SPIRITISM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4483, 27 March 1876, Page 3

SPIRITISM.

No. 11. Those enthusiasts who fancy they have found a new religion in Spiritism, or Spiritualism as some will call it, ought to take warning by what has preceded them. Swedenborg, Johanna Southcotfce, aud numbers of otliers h? ve tried to upset the Christian system of theology, but without avail. The Book of Mormon, although printed on gold letters upon a silver basis, could pot doit; and now all these false religions are held in scorn. Christianity must and will have its way, and ultimately become paramount. It is perfectly absurd to go back to the imperfectly translated books of the Old Testament for proofs that the Divinity has allowed spirits of the departed to return to earth. What have they ever told us ? and of what use have their communications been ? jSTo worshipper of the Almighty God can doubt for a moment that on exceptional occasions He allowed messengers to appear to divulge His will. Among Christiana it has always been understood—indeed almost one of the articles of faith—that under the new dispensation sacrifices were done away with by the great sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who made the great atonement for all, and that in the future all visitations o£ angels or spirits to the earth would cease. In spiie of all false doctrines Christianity progresses, and will progress until the '• earth 5s cSSvered with the glory of the Lord." "Whafe tf<y the promulgators of these new doctrines mean ? Are they hypocrites or maniacs ? Can they not be content with the pure and undefiled religion promulgated by our great Master, whose doctrines are even accepted by Jews, Turks, Parsees, and heathens, as being something shewing a Divine origin ? No. These highly enlightened priests of the new faith, in their self-conceit, actually think, or profess to think, that they can evoke spirits from the slumber into which God Almighty has cast them ! Can impiety go farther ? Jt is sad to see that men of apparently sound mind and strong common sense can actually sit round a common table, made by men's hands, and imagine they hear the spirits of the departed talking to them through the medium of mahogany. It is more sad to reflect that in this, our pious and wellconducted city of Auckland, a party of men have banded themselves together for tte purpose of invoking responses from what they fondly imagine are the souls of the departed. And some of these men, too, are holding positions of note, and are accounted among men as good Christians ! Among other anathemas, St. Paul distinctly says that no sorcerers shall enter into the kingdom of God. "What are these but sorcerers, taking upon themselves the control of one of the attributes of the Almighty ? The idea that the clasped hands laid upon a table can, in defiance of all the laws of theology or common sense, bring responses from the unseen world, is to all sane minds absurd. These misguided but well-wishing people have entirely gone off the track. By dint of certain combinations, of muscular and mental power, they have shewn clearly enough that there is another power in nature, partly depending on the human will, partly on muscular action, and greatly on " volition" —that unknown force which binds mind to matter and controls the latter. This force has yet to be put in the scales of science, weighed, and tested. This is the force which, acting through some ethereal medium, controls the manifestations, and this is the force which, when properly investigated, understood, and controlled, will entirely.*tp~ set all preconceived ideas of gravitation, and will enable the promoters to ride to the moon on a broomstick.—[Communicated.]