, nor the 
 real mode of procedure of any event ; but 
 simply its relation to other events, as similar 
 or dissimilar, coexistent or successive ; and 
 these always the same. 
 
 The constant resemblances which link phe- 
 nomena together, and the constant sequences 
 which unite them as antecedent and conse- 
 quent, are, by this class of naturalists, termed 
 
 laws ; while they acknowledge that their 
 10 
 
142 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 nature and anterior causes are to them wholly 
 unknown. 
 
 But, on the other hand, the philosophical 
 analysis of Plato, and many others of his 
 school, lead constantly to the revelation of 
 real cause and being. 
 
 We are wont to condemn, without charity, 
 the sculptured grandeur of Athens, the Tem- 
 ple of Diana, together with the Altar of the 
 Unknown God, as being but the impulse of a 
 wicked and idolatrous race of sensual materi- 
 alists ; but the student of nature and revela- 
 tion will not fail to see the goodness and 
 providential care of God in all this restless- 
 ness of the ancient thinker, as he in nature 
 and art sought for a satisfying portion. For 
 it is now evident that God gave to this unrest 
 a preparatory place and office, which, if it did 
 not bring them to a full knowledge of the 
 truth, nevertheless prepared their minds for 
 the full investigation of Paul's declaration of 
 the unknown God. This is shown in the 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 143 
 
 awakening and enthronement of conscience 
 as a law of duty ; and also in exhibiting to 
 the awakened conscience the great distance 
 and estrangement from God, showing the 
 need of a mediator between man and God, 
 who, unlike the Grecian image in sculptured 
 granite, must not stand stolid and mute before 
 the penitent worshiper ; but who would lay- 
 hold of the man, and plead with God, thus 
 insuring reconciliation. 
 
 Thus God has ever used the quickened 
 thought of the ages to prepare the mind, 
 and turn the masses to himself for safety 
 and rest. 
 
 Let the Christian, then, instead of cowardly 
 yielding the field of science to the skeptic, 
 take courage. God has not left mankind in 
 hopeless unrest ; and we apprehend that the 
 present attacks of the materialist and scientist 
 will not only come to naught while they try 
 vainly to pull down the Christian's tower of 
 strength, but it will be seen ultimately to redound 
 
144 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 to the glory of God and the firmer upbuilding 
 of the cause of Christ. For, as the ancients 
 were "ever learning, ,, and were not able to 
 come to a knowledge of the truth until they 
 unconsciously acknowledged the failure of 
 their philosophy to bring peace to the heart 
 of unrest, in the erection of the Altar to the 
 Unknown God, so the physiologist of modern 
 day, in his vain endeavor to reject God, has 
 been, by the unfailing correctness of his own 
 philosophy, led to confess the limit of his 
 own powers, and to the acknowledgment of 
 some greater power beyond. This is shown 
 in the fact that, no sooner has one scientist 
 discovered and made known to the restless 
 world of skeptics the wonderful protoplasm, 
 or the germinal properties of life, than a 
 hundred voices demand the origin of the 
 protoplasm itself, not knowing that, in doing 
 this, all the truth of God's Word becomes 
 proved, and Christianity established. 
 
 Let the skeptic go on with his skepticism ; 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 145 
 
 let the scientist continue his scientific re- 
 search, — they will but show him the weakness 
 of man, and develop the power of God. And 
 may the great Eternal Spirit hasten the day 
 when the "Unknown God" shall be declared 
 unto all nations, and the name of Jesus be 
 sung, in every land by every tongue ! Amen. 
 
VIII. 
 
 A WORD TO SPIRITUALISTS. 
 
 "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter 
 times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seduc- 
 ing spirits, and doctrines of devils." — i Tim. iv, i. 
 
 TV TO student, either of the Word of God 
 
 •^ ^ or the book of nature, will charge God 
 
 with redundancy, or with the performance of 
 
 an unnecessary thing. For the complete 
 
 production of all things in nature, he gave 
 
 but one command to each ; and, in perfect 
 
 order and harmony, they sprang into being — 
 
 the light, the earth, the sea, the fish, the 
 
 fowl, the beast, the sun for the* day, and the 
 
 moon and the stars for the night. 
 
 But one command in prohibition to the 
 
 federal head, and but one penalty was affixed 
 
 to its violation. And after the pitiful fall, 
 146 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. I47 
 
 but one promise of man's redemption was 
 given by the Almighty Father. At the full- 
 ness of time, but one Savior came into the 
 world for the redemption of the one pledge, 
 that the seed of the woman should bruise the 
 serpent's head. True, the prophets grew 
 eloquent, and their messages ever and anon 
 thrilled the generations of the long-rolling 
 ages, as the Holy Ghost revealed to them the 
 coming Messiah ; but all the hallowed fire of 
 their glowing tongues ever glowed around the 
 one promise of his coming. 
 
 One voice at the Jordan, when Jesus was 
 baptized, cried out from earth, " Behold the 
 Lamb of God ;" and one from heaven thrilled 
 the astonished multitude with the one ex- 
 clamation, " This is my beloved Son, in 
 whom I am well pleased : hear ye him." 
 And but one dove descended and alighted 
 upon Jesus, thus testifying to his Divine 
 Sonship. Twelve legions of angels were 
 ready to testify for Jesus ; but with this 
 
148 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 announcement of his Divinity, he went forth 
 on his Divine mission. 
 
 He mingled freely, as a man, with the 
 apostles ; but he showed himself but once 
 during his sojourn with them in transfigura- 
 tion. He was but once in an agony, in the 
 Garden. He bore but one cross for us. He 
 was crucified once, for all. He was dead, and 
 buried, but one time ; but that once was all- 
 sufficient; for he conquered the monster foe, 
 hell, for a time. He burst the bonds of death, 
 and came forth in glorious triumph, giving to 
 earth this immortal assurance : Death and the 
 grave have no power that Jesus can not 
 break. Once more he ascended on high — 
 once for all — where he ever liveth to make 
 intercession for all that love him. 
 
 From these facts, we may learn the great 
 God never uses unnecessary means for the 
 accomplishment of any work for man, or for 
 any created intelligence. To Satan, who said 
 to him, " If thou be the Son of God, command 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 149 
 
 that these stones be made bread," Jesus an- 
 swered, " Man shall not live by bread alone." 
 And again, when the tempter tried him from 
 another stand-point, he did not enter into 
 lengthened argument, but simply said, " It is 
 written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy 
 God." To the caviling Pharisees, he said : 
 "This is an evil generation. They seek a 
 sign, and there shall no sign be given it but 
 the sign of Jonas the prophet." To the anx- 
 ious and troubled soul of Dives he answered, 
 " Neither would they be persuaded though 
 one arose from the dead." 
 
 The lesson to us is this : God has, by the 
 inspiration of his Spirit, caused to be recorded 
 in his Word all that we need know, in life, to 
 secure our happiness here, and our safety and 
 joy forever. 
 
 " Of making many books there is no end ;" 
 but there is but one Bible. God has faith- 
 fully and plainly recorded himself in one 
 volume ; and O, what a volume it is ! — as 
 
ISO SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 high as the heavens, as deep as infinity. No 
 marvel that groveling, sensual minds stag- 
 ger at its mysteries. But it has this aston- 
 ishing peculiarity : the simple-minded may 
 grasp enough of its truth to be guided into 
 the way of life forever ; but, alas ! with the 
 blinding clouds of doubt and distrust that 
 Satan is ever throwing about the human 
 mind, we stumble at the plainest truth it 
 records. 
 
 It is, happily, the province of the Christian 
 to believe God, as he talks through his Word ; 
 and, believing his Word, to know Jesus whom 
 he hath sent. And with this confidence and 
 knowledge, he is fortified against the tempter's 
 startling suggestions about the future state ; 
 for the Jesus in whom he trusts has said to 
 him, through his Word, " I go to prepare a 
 place for you, that where I am there ye may 
 be also." In this he trustingly and calmly 
 rests his soul, and, with the psalmist, exclaims, 
 "Though I walk through the valley of the 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 151 
 
 shadow of death, I will fear no evil ; for 
 thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they 
 comfort me ;" or with Paul, the trusting man 
 of God, can say joyfully, "To live is Christ, 
 but to die is gain." 
 
 Not so with the doubting distruster of 
 God's Word. To him, life is all full of per- 
 plexity, the grave is dismal, and eternity is 
 dreadful. To him it is a terribly long time 
 since Jesus was here among men ; and, to his 
 restless mind, the record that God made of 
 himself, by the hand of Moses, of the begin- 
 ning of time and the creation of all terres- 
 trial things, seems so far in the distant past 
 that a hungry longing springs up in his soul 
 for some fresh revelation of God and the 
 spirit-interests of man. And then, losing 
 sight of the revelations already made, that 
 one day with the infinite God is as a thou- 
 sand years and a thousand years as one day, 
 and that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, 
 to-day, and forever, without variableness or 
 
152 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 shadow of turning ; and forgetting that if 
 such an unchangeable God, who has all 
 power, declared, eighteen hundred years ago — 
 by man's count — that he was going to pre- 
 pare a place for his servants that day, then 
 such place is prepared this day for all that 
 love him ; but, though the Bible has faith- 
 fully given warning, and . " the Spirit has 
 spoken expressly that in the latter times 
 some shall depart from the faith, giving heed 
 to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils," 
 yet multitudes, in their blindness, ignore or 
 reject all this, and do give heed to seducing 
 spirits and doctrines of devils. For what 
 but this can induce men to close their eyes 
 to the fact that God in his Word has revealed 
 to man all that he ought to know, in this 
 life, of the spirit-life to come,- and, turning 
 away from revelation, betake them to the con- 
 tradictory uncertainties of the spiritual me- 
 dium, in dark seance? If it were nothing 
 worse to do so, it would show very great 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 53 
 
 distrust in and dissatisfaction with the revela- 
 tions God has been pleased to make, to the 
 citizens of earth, about the ample provision 
 he has made for all who serve him. 
 
 But the resort of the spiritualist for intel- 
 ligence from the spirit-world not only dis- 
 credits God, but it credits and propagates 
 the falsehoods of demons. Having departed 
 from the faith, they give heed to seducing 
 spirits and doctrines of devils. Mark : those 
 spirits are seducing. To seduce, is to draw 
 aside from the path of rectitude. And this 
 is the office that is especially assigned to 
 those malignant demons who lead poor mor- 
 tals away from God, until they deny the 
 faith. Then they are ready to heed also the 
 doctrines of devils. 
 
 God has plainly told us, in his Word, of the 
 abode of the spirits of the justified. The 
 ever-memorable answer of Jesus, to the trust- 
 ing penitent on the cross, is all-sufficient : 
 " This day shalt thou be with me in paradise." 
 
154 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 Stephen, also, when about to die, saw the 
 gates of the spirit-home wide open, and the 
 angels too, as they came fluttering down to 
 the dying man, as if in a hurry to bear his 
 spirit to the home of the soul. These, with 
 kindred cases throughout the Scriptures, and 
 in the experience of the Christian world, set- 
 tle the safe abode of the spirits of all who 
 trust in Jesus. 
 
 Necromancers, astrologers, and spiritual 
 mediums have for many ages taken advantage 
 of the seeming mystery that enshrouds the 
 state of the dead, and have speculated upon 
 the broken-hearted, bereaved friends of the 
 departed ; and have made both notoriety and 
 money by pretending to receive important 
 messages from the dead. 
 
 Christian reader, if it be {rue that the 
 Word of God has not yet allayed the preying 
 anxiety of your mind and heart about the 
 safe abode and soul-security of wife or child 
 or very dear friend, let us devote one moment, 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 55 
 
 in the light of reason and common sense, to 
 the candid investigation of the claims of 
 spiritualists. 
 
 Let us enter the chamber of your beloved 
 friend. That friend is a devout servant of 
 God. The breathing is already short and 
 hurried ; the pulse is but a flutter. Life is 
 certainly receding; for the pallor of death is 
 on the brow. We are in deepest sympathy, 
 and give utterance to our sorrow in a rain 
 of tears. We watch with all eagerness every 
 symptom of change. One step more, and 
 our dear friend will be gone. 
 
 Mark the effort ; our friend is struggling 
 to speak. Do you hear that exclamation ? 
 It is with faltering lip, but it is the shout 
 of the victor. If we heard them correctly, 
 these were the words : " Thanks be unto God, 
 who giveth us the victory through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ I" 
 
 A moment more, and all is over. The 
 body is dead. But where is the spirit ? what 
 
156 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 is its state? and will it — can it — again an- 
 swer my call ? We try it ; we call to it to 
 come back ; we shout aloud for but one more 
 word, — but all is still as the grave. 
 
 Must we part forever? We go to the 
 grave to weep and call. If we were listening, 
 inspiration would answer: "Not here. Why 
 seek ye the living among the dead ?" But the 
 deaf ear of our reason is stopped to this 
 voice, and we turn away in dumb silence, 
 with great sorrow. 
 
 Just now, spiritualism comes in, to take 
 advantage of our sorrow and of our hungry 
 longing to hear something of our dead. The 
 mediums are the dupes of " seducing spirits," 
 and they "give heed to doctrines of devils," 
 or demons ; and these demons pretend to an- 
 swer the call of the medium, with some 
 message from our friend. 
 
 Aside from revelation, two very important 
 things make this pretense absurd : 
 
 First, our departed friend, while in life, 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 157 
 
 could not have been induced to associate, in 
 any way whatever, with this vile nest of spir- 
 itualists who breed the doctrine of devils ; 
 for, throughout life, our loved one abominated 
 the damnable heresy ; and death produces no 
 change morally. Hence the assumption of 
 the medium, of a visit from such a one, is 
 unreasonable. 
 
 But, second, on the supposition that it were 
 possible for our friend to come back to earth 
 for any purpose, would it not be more reason- 
 able to suppose that the visit would be to 
 friends, kindred, and loved ones, than to sup- 
 pose our dearest, pure, loved one should seek 
 out the dark, stealthy seance, where are met, 
 for the orgies of demons, those whose morals 
 are bad, and whose theories ^and practices are 
 in flagrant violation of the laws and usages 
 of all decency in civilized lands ? Can any 
 sane man conceive it a reasonable thing that 
 a pure spirit, saved by the merit of the Lord 
 
 Jesus, all clad in white robe, washed in the 
 ii 
 
158 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 blood of the Lamb, should ever visit such 
 assembly of demons, both spiritual and incar- 
 nate, as is usually found in the circle of 
 spiritualists when convened for their nightly 
 sessions ? The very thought is revolting, and 
 is the reverse of all that the Scriptures have 
 taught us about the employment of the saints 
 in light. "A man is known by the company 
 he keeps." This will not be called in ques- 
 tion in this world. Like seeks like ; and it 
 is a law of our being that we are unhappy 
 if our associates be not congenial. Because 
 of this, men choose their associates to corre- 
 spond with their own tastes and morals. The 
 Scriptures draw the same distinctive line for 
 the spirit-life. And for the abode of the 
 good there must be preparatory cleansing ; 
 for "nothing that is unclean, impure, or un- 
 holy can enter there." But for the abode of 
 the wicked, all that is vile and impure shall 
 enter it. 
 
 Now, with such marked difference, how 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 59 
 
 absurd to suppose the spirits of the justified 
 ever appear to answer the call of a profligate 
 medium in this world ! We can conceive of 
 no more monstrous villainy than to impose 
 on the credulity of the bereaved and broken- 
 hearted, by bringing pretended messages, re- 
 ceived by spiritual mediums, to the sad and 
 sorrow-stricken ones. And the atrocious dia- 
 bolism is all the more hideous and hell-de- 
 serving when, as is usually the case, the 
 forged message is in flagrant opposition to 
 the whole life, faith, and practice of the 
 departed. 
 
 Let Christians beware ; for " the Spirit 
 speaketh expressly that in the latter times 
 some shall depart from the faith, giving heed 
 to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils." 
 
 To those who have already fallen into this 
 snare of Satan we have a word of counsel, 
 and we are done. 
 
 And, first, we are ready to admit that 
 many of you are sincere and honest in your 
 
160 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 convictions of the truth of what is called 
 spiritualism ; but you are the victims of the 
 cunning of both bad men and devils. This 
 we have plainly shown in these chapters. 
 Satan, who is ever seeking to turn the mind 
 of man away from God, was not slow in 
 recognizing the earnest desire of humanity to 
 peer into the mysterious abode of the dead, 
 and to learn something more than is revealed 
 in the Holy Scriptures of the employment of 
 the spirits of our friends in the spirit-world. 
 To the deception, he has from the first used 
 a double agency ; namely, wicked, deceitful 
 men, and demons. These constitute every 
 complete circle of spiritualists. These cun- 
 ning demons, under the tuition of Satan, 
 their chief, are masters in all jugglery, magic, 
 and witchcraft; and, with bad men and women 
 to help them, are able to make such demon- 
 strations in the "dark sittings" of the circle 
 as are calculated to deceive the credulous, 
 unsuspecting victim. 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. l6l 
 
 Let me remind you of a fact, patent even 
 to stanch spiritualists themselves, that should 
 excite your alarm. The pretended revelations 
 of the spirits are often flatly contradictory ; 
 and this very fact has ever been, and now is, 
 the greatest wonder to the believer in spirit- 
 ualism. For instance, in Chicago the spirit 
 of some great general or statesman has re- 
 ported himself present in the seance ; and, 
 after receiving the welcome of the circle, he 
 has proceeded to deliver messages. But, 
 strangely enough, the same noted character 
 reports himself present, the very same mo- 
 ment, in some dark, curtained room in New 
 York. And the same thing is repeated in 
 New Orleans, and in San Francisco. The 
 medium in each of those circles, in astonished 
 wonder, receives the most wonderful intelli- 
 gence from the spirit-world. But, alas for 
 the veracity of the noted spirit, not one of 
 his messages agrees with another ! They are 
 contradictory, and some of them senseless. 
 
1 62 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 Then, they can not all be true. Who can 
 explain this confusion ? It is bungling, even 
 for a devil. 
 
 Now, that noted spirits are often announced 
 as present in different places, at the same 
 time, will not be denied by any who are con- 
 versant with the " tricks of the trade." For 
 this, indeed — as we have intimated — is to 
 skilled spiritualists one of the most inexplica- 
 ble feats in all spiritualism. A firm believer in 
 the seance can never explain or understand it. 
 
 But, evidently, this is the solution, and the 
 only reasonable one that can be given : There 
 was no such spirit present in any one of those 
 circles ; but there were spirits of demons 
 present, to answer the call of the several 
 mediums in each of those distant cities. The 
 medium chanced to call for the same spirit. 
 Now, bear in mind, those demons are all the 
 children of him who is the father of lies ; and 
 they do credit to their chief. So, when the 
 medium, by certain cabalistic raps and signs 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 63 
 
 known to the craft, asked if the spirit of 
 Thomas Jefferson was present, the demons 
 responded affirmatively. But these junior 
 devils are finite, and not one could possibly 
 know what the other was answering ; hence 
 the confusion and contradictions. 
 
 It is known to the world that, repeatedly, 
 the spirits — which in all cases are demons, 
 and not, as is supposed, the spirits of de- 
 parted mortals — have been ensnared and con- 
 founded by unbelievers, who have asked them 
 if the spirit of some distant but living friend 
 was present. The spirit of the demon — as 
 we have said — being finite, does not always 
 know whether such person is dead or alive. 
 And because the question is asked, he sup- 
 poses the person dead, and readily personates 
 him. All know that, by this means, aston- 
 ished mediums have been made ashamed of 
 the confusion. 
 
 But those demons have vast knowledge of, 
 and acquaintance with, both men and things 
 
1 64 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 on the earth ; and have thus been enabled to 
 amaze and astonish the world, by reporting 
 themselves to the spiritual medium as the 
 spirit of some one not known to be dead. 
 Inquiry has shown the man to have died 
 without the knowledge of his friends at 
 home. But the demon who personated him 
 knew it ; and that was a grand achievement 
 for this heresy of Satan, spiritualism. 
 
 But, finally, we wish to conclude. Already 
 we have extended our hunt after this dan- 
 gerous heresy far beyond our original pur- 
 pose. Our one purpose has been to save the 
 honestly deceived — and they are many, for it 
 is a dangerous snare — and to convince the 
 confirmed spiritualist of the diabolism of his 
 heresy. And this we think we have plainly 
 proved, by common facts, by reason, and by 
 the inspired Scriptures. 
 
 And now, with an earnest prayer to the 
 God of all truth for your deliverance from 
 this snare of Satan, we entreat you, "Believe 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 65 
 
 not every spirit, but try the spirits whether 
 they be of God." And may the great 
 Eternal Spirit guide both you and us into 
 the way of all wisdom and truth, and bring 
 us at last into the safe abode of the spirits 
 of the just, where we shall be forever content 
 to abide in the presence of Jesus, by whose 
 merit we are saved ! 
 
 But, dear reader, while we have taken the 
 ground — and, we think, fairly maintained it — 
 that spiritualism is a snare of demons, by 
 which they deceive poor bewildered mortals, 
 by personating, in the seance, the friend whose 
 spirit you call for, and that no such spirit of 
 departed friend ever did or can answer your 
 call, yet we allow the ministration of spir- 
 its, even to mortals on earth ; and this we 
 shall show in the following chapter on Bible 
 Spiritualism. 
 
IX. 
 
 BIBLE SPIRITUALISM; OR, THE MINIS- 
 TRATION OF THE SPIRITS. 
 
 " Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to min- 
 ister for them who shall be heirs of salvation ?" — Heb. i, 14. 
 
 'THHE apostle, in this chapter, represents 
 •*- to the Hebrews the great favor of God 
 in giving his Son to be the all-sufficient sac- 
 rifice for all. And to show his great superi- 
 ority over all others, he presents him as a 
 divine, or as an uncreated Savior, bringing 
 messages of salvation unto them. There had 
 been, from the beginning of the first promise 
 of hope to man, messengers sent from God, 
 with instruction and the encouragement of 
 hope ; but these were created beings, who 
 only came to the heirs of salvation as in- 
 structed by the Master. Hence, they were 
 166 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 67 
 
 but fellow-heirs or fellow-servants of the same 
 God ; but the superiority of Jesus is shown 
 in that he possesses Divine Sonship, or is the 
 uncreated Messenger of God to man. Our 
 business with the subject now, is to ascertain 
 the office, mission, and extent of the minis- 
 tration of the spiritual messengers God is 
 pleased to send into the world, and to what 
 extent Christians are dependent upon them. 
 We notice : 
 
 1. The meaning of ministering spirits. 
 
 The term spirit may, in this Scriptural 
 sense, be defined as an immaterial, intelligent 
 substance, or an immaterial, intelligent being. 
 
 Ministration signifies the act of performing 
 service. 
 
 Ministering spirits, then, are messengers 
 sent from God on some service. 
 
 The lesson also teaches the service ren- 
 dered. But spirit, as applied to man, signifies 
 the reasonable soul, which continues in being 
 after the death of the body — the spiritual, 
 
1 68 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 reasoning, and choosing substance, capable 
 of eternal happiness — and means the soul. 
 Thus, when the dying Stephen said, in his 
 last prayer on earth, " Lord Jesus, receive my 
 spirit !" the prayer was for the reception of 
 the soul by the Lord Jesus. The likeness 
 and affinity is thus apparent. Intelligent 
 souls, or the unembodied angels of God in 
 heaven, and the embodied souls of the heirs 
 of salvation on earth, each and all are the 
 servants of the most high God. 
 
 The angels have kept their first estate, and 
 their happiness is complete in the unclouded 
 presence of their maker, God, and their im- 
 material wants are all met by his unobstructed 
 hand ; for in his presence there is fullness of 
 joy, and at his right-hand there are pleasures 
 for evermore. 
 
 But man is the victim of the Fall ; and, 
 though redeemed by the blood of Christ, yet 
 he is still on trial ; and, because of his weak- 
 ness and imbecility of mind, he is likely to 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 69 
 
 fail ; for Satan is yet a tempting devil, bent 
 on man's ruin. God would save him, and 
 calls out to him, " Look unto me, all ye ends 
 of the earth, and be ye saved." But poor 
 man, in his blindness, shouts back, in his 
 grief, " O, that I knew where I might find 
 him !" To his plaintive wail of trouble God 
 answers, "As I live, I have no pleasure in 
 the death of him that dieth, but would rather 
 all would turn unto me and live.'' " Turn ye, 
 turn ye ; for why will ye die ?" The bewil- 
 dered soul again calls out, while the bitter- 
 ness of death is upon him, How shall I 
 come ? To his cry the voice of God's Word 
 responds, " Let the wicked man forsake his 
 ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts," 
 and let him " repent and be converted ;" for 
 "except ye repent, ye shall all likewise per- 
 ish." The sorrowing one, thus taught, ex- 
 claims, " I do repent ; God be merciful to me 
 a sinner !" and instantly there is joy in the 
 presence of the angels of God ; for angels 
 
170 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 ever manifest a lively interest in all that per- 
 tains to the glory of God and the salvation 
 of man. Do you ask how the angels know? 
 We answer, the truth is plainly taught in the 
 Scriptures that these happy spirits have great 
 knowledge of all that pertains to man on 
 earth. What the medium of communication 
 is, it must be confessed, is more a matter of 
 conjecture. When the Scriptures would re- 
 duce it to our conception, figures of speech, 
 suited to the knowledge of mortals, are used. 
 Thus, in Jacob's dream, a ladder seemed to 
 rest on the earth, but its top touched the 
 stepping-stone of the grand gateway of 
 heaven, and the angels of God both ascended 
 and descended ; and the Savior told Nathaniel 
 that he should see heaven open, and the 
 angels of God ascending and descending upon 
 the Son of Man. But both their descent to 
 earth and ascent to heaven is in the interest 
 of man, and is for the glory of God ; for, 
 "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 171 
 
 forth to minister for them who shall be heirs 
 of salvation." And now we notice : 
 
 2. Their office and work with Christians. 
 
 The great apostle to the Gentiles charges 
 Timothy to act a faithful part, "before God, 
 and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect 
 angels ;" which, to our mind, plainly implies 
 that he was all the time under their eye and 
 inspection. The first preachers of the Gospel 
 of Christ were not only the "gazing-stock of 
 the earth," but were "a spectacle to angels." 
 
 How often or how constantly they accom- 
 pany our footsteps, or what the medium of 
 locomotion, is not now a question of impor- 
 tance ; nor need we be curious to know why 
 God — who knows us altogether, and has all 
 power to help us — employs them for our com- 
 fort. We may not know ; but may we not 
 say : There are seasons when these sons of 
 God speed on the wings of light from the 
 eternal throne, charged with a mission of 
 love, and freighted with the blessing of God, 
 
172 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 to some poor earth-worm, burdened with sor- 
 row and care, lifting the burden, and cheering 
 the heart ? for " we have not a high-priest 
 who can not be touched with the feelings of 
 our infirmities, but was in all points tempted 
 as we are, yet without sin, and angels came 
 and ministered unto him," and he is, to the 
 Christian, elder brother. Not only so, but 
 with him the Christian is joint-heir. 
 
 If angels ministered unto Jesus, in his sore 
 trial, and Christians are joint-heirs to the in- 
 heritance, might we not, without proof-texts, 
 assume they delight to wait on and cheer the 
 heart and hand of the weary pilgrim, as he 
 sojourns in this wilderness of sin ? But the 
 proof is not lacking ; for, " are they not all 
 ministering spirits, sent to minister for them 
 who shall be heirs of salvation ?" How they 
 do this, and to what extent, must be apparent 
 from a few considerations ; for we must bear 
 in mind they are not cumbered with material 
 bodies ; hence, no estimate of the velocity of 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 73 
 
 their movements can be made. And if it be 
 true that matter offers no more resistance to 
 spirit than to thought, then those spirits, 
 messengers of God, may be kneeling at the 
 throne eternal one moment of man's count, 
 and, having received a message from God the 
 Father, the next moment the messenger is 
 cheering thy heart. 
 
 Let us think of it one moment. God is in 
 heaven ; his saints militant are on. earth. 
 
 Now, God's children are as darling to him 
 as the apple of an eye ; but those children 
 are, while on earth, exposed to the tempter's 
 snare. They are also yet in school, and have 
 much to learn ; often their wisdom is at fault, 
 and their ignorance leads them astray. Some- 
 times they are in doubt, and know not what 
 is right. Paul says, " For we know not what 
 we should pray for as we ought." But God 
 sees it all, and God knows it all. The poor 
 bewildered soul is bowed down and sorrowing ; 
 
 earth seems cold, dark, and dreary ; and Satan 
 12 
 
174 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 tempts us with the thought : God has for- 
 gotten ; " curse God and die." So he tempted 
 Job ; so he will tempt you. But, go back, ye 
 gates of heaven, and let the eye of faith pen- 
 etrate the inner glory ! There, seated on the 
 eternal throne, sits and reigns the omnipotent 
 Father ; at his side stands our High-priest, 
 pleading for all his saints ; before the throne, 
 in countless throng, stand his saiifts, and the 
 angels are all around. The Father hears and 
 heeds ; a messenger is called and counseled ; 
 then, freighted with love, speeds his flight to 
 earth. He may go to the palace ; he is sure to 
 go to the cottage, where dwells the lone, sad- 
 hearted widow, with words of cheer and the 
 blessing of peace ; for they minister to the 
 heirs of salvation. 
 
 Are we asked why, and how ? To the first 
 we answer: God, who can speak a world from 
 nought, and can do all things without an 
 agency, chooses to carry on all his work by 
 the use of means, and has, from the beginning, 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 75 
 
 stamped both man and angel with nobility, 
 by making them his acknowledged partners, 
 especially in the great work of salvation. 
 See Psalm ciii, 21 : "Bless ye the Lord, all 
 ye his hosts ; ye ministers of his, that do his 
 pleasure." And also 2 Corinthians vi, 1 : 
 " We then, as workers together with him, be- 
 seech you also that ye receive not the grace 
 of God in vain ;" or 2 Corinthians v, 20 : 
 " Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as 
 though God did beseech you* by us : we pray 
 you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to 
 God." 
 
 By these Scriptures, the co-operation of both 
 men and angels with God in his work is plainly 
 taught. But the question is not of the fact, but 
 the reason ; and this is twofold : the glory of 
 God and the ennobling and lifting up of the 
 creature. For it must be borne in mind that, 
 though all Christians are the servants of God, 
 yet they are more — even partners with God in 
 the great work of salvation. But as man 
 
176 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 works with God for the good of his fellow- 
 man, so do the angels work for God, in help- 
 ing man. We have already said the angels 
 have a great knowledge of the affairs of men 
 on the earth. We now advance to the 
 thought of their great interest in those af- 
 fairs. See 1 Peter i, 12 : " Unto whom it was 
 revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us 
 they did minister the things, which are now 
 reported unto you by them that have preached 
 the Gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost 
 sent down from heaven ; which things the 
 angels desire to look into." 
 
 From this Scripture, and others, it is evi- 
 dent that angels are intensely interested in 
 the work of our salvation, ever using their 
 holy influence to win us to the way of life ; 
 and the proof is not wanting that they are 
 sometimes commissioned to hedge us in, and 
 prevent us from going into the paths of sin. 
 The case of the false prophet is in point. 
 Balak, King of the Moabites, seeing that Israel 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 77 
 
 was much too strong for him, conceived the 
 thought of getting Israel cursed by their God. 
 There was none that could bring this about, 
 in his judgment, save the prophet Balaam. 
 Alas! he was wont to pronounce blessings 
 on Israel. 
 
 But Balak sought him out, and said, " Curse 
 me this people, for they are too mighty for 
 me," The prophet treated the servants 
 kindly ; and, after counsel with God, he said 
 to Balak's messengers, " Get you into your 
 land, for the Lord refuseth to give me leave 
 to go with you." When this word was brought 
 to Balak, he was evidently sorely troubled, 
 and he determined to send more honorable 
 men, even princes. These said, " Let nothing 
 hinder thee from coming to Balak ; for he will 
 promote thee unto very great honor, and will 
 do whatsoever thou sayest ; only curse Israel." 
 Balaam was tempted ; but had not yet deter- 
 mined to go contrary to the word of the 
 Lord — no, not even for a " house full of gold 
 
178 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 and silver ;" but God, after having plainly 
 shown him that he did not approve of his 
 going, gave him permission. Balaam hurried 
 to seize the reward of iniquity ; and would 
 have cursed Israel, but God sent his angel to 
 stop up his way. How angry was Balaam 
 when first hindered ! how he smote the beast, 
 whose eyes first beheld the angel ! And not 
 until his own eyes were opened to behold the 
 heavenly visitant was he aware of his great 
 sin in striving to curse Israel. And when he 
 came to Balak, and the sacrifices were all 
 prepared, he could only say, " H6w shall I 
 curse whom God hath not cursed ? or how 
 shall I defy whom the Lord hath not defied ?" 
 
 Here, then, is a plain case of the restrain- 
 ing influence of ministering spirits, sent from 
 God to his servants on earth. * Without it, in 
 this case, the prophet must have fallen a 
 victim to the snare of his tempter. 
 
 May we not infer his children of to-day are 
 equally the objects of his care ? 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 79 
 
 Saul of Tarsus thought he was doing God 
 service when he persecuted the believers in 
 Jesus ; but God's Holy Spirit arrested him in 
 his course of madness, and directed him in 
 the way of life. 
 
 But those heavenly messengers not only 
 serve as guardian shields to his saints on 
 earth, but they also serve as counselors and 
 comforters of all who seek the fellowship of 
 God. " I will not leave you comfortless," 
 said Jesus ; " I will come unto you ;" and on 
 the inauguration-day of Christianity, or the 
 day of Pentecost, the Holy Ghost, in com- 
 forting power, fell on the believers in Jesus. 
 
 Then Paul and Silas, in the prison, wit- 
 nessed the presence and felt the power of 
 the heavenly apparition. So did Peter, though 
 in the gloomy jail ; and, to his inexpressible 
 •joy, his chains fell off, and he was free from 
 the loathsome dungeon. But we are all con- 
 cerned to know whether such heavenly visit- 
 ants are composed of the Holy Spirit of God 
 
180 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 and the angels of heaven, or do the spirits 
 of the dead in Christ ever revisit the earth ? 
 
 Bishop D. W. Clark, in his " Man all 
 Immortal," page 206, says : 
 
 " Among those myriads of angelic messen- 
 gers, is it not possible that there should 
 sometimes be found one who was once an 
 inhabitant of earth ? Is it not possible that 
 our departed kindred, our parents, our com- 
 panions, our dear children, that passed from 
 us in the bloom of life, a loved brother or 
 sister, may revisit earth and come to minister 
 to us in that which is holy and good ; to 
 breathe around us influences that will draw 
 us heavenward ? If it be possible to revisit 
 earth, this, no doubt, is the glorious mission 
 on which they would desire to come. 
 
 "The form in which the spirit of the de- 
 parted might be expected to visit us, would 
 be that of spiritual communion. There are 
 seasons when the soul seems to recognize 
 the presence of, and to hold communion with, 
 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. l8l 
 
 «% 
 
 the departed. They are like angelic visitants : 
 we meet them in our lonely walks, in our 
 deep and solemn meditations, and in our 
 closet communings ; we meet them when the 
 lengthening shadows hallow the eventide — 
 mysterious and solemn is their communion ; 
 we meet them when sorrows encompass us 
 round about, and hallowed is the influence 
 their presence imparts. Who shall say that 
 at such times there is not a real communion 
 between the living and the dead ?" 
 
 Hannah More, when dying, extended her 
 arms as if to embrace some one, called the 
 name of a beloved sister, long before departed, 
 and exclaimed " Joy !" and expired. Hosts of 
 similar cases might be given, in which dying 
 saints have given evidence of the presence 
 of loved ones, long in the spirit-land ; but we 
 forbear, that we may notice : 
 
 3. The goodness of God in such wise 
 provision. 
 
 The desire for immortality is found to 
 
1 82 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 exist in the heart of all intelligent beings, 
 and it is scarcely possible for the mind to 
 conceive of a more revolting thing than 
 annihilation. 
 
 Spiritualists of modern days make stronger 
 claim of immortality from spirit revelations 
 than from the Bible; indeed, some assert that 
 spiritualism must be maintained or immor- 
 tality must be denied. To this we dissent ; 
 for the interpretation given of spiritualism, 
 by spiritualists, is just as opposite to the 
 ministration of spirits as^light from darkness, 
 or righteousness from sin. But, thank God ! 
 we are not left to grope our way in the dark 
 uncertainties of spiritual seance for the blessed 
 assurance of immortality and eternal life ; but 
 God's blessed Word thrills with the breath- 
 ings of the spirit-life on almost every page ; 
 and, to assure comfort, and encourage our 
 holy longings, he gives first his Spirit, as a 
 reminder and as a comforter. And this is 
 but in accordance with the promise of the 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 83 
 
 Lord Jesus, " Lo, I am with you alway, even 
 to the end of the world." 
 
 The Christian, pleading this immortality 
 pledge, realizes the truth of that sublime 
 exclamation of the Christian poet : 
 
 " My God is reconciled, 
 
 His pardoning voice I hear ; 
 He owns me for his child, 
 
 I can no longer fear. 
 His Spirit answers to the blood, 
 And tells me I am born of God." 
 
 With such blessed assurance of an immor- 
 tal heirship with Jesus, can the proof of my 
 immortality be wanting ? Nay : but I grasp 
 the Bible truth, " Because he [that is, Christ] 
 liveth, I shall live also." 
 
 And such blessed assurance is given by 
 his Word and by his Spirit ; and to it all 
 the saints on earth and in heaven stand 
 witness. 
 
 Who cheered the heart of the dying 
 M'Kendree, as, in the final struggle, he 
 exclaimed, " All is well ?" 
 
1 84 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 Multiplied thousands of such cases" could 
 be given, all showing the presence of minis- 
 tering spirits, who have accompanied the 
 saint in life ; and, in the parting hour, the 
 heavenly watchers stand ready to waft the 
 astonished saint to their heavenly bowers. 
 
 Christian pilgrim, were you ever thrown 
 into a new circle of society, where you looked 
 for strangers ? What was your astonishment 
 and joy, to find yourself in the midst of 
 warmest friends ! The itinerant minister will 
 feel the force of this ; for this experience has 
 thrilled his heart often in life, as he and his 
 family have gone up and down in the earth, 
 preaching- Christ and the great salvation, with 
 no home but the hearts of his people. 
 
 Ah ! we shall not be strangers in heaven, 
 nor embarrassed for company ; for some one 
 of the ministering spirits, who have minis- 
 tered -to us in life, will stand ready to intro- 
 duce us, and to show us round the great city ; 
 and all our friends, relatives, and acquaintances 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 85 
 
 will greet us on the eternal shore. Shall we 
 know them ? O yes : we knew them in life ; 
 we saw them in death, and were not deceived ; 
 and now they meet us at the dividing line. 
 
 " My father and the chariots !" has thrilled 
 the hearts of thousands in all ages ; and you 
 and I may be permitted to exclaim, erelong, 
 as our ransomed spirits are freed from these 
 earth-clogs, " My father, my mother, my child, 
 my son or my daughter, my Savior ! for, % are 
 they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to 
 minister for them who shall be the heirs of 
 salvation ?' " Amen. 
 
X. 
 
 SPIRITUALISM A LOVER OF DARKNESS. 
 
 "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into 
 the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because 
 their deeds were evil." — John hi, 19. 
 
 OINCR the introduction of sin into the 
 ^ world, a characteristic feature of the sin- 
 ner's deeds has been a love of darkness and 
 a hatred of the light. And so deep-seated is 
 this in the hearts of men, that even when 
 moved to deeds of righteousness, in their 
 first inception, they seek the privacy or cover 
 of darkness. He to whom the above quota- 
 tion was addressed was doubtless convinced 
 that Jesus was a teacher sent from God, and 
 was persuaded that he could tell him about 
 the way of life. Hence, he was moved to 
 
 go to Jesus for instruction ; but, for some 
 186 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 87 
 
 reason, went at night. During the conversa- 
 tion that followed, Jesus called his attention 
 to this love of darkness by the unregenerate. 
 " They love darkness rather than light, be- 
 cause their deeds are evil." 
 
 " Light has come into the world." 
 " Let there be light," was the exclamation 
 of Jehovah, which dispersed the gloom and 
 drove back the long chaotic night of the ages. 
 Light is of Divine origin. "And God saw 
 the light that it was good, and he divided it 
 from the darkness, calling it day ; but he 
 called the darkness night." 
 
 In Scripture parlance, all that is good, pure, 
 and true is called light ; while all that is vile 
 and impure is called darkness — sometimes 
 blackness. And this is truly characteristic 
 of righteousness and sin. Man was originally 
 a creature of the light, and the redeemed are 
 always called children of the light. It is only 
 while men are rejecting salvation that they 
 love the darkness and hate the light. 
 
1 88 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 Scientists attempt to define the properties 
 of light, and to detect its origin. Thus, we 
 have the theory of emanation, which supposes 
 light to be a material fluid, of extreme sub- 
 tlety, emanating in particles from a luminous 
 body. Then we have the theory of undula- 
 tion, asserting that light is produced by the 
 undulations of an independent medium, set 
 in motion by some luminous body, losing 
 sight of the fact there can be no luminous 
 body without light. 
 
 Now, all this but puzzles the brain of the 
 student ; and by such scientific rules he will 
 hardly determine whether the natural light is 
 an emanation of the sun, the most luminous 
 body, or whether the sun is the reflex con- 
 centration of the light. But this we know, 
 God commanded the existence of light ; and, 
 seeing the light, he pronounced it good, and 
 divided it from the darkness. 
 
 After this, he commanded lights for the 
 firmament of the heaven : the greater one, the 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 89 
 
 sun, to rule the day ; the lesser ones, the 
 moon and the stars, to rule the night. 
 
 Skeptics and infidels reject this Bible ac- 
 count of the origin and existence of light 
 before the existence or construction of the 
 sun. But this class of maudlin thinkers re- 
 ject all that the Bible records of God and of 
 God's works, simply because their finite minds 
 can not grasp infinity. The Christian, seeing 
 these in hopeless confusion — for they do not 
 themselves agree — turns boldly to the Scrip- 
 tural truth, whether the light is dealt out to 
 mortal gaze by the sun, moon, or stars. 
 
 God is the author of it ; for he commanded 
 it into being before any of these concentrated 
 bodies of it were hung up in the heavens for 
 the gaze of earth's inhabitants. Deity is the 
 embodiment of light, and in him there is no 
 darkness at all. 
 
 But it follows, if God is light, then they 
 
 that are his walk in the light. David meant 
 
 this when he said, " They shall walk, O Lord, 
 13 
 
190 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 in the light of thy countenance : they shall 
 still be praising thee." 
 
 But again : light is but an emanation of 
 Deity ; and, if so, then where God dwells 
 there must be an infinite day. Earth is but 
 his footstool; but heaven is his dwelling- 
 place. When John, in Apocalyptic gaze, 
 peered over the embattled walls of heaven, 
 he exclaimed, with rapture: "There is no 
 night there f for " the Lord God Almighty 
 and the Lamb are the temple of it." "And 
 the city had no need of the sun, neither of 
 the moon, to shine in it ; for the glory of 
 God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the 
 light thereof." 
 
 God, then, is light ; and the character of it 
 must be purity and holiness. Friend, does it 
 shine upon thy pathway ? Then, 
 
 " Walk in the light ; so shalt thou know 
 That fellowship of love 
 His Spirit only can bestow, 
 Who reigns in light above." 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 191 
 
 But what are the revelations of light ? 
 
 1. It brings to our senses a knowledge of 
 existent facts. The glories of earth and 
 heaven are no better than the dungeon to 
 the blind ; for all is dark to them. In our 
 humane asylums for the blind, the teachers 
 accomplish much for the poor unfortunate 
 inmates, making them, happily, not only 
 masters in the cunning arts, but imparting 
 to them also a knowledge of letters. Yet 
 here is the limit of their power ; and a 
 knowledge of color, of the rainbow tints, and 
 the beauties of nature, no teacher ever yet 
 imparted to the born blind. 
 
 As in the physical, so in the moral world. 
 The light of God never falls upon the eye 
 of the alien soul. No infidel's creed ever 
 yet brought a knowledge of the true God, or 
 declared the revelations of Heaven. To such 
 it is all mystery — all gloom ; for the eye of 
 their understanding is darkened. There is 
 no light in them ; and this is their condem- 
 
192 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 nation : they love the darkness, and cherish 
 the gloom. 
 
 But it is the province of the light, if per- 
 mitted, to dispel the darkness and drive 
 away the gloom ; and this it does for all who 
 will come into it. But here is the strangest 
 anomaly: light has come into the world, but 
 men reject it, cherishing the gloom. They 
 continue to stumble into the dark pits of 
 doubt and sin. God has graciously given his 
 Word to shine as a lamp of life ; but men 
 reject it as all dark and full of mystery. The 
 good Spirit of God has been given to en- 
 lighten the world ; but men resist the striv- 
 ings of the Spirit and grieve it away, while 
 they remain in the darkness of nature's night. 
 
 It needs no argument to convince men of 
 the truth of some unsupplied want of their 
 nature ; for there is, evidently, at least a 
 partial knowledge of something wrong, of pos- 
 sible danger, which leaves men restless and 
 unsettled. Nothing can be more apparent than 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 93 
 
 the truth of the Scriptural declaration, " There 
 is no peace to the wicked." In evidence, 
 study the teeming millions of our race who 
 reject God and his Word, as they struggle in 
 hopeless unrest. See them in heathen lands, 
 as they grope in the dark. See them in 
 Christian lands, as they fly to every refuge 
 of lies, in the vain hope of finding rest and 
 quiet for the wretched conscience. 
 
 But we wish to offer one thought more of 
 the light ; and that is, its accessibility for 
 all ; and in this may be seen the goodness 
 of God. 
 
 The greater light that rules the day — our 
 sun — is, we maintain, the concentration, or 
 the embodied form, of material light ; and 
 this is so centrally hung up in the firmament 
 of heaven, that all the inhabitants of the 
 earth may behold its rays and walk in its 
 light. And under its warming influence, the 
 great world of vegetation is quickened into 
 life, joy, beauty, and gladness. " The Lord 
 
194 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 God is a Sun and a Shield. " The Lord 
 Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness, and it 
 pleased the Father that in him should all 
 fullness dwell. This great light is for the 
 lightening of the eyes of earth's blinded 
 millions. Has he not declared that this was 
 the great purpose of his being lifted up, that 
 he might draw all men unto himself? 
 
 Men stumble in mines and pits, with but 
 the flickering, artificial light of the taper, 
 while the great blazing sun is shining with a 
 perfect flood of light in the heavens above 
 them. So, even in Christian lands, in the 
 light of the Gospel of Christ, men stumble 
 in the dark pits of sin, strangely — ah ! stub- 
 bornly — shutting the eye of reason and faith 
 against every ray of light, which, if admitted, 
 must discover to them not only their folly, 
 but also their danger, and the only way out 
 of it. "This is their condemnation. " 
 
 But " they love darkness. " And this will 
 lead us to speak of the character of darkness. 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. ^195 
 
 And as we have, in the forepart of this chapter, 
 maintained that God is the embodiment and 
 author of light, and attempted to show that 
 all who are his walk in the light, so, now, we 
 assert, and shall proceed to prove, that Satan 
 is prince of darkness, and that all his servants 
 stumble in the dark. 
 
 We are wont to speak of what we do not 
 understand as dark, all dark, Satan has ever 
 plied his hellish arts in the dark. So he 
 came to the first pair; and, under the' dark, 
 impenetrable pall of false pretense, he accom- 
 plished his work of diabolism. He has never 
 changed his cursed tactics ; for they have 
 been altogether too successful in deluding 
 souls to ruin to be given up ; and with mys- 
 terious, dark, and damning schemes, he entan- 
 gles men to this day. Hence, he is truth- 
 fully called the prince of darkness, and the 
 dark adversary. 
 
 This being his character, we are not sur- 
 prised that his foulest deeds are wrought in 
 
I96 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 darkness. We have given the case of Saul, 
 King of Israel. While he remained a right- 
 eous man, he was wont to consult God in all 
 that pertained to his kingdom. And this he 
 did before the altars of God, in open day, 
 through the prophets of the God of Israel. 
 But when he — by his sins — had lost the favor 
 of God, he sought not only impenetrable dis- 
 guise, but the cover of a dark night, to confer 
 with the witch of En-dor. 
 
 So, to-day, while men love mercy and deal 
 justly, and worship the God of their fathers, 
 they seek Heaven's broadest light ; but when 
 their deeds are evil, and they are without the 
 light of the grace of God in their hearts, then 
 do they seek the mantle of thick darkness ; 
 and, carefully excluding the light, they seek 
 audience with the spirits of darkness. And 
 here, in the dark, does the restless, God-for- 
 saken heart of thousands in our day, in this 
 Christian land, under the deceptive name of 
 spiritualism, offer strange service at the altars 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 197 
 
 of strange gods. Under the delusion that 
 they are holding conference with the spirits 
 of the dead, they blindly confer with demoni- 
 acal spirits ; or, as Isaiah says, they confer 
 with wizards that peep. 
 
 But so has Satan ever worked. His first 
 efforts are to blind the eyes of the under- 
 standing ; and such are his deceptive powers, 
 that men under his influence imagine they 
 see more clearly than all others. This makes 
 the conflict between light and darkness all 
 the greater ; for, if men imagine they see, all 
 the world can not make them believe they 
 are in darkness. 
 
 Take, in proof, the bigoted Catholic, of this 
 or any country. Taught by an unholy priest- 
 hood to believe in the power of the priest to 
 grant special indulgence, the deluded devotee 
 will go straightway from solemn mass to the 
 beer-garden or brothel, where, in riotous sin, 
 debauchery, and shame, he will spend God's 
 most holy day, under the delusive conviction 
 
198 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 that he has permission to do so, because he 
 has paid his money to " father confessor in 
 Holy Mother Church." 
 
 Are you shocked at this, pious Protestant ? 
 Well, know this : you can no more change 
 him from his convictions, that he has a perfect 
 right thus to indulge in beastly lusts, than you 
 can change the laws of gravity ; for so he is 
 taught from his infancy. Satan has deluded 
 the priest, and the priest has deluded the 
 man ; and thus a chain of deceptions — well- 
 connected — has run from Pope to laity for 
 many generations. Gross darkness has, indeed, 
 covered the people. 
 
 Now, it is evident to the thinking that this 
 accursed, ruinous system has been, and now 
 is, kept up and perpetuated by deception. 
 And the deception is preserved and sustained 
 by withholding the Bible from the hands of 
 the common members of this " mother of har- 
 lots." Or, in other words, give the Bible to 
 the members of the Catholic Church, and in 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 1 99 
 
 ten years it would either be reformed or it 
 would pass out of existence. 
 
 But we have said it is Satan's policy to 
 delude and keep men in the dark. His ban- 
 ner is the mantle of thick darkness. Under 
 this, he matures his plans for the ruin of 
 souls ; and he even laughs at the light of, 
 heaven or the revelation of God's Word, so 
 long as he can hold men under the folds of 
 his flag, which is darkness and doubt. 
 
 Of course, there is much confusion in the 
 ranks of his votaries, because they are in the 
 dark ; and it would not be reasonable to ex- 
 pect them even to understand themselves, 
 much less one another. Consequently, we 
 find in Satan's service a conglomerate mass, 
 agreeing in but one thing ; namely, they all 
 "love darkness, because their deeds are evil." 
 Some are openly infidel, some are atheists, 
 some are Universalists, some are free-lovers, 
 some are freethinkers, and many are spirit- 
 ualists; but, as admitted, all love darkness, 
 
200 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 and are opposed to God and righteousness. 
 And all are in restless confusion, and are like 
 blind men groping their way in the dark ; 
 and are ready to follow after every ignis- 
 fatims of demoniacal or human device. But 
 such is the character of darkness, to confuse 
 and to confound. 
 
 Nor is it strange that no single faction of 
 Satan's votaries agree among themselves. 
 Perhaps the fairest sample of this is found 
 among spiritualists. That some of them are 
 advocates of good morals and decency, cher- 
 ishing some respect for chastity and virtue, 
 will not be denied. But what Christian fa- 
 ther or mother, or what man or woman who 
 has one grain of respect for virtue, could read 
 the reports of their late convention — held in 
 Cincinnati — without the tinge of shame man- 
 tling the brow. And yet the reports went 
 into thousands of Christian families, to the 
 insult of decency and the disgrace of public 
 journalism. 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 201 
 
 One blatant shrew (a Miss B.), in a speech 
 at the above convention, defied any man in 
 the convention to tell which of the children 
 of the household were his own. And it must 
 be told, to the everlasting disgrace of this 
 convention of spiritualists, that this flippant, 
 insulting, defiant challenge was loudly cheered. 
 
 Tell it not to the heathen of any land where 
 we have Christian missionaries, but these are 
 the people who claim to have taken advanced 
 ground in spiritual knowledge! 
 
 But stay, reader. Do n't suppose, from the 
 seeming openness of the above speech, and 
 the daylight sessions of the conventions this 
 people hold throughout the country, that 
 they are therefore not afraid of the light. 
 Nay : these are but the external outcroppings 
 of the damning lessons studied in the dark 
 seance, where demons are the tutors, and 
 lecherous men and women are the students. 
 Here, in this school of Satan, lessons are 
 learned fit only for the brothel, and corrupting 
 
202 SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 
 
 enough to ruin a saint — lessons at once an 
 outrage upon humanity and contradictory of 
 all God's Word ; but these lessons are all 
 learned in the dark, and are as secret as the 
 Roman confessional. 
 
 Some respectable spiritualists — for such 
 there are, despite the corrupting influences to 
 which they are exposed by association — will 
 think these strictures lacking in charity ; but 
 such unfortunate persons as have fallen vic- 
 tims to this Satanic agency will need no 
 proof that the vilest and most corrupt men 
 and women of this age, both in Europe and 
 America, are most prominent in the seance, 
 or so-called spiritual circle. And here, with 
 every ray of light shut out, these vile, brutish 
 demons incarnate come into closest contact 
 with the husbands, wives, and daughters of 
 respectable families, and sometimes — it may 
 be — with virtuous young men and women. 
 How long virtue could be maintained with 
 such associations, is a question many have 
 
SPIRITUALISM AND NECROMANCY. 203 
 
 solved to their shame and sorrow, having 
 proved by sad experience that "evil commu- 
 nications corrupt good manners." 
 
 But already we have extended this chapter 
 beyond what we intended. We close it with 
 the Scriptural warning : " This is the con- 
 demnation, that light is come into the world ; 
 and men loved darkness rather than light, 
 because their deeds were evil." 
 
 THE END. 
 
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