In a few words I shall now describe what Spiritualism offers the believer in the Lord Jesus in place of the Bible, in place of a Savior, in place of God as our Father, in place of the prospect of God's dwelling-place being our home.
According to the author of Outlines, man is made up of a soul, a spiritual body, and a physical body.
"There is something more than the nerves which we cannot see, because it is as fine in its nature as the perfume of flowers. This fine something is called nerve-aura.'... All above what is required for daily use is thrown off like perfume from flowers, which may be made to do much good, as you will see when I speak of healing by laying on of hands.... Our spiritual bodies are formed of this fine nerve-aura, which is spiritualized matter..... When our spiritual friends and guardians visit us, they ... look ... at our spiritual bodies, and by their purity or otherwise, they can see at a glance what kind of lives we live... People who indulge in evil habits, such as opium or tobacco smoking, and laudanum and intoxicating drink, carry the appetite with them at death; it is because some of the narcotic and alcohol from these things help to compose the spiritual body, that they crave or hunger for their kind. So that these spirit people seek those in the body who still indulge in these bad habits, and get their craving satisfied through other people."-Outlines, pp. 30, 31, 32.
And people who are too clever to believe the Bible, with its majesty and truth, proved to be God's Word by so "many infallible proofs," such as the fulfillment of prophecy, and its marvelous moral effects on mankind, are so foolish as to believe such bombastic nonsense put forward without one atom of proof, to be taken without question because we are told it is so, or at best because departed spirits (personating demons) tell us so; or that those endowed, as they say, by high mediumistic powers, take mysterious journeys in their astral bodies, and manage to remember in rare cases what they have seen. I confess, I am not credulous enough to become a Spiritualist. If the Bible had offered no better proof of its verity, it would not have been accepted by any sane person for one moment. They are most incredulous where Christianity is concerned, most credulous otherwise. " Blind guides, who strain out the gnat, but drink down the camel " (Matt. 23:24,24Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. (Matthew 23:24) N. T.). So we read on:- " I have explained to you how the spirit-body is formed-that it is the spiritualized or refined particles of our physical body: so that you will understand me when I tell you that the spirit world is made up of refined or spiritualized particles given off by the earth. Every blade of grass, every tiny flower, shrub and tree, insect and animal, by their lives cause matter to become refined and spiritualized, which then ascends high above the clouds, and there spreads out in a broad belt, and surrounds the earth, like the rings of Saturn surround that planet. There are a great number of these rings or zones, one beyond the other, which may be called spirit worlds." Outlines, p. 33.
Then we read on that after death, if the spiritual life is kind, and gentle, and good, the grosser elements of the spiritual body are eliminated, leaving the body more refined and spiritual, so that it can rise into a higher zone, which, in its turn, is composed of the more refined and spiritualized elements eliminated from this higher zone, and the third zone is composed of the still more refined and spiritualized elements from the second, and so on.
Then follows a description of the spiritual worlds, which is conspicuous for its utter lack of imagination and originality. Beautiful grass, decked with flowers, lofty trees, rippling streams, silver and golden sands, crystal rocks, birds singing, real homes built of beautiful stones, vines climbing, sending forth white, pink, violet and amber-colored flowers, rose-embowered avenues, alcoves, grottoes, fountains in full play showing all the colors of the rainbow, is the description given.
And where is the proof of all this? It is stated that a Mr. Andrew Jackson Davis, of America, called the Poughkeepsie Seer, described by the author of Outlines as a "well-known sensitive," can remember his "spiritual wanderings or experience." He claims to have made several journeys to the spirit world under the guidance of one of his guardian angels. _ His experiences were such, the author of Outlines tells us, " As to fill people's hearts with joy, and cause mourning parents to dry their tears."
Yet, I for one have lived the larger half of my life without ever having heard of this wonderful Mr. Davis, or his wonderful wanderings (were they mental?) Nor should I have heard of him to this hour if I had not diligently inquired into Modern Spiritualism. I have lived in England and traveled in America, and no Spiritualist has ever spoken to me of his light and joy, no Spiritualist book or tract have I been offered, or seen for sale in the shop windows; I have seen no evangelist of this wonderful cult standing in the open air, endeavoring to enlighten poor, benighted Christians. Others may have, but I have not. I can only come to the conclusion that Modern Spiritualism works largely in a secret crafty way.
We have now had ample proof from Scripture that Spiritualism is in reality Demonism. Nay, more; in some way or other every form of evil has its origin, I believe in this cult. Heathendom in its nameless horrors is Spiritualism. The New Theology, Christadelphianism, Seventh Day Adventism, Millennial Dawnism, Mormonism, and Christian Science-all bear features of their common parent. They may vary as to details, and contradict each other, as for instance, Millennial Dawnism repudiates Modern Spiritualism (for Satan must have many baits for many minds), but the essence of all evil teaching is Satanic, and therefore Spiritualism in its essence.