DEFINITIONS:
There is some confusion with the terms spiritualism and
spiritism. Some see these as interchangeable. To others, the correct term
is spiritism and they object to the use of the term ‘spiritualist,’
believing they are one and the same. A third view is that both groups are
involved in activities which result in contact being made with the
deceased and the receiving of revelations from beyond; but there is a
distinction made between the two.
Both attempt to communicate with the dead but
spiritualists are people who profess to believe in the Bible and open
their meetings with prayer and have hymn singing whilst the spiritists
attempt to communicate with the dead without distinct reference to the
Christian faith. We look at both groups, with the latter distinction in
mind.
HISTORY:
The Bible reveals that the Ancient Egyptians, were
practitioners of magic, sorcery and necromancy, (predicting the future by
means of communicating with the dead) and the people of God are warned
against consulting mediums or wizards, with dire consequences if the
warnings are ignored.
In 1848, spiritism received a modern rebirth near New
York, when Mrs. John Fox heard peculiar noises in the upstairs rooms and
cellar of her home. Her two daughters, Margaret and Katie, seemed to be
very sensitive to these sounds and developed into mediums. These
communications became known as ‘Rochester Rappings.’ These were exposed as
fraudulent ‘parlour tricks’ in 1851 (sounds of the sisters snapping their
toe and knee joints). A relative gave a sworn statement that the girls had
confessed to her how they faked their ‘spirit sounds’. Some thirty-eight
years later, the Fox sisters themselves publicly confessed their fraud,
and even gave toe-joint snapping demonstrations. But long before then the
‘true believers’ had made up their minds that it was all for real.
When a public demonstration was held in Rochester,
U.S.A., in 1849, mediums began to appear and spiritist circles were formed
in many localities in the U.S.A. In 1852, a Scot, Daniel Douglas Home, who
had been a successful medium in the U.S.A., returned to Britain and
introduced spiritism there.
Spiritism spread to Australia in the 1850’s as
emigrants from Britain came to the Victorian Goldfields.
By 1900, spiritism had waned but interest in it grew
again after the first world war, as those suffering from the loss of loved
ones turned to spiritism to try and make contact with those loved ones,
especially husbands, brothers and sons.
INTRODUCTION:
Many people like to disregard the activities of
spiritists and spiritualists as nonsensical or fraudulent but it is worth
noting the words of one man, Victor H. Ernest, who was involved in
spiritism as a young man:
‘Many people think that spirit phenomena are
accompanied by trickery, slight of hand or black magic. I agree that many
mysterious happenings associated with prominent psychic small-town fortune
tellers are hoaxes — perhaps 85% of them, but I believe the rest are
actual deeds of evil spirits counterfeiting the power of the Holy Spirit.’
A much- quoted extract from C.S. Lewis in his book,
Screwtape Letters, is also worth noting:
‘There are two equal and opposite errors into which
our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their
existence. The other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy
interest in them.’
TERMS USED FREQUENTLY BY SPIRITISTS and
SPIRITUALISTS:
TRANCE:
A condition in which a spiritist medium allegedly loses
consciousness and passes under control of some external force, (called a
control spirit), for the supposed transmission of communications from the
dead, or messages for an individual or a group.
MEDIUM:
A person possessing an unusual amount of psychic
ability, supposedly enabling him/them to make contact with the spirit
world.
SEANCE:
A meeting at which a group of spiritists or
spiritualists attempt to make communication with the spirit of the dead.
The messages can come as:
1) ‘Planchette writing’ — the planchette is a
small board on wheels, attached to a pencil. When a participant in the
seance places a hand on the board, it may move in a manner that forms
letters, which are then variously interpreted.
2) ‘Automatic writing’ — the medium’s hand
appears to be guided in composing the ‘message’.
3) ‘Table rapping’ — the participants place their
hands upon the table and questions are addressed to the spirits. If
rapping noises occur, these are interpreted as spirit messages and
normally their meaning is given by the medium.
4) Ouija Board messages - where a tumbler or
planchette is used - with several people resting a finger on the
planchette or tumbler - to spell out a message.
5) ‘Flower readings’ - where the medium holds a
flower contributed by one of several persons and then ‘reads’ a message
through the flower for that perticular person.
6) The provision of a special trumpet - shaped
device through which the spirit can supposedly speak to those present.
BELIEFS OF SPIRITISM/SPIRITUALISM:
1) Evolutionary process of spiritual
development.
Spiritists believe that all dead people become
spirits and enter the spirit-world. There is no hell, hence its attraction
to many people. There are several planes in this spirit-world (usually
seven but there can be as many as thirty-three!) and which one you enter,
depends on how good you have been on earth.
There are spirits in this spirit-world to assist
you to climb to a higher level. People who live very sinful lives, are
earthbound spirits when they die and need the help of other spirits to
begin to evolve. This is known as ‘The school for earthbound spirits.’
2) Belief in God.
Generally, it is believed that God is a spirit
like everyone else, but is evolving to a higher place. He is not a person
as such, but the creative universal spirit.
Jesus is the master medium of all mediums, not
the saviour. When on earth, He was like a supreme master of spiritual law.
3) Man.
Man has no saviour but himself. He has to
acknowledge his sins and make his own amends.
4) Psychic powers.
All people have inherent psychic powers which, if
developed, enables them to make contact with the spirit world.
SPIRITUALISM:
Spiritualists claim that spiritualism is a way of life
and it combines philosophy, science and religion.
Most of them tend to generally agree on seven
principles:-
1) The fatherhood of God;
2) The brotherhood of man;
3) The communion of spirits and the ministry of
angels;
4) The continuous existence of the human soul;
5) Personal responsibility;
6) Compensation and retribution hereafter for all
good and evil deeds done on earth;
7) External progress open to every human soul.
Spiritualism world-wide:
Some have estimated that there are anywhere between
sixteen to thirty-five million people in Brazil alone, associated with
various forms of spiritualism, and well over a million in other Latin
American countries. Britain probably has well over a thousand Spiritualist
Churches with an estimated two hundred and fifty thousand or so members.
There are Spiritualist groups throughout Europe, South
Africa, India, Japan and New Zealand and an estimated two hundred thousand
Spiritualists in some fifty different groups in Canada and the U.S.A.
Spiritualism in Australia:
There are about seventy Spiritualist churches in
Australia and they are affiliated with several different key groups. It is
sometimes said, that for every actual member of a Spiritualist church,
there are ten to fifteen other persons who are, in some way, interested in
Spiritualism.
Spiritualist Services.
In most Spiritualist services traditional hymns are
sung (but often with some subtle and hardly noticed changes to some of the
wording), prayers offered and a sermon or message is given, often by
(through) a medium speaking (usually the senior medium or ‘minister’ of
that Spiritualist church).
The traditional Christian sacraments of Baptism and
Holy Communion are not observed in the usual forms. Children of
Spiritualists are often given a ‘spirit - name’ in a ceremony called
‘spirit naming’.
Some Spiritualist churches hold a weekly school called
a ‘Lyceum’ for religious instruction of children, youth and adults.
Marriage and funeral services are held.
There is an emphasis on spiritual healing but it is
generally used to supplement rather than replace traditional medical
treatment.
Ministers.
Once recognised as a medium, an individual can become a
minister of a local Spiritualist church. The majority of Australian
mediums are women.
BIBLICAL EVALUATION:
1) Scripture condemns the practice of
consultation with the spirits.
‘I will set my face against the person who
turns to mediums and spirits to prostitute himself by following them and I
will cut him off from his people’. (Leviticus 20:6)
‘Let no-one be found among you who sacrifices
his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery,
interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a
medium or spiritist, or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these
things is detestable to the Lord.’ (Deuteronomy 18:10-12)
2) The fact that a phenomenon is spiritual, does
not necessarily mean that it is an act of God. There may be supernatural
manifestations in spiritism and spiritualism but the Bible not only
condemns them but teaches to ‘test the spirits’.
‘Dear friends, do not believe every spirit but
test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false
prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 1:1)
3) While fraud and trickery are a big part of
Spiritism/Spiritualism, if there ARE any spirits involved at seances, who
and what are such spirits? Are they the spirits of the deceased people, as
they claim? The Bible teaches that the spirits of the departed do not
become either angels or demon spirits but rather that they are with the
Lord, waiting for the resurrection of their bodies, (1 Thessalonians
4:14-17), or they are in hell.
There is evidence in Scripture, that the spirits
who appear at seances are rebel angels (Jude 6). They are in Satan’s realm
and the earth is that realm, for Satan is called the ‘god of this world.’
(2 Corinthians 4:4). When the medium enters a trance and allegedly
introduces the spirit of a dead person, he or she may actually be in touch
with a deceiving spirit who knows that person well. These are sometimes
referred to as ‘familiar spirits’ and are convincing in what they appear
to know about the deceased one.
4) The emphasis in spiritualism on one’s
self-dependence, denies the need for a Saviour and negates the meaning of
Jesus’ death and resurrection.
5) Spiritualism denies the Bible as the unique
written Word of God, since they choose to go directly to a spirit for
personal instruction and interpretation.
6) In order to embrace the teachings of
Spiritualism, one would need to reject the major doctrines of the
Christian faith, particularly the authority of the Bible, the Trinity, the
Deity of Christ, the Atonement and the Bodily Resurrection of Jesus.
CONCLUSION:
Whilst Spiritism and Spiritualism are attractive
because they promise communication with dead loved ones and knowledge of
the future, it is clear that the practices of are a tool of Satan and he
is the motivating force behind all the activities. We remember the words
of Jesus when he said of Satan, ‘he is a liar and the father of lies”
and “he was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for
there is no truth in him.’ (John 8:44)
Any involvement in Spiritism and Spiritualism leads not
‘towards’ God but rather ‘away from’ God and will meet with His
condemnation. The wise person will avoid all association with these
activities.
