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Chapter 5Page 77CHAPTER FIVE WHAT THE SPIRITS TEACH IT has been shown in the preceding chapters that the unseen "controls"(the beings who control the mediums) in Spiritualism, are not the spirits of the dead, but are fallen angels or spirits of devils. This fact will be confirmed by a brief glance at some of their teachings; for we are to remember that if they speak not according to the law and the testimony there is no light in them. It matters not that what they teach may be supported by signs and wonders beyond the comprehension of the human mind. That is no guarantee of truth; for such phenomena are to be wrought, as will soon be shown, to prove a lie. The Lord anciently put his people on their guard in this respect. Deut. 13: 1-3, 5: "If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." "And that prophet, or that dreamer of Page 78 dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, . . . out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in."Thus the fact that one who professed to be a prophet could perform a sign or wonder, showing his connection with some unseen power, was not enough to shield him from condemnation and punishment, if what he undertook to prove by that sign or wonder was contrary to the truth, and tended to lead away from God. The teaching of any system is an important part of the fruit it bears; and by: that, according to our Lord's own rule, we are to judge it, and not by any power or mighty works connected with it, however wonderful they may be. "'Tis not the broad phylactery Nor stubborn fasts, nor stated prayers That make us saints. We judge the tree By what it bears." -- Alice Carey.

It is therefore pertinent to look sufficiently at the teachings of the spirits to ascertain their character. . Here we shall find some most damaging testimony; for --1. They Deny God. -- It is no pleasure to transcribe the utterances of practical atheism; yet enough should be given to show what they teach on the great fundamental principles of Christianity. At a séance, reported in the Banner of Light, July 11, 1868, the following questions were addressed to the spirits, and the accompanying answers received: -- "Ques. -- It is said in the Bible that man is made in the image of God. Please tell us what that image is, Page 79 " Ans. -- He is made in the image of everything that ever was, that is, or that ever shall be. He holds within his caliber everything that exists, that ever has existed, or that ever will exist. Now, God is included in this. If he exists at all, he exists everywhere (and we have taken in everything), every place, every name, every condition. I believe that the human stands above all things else, and holds within its embrace all the past, present, and future. In this sense he is created and exists in the image of God.

Q. --What is God essentially?

" A. -- Everything. Essentially you are God, and I am God -- the flowers, the grass, the pebbles, the stars, the moon, the sun, everything is God." The Devil, through the serpent in the garden, taught Adam and Eve that the soul is immortal, and has transfused the same idea very successfully through paganism, Romanism, and Protestantism; but he also said, "Ye shall be as gods;" and now, it seems, he is trying to make the world swallow his other leg of his falsehood; but by putting it forth under the form of the old pagan pantheism, that everything is God, and God is everything, he betrays the lie he uttered in Eden; for in that case, Adam and Eve were no more gods after they ate than they were before.

Another séance, reported in the Banner about twenty years later than the one quoted above, April 28, 1888; an inquirer addressed to the "spirits" a question about God, and received answer, a portion of which is presented below: -- " Ques. -- Some Spiritualists, I learn, believe in a God;otherwise they would not pray to him -- taking for granted that there is such a being. Please enlighten us.

" Ans. -- We have yet to come in contact with a thorough Spiritualist, one who understands something of spiritual life and the revelations made by returning spirits, who directly Page 80 believes in a personal God. True, many Spiritualists and many returning spirits offer their invocations to the 'Great Supreme Spirit of all life and intelligence,' not because they expect to change the order of law, or to come into direct communication with, or nearness to, a Great Supreme Being, clothed in the image of man, but because they desire to enter an atmosphere of harmony, to uplift their own souls to a plane of thought which will bring spiritual inspiration to their minds. We make a distinction between that Great Supreme Overruling Force which we may call the Superior Spirit of Intelligence, Wisdom, and Love, and the personal Deity, clothed in the image of man, gigantic in stature, jealous and revengeful by nature, which has been set up and worshiped as the Christian Jehovah.