Earlier text: THE GREAT CONTROVERSYModern Spiritualism.
By Editor
PROGRESS OF SPIRITUALISM.
We do not say that all Spiritualists have ignored the institution of marriage, but Spiritualism has. No matter how strongly some may deny having any sympathy with such teachings, it cannot be denied that such is the tendency of Spiritualism. On this, as on other points which have been noticed, the tendency is to immorality—to unrestrained license to every evil work. And while the obligation of marriage, and the institution itself, are derided, it is honored only in mockery. For we can only call that mockery of marriage which was transacted not long since in Kansas. Mr. Isaac E. Eaton, of Leavenworth, Kansas, is a member of the National Democratic Committee. His daughter died in 1845, aged but six weeks. In 1853, by a railroad accident, Benny, son of President Pierce, was killed, near Andover, Mass. His age was twelve years. Sarah Catharine Eaton and Benjamin Pearce were said to be married "in the spheres," June 20, 1879. Mr. and Mrs. Eaton made it the occasion of great rejoicing. Mr. Eaton first asked the question to what purported to be his spirit daughter, if she had not some chosen associate whom they could call son. On this hint grew up the whole affair. A medium was "obsessed" to see and describe the scene. The ceremony was performed by Swedenborg, and, of course, a great number of celebrated personages were present. Among them we find the well-known names of Presidents Martin Van Buren, Polk, and Taylor, and S. A. Douglas, Lewis Cass, Winfield Scott, Levi Woodbury, Rufus Choate, John Wesley, etc. Mr. Eaton wrote a lengthy report of the affair to the Leavenworth Times, which affords clear evidence of his sincerity and his credulity. The correspondence between the father and daughter (professedly), is "medium to silly." From the comments of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat we take the following:— "It is impossible for the unprejudiced reader to avoid seeing upon what a slender base the whole structure stands. Both father and mother accepted without question the assurance that the young woman who appeared to them in the cabinet was their daughter, and from this simple acceptance flowed the whole after occurrences. After Mott saw the effect his materialization had produced on Mr. Eaton's mind, he turned him over to medium Mansfield, of New York, who is gifted, it seems, with the possession of extraordinary facilities for inducing the spirits to put down their thoughts in black and white. There is not a single occurrence related that does not bear the taint of the original fraud which made Mr. Eaton believe that he saw his daughter in the cabinet figure. . . . The whole affair is only another proof of the ease with which many intelligent men and women may be duped to believe what they ardently want to believe. The mediums took advantage of this condition of their victims' minds, and led them on at pleasure." But the point of principal interest to us in this case is found in the following expression in the correspondence. Thus the spirit through the medium writes to Mr. Eaton:— "It was said that they are not given in marriage here. That was simply a saying of the priests in early days to induce not only the early but frequent marriages for the money they derived from such ceremony. But that marriage takes place here—that is, that conjugal souls are united more frequently than is the custom in earth life, I tell you such is the fact." The readiness with which our Saviour's motives are misrepresented, and his words denied and ascribed to "the priests," shows the origin of the whole transaction. Though the mediums always thus reproach the gospel and its author and its ministers, it is a well-known truth that they themselves are greedy of gain, and decieve others for their own profit. This affair has attracted but little attention, and why? It is because the facts and marvels of Spiritualism have become so very common. The most eminent men now accept its teachings without attracting much notice. On this account many suppose that it is dying away. To the contrary, it never was growing more rapidly. Its successes are now carried on with a class who will soon give it a popularity which it has never yet had. The following is from the San Francisco Chronicle:— "Until quite recently, science has coldly ignored the alleged phenomena of Spiritualism, and treated Andrew Jackson Davis, Home, and the Davenport brothers, as if they belonged to the common fraternity of showmen and mountebanks. But now there has come a most noteworthy change. We learn from such high authority as the Fortnightly Review that Alfred R. Wallace, F. R. S., William Crooks, F. R. S., and editor of the Quarterly Journal of Science, W. H. Harrison, F. R. S., and president of the British Ethnological Society, with others occupying a high position in the scientific and literary world, have been seriously investigating the phenomena of Spiritism. The report which those learned gentlemen make is simply astounding. There is no fairy tale, no story of myth or miracle, that is more incredible than their narrative. They tell us, in grave and sober speech, that the spirit of a girl who died a hundred years ago, appeared to them in visible form. She talked with them, gave them locks of her hair, pieces of her dress, and her autograph. They saw her in bodily presence, felt her person, heard her voice; she entered the room in which they were, and disappeared without the opening of a door. The savants declare that they have had numerous interviews with her under conditions forbidding the idea of trickery or imposture." "Now that men eminent in the scientific world have taken up the investigation, spiritism has entered upon a new phase. It can no longer be treated with silent contempt. Mr. Wallace's articles in the Fortnightly have attracted general attention, and many of the leading English reviews and newspapers are discussing the matter. The New York World devotes three columns of its space to a summary of the last article in the Fortnightly, and declares editorially that the 'phenomena thus attested' deserve the rigid scientific examination which Mr. Wallace invites for them.' This is treating the matter in the right way. Let all the well attested facts be collected, and then let us see what conclusions they justify. If spirit communication is a fact, it is certainly a most interesting one. In the language which the World attributes to John Bright, 'If it is a fact, it is the one beside which every other fact of human existence sinks into insignificance.'" Our late minister to England, Hon. Edward Pierrepont, addressed a letter through a medium to an ancestral lady of England making inquiries about the family genealogy. A writer under date of London, Aug. 12, 1876, says:— "The currents which show the tendency and growth of Spiritualism in public ways and places are great enough, but the extent to which it prevails in private circles, unknown to the public, is surprisingly great. This is known to a portion of the evangelical fraternity, and meetings have lately been held, presided over by bishops, archbishops, and laymen, to discuss what means shall be taken to check the growing 'irreligion of the age.'" The well-known newspaper writer, Don Piatt, speaking of society in Washington City, said:— "I was surprised to find, after my attention was called to the subject, what a number of cultured persons I encountered here, confirmed believers in Spiritualism. I am told that the same fact exists in Europe. For example, when Foster was here, some three months since, his visitors were mainly composed of leading members of the senate, house, and secretaries of the cabinet, who openly consulted this man as to matters existing beyond the grave. Were I to give you their names my letter would be rather interesting, but spiteful, for there are few of these believers who do not shrink from being publicly known as such." The Christian at Work of Aug. 17, 1876, under the head of "Witches and Fools," says:— "But we do not know how many judges, bankers, merchants, prominent men in nearly every occupation in life, there are who make it a constant practice to visit clairvoyants, sight-seers, and so-called spirit mediums; yet it can scarcely be doubted that their name is legion; that not only the unreligious man, but professing Christians, men and women, are in the habit of consulting spirits from the vasty deep for information concerning both the dead and living. Many who pass for intelligent people, who would be shocked to have their Christianity called in question, are constantly engaged in this disreputable business. They go to these dens—though as that matter these mediums occupy some of the best houses in the most fashionable localities in the city—pay from two to five dollars, propound their inquiries, and get their answers. . . . We know that these clairvoyants are sought as preliminary to business ventures, that they are appealed to in behalf of sick friends," etc. "And yet the duty of the Christian is clear and unmistakable. He has no right whatever to consult these familiar spirits. Saul consulted the witch of Endor and he received a revelation; but it was Saul's perverted, wicked heart that drove him for refuge to a witch instead of to his God, and God did not approve his method; nor does he ever approve it." The great reason why church members and ministers are so easily deceived by these spirits, is their ignorance of the Bible. The members have left the reading of the Scriptures to their ministers, while they have turned their whole attention to making money. The ministers have been trained in theological schools to read the "classics," instead of the writings of the prophets and apostles. All unite in their efforts to please the world, and hold forth a religion without a cross, which fosters pride and gratifies ambition. What little they read of the Bible is not with a desire to learn their duty there, so much as to find arguments to sustain their pre-adopted creeds and to build up their several denominations. A visit from a "test medium" to a village often fills the churches with the deepest surprise and both ministers and members will sit for hours to listen to their seducing words, and to behold the manifestations, utterly disregarding the precept of the Lord, to seek not unto them that have familiar spirits, without once thinking that it is a subject of prophecy; and they are unwilling to believe the Bible statements concerning the dead, which prove it to be a deception of the enemy. Where they have been found reasoning together concerning these things, an individual has quoted the words of the Scriptures that "the dead know not anything," and that their love, hatred, envy, and all their thoughts, are perished, and they would avoid him as they would a contagion. Errors that are popular, though their origin can be traced to the superstitions of the heathen, are preferred to the plainest truths of the Bible, if a belief in them brings reproach. And by this love of popularity, so manifest among professors, we are reminded of the words of N. P. Tallmadge in regard to the ultimate spread of Spiritualism, in the introduction to the "Healing of the Nations," page 29:— "The time is near at hand when no one will hesitate to avow his or her opinion on this subject. Spiritualism is making rapid advances in the highest classes of society, and its onward progress will soon render it fashionable, and then no human power can resist it." With the evidence of the Scriptures before us that they are the spirits of devils, we cannot hesitate to decide that wherever they are admitted, whether in political or ecclesiastical bodies, such bodies thereby become "the habitation of devils." How fearful the condition of such bodies, and how marked the fulfillment of prophecy in the present and prospective attitude of the political and religious world! Study the Book of Revelation.
By E. P. Marvin
It is related of a Gospel minister, that as he came to the book of Revelation in his family reading, he said hastily to his children: "This book is full of wild beasts, serpents, demons, plagues and mysteries; let us turn back to something which we can understand." After he retired from the morning worship to his study the thought followed him that he had treated a part of God's revelation of truth to men with neglect and irreverence. He bowed humbly before God and confessed his sin, and from that time he began to study and profit by the Book of Revelation. Because this book has sometimes been a source of visionary speculation, it is commonly treated with more or less neglect or prejudice, so that to the great mass of God's dear people it remains almost as a sealed book. Is this right? Every part of divine revelation is profitable (2 Tim. 3 : 16). At the opening of this book God singularly pronounces a blessing on those that read and hear the words of the book.—Rev. 1 : 3. John was expressly commanded to "Seal not the words of the prophecy of this book," because its fulfillment was at hand (Rev. 22 : 10). No mysteries in it should induce any one to close and neglect it. At its close the book is sacredly guarded against the additions of human speculations or the detractions of human prejudice (Rev. 22 : 18, 19). It is the last, most graphic, picturesque and glorious of all the books of revelation. It presents a living and moving panorama of prophecy, and as it is of the utmost importance for us to know "the things that must shortly come to pass," we ought to study the book diligently, prayerfully, and reverently. If it is more difficult than other parts of revelation, we should devote the more study to it. Is it possible for us to understand, at least the main scope of the book, and to derive profit from it? If not, why was it given to us by Infinite Wisdom? God calls it a Revelation (chap. 1 : 1), an unveiling or unfolding of the future, and not a concealment or an enigma. It is closely allied to Daniel and the 24th chapter of Matthew. All these parts of divine writ were given to reveal the future to God's people, that like the sons of Issacher they might "have understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do." As Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, because they could discern fair or foul weather by the face of the sky but could not discern the signs of the times, so he may justly reprove many of us in these latter times for neglecting to study and mark the prophetic signs that are hung out by Divine wisdom and love, on our moral sky.—Rev. E. P. Marvin. AFTER the storm, a calm;
After the bruise, a balm;
For the ill brings good in the Lord's own time,
And the sigh becomes the psalm. After the drought, the dew;
After the cloud, the blue;
For the sky will smile in the sun's good time,
And the earth grow glad and new. Bloom is the heir of blight,
Dawn is the child of night;
And the rolling change of the busy world
Bids the wrong yield back the right. Under the fount of ill
Many a cup doth fill,
And the patient lip, though it drinketh oft,
Finds only the bitter still. Truth seemeth oft to sleep,
Blessing so slow to reap,
Till the hours of waiting are weary to bear,
And the courage is hard to keep. Nevertheless, I know
Out of the dark must grow,
Sooner or later, whatever is fair,
Since the heavens have willed it so.
—Advance. The Golden Calf Reduced to Powder.
By Lay Preacher
"And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it."—Exodus 32:20. MANY persons, and amongst them some learned men, have supposed that the calf which is here spoken of could not have been made of gold, because this metal, being extremely malleable, spreads itself under the hammer, and does not break. M. Rieu, a lawyer, in Lausanne, gives the following narrative in the Chretien Evangelique, which removes all doubt upon the subject:— "Many years ago, being in a neighboring city, where the working up of gold constitutes the chief employment, I asked permission of one of the principal masters to visit his workshop. One of the clerks at once very politely placed himself at my disposal. We could hear from the office the anvil resounding with the blows of the hammer; but on entering the workshop, there was nothing to be seen of metal dazzling from the furnace, nor the bright showers of splinters which would be thrown off in working—all the metal in process was cold. On expressing my surprise to my guide, he said: 'Gold is always worked cold, because it crumbles when hot. Show this gentleman,' said he, calling a workman, who immediately took a bar of gold, and placing the end of it in the fire, stirred the coal, and used a powerful pair of bellows. In a few minutes he drew it out quite hot; the part thus prepared was placed on the anvil, and the first blow, although moderate, broke it off instantly from the bar. A few more blows sufficed to break it into innumerable pieces, the splinters of which spread all round. Thus, while iron, silver, platina, become more malleable when hot, gold is an exception, and becomes brittle as glass. The text which I have quoted, and all the disputes of which it has been the subject, came then to my mind. There was the means employed by Moses under my eyes; and, more than this, it has been three thousand three hundred years in the revelation, which, always exact, says expressly that Moses put the golden calf 'in the fire, and ground it to powder.'" Gold is one of the most precious substances; nevertheless, Moses hesitates not to reduce to powder that which had served for the idolatry of the Israelites. God never hesitates to break the idols that his children make for themselves, however precious they may be in their eyes, or in themselves; because an idol, not destroyed, destroys him who serves it.—Lay Preacher, (Eng.) An approximate idea may be formed of the sun's energy from the following calculation of the rainfall in Cincinnati, which was recently published in the Cincinnati Commercial: "The weight of the rain which fell on Cincinnati on Tuesday of last week was 2,333,571 tons. The weight of one cubic foot of water is 62½ pounds; the weight of 1½ inches of water spread over one acre is 340,312½ pounds; the weight of 1½ inches of water, spread over one square mile is 217,800,000 pounds. The area of Cincinnati is 24 square miles. Over the entire area of Cincinnati there fell, therefore, 5,227,200,000 pounds, or 2,333,571 tons weight. This enormous body of water was lifted up from the earth by the evaporative power of the sun." 1. KINGDOM AGAINST KINGDOM
IN connection with the claim put forth in regard to "the end of the world," another is presented, as follows:- 2. The disciples associated together all that the question contained, and placed "these things," that is, the overthrow of the city, with the coming of Christ and the end of the world, or age. But that is only conjecture. No one has a reason for affirming that such was the idea of the apostles. Here we might safely leave the affirmation, for no one is bound to disprove a conjecture. But we will further notice it. If it were something more than conjecture—if it were possible even to prove that such was their idea of the order of events then future, that fact would not be evidence that they were or are to be fulfilled at the same time. For we know that, at that time, the disciples were laboring under mistakes in regard to the time and order of the fulfillment of future events. Take as proof of this, the parable which the Lord spake when he was going into Jerusalem; Luke 19. They thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. To correct this impression the parable of the nobleman was spoken. If they understood the parable at the time when it was spoken, it did not fully do away with the impression in their minds, as is proved by what they did when they entered Jerusalem. We cannot believe that they would have hailed him as the son of David, and rejoiced before him as a king in his triumph, if they had realized that he was going into the city to be condemned and crucified as a malefactor. Palm branches and shouts of triumph did not attend the steps of the lowly and the condemned. Again, after his resurrection he reproved two of his disciples who, though they had trusted that he would redeem Israel, were then sad and disheartened. They did not then yet understand that Christ ought "to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory." The suffering part was still a mystery unto them. And some of the apostles were so slow to realize that which he had spoken to them that they could hardly be persuaded that he was indeed risen from the dead. And after he had been with them full forty days, speaking to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom, they did not yet understand "the times and the seasons," and therefore asked him, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" Would it, then, be surprising if they had been mistaken in the order of the events of which the Saviour spoke, at the time of his speaking as recorded in Matt. 24? It would be quite natural for them to suppose that the holy city and the temple of the Most High would stand until the judgment and the final consummation. As we now see, had such been their opinion, it would not be proof that such was the chronological relation of these events. But, we repeat, that cannot be proved; it is only conjecture. 3. It is necessary to notice that prophecy is not always fulfilled in the order in which it is given. This is often seen in the Old Testament, where the two advents are sometimes spoken of so closely together that the reader might suppose they would occur nearly together. It is seen in the book of Revelation, which contains several lines of prophecy, each reaching down to the close of the present dispensation. So in Matt. 24, and parallel chapters; we can only learn the correct application of some of the statements contained therein by comparing them with other scriptures. There is no dispute that they refer to the destruction of the temple and the overthrow of the city, as well as to the second coming of the Lord. We will now offer several points of proof that this chapter was not all fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans; and that the coming of Christ, spoken of in Matt. 24, did not then take place, and has not yet taken place. 1. KINGDOM AGAINST KINGDOM
Said the Saviour, "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places." No point has been argued in favor of what we have been used to call the Universalist view, of the past complete fulfillment of Matt. 24, with greater show of plausibility than this. Yet it remains decidedly against that view. Dr. Clarke, for whose honesty and ability we entertain the highest respect, says: "This portended the dissensious, insurrections, and mutual slaughter of the Jews, and those of other nations, who dwelt in the same cities together;" &c. We say we respect Dr. Clarke, and it is no disparagement of him to believe there is more light now shining out from this chapter, with the greater investigation, and the later fulfillment of prophecy, than he saw in his day. We insist that all that he produced in regard to the dissensions among the Jews, their insurrections, &c., do not meet the demands of this text. On the latter part of the verse he says: "This portended the open wars of the different tetrarchies and provinces against each other." In this chapter the Saviour refers us to Daniel the prophet, by whom we learn, which indeed we can learn from any history, that the kingdom of Rome was universal in power at the time of which we are speaking. The dissensions and insurrections of tribes and provinces were not sufficient to meet the prophecy. But the Saviour further says: "And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." The overthrow of Jerusalem was caused by an "insurrection" of one of the "provinces" of the Roman kingdom. But these are not even connectives of the final event which was mentioned by our Saviour. These things—wars, and rumors of wars—shall come, "but the end is not yet." And kingdom rising against kingdom—which we insist, was not fulfilled by provincial insurrections—"are but the beginning of sorrows,"—"the end is not yet." This point will be yet more clearly settled when others are considered. 2. THE GREATEST TRIBULATION. It is contended that the greatest tribulation that ever befell the Jews was in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Against this we interpose two objections:— (1.) It is by no means clear that the overthrow of Jerusalem by the Romans was the greatest tribulation the Jews ever suffered. All the scenes of horror described by historians, as occurring at that time, are by the inspired records ascribed also to the conquest of the Babylonians. See the Lamentations of Jeremiah, especially chap. 4:10.—"The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children; they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people." Also, Daniel 9:11-13, "The curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil; for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us." (2.) It is quite certain that the tribulation here spoken of was not upon the Jews, but upon the disciples of Christ. It was for "the elect's sake" that those days should be shortened; and this does not refer to the enemies of Christ. In Daniel 12:1, it is said there shall be a time of trouble, such as was not since there was a nation. Now there cannot be two times of trouble, each the greatest, and each greater than ever shall be. But there can be the greatest tribulation which shall ever come upon the followers of Christ, and it be distinct from the greatest time of trouble which ever comes upon the nations or the rejectors of Christ. In that time of trouble spoken of by Daniel, the saints, instead of coming under it, are "delivered, every one whose name is found written in the book." 3. THE SAINTS GATHERED TOGETHER. At the coming of Christ, as in Matt. 24, the elect of God, the saints of Christ, will be gathered "from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Verse 31. This cannot be referred to the destruction of Jerusalem. Nothing occurred at that time to which it will possibly apply. Paul, speaking of the coming of Christ, mentions the same fact, as follows,—"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him." 2 Thess. 2:1. How did the Lord come to Jerusalem at the time of its overthrow? We are answered, "It was a figurative coming." If it was not literal and actual, what was the nature of the figure used? It is said that he visited the Jews in judgment; that Titus, or the Roman army really executed the judgment upon the doomed city. Then the coming of Titus, or of the Roman army, is represented as the coming of Christ. Was it a fact, then, that the saints of God, the followers of Christ, from the four winds, were gathered together unto Titus, in that day? This must have been so if the coming of Titus represented the coming of Christ, or if Christ came figuratively in the person of Titus. It is as sure as the scriptures are true, that the saints will be gathered unto Christ in the day of his coming; which did not occur even in a figure, at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, for the saints, instead of being gathered unto Christ, or to any person or thing which came to Jerusalem as his representative, were scattered from the city, fleeing from the presence of that which represented Christ! So absurd is that theory. The fact of Christ's coming, and the gathering of the saints at that time, being stated alike in Matt. 24, and 2 Thess. 2, proves that these chapters refer to the same time and event. We therefore in this connection notice a circumstance mentioned by Paul, as one to take place before the Lord comes. And we call the special attention, to this point, of all who deny the literal advent of our Lord. Paul cautions his brethren not to look for the coming of Christ until the man of sin is revealed. Who, or what, is that man of sin? Paul wrote this about eighteen years before Jerusalem was overthrown. What arose within those eighteen years which filled the outline of this prophecy? Nothing at all. The old and well-accepted view of the Reformers—the Protestants,—that this man of sin is the "Sovereign Pontiff" of Rome, is every way reasonable, and, to produce a harmony of the prophetic scriptures, is unavoidable. Notice these points:— 1. Paul wrote only eighteen years before the overthrow of Jerusalem, but he looked forward to the future for the revealing of the man of sin. The elements were then already operating, but hindering causes had to be removed. Consequently, as he said, the coming of the Lord was not "impending" in his day. 2. It was not merely a sinful man to be revealed; there were many such then; "that man of sin;" who legalizes and enforces sin. Not merely one who breaks law, but one who overrides and breaks down law. Such has been the character of the Roman Pontiff. Many readers will remember his indictment on this point by Alexander Campbell, in his debate with Bishop Purcell. 3. Exalting himself above God. This he has done, not merely by assuming the prerogatives of God, but, by legislating on the law of God, which can be done only by a superior, in fact or assumed. 4. Claiming to be God. See the titles which have been given to, and assumed by, the Pope; and most recently, the assumption of infallibility. These, and other specifications of prophecy, have been fulfilled by the Popes of Rome, and by no other. And we shall find that the proofs grow even stronger and clearer as we proceed. (To be Continued.)