pv / ^o« c °\*i^ °o ,v** / ^ V <> <* r ^ B* ^o< k '• ** v \ \ •^ o ?> "V ^' gJesus and the (Dbdiums, — OR— ©HI^IST 2# GQediumship. A CAREFUL COMPARISON OF SOME OF THE Spiritualism and Mediumship of the Bible With That of To-day, Showing Their Condi- tions to be the Same. BY MOSES HWLL-, Author of "The Question Settled," "The Contrast Between Evangelicalism and Spiritualism," "Which, Spiritualism or Christianity?" "Your Answer or Your Life," "Joan, the Heroine or Orleans," " The Irrepressible Con- flict or The Battle Between Rich Robbers and 1^ ' .* Poor Producers," "The Decay of Institu- » iLW" tions," "All about Devils," and other /I ^ Works on Spiritualism and £ General Reform. tk He that answereth a matter before he heareth it y it is a folly and a shmae unto him." Prov. xviii:i3. CHICAGO: PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, 29 Chicago Terrace, Cor. W. Fortieth St. 1890. " A * Entered According to the Act of Congress, in the year 1890. By MOSES HULL, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. PREFACE. This is in reality the third edition of this little book. First ; by request of those who heard it, it was issued as a lecture under the title " Biblical and Modern Mediumship Compared." That seemed only to whet the appetite for the truths herein con- tained, and a revised edition was issued under the title "The Christ, Who and What is it? or some of the Spintulism and Mediumship of the Bible com- pared with that of to-day." I now have the pleas- ure of presenting a third edition revised and electrotyped. I assure the reader that no mere cacoethes scribendi has induced me to take my pen at the present time. Indeed, I have been importuned for years to bring out a series of just such works as this. By writing 'Question Settled," and "The Contrast," for a ime, this clamor was partially settled; but my friends persist in thinking there must be more where these two volumes came from, and they ask for ito IV PREFACE. I am fully convinced that Spiritulists generally have ignored the Bible too much. Many have sought lo take the Bible from the churches and spike it. In the following pages the Bible, by being proven to be a spiritual book, is not spiked, but is turned against those who supposed that to them belonged the exclusive privilege of interpreting that volume. When the Bible is interpreted aright, those who, without knowing but little of its contents, have worshiped the book as a kind of f etisch, and looked with suspicion on every innovation, may be led lo look more favorably on Spiritualism ; and at the same time Spiritualists may be induced to pay some attention to that great store-house of Spiritual Truths. With the hope that this little pamphlet may be the means of opening many pairs of eyes, I send it out on its mission. Moses Hull. Chicago, III., ) Sept., 1890. ) JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. " The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be ; and that which is done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun." Eccl. i:9. " That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been ; and Godrequireth that which is past. " Eccl. iii :15. The Bible contains no truth more self-evident than the one contained in these scriptures. So long as conditions remain unchanged, each succeeding age must prod uce the manifestations of everyformer age. If miracles occurecl in the past they must oc- cur to-day; if we have particular manifestations of spirit power to-day, the same conditions which produce them now must have produced them in past ages. Mediumship is not confined to a particular race, age or dispensation; it is based on the natural sus- ceptibility of man to come en rapport with the world of spirit. By this I mean that mediumship is natural, not supernatural. I do not mean that all men and all women are alike mediums, more than all are alike orators or poets; what I do affirm 6 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, is, that the gift belongs alike to all ages and nations of the world. Paul said : " But the manifestation of the spirit is given to every man to profit withal." 1 Cor. xii :7. Who has not asked spirits and mediums the ques- tion, "Am I a medium?" or, "What kind of a me- dium would I make?" The first of these questions is always answered in the affirmative; but when the second question is asked the answers are various, and sometimes thought to be contradictory. Why is this? Let me answer: All are mediums: "The spirit is given to every man." One of old said: "But there is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding." Job. xxx :8. Every member of the human family, whether ne knows it or not, is a spiritual being; spirit blends with spirit, therefore every one has within himself or herself the possibilities, though latent, they may be, of coming in contact with the world of spirit. That is mediumship, and, in that sense, every one is a medium. 2. I have often been asked, "Why do I get so many contradictory answers as to the phase of my mediumship?" Before I answer permit me to ask: Are you sure these answers are contradictory? May it not be that those who answer your queries, view the matter from different standpoints? Supposing four of your neighbors were to pass to the other side of life within the next month ; one is a minis- ter, another a doctor, another an artist and another an author; it is possible that these four may all OR CHRIST AND MKDIUMSHIP. 7 feel that they have left their work unfinished ; they may each of them have a desire to return and con- tinue their business. Now suppose these four all come to the same circle, and you ask each of them whether you could be a medium ; the answer would probably in each instance be, "Yes." Then ask each of them what kind of a medium you would make, and probably each would view your organism from his particular point of view. One would tell you you would make an inspirational speaker, or a trance medium; another, that you would make a healer or a "medicine man." Another might see in you the elements of an artist, and still another that he could develop you as a writing medium. There is no contradiction in all these answers; the probability is that there is that within you that could be developed in any of these directions. THEN AND NOW. My subject leads me to a comparison of biblical and modern mediumship, and I must premise that on this subject the world has very generally made two very grave mistakes. One is, it has made more of biblical mediums than the case would warrant, and the other is, it has very generally discounted that which has occurred within its immediate pur- view. This is not peculiar to Spiritualism; men have always done it; the mountains in the distance are indeed " the beautiful hills, Which the blest have trod," but when one reaches these same ' 'beautiful hills," 8 J£SUS AND THK MEDIUMS, he finds them covered with thorns and briers, crag- gy rocks and deep ravines ; so when we look back upon the manifestations of past ages we regard them as wonderful, whereas, if they occured here, or if we had been where they did occur we probably would have joined with the multitude that wit- nessed them, in saying: 44 What sign showest thou then, that we may see and believe thee ? What dost thou work !" Jno. vi :30. These people could see nothing in Jesus or his work. The people now viewing his work from a distance of nearly nineteen centuries have no trouble in seeing enough in Jesus' work to prove him a God. Those same people who could see nothing in Jesus, could look back through fifteen hundred years to Moses, and could see plainly that he was a divinely commissioned leader. Hear them talk of what their fathers enjoyed. The next verse after the one just quoted says: " Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written : He gave them bread from heaven." This the Jews of Jesus' day, could plainly see, but when we go back to those halcyon days when they enjoyed the "bread from heaven," we hear those who ate it, say: " Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness; for there is no bread, neither is their any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread." Num. xxi :5. In Jesus' day, the old, staid church-members re- viled those who witnessed his manifestations, and said : OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 9 4 'Thou art bis disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. We know that God spake with Moses; as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is." Jno. ix:28, 29. This is enough ; it proves the pointl wish to make — that is, that people are more apt to see things at a distance than when they occur in their midst. The world has always seen more through the eyes of its grand fathers than through its own eyeo. I now take the position, that if Jesus was not the hero of some Spiritualistic author, he was ONLY A MEDIUM. Of this the proofs are abundant and will appear as I proceed. Suffice it for the present, to quote Paul, who says: " For there is one God, and one meditator between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus. 1 Tim. ii:5. The word rendered meditator in this instance, is the Greek word mesitees. The definition of that word is medium. Greenfield defines the word to mean a "medium of communication between God and man." JESUS' DEVELOPMENT. "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straight-way out of the water ; and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him ; and, lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Matt, iii :16. This text is frequently read wrong, and I believe always interpreted wrong. It is always made to imply that somehow if you had been there you 10 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, would have seen a ghost, in the shape of a bird, light upon Jesus, and you would have heard a voice calling Jesus the Son of God. Neither is true; the heavens were not opened to the multitude. Read the text once more : "And the heavens were opened unto him"— not to the multitude. Again : "And he saw the Spirit of God descending.'' The multitude did not see a spirit descending; Jesus alone saw it. Once more, I have heard it said the spirit descended " in a bodily shape like a dove." Even Luke indicates as much. Does anyone believe that spirits are shaped like doves? If so, God may be a big bird instead of an overgrown man ! May it not be that the descent was like that of a dove, instead of the spirit being shaped like a dove? Why should spirits be more likely to be shaped like doves than like geese, owls, cranes or buzzards? If this is the meaning of the text, which I do not believe, why not call it a materialization, such as we hear of in Modern Spiritualism? I know mediums, Mrs. Thayer-Goodsell, for instance, who frequently has doves descend and light upon persons in her seances. Once more : " This is my beloved Son." Who is whose son? The voice does not say Jesus is my be- loved son, or he is my beloved son. The term this applies to the power here recognized as the holy spirit. Son, is simply an idiom, and signifies a kind of affinity or spiritual connection, as, "Sons of Thun- der," "Sons of Belial," "Ye are of your father, the devil," "Children of this world," etc. Indeed, the word rendered children in the above, is the plural OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 11 of the same singular noun which is rendered son in Matt, iii:17. HOW JESUS BECAME A CHRIST. Peter, at the house of Cornelius, in Acts x:38, throws some light on this question. He says: "God anointed {Greek ekrisen, christened, or christ-ed — that is, made a Christ of] Jesus of Nazareth with the holy ghost and with power ; who went about doing good and healing allthat were oppressed with the devil ; for God was with him." This anointing or making a Christ of Jesus took place at the baptism of John. Here let it be re- marked that baptism was always administered for the purpose of spiritual development — never for any other purpose. When Peter urged the people to repent and be baptized, it was not to fit them for a heaven here- after, but that they might receive the gift of the holy ghost, — hagion pneumatos — pure, or good spirit. Acts ii:38. OTHER CHRISTS. All may be Christs or mediums, on exactly the same terms as Jesus was. John says: "But the anointing Tchristing] which ye have received of him abideth in you, and you need not that any man teach you ; but the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.' , [Abide in it— Margin.] Here the same anointing or christing which came to Jesus, and which many good Christians think made him a God, comes to others and does 12 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, precisely the same work for them that it did for him. No one can deny that this anointing or christing is mediumship. See what it does. "Itabideth in you." "Ye need not that any man teach you." "The same anointing teacheth you," and you are instructed to "abide in him." The margin reads "abide in it," that is, in Christ — in the anointing, — in mediumship. Probably the old idea that Christ was a person caused the translators to make the mistake of making the text read "abide in him." Christing or anointing, means mediumship ; nothing else. It would do no violence to the text under consideration to read it as follows: "But the mediumship which you have received of him abideth with you, and you need not that any man teach you; but the same mediumship teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even a-s it hath taught you, ye shall abide in it.'' The same word occurs in verse 20, of the same chapter where John says: "But ye have an unction [a christing] from the holy one and ye know all things." In 1 John v : 1, I read : " Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.' It would be just as correct to read it "Every one who believes that Jesus is the anointed, or is the medium has been begotten of God." I go into these criticisms because the world needs them, and I assure the reader that no honest scholar will question them. I must not take the space to go into this fully but I will quote and briefly comment on one tex Paul says : OR CHRIST AND MKDIUMSHIP. 13 "If ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs accord- ing to the promise." Gal iii :28. This is quoted and referred to in the posessive case as though Paul had intended to say* "If you belong to a man by the name of Christ or, if you are owned by Mr. Christ, then are you Abraham's seed; but Paul did not convey any such idea. He intended to say. If you are anointed, or if you prefer to read it so, read, "If you are mediums cer- tainly you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise." The term seed does not signify literal offspring, but a likeness — a spiritual likeness to Abraham. Abraham was a medium under the influence of Melchisedec. I cannot spare the space to go all through the Bible and show that the term Christ generally re- fers to a power conferred upon Jesus and others. In many instances we read of Jesus the Christ, which means no more or less than Jesus the medium. The term Messiah or Messias, used several times in the New Testament, means the same thing. WHAT OF THE OPPOSITION? Not only was the Spiritualism and the medium- ship of the Bible the same as that of to-day, as it is my intention to prove, but the opposition to Spir- itualism is the same as the opposition was then. Paul said : " Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth." 2 Tim. iii :8. How do these men resist the truth? Simply by 14 J3SUS AND THB MEDIUMS, trying to palm off duplications of the manifestations through Moses. When Moses gave a manifestation, the record says: " Jannes and Jambres also did in like manner with their en- chantments." Ex. iii:ll. The opposition proved to their own satisfaction that Jesus was a humbug. They tested him on several occasions. To try his clairvoyance, after they arrested him they blindfolded him, then slip- ped up behind him and smote him, saying: u Prophesy unto us who it was that smote thee*" Luke xxii :64. Jesus' clairvoyant power did not stand the test proposed by these religious skeptics, and he passed among them as a humbug. Even after Jesus was on the cross the mocking priests proposed to be- lieve, on certain conditions. Their language was: u He saved others ; [pretended to save others,] himself he can- not save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him " Matt, xxvii :42. The above was the voice of the priests. The com- mon people wagged their heads and said: u Thou that destroy est the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross." Verse 40. The Jews were always demanding the thing to be done here and now. Jesus, in the very beginning of his ministry, said: 11 Ye will surely say unto me this proverb. Physician, heal thyself. Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernium, do also here in thy country. " Lukeiv:23. -. The works these fellows demanded were not done OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 15 to gratify a bevy of curiosity seekers, neither is it, nor should it be attempted now. FALSE MEDIUMS AND FALSE APOSTLES. Of course there are false mediums to-day ; the world is filled with mercenary pretenders who will take up anything for the sake of brief notoriety or money, but was it not always so? Paul, in 2 Cor. xi:13, warns his brethren against "false apostles," and "deceitful workers," or tricksters who used "the livery of heaven to serve the devil in." The trouble with the world is, that it does not think. With many Spiritualists and anti-Spiritualists, these pretenders to mediumship are mediums, and thus Spiritualism is, by them, thrown into bad repute. The tricks played in the name of Spiritualism, as well as the tricks played to prove Spiritualism all tricks are probably as much like genuine Spiritual- ism as the "enchantments" of Jannes and Jambres were like the manifestations produced by Moses. They are about as much like genuine manifestations as a green horse-chestnut looks like a peach. DID JESUS ' EVER FAIL. A debater once said in discussion with myself. "I witnessed a case of pretended spiritual healing this morning ; it was a failure. The patient was but little, if any better. Jesus never failed ; that is one of the differences between Jesus and the mediums.' Now, I ask is he sure that Jesus never failed? 16 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, Let me cite one cas^e. Jno. v:l-9 reads as follows: " After this there was a feast of the Jews ; and Jesus went up Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of important folk, of blind, bait, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water ; whosoever then first after the troubling of the water then stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there* which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had now been a long time in that case, he saith unto him, wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool ; but while I am coming another steppeth down before me, Jesus saith unto him, rise, take up thy bed and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed and walked, and on the same day was the sabbath." Here " there was a great multitude of impotent folks, of blind halt, withered." This surely was an opportunity for Jesus to display his miracle work- ing power — his God power, by healing this "great multitude." Why did he not do it? I answer, he lacked either the goodness or the power ; I would have cured the "great multitude" if I could, so would Jesus. But when the man took up his bed and walked, Jesus walked off too, and left this multitude of sufferers. The explanation is simply this: when Jesus looked over this multitude of sick people, he saw one whom his clairvoyant power told him he could benefit; he cured that one, as he saw no others there he could help he did just what others would have done ; that is, he went off and left the multi- tude sick. Here the healing compared with the OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 17 failure to heal, is as one compared with a "great multitude." JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS. My readers may not have looked at this matter, but if they will investigate they will find a wonder- ful similarity in the reputed miracles done by Jesus eighteen hundred vears ago and the manifestations through mediums to day. As an illustration, take the resuscitation of the Ruler's daughter. Luke says : "And when he [Jesus] came into the house, he suffered no man to go in save Peter and James and John and the father and mother of the maiden. And all wept and bewailed her; but he said, Weep not ; she is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. And he put them al out and took her by the hand and called, saying, Maid, arise; and her spirit came again and she arose straightway." From the foregoing, it appears that Jesus' mani- festations of power were not for the public. Why was not this motley crew of unbelievers and blas- phemers permitted to behold this manifestation? Why was he so secret with his miracles? Only Peter, James and John and the girl's parents were admitted. Why? Only one answer can be given. The reason probably is, Because, in order to make a success of this manifestation they must have a harmonious circle. Had this rabble of curiosity seekers been admitted, their influence — their mag- netism would have prevented the manifestation. The same was true when Peter healed Tabitha, who was supposed to have been dead. The record says: 18 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, u But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down and prayed ; and, turning himself to the body, said, Tabitha arise ; and she opened her eyes ; and when she saw Peter she sat-up." Acts ix:40. I presume Peter put them out because it was nec- cessary; he could not heal the woman even with her friends present. The same may be said of the deaf man. The record is in Mark vii:32-34, and is as follows: "And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an im- pediment in his speech and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude ', and put his fingers into his ears and he spit and touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven he sighed, and saith unto him, Eph- phatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. " Does not this look much more like many ot the cases of healing in modern times than it does like a miracle wrought by one of the Gods, or by a son of one of the Gods? Jesus takes this man away from the multitude. Evidently this is done so that he could have more power over his infirmities than he could have where he had all the uncongeniality of their magnetisms to overcome. Again, Jesus uses means; he uses saliva and the magnetism imparted from his fingers. Why did Jesus do this? Probably because it was among the necessary conditions of accomplishing his work. Surely a God — the third person in the trinity, does not require such conditions as these for his miracles! If Jesus was only a medium then it would naturally be expected that he would OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 19 require the same conditions as are required in sim- ilar modern manifestations. The blind man who had his eyes opened, is an- other case in point. It reads as follows: "And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town, and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw aught. And he looked up and said, 1 see men as trees walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes and made him look up ; and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town." Mark viii :23-26. John ix:6, instead of saying "he spit on his eyes," says: " He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, arid he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay." From this it seems that Jesus was simply a "medicine man," using such remedies as occurred to him. Whether it was the magnetism, the clay or the spittle, or whether it was all three combined that accomplished this cure, we are not informed. The points that clearly appear are: 1. Jesus found it necessary to take this man out of the town — away from the crowd, in order to heal him. 2. He used means; magnetism, spittle and clay. 3. He tried twice before he accomplished the cure, and 4. He charged the man to go to his house, not to return to the town nor tell anyone, but to go quietly to his own house. Why this charge? I can see no reason except that the agitation caused by this wonderful cure 20 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, would create a discussion of the question that would bring him en rapport with the magnetism ot the people and cause him to loose what he had gained. won't let us see. A common objection urged against Spiritualism is, that much of it is done in the dark, or in a cab- inet, or under a table. All this is proof to the average skeptic, "as strong as holy writ;" that it is trickery. One minister, who shall be nameless here, even urged that the writing should come, not between two closed slates, even when the slates were held by himself, but they must come on top of the slate in broad daylight, and that with him- self and a half dozen other equally determined not- to-be-convinced-persons looking at it. He knew exactly what he was about and would except nothing less than his own kind of manifestations, under his own conditions and on his own terms. As I heard this I thought priests had not improved much in the point of consistency since they said, •'Let him come down from the cross and we will believe." How much of the Bible could this min- ister accept if he demanded the same terms he now demands of mediums? At the burning of the bush ; or rather, at the time Moses saw the spirit light in the bush, the angel said : "Draw not nigh hither. Put off thy shoes from off thy feet,, for the place whereon thou standeth is holy ground." Ex. iii :5 If Moses had been afflicted with the grabbing pro- pensity, he probably would never have obtained the OR CRHIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 21 messages, through which Israel was finally rescued and saved. When Jesus appeared to the weeping Mary, he said : "Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my father and to your father." Jno. xx :17. Probably a majority of those who are opposed to dark circle manifestations, do not realize that the Ten Commandments were given in the dark, and probably spoken through a horn. In the first place the Lord came "m a thick cloud" See Ex. xix:9. This Lord was an angel, or a departed human spirit. See Acts viii:53, Gal. iii:19, Heb. ii:2. 2. They were not permitted to so much as touch the mountain where the manifestations were given. The angel was determined there should be no op- portunity for grabbing there. The record is as follows : "And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saj T - ing, take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it. Whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death. There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall be surely stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live ; when the trumpet soundeth long they shall come up to the mount." Ex. xix :11 14. Here they could only go up to the mount — the cabinet — as they were called up by the long sound- ing of the trumpet, so, in modern cabinet manifes- tations, the sitters forming the circle around the cabinet as the Hebrews did around the mount, only go up to the cabinet as they are invited, 3. Under no circumstances must they "break through and gaze" or go up to the mount, only as 22 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, they were called one at a time by the long sound of a trumpet. Verses 19-24 contain the following: "And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount; and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up, and the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and msfny of them perish. And let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them. And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai, for thou chargest us saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it. And the Lord spake unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt came up, thou and Aaron with thee. But let not the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break forth upon them." 4. The people obeyed these injunctions and kept themselves "afar .off," while Moses went into the "thick darkness where God was," Ex. xx: 18-20, "And all the people saw the thunderings and lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off. * * * and when Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was." Ever}' person in the habit of attending spiritual seances, especially dark circles, can see that the above is simply a vivid description of a dark seance with its spirit-lights, voices and other et ceteras. One would hardly believe when he hears minis- ters objecting to dark circle manifestations and to seances in the night that the Bible was so fnll of such things as it is. On this subject it may not be amiss ior me to occupy a little space. Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage, in one of his periodical attacks of spirit-phobia, says : OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 23 "Why did not Saul go in the day ? He was ashamed to go. Besides that, he knew that this Spiritual medium, like all her successors, performed her exploits in the night. * * * The mediums of all ages have chosen the night, or a darkened room. Why ? The majority of their wonders have been such swindles, and deceptions prosper best in the night." I shall not here undertake to make an extended reply to this, it is unnecessary, but I might ask: Why did Nicodemus go to Jesus by night? Then I might answer: It is because he was ashamed to go in the day-time. The truth is, I do not believe that our best mani testations, or a majority of the manifestations, oc- cur in the night. I do believe that in the night the elements are less agitated and therefore conditions are better for certain kinds of manifestations. But the reverend gentleman's objections against manifestations in the night weigh with all their force against the biblical manifestations. Those whose curiosity leads them to pursue this subject farther might take their B bles and look up the following scriptures: I have before said, Nicodemus went to Jesus by night. Jno. iii :2. It was in the night when the Lord appeared to Isaac, Gen. xxvi:24. Jacob's wrestle with the Lord was in the night. When the day began to break, the Lord begged like a good fellow for Jacob to let him go, "for," said he, "the day breaketh." Gen. xxxii: 24-26. Was this because God and Jacob were, to use the classic of the Dr., "ashamed" to be seen together in the day-time? 24 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, It was in the night that God made his great promise to Jacob, that he would make of him a great nation. Gen. xlvi:2. The manna — the "bread from heaven" always fell at night and the quails the Lord sent, were sent "at even." Ex. xvi:13. Baalam's seance with God was in the night. Was it because either God or Baalam was "ashamed" to go to the seance in the day-time? Num. xxii:20. It was in the night when the miracles were wrought on Gideon's fleece. Judges vi:37-40. The wonderful manifestation by the angel of the Lord, of killing one hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrian soldiers, occurred in the night. 2 Kings, xx:55. It was in a night seance that God promised Sol- omon such extraordinary wisdom. 2 Chron. i : 17. The miracle of parting the Red Sea and leading the people up out of Egypt was done in the night. Psams lxxviii:14. A night vision gave Daniel his wonderful wisdom. Dan, i i : 1 9 . A wise man in the book of Job thought man was more receptive at night than in the day-time — when asleep, than when awake. His language is: "For God speaketb once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man." Job xxxiii:14-16 Those who object, as Eev. Mr. Talmage does, to manifestations in the night, forget that Jesus' walk OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 25 on the water was in the fourth watch of the night. Matt. xiv:25, Mark vi :48. Jesus prayed all night; was it because he was "ashamed" to pray in the day-time? Lukevi:12. Peter was delivered from the prison in the night- Acts xii:6. Paul held seances with the angels at night. Acts xxiiirll, xxvii:23. I have before proven that the Ten Command- ments were given in the dark, I now assert that the Bible teaches that God dwells in the midst of thick darkness. See 1 Kings viii :12. THE HEBREWS WERE NOT PERMITTED TO EXAMINE THE CABINET. In 1 Samuel vi :19, is the history of their under- taking to examine the cabinet, and the result. It says : "And he smote the men of Bethshemesli, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord, even he smote of the people jifty thousand and three score and ten nfen." That manifestations occurred in the dark in the presence of this ark is evident, from the fact that the Philistines put the ark in the temple of Dagon, their God, but every morning when they went to the temple to worship they would find Dagon thrown down before it; and at last found his head and hands cut off by these invisible powers. The record of this may be found in 1 King v:l-4. The manifestations in the presence of the ark were so numerous and wonderful, and withal so 26 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, disastrous that the Philistines were more anxious to get rid of the ark than the man was for his neigh- bors to come and help him let go of the panther. They finally, as an act of self-defense, sent it to Israel. COVERED TABLES. Many mediums when they sit for si ate- writing manifestations and others of a similar character, have the tables with w T hich they are connected, cov- ered. I have even heard good Christians object to this; but the same thing is found in the Bible. Num. iv:5, says: "Aaron shall come and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail, and cover the ?,rk of the testimony with it." Verse 20 says : "But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are cov- ered lest they die.'* Such declarations as the above show that they were quite as particular to have the best and most sacred conditions for their manifestations in Bible times as now. Some want everything done in public, "right out, where everybody can see it." In Elisha's day when he multiplied the widow's oil he took the widow and her sons and went into a private room and "shut the door," to prevent any other seeing the manifestation. See 2 Kings iv :4. So when he re- suscitated one of these sons, who was supposed to have been dead, he went into the room alone and shut the door "upon the twain." 2 Kings iv:33. OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 27 ONE MAN KILLED FOR BREAKIG THE COMDITIONS. In 2 Sam. vi: 6, is the history of the death of Uzzah, as follows: "And when they came to Nachan's threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen shook it, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God." This looks severe ; Uzzah' s intentions were good ; the ark needed steadying. God must be capricious indeed, to get mad and kill one of the very best of his very few friends for a little thing like that. The fact is, God did not kill him ; yet their knowledge of science, or rather, their want of knowledge, would cause them to write in that way. The ark was probably heavily charged with electricity and Uzzah, by touching it, received a shock from which he could not recover. I knew a man who, while fixing electric lights in Des Moines, received a shock from which he fell over dead. Had that been in Bible times the story would have been, "The anger of the Lord was kin- dled against him and he died." OPEN AND SHUT-EYED TRANCES. Nearly all the trance mediums nowadays begin with their eyes closed; many of them begin to talk in a totally unconcious state; after awhile, little by little, as they can bear it, they are made con- scious of what they are saying and doing, and at a latter period their eyes are opened. So it was in 28 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, Bible times. In Num. xxiv:3, 4, we read: "Baalam the son of Beor, hath said, and the man whose eyes are open (had his eyes shut but now opened. — Margin) hath said. He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty , falling into a trance but having his eyes open. How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel." Daniel was both a test and a trance medium ; his "visions'* generally came when he was in what he called "a deep sleep." I call it a deep trance. In Dan. viii:18, he says: "Now as he (Gabriel) was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground ; but he touched me, and set me upright." In Dan. x:9, he says: ''And when I heard the voice of his words, then I was in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground." Luke in giving an account of the transfiguration, says : "But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were awake, they saw his glory and the two men that were with him." Luke ix :32. While on the subject of trances, I will say I re- gard the Bible just as I do Spiritualism; no more true, no more false. Its poems and psalms are in- spirations. Much of its history is but the history of manifestations among the Jews. The book of Revelation is a case in point. It came from a departed spirit, or rather, from a cir- cle x)f seven different spirits through an entranced medium, on the Island of Patmos. John says: u l was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet." Rev. i :10. OR CHRIST AND MKDIUMSHIP. 29 That is, I was entranced, or, I was in a spiritual condition on the Lord's day. The writer of the Acts of the Apostles referred to the same thing when he said : "And he (Peter) became very hungry and would have eaten; but while they made ready he fell into a trance."^ Trances were once as common in the Church as they are now among Spiritualists; but alas! the glory of the Church has departed. In 2 Cor. xii:l, 2, Paul, in coming "to visions and revelations of the Lord," says: "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell, or whether out of the body, I cannot tell ; God knoweth) such an one caught up to the third heaven." This again means exactly what Spiritualists mean by entrancement. But to return to* John, through whom the book of Revelation came, in chapter iv, verse 2, he says: "I was in the spirit." In chapter xvii:3, he again says: "So he carried me away in the spirit into the wildernes." In chapter xxi;10, he says: "And he carried me away in spirit to a great and high moun- tain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descend- ing out of heaven from God.' That this was a spiritual manifestation no one can doubt. John was carried away in spirit — not in body. The city he saw was a symbol ; cities do dot descend from heaven ready made ; this, I be- lieve is generally understood. Who the particular spirits were that entranced 30 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, John and showed him so many wild and wierd symbols I do not know. There were seven of them, so John says several times. One was supposed to be Jesus of Nazareth. See Rev. i : 1, 5, xxii : 16 . Seven times in one connection is the church ad- monished to hear what the spirit saith unto the churches. Many times the communicator is simply called "the spirit." Eev. xiv:12, xxii:17. Jesus is spoken of in the third person, and even called "our Lord," by the communicating angel. See Rev. xi:8. One of the communicating spirits was probably Daniel, the prophet; this we recognize by the tests given, of beasts, heads, horns, etc. Another was probably Elijah, the prophet, and another John s brother. Several times John sees the communicat- ing spirits. Sometimes he is intromitted into heaven and sees much more. In chapter xix he hears "much people in heaven" singing and shout- ing; again he hears the voice of "a great multi- tude." He is so overcome with awe at the sight of these things that he wants to worship "at the feet of the angel," who showed them to him, but the angel claims not to be Jesus, but to be one who keeps the testimony of Jesus. He says, "I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus." Rev. xix : 10. In chapter xxii:8, 9, John says: "And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. Then, saith he unto me, See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy breth- OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 31 ren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: Worship God." Here the term angel, fellow-servant, brethren and prophet, are all applied to the same individual. Thus it is established beyond a peradventure that the book of Revelation is nothing more or less than a series of communications coming from spirits ex- carnated to spirits incarnate. DID THEY WORK FOR MONEY? Mr. Talmage, in a discourse which he occasionally delivers against Spiritualism, objects to mediums working for money. Of course there is no harm in ministers are anybody else working for money ex- cept Spiritualist mediums, but as they receive their gifts without money or price, so they should give their time and power to those who want them. It is, in the estimation of this man, nothing that two- thirds of those who want a medium's time want to cunsult the spirit-world as to some financial scheme, or to yoke the world of spirits to some gambling job they may have on hand. But 'twas ever thus; even the prophets expected to have their palms crossed with silver. In 1 Sam. ix:6-20, is the account of Saul, the fut- ure king of Israel, going to Samuel, "the man of God — an honorable man," to find out what he could prognosticate for them, for "all that he saith surely cometh to pass." "Now," said the servant of Saul, * 'let us go thither ; peradventure he may show us our way that we should go." Saul objected to go to Samuel, the prophet, to have him show him 32 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, where to find his father's asses, not on the ground that there was anything wrong in it, but because "the bread was spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God, what have we?" The servant discovers they have some silver, which was all-sufficient, and they go to Samuel, who says, verse 20: "And as for thine assess, that were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them , for they are found." Micah, the prophet, said of Israel : "They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets divine for money ; yet they will lean upon the Lord and say, Is not the Lord among us ? None evil can come upon us •" Mich, iii :10. The foregoing is proof that even the money con- ditions of mediumship obtained among biblical me- diums, as well as among those of to-day. INSTRUMENTS USED BY ANCIENT MEDIUMS. Occasionally we find mediums who require a glass of water or something of the kind into which to look, in order to concentrate their minds so they can get what is needed. Such w T as probably the case in biblical times. They used THE DIVINING CUP. Gen. xliv:5. "Is not this it in which my Lord drinketh ? and whereby in >ed he divineth ? Ye have done evil in so doing." In the same chapter, verse 15, we read: OR CHRIST AND MKDIUMSHIP. 33 "And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done ! wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine ?" The circumstance of taking the cup need not be told here ; I am only after the one point expressed in each of the above verses, that Joseph, the prophet, the seer, the dreamer, the interpreter of dreams, the fortune-teller, used a divining cup. Indeed if the Bible were correctly translated in many places the word prophet would be rendered fortune-teller. Taylor, in his *'Diegesis," page 153, renders Psal. cv:15, as follows: "Touch not my Christs and do my fortune-tellers no harm." In the authorized version it reads : "Touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm." THE URIM. The Urim is used to-day by hundreds of mediums. It was nothing but a clear, colorless stone that the priest looked into until he was thrown into a trance or semi-trance state. The Thummim was also a stone used for a similar purpose. A command to Moses was : "Thou shalt put into the breastplate the urim and the thum- mim." Ex. xxviii :30. The children of Israel when they wanted to hear God's opinions on any question consulted urim as regularly as mediums are consulted to-day. A writer says : "And when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by urim nor by prophets." 1 Sam. xxviii:6. 34 JESUS AND THK MEDIUMS, The above shows that they had as many ways of consulting "the Lord," in olden times as people have of consulting the spirits now. Joshua's development and urim. Joshua was developed by having mediumistic hands put on his head, as thousands of mediums are to-day. The record says : "And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee, Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, (that is, he was a natural me- dium and only needed developing) and lay thine hands upon him. * * * And he shall stand before Eleazer the priest, and he (Eleazer) shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of urim before the Lord. At his word shall they go out, and at his word shall they come in, both he and the children of Israel." Num. xxvii:18. That Moses' putting his hands upon Joshua w r as for the purpose of Spiritual development, and that it accomplished that no one can doubt who has taken the pains to examine the records. Deut. xxxiv:9, says: "And Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the Spirit of wis- dom ; for Moses had laid his hands on him ; and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses." THAT FLEECE. I have often heard persons say, If the spirits want to talk to me I have no objections; indeed, I am willing to listen to them talk; no "peeping," no "muttering," no "table tipping," none of your slow processes. They can just as well talk right out as to go through all such nonsense. Possibly the objector may be correct. If so, his OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 35 objections will weigh with all its force against Bible methods. Messages of old, with the exception of the Ten Commandments, were not spoken out as people talk to each other here. In the case of the Ten Commandments they were required to spend "to-day and to-morrow" in preparation, "and be ready against the third day." In the Pentecost, described in the Acts of the Apostles, there was a ten-day's preparation before "every man spoke as the spirit gave him utterance." The case of Gideon's fleece illustrates the matter as it is. As the story goes, God had asked Gideon to save Israel by his hand, but Gideon was not fully satisfied ; he wanted a test. He did not ask God to speak right out, but he said : "If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, be hold, I will put a fleece of wool on the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know thou wilt save Israel by mine hand as thou hast said " Judges vi :30. What a slow process this was to get a communi- cation from God! Why did not Gideon demand of God to speak out? The test, however, seems to have been so satis- factory that they concluded to test the test by try- ing it again and seeing if it will work the other way. The record continues : "And it was so ; for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together and wringed the dew out of the fleece a bowl full of water. And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once ; let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece ; let it be dry only upon he fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. And God 36 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, did so that night ; for it was dry upon the fleece only and there was dew upon all the ground." Verses 38-40. What a field for ridicule here! Think of a God and a general ofa great army spending forty-eight hours in this ridiculous way of getting a communi- cation. How long would modern anti Spiritualists endure anything so silly? But it is m the Bible. This whole history is quite as ridiculous as the above. When they went oiit to fight, the Lord is represented as saying to Gideon: "The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands." It is surely something new too see an army too large ; but the fact is, they were to fight as medi- ums, and everything depended on their develop- ment — not upon numbers, so Gideon makes the proclamation : "Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from Mount Gilead." On this announcement twenty-two thousand turned back leaving an army of only ten thousand. The army was still too large and the record says: "And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water and I will try them for thee there, * * * every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself ; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped were three hundred men. But all of the rest oi the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred that lapped will I save, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand; and let all the other people go every man into his place." Judges vii :4 8 Looking at this in the light that most opposers OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 87 look at Spiritualism it is a supremely ridiculous affair; but when it is understood that this Lord, or God who said these things to Gideon was a depart- ed human spirit, and that this battle w r as to be fought by mediums, under the direction of Gideon, a medium, all is plain. Three hundred of the best developed out of a panel of over thirty-two thou- sand were selected. A test was applied. The spirit who spoke to Gideon said, "I will try them for thee." No one can read the history of the battle and believe the story at all without believing the vic- tory was won by the spirit-world, not by soldiers. The fact is, neither Gideon nor one of his three hundred men were armed. The language to Gideon was, "For I have delivered it into thine hand." The wonderful dream given the mediumistic soldier was from the spirit-world, and the record says : "And the Lord set every man's (Midianite's) sword against his fellow even throughout all the host." Yerse 22. CONDITIONS OF ENTERING THE CABINET. The Bible is very particular in laying down just who may and who may not enter in the cabinet, and exactly the condition upon which those who went into the cabinet were allowed to enter. None but the high priest was allowed to enter ; he must wash his flesh and change all his clothing before he entered the holy of holies, or cabinet. This cabinet must be kept dark only when lighted with the glory of God — that is, spirit light. All 38 JBSUS AND THE MEDIUMS, this was done to keep bad magnetisms out lest the condition for good manifestations should be spoiled. Lev. xvi;2-4, says: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother that he come not at all times into the holy place, within the vail, before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark ; that he die not ; for I will appear in the cloud in the mercy seat. * * * He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with a linen mitre shall he be attired. These are the holy garments therefore shall he wash his flesh in water and so put them on." COMING OF CHRIST. Now that I have shown what is meant by the term Christ, that it is mediumship; and that spirit manifestations of the Bible were, in every respect, the same, and performed under the same conditions as those of to-day, it remains that I briefly explain the coming of Christ. If I have been right thus far in my expositions, the coming of Christ does not refer to the personal advent of some person, but tothe presence of a power. The word "coming" generally signifies "presence," or "manifestation." There are several words used in the Greek Testament, which are so rendered into English as to make some who have not studied much on the matter, believe in the personal, that is, the bodily return of the man of Nazareth. No idea could be more wild or far- fetched. One of the words used inthis connection is the word parousza, and signifies not, "coming," but presence. It would require more space than I have at com- OR CHRIST AND MKDIUMSHIP. 39 mand to refer to every place where this word occurs in the Greek Testament. It is generally wrong- fully rendered "coming." It occurs several times in Matt, xxiv, and is always rendered "coming/' In verse 3, the disciples are, by our rendering, made to ask, "What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?" What they really did ask was: "What shall be the sign of thy presence and of the end of the age?" Modern Adventism has interpreted the text to signify "What shall be the sign that your com- ing is not very far in the future?" The fact is, they wanted to know the sign of the presence of this power, known as mediumship. In 1 Cor. xv:25, Paul says, "Those that are Christs at his coming." The word rendered at, in that instance is the Greek word en, and should be rendered in ; the word rendered coming is the word parousia, and should be rendered, not "coming," but presence. The two renderings would be, " Those of the anointed in the presence." The vrovdparousza is rendered presence in a few places. In 2 Cor. x:10, his bodily presence is weak." In that in- stance, it would not do to say, "his bodily coming is weak." In Phil. ii:12, Paul says: "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed not as in my presence [parousia] only, but now much more in my absence \_apousia~\, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.' ' It would make rather bad work to render the word parousia coming, or the word apousia going away in that instance. 40 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS. Ill 2 Pet. i: 16, Peter speaks of the power and coming of our Lord. If you would read what Peter said instead of what the translators made him say, read as follows : "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty." Another word used a few times and generally applied to a literal physical advent of the man Je- sus, is the word erkomia. It is the word the magi used when they said, "We are come to worship him — that is, we are here to worship him. Paul uses it when he says, "I will come to visions and revelations." The same word is used in describing the one < 'which is, which was and which is to come" "The great day of his wrath is come" etc. These are they which came out of great tribulation. The term signifies the approach of an event rather than the walking or riding of an individual to meet you at some particular spot. Thy kingdom come" "The comforter — the spirit of truth shall "come/ 9 refer to the same. The remaining word is emphanizo, and means literally manifestation or appearance. In John xiv:21, 22, the word occurs twice and is properly rendered manifest in both instances. These verses contain Jesus' promise, "I will manifest myself un- to him," and Judas' question, "How wilt thou manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world?" The same word is sometimes rendered appear, as in Heb. ix:24, "Where Christ is to ajppear in the presence of God for us." It is sometimes rendered OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 41 shoived. In Acts xxii :22, "Thou hast showed these things to me." The only remaining word to be considered is phonero, which means appear, manifest. The word occurs in Jno. xxi:l, "After these things Jesus showed himself alive again." The word is rendered manifest sometimes. In Eom. xvi :26, Paul says, c 'But now is made manifest and by the scriptures of the prophets." The same word occurs in Col. iii:4, where Paul says: "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we appear with him in glory." In 1 John ii:28, it is again rendered appear. There the writer says: "And now little children, abide in him, that when he shall appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming." The word is rendered appear and manifested in the following: "Beloved now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall gee him as he is." 1 Jno. iii :3. Verse 5, says: "And ye know he was manifested to take away our sins.'' Verse 8, says: "The son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil." COMING OF CHRIST AND SPIRITUALISM. Jude says : "Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints. Verse 14. 42 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, From this some infer that this power, here called "the Lord," is coming with somebody. Not so; the word rendered with signifies in; the word ren- dered saint signifies one sanctified, or set apart to a certain work. This power once came in Jesus of Nazareth enabling him to preach the gospel, heal the sick and do many other good things. To-day the saiiie power is manifested through ten thousand who have been sanctified or set apart to this special work. When John sent word to Jesus, to know whether he was the anointed, Jesus did not send back word that he was; he only told John's disciples to go back and tell John the things they saw and heard. See Matt. xi:3-5. That was enough! To-day these same things are being done by thousands proving that this power has come "in ten thousand of his saints." SEE THE ANALOGY. Has the reader ever thought of the analogy be- tween the coming of Christ in the person of Jesus and the things now being accomplished in Modern Spiritualism? 1. The people were looking for the Messiah when Jesus was on earth. So Spiritualism came just at the time the people were looking more than ever before for a Messiah. It came when "Millerism," so-called, was at its height. In fact, the first posi- tively known to be intelligent communication was given in the family of John D. Fox, on the night of OR CHRIST AND MBDIUMSHIP. 43 March 31, 1848, at the very hour the Adventist's "midnight cry" had ended and many of them had gone out to meet their Lord. 2. "He came to his own and his own received him not." This was no more true of the Christ power mani- fested through Jesus than of the same power in Spiritualism. The very last people to receive the truths of Spiritualism were those who were looking for their Messiah. As Jesus did not come with pomp and glory and was therefore rejected, so Spiritualism coming in so humble a manner as it did was rejected by the very few people who should have been benefited by it. 3. They said he had a devil, he cast out devils by Beelzebub the prince of devils, etc, etc. That is exactly what this same class ot people, as universally as they acknowledged the manifesta- tions at all, say. They argued that the power was from an evil source, thus proving that Jesus was right again when he said : "If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub how much more shall they call them of his household ?" 4. Jesus and his mission were rejected by the churches; he found his friends among those whom the church rejected. It was church-members who said: "We are Moses' disciples; as for this fellow, we know not whence he is." It was the church that brought every accusation against him, accusing him of din- ing with sinners, and of blasphemy. He said to the most popular church-members, "Publicans and 44 JKSUS AND THE) MEDIUMS, harlots go into the kingdom of heaven before you." To-clay the majority of those who receive this second Christ are outside the church, and are ac- cused by the church of being just the class that Jesus said would go into the kingdom before the church-m embers. This analogy might be carried farther, but this is enough. Every spiritually enlightened person can see that it is perfect as far as I have gone. It now remains that I notice a few of the most formidable OBJECTIONS to the leading positions taken in the foregoing. One objector said to me: ' 'But when Christ comes he comes in the clouds of heaven. Spiritualism did not thus come to the world." I replied, "Yes, the Bible says he shall come in clouds; but by the term clouds, is not always meant the vapors in the atmosphere ; there are clouds of dust, clouds of smoke and clouds of people. The Bible also speaks of "a great cloud of witnesses." Heb. xii.-l. When the Christ came before, he came in one — Jesus; the next time he comes in "ten thousand of his saints." This both Isaiah and Paul would call "a cloud." Is. ix:8. Heb. xii;l. "Ah," said my friend, "but clouds mean clouds. When the Bible says he -will come with or in the clouds of heaven, I must believe it." I replied: "Do horses mean horses? The Bible says Christ shall come riding on a gray horse." OR CHRIST AND MEDIUMSHIP. 45 He declared he had not noticed the text. I turned and read: "And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in right- eousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and his nameis called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he had on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." Rev. xix:ll-l6. Who, from reading this, expects to see all heaven coming to earth on white horses? Who believes that a sword is actually to be issued out of the mouth of the Lord of lords and the King of kings? This is enough to illustrate the fact that it is possible to be too literal in our interpretation of the Bible. "But," said this minister, "When Christ comes, death shall lose its sting, the grave its victory ; the dead shall be raised, and there shall be no more death. These things have not yet come to pass. I have not seen my dead mother; the grave still holds her, and death is still using his sting. " To all this I reply, death has lost its sting and the grave its victory over those who have recognized the truths of this new dispensation. So far as others are concerned, he never will lose his stinof. Death does not sting those he takes with him ; it is those left behind who are stung, Now when Spiritualism 46 JESUS AND THE MEDIUMS, brings their dead back to them ; when they see and talk with them, they know they are not dead. Death has lost its sting. When they talk with their friends then they know they are not in the grave ; then, and not until then, does the grave lose its victory. Spiritualism brings, in reality, the kingdom of heaven; that is, "the reign of the heavens." The children of the kingdom are even now in the king- dom ; others are in outer darkness where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth." Death never loses its sting, nor the grave its vic- tory in the estimation of those who are in "outer darkness." There is "wailing and gnashing of teeth." Those born into this light — received into this kingdom — receive their dead friends who are no longer dead to them; they now see that instead of dying, they have r'sen to a new and better life. To-day, except to those who walk in darkness, there is no more death. To-day all tears are wiped away. There can be "no more sorrow nor crying." Those who reach the altitude to which Spiritualism is capable of bringing them, will be elevated beyond sickness. Health will come to such, not as an especial gift or reward, but it comes as a result of the spiritually elevated position they occupy. A spiritual influx will come to statesmen ; and they will, as a result, be more spiritual in their leg- islation. Without this world, especially those in "outer darkness," knowing it, an inspiration will move those in power to make more just and equit- OR CHRIST A.ND MEDIUMSHIP. 47 able laws. Gradually the old will give way before the new, and heaven will be found upon earth. Keaders, may yon and I assist in bringing about this state of things. irt i n^lfS^ *0. a"* ► . "^ * ^ *« 4 Q. c A v Ac? v* *j Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide <*\ * . HE — __ warn mmm nwmK H «&«* IS&mm ill nW 11151 Si ■ H mm mmm ■ IP