Part 28

They practised various arts, whereby they thought to protect themselves from evil, and to pry into the secrets of futurity. Because of these things, ancient Babylon was suddenly overwhelmed,—“for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.” These could not save, as they supposed. Therefore God said to them: “Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast labored from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee,” Isa. 47:12, 13. All these practices were forbidden by God, who said: “Neither shall ye use enchantments, nor observe times,” Lev. 19:26.

Those who consulted with familiar spirits were termed wizards and witches,—the practice of which was also expressly forbidden. To make witchcraft a mere pretence, is to impute to Jehovah the making of laws against pretences and nonentities. To suppose that he would legislate against, and inflict capital punishment, because of mere pretences, is incredible! God said to Moses, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,” Ex. 22:18. And to the Jews he said, “Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God,” Lev. 19:31. “And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.” “A man, also, or a woman, that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them,” Lev. 20:6,27. When Egypt was to be destroyed, they were left to “seek to the idols, and to charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to wizards,” Isa. 19:3.

The manner in which the familiar spirit spoke, was by “peeping,” “muttering,” whispering out of the dust, &c. God said to Ariel, “And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust,” Isa. 29:4. “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: (should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead!) to the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them,” Isa. 8:19, 20.

Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land; but when he “inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at En-dor. And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up whom I shall name unto thee. And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards out of the land; wherefore, then, layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die? And Saul sware unto her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing. Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. And when the woman saw Samuel she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself. And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? And the Lord hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David: because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor executedest his fierce wrath upon Amelek, therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day. Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines. Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him,” 1 Sam. 28:6-20.

Micaiah “saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee,” 1 Kings 22:19-23.

When Paul was in the house of Lydia, he says, “It came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination, met us, which brought her masters much gain by her soothsaying: the same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation. And this she did many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour,” Acts 16:16-18.

By sorcery, enchantment, &c., they performed wonders, or miracles, either real or pretended. “There was a certain man called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries,” Acts 8:9-11. When “Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent, then Pharaoh also called the wise men, and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods,” Ex. 7:10-12. When Aaron turned the water of the river to blood, “the magicians did so with their enchantments,” v. 22. In like manner they “brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt,” 8:7. But when Aaron changed the dust to lice, the magicians attempted the same with their enchantments, “but they could not,” Ex. 8:18. These sorcerers who withstood Moses, we learn by Paul, were “Jannes and Jambres,” 2 Tim. 3:8. They belonged to an ancient profession in Egypt; for, when Pharaoh dreamed his dreams, he first “sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dreams; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh,” Gen. 41:8. In like manner Nebuchadnezzar “commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams. So they came, and stood before the king,” Dan. 2:2.

These things were practised to some extent in Judah, but were all put away by Josiah. “Moreover, the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord,” 2 Kings 23:24.

The acts and influences of demoniacal agencies are apparent from the foregoing; and the symbolization under the sixth seal, seems to indicate a revival of those teachings and manifestations at the present time. Within a few years, the curiosity of the community has been excited, and large numbers of persons greatly interested, in various phenomena, known as Mesmerism, Animal-Magnetism, Clairvoyance, Pathetism, Neurology, Psychology, Biology, Electro-Biology, &c. &c. Similar manifestations have been before exhibited, but not in modern times to the extent now witnessed. These were regarded as harmless phenomena and independent of any supernatural agency, till audible sounds were heard communicating intelligible responses. Then the claim was set up that these are caused by departed spirits.

These sounds were first heard near Rochester, New York, in 1847; and, at the present time (1852), they are affirmed to exist in hundreds of places in this country, and other sections of the globe. They are audible raps, the cause of which, aside from the hypothesis of spiritual agency, has never been satisfactorily accounted for. By these raps, unimpeached and credible witnesses testify that correct answers have been given to questions, the facts respecting which were known to no one at the time of answering. Since then, furniture has been seen to move about the room, and other wonders, or miracles, been performed, by invisible agency, at the command of mediums to attending spirits,—i.e. to demons. Mediums have written on paper, as they profess, involuntarily, lengthy communications, in poetry and prose, the subjects of which they claim to have been ignorant of, while the pen they held was moved independent of their own will. These exhibitions have been attested by hundreds of credible witnesses.

By such manifestations large numbers of persons have given their adherence to these real or pretended agencies as truthful and reliable intelligences; whose responses they receive with the same credence that we do the revelations of scripture. “Circles” are extensively formed, who have sittings, at stated times, to receive communications from the spirits of the departed; and these are enforced by miracles, audible sounds, the exercise of physical power, &c.

The reality and the credibility of these agencies are separate questions. Their reality is shown by their identity with similar manifestations of former times. The Bible affirms the existence of such: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places;” or “wicked spirits” in “heavenly places,” as the margin reads, Eph. 6:12.

1. The familiar spirits of old responded in a manner similar to these. They did “peep” and “mutter;” their speech was low out of the dust; they spoke out of the ground, and whispered; or, as in the margin, did “peep” or “chirp” out of the dust. These “rap” and mutter. They respond from beneath chairs, tables and floors.

2. They exercised similar physical powers. They threw down and tare the persons they possessed. They turned the swine into the sea, &c. These claim that chairs and tables, are lifted and moved at will by an invisible agency.

3. They made similar pretensions to credibility. Simon Magus gave out “that himself was some great one;” and these, that they utter divine truths.

4. Similar regard was bestowed on those, which is claimed for these. To Simon “they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.” Yet “he had bewitched them with sorceries.” Similar claims by, and regard for these modern pretenders to the same art, do not relieve them from the suspicion of a like agency. “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 according to their works,” 2 Cor. 11:13-15.

5. Both have given utterance to some truths. The legion of demons who were cast out of the man into a herd of swine, acknowledged Jesus to be “the Son of the Most High God;” and the pythonic spirit which so grieved Paul, declared the apostles to be “the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of salvation.” Such communications with the invisible world being forbidden, their credibility is disproved.

They claim that spirits of the departed are brought into direct and intelligent communication with the living, who desire to interrogate them. What more was claimed by the necromancers of old? Said Saul to the woman of Endor: “Divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up whom I shall name unto thee,” 1 Sam. 28:8.

They claim that not all, but only those persons are mediums who are peculiarly susceptible to spiritual influences. Wherein, then, admitting their claims, do the “mediums” differ from those of old, who divined by a familiar spirit?

Their responses are frequently disproved by facts; and themselves admit the existence of unreliable spirits, which communicate like them. They give contradictory responses, and mutually criminate each other; but their reality is not disproved by any discrepancy, or want of truthfulness in their responses; for if they are spirits, none but unclean spirits would respond in a forbidden manner.

These spirits are to be discredited, because they preach a different gospel from that preached by Paul, who says: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ, unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed,” Gal. 1:6-9. “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema, Maran-atha.” 1 Cor. 16:22. Said John, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world,” 1 John 4:1. Also Isaiah said, “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them,” Isa. 8:19, 20.

Because of these practices, the nations were driven out from before the children of Israel. And with the miracles to be wrought, the frog-like spirits are to go forth to “the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”

In the time of Abraham, “the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full,” (Gen. 15:16); but in four hundred years they had practised all the abominations for which they were to be destroyed, and the practice of which God has expressly forbidden. He said to Israel, in the wilderness, “When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nation. 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 enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar 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 from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do,” Deut. 18:9-14.

Similar pernicious practices and dangerous heresies, are to prepare the way for the final destruction of the nations who reject the claims of Jehovah. Peter declares that “there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not,” 2 Pet. 2:1-3. And Paul says of that wicked: “Whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness,” 2 Thess. 2:9-12.

“The battle of that great day of God Almighty,” it would seem, must commence by a conflict of opinions. Mind will war with mind, and puny man will stoutly contend against the truths of the Almighty. In this revival of demon-worship, the old gods of the heathen are to be set up against the claims of Jehovah. His declarations are to be made to give place to “doctrines of demons.” The teachings of God and of these spirits are to be brought into direct conflict.

The followers of the spirits have baptized their new theological dogmas, “The Harmonial Philosophy,” of which Reason is the final umpire. Revelation no longer speaks to them in tones of authority. From the Bible, it is claimed, “the seal of infallibility must be broken away, before a new light and beauty can enliven and embellish the mystical disclosures of any seer, prophet, or evangelist.” So writes Andrew Jackson Davis, the Poughkeepsie seer, one of the leaders of this new school, who complains that “owing to the dogmatism of infallibility, the Bible is taught now-a-days as it was nearly four centuries ago.”—Review of Dr. Bushnell, p. 10.

The Scriptures are, with those of his faith, only “the paper and ink relics of Christianity,” (Ib., p. 21); which they regard as “a foundation as impermanent as the changeful sand” (Ib. p. 24), and not adapted “to the wants or requirements of the nineteenth century,” Ib. p. 26. They reject Him, whom they style “the cruel and capricious God generally worshipped by the Bible Christians,” Ib. p. 47. “The Jewish God,” says Davis, “is cruel, capricious and tyrannical,” whose “kingdom is more despotic, and more contracted in principle, than the present government of the Russian empire,” Ib. p. 61. He adds, “The Old Testament idea of a Deity is the outgrowth of the despotic stage of human mental development,” and “a superannuated monotheistic conception,” Ib. p. 62. In their opinion, “the developments of republicanism, and of mental happiness among men, depend very much upon the absence of these dogmatical compilations, or fossil relics, of an old Hebrew and Chaldean theology,” Ib. p. 70. With them “the Bible account of creation is a very interesting myth,—mainly a plagiarism from the early traditions and cosmological doctrines of the ancient Persians and Chaldeans;” and, instead of being “a divine revelation of truth,” is “a pagan relic, which should no more command serious respect than the ancient doctrines of Fetichism,” Ib. p. 90.

These “Harmonial Philosophers” are antagonistic to the teachings of Jehovah in nearly all their theological notions. They scout the idea that any actual evil exists in the universe. They deny the existence of the devil, and of evil spirits. “Everything,” says Davis, “is forever progressing in goodness and perfection,” Ib. p. 180. The salvation of all men, is with them as certain as the operation of fixed laws. They recognize no Saviour and no atonement in their system of faith. The teachings of spirits, and “a certain organization of labor, capital and talent,” they fancy, “will effect the desired cure” for all actual or supposed ills, Ib. p. 178. They recognize no responsibility in the sinner, but attribute his wrong-doings to ignorance and accident; and their laws of right, are the dictates of their own wisdom.