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sages from the dead" might actual–
ly be coming somehow from the
subconscious
of the machine's
operator himself, and not from the
"other side." T he same explanation
has often been pu t forwar d to
accou n t for t he messages of
mediums in seances.
Many other explanations have
been suggested for this and other
spirit phenomena- all of which
at
times
have probably played a role.
But again,
not al/
spi ri t phenomena
can be adequately explained away
by such theories. There remain cer–
tain manifestations for which no
ent irely satisfactory explanation
has been offered- other than
actual spirit contact.
Bu t has contact been made with
the dead?
Or might there be
anoth–
er
explanation?
No lmmortal Sou l
At the end of last year
The Plain
Truth
publ ished an ar ticle chal–
lenging the widely held bel ief in an
" immortal soul." The age-old belief
in the separate existences of the
body and the soul was proved to be
without support
in the Bible!
That article explained the true
scriptu ral defini tion of the word
soul,
demonstrat ing that "soul"
designates man's
physical
life–
that a soul is what man
is,
not
something spiritual he
has.
Man
has no
inherent
immortality. T hc
soul is
mortal
and can
die
(Ezek.
18:4, 20).
The article showed from the
Bible that the dead "sleep" in
insensibility in their graves until a
future resurrection- a rising from
the dead.
Many readers wrote in, inqui r ing
how one can explain "ghosts,"
seances, spirit photography and
related phenomena. [f these are not
the spirits of
the dead-what are
they?
The explanation is found in the
Bible!
Wo rld o f Splrlts
The Bible reveals that there
is
indeed
a world of spiri ts! But they
are
not
the spirits of the dead–
though sorne may
masquerade
as
spirits of the dead! This spi ri t world
is the world of
angels-and
demons
(fallen angels).
Angels were created by God
Aprll 1983
eons ago-long before the creation
of the earth. The archangel whom
we call Lucifer and one thi rd of
these created angels ultimately
rebelled against God ( Isa. 14; Ezek.
28; Il Pet. 2:4; Rev. 12:4).
T he disobedient Lucifer became
Satan,
"the Adversary." The
angels who followed him in rebel–
lion became
demons.
They remain
subject to Satan, the "prince of
demons" (Mark 3:22, Moffatt).
Satan and his demonic cohorts
exert enormous influence on this
world. The Bible calls Satan "the
god of this world"
( 11
Cor. 4:4). In
that role, he has succeeded in
deceiving
the whole world (Rev.
12:9).
Satan and his demons pretend to
br ing light
( JI
Cor . 11: 14-15).
Demons have, for millennia, been
turning mankind from truth into
spiritual darkness, falsely call ing
that darkness " light." The Bible
warns of the dangers of humans
daobling in the wor ld of spirits.
Notice j ust a few of these pas–
sages:
"Regard not them that have
fami liar spi r its [the "control" or
"guide" that associates itself with a
witch or medium], neither seek
after wizards, to be defiled by
them .. . " (Lev. 19:31).
"T here shall not be found among
you any one ... that useth divina–
tion [obtaining secret knowledge by
supernatu ral means], or an observ–
er of times, or an enchanter, or a
witch, or a charmer, or a consulter
with familiar spirits, ora wizard, or
a necromancer [one who enquires
of the dead]. For all that do these
things are an abomination unto the
Lord ... " (Deut. 18:10-12).
Again: "They have seen vanity
and lying divination, saying, The
Lord saith: and the Lord hath not
sent them: and they have made
others to hope that they would con–
firm the word. Have ye not seen a
vain vision, and have ye not spoken
a lying divination ... " (Ezek.
13:6-7).
In the New Testament-in Acts
16- the apost le Paul
exorcised
a
spirit of divinat ion from a young
woman.
Now notice a biblical example of
just how seriously God takes spiri–
tism!
In 1 Samuel 28, we find an
account of an ancient "seance"
involving king Saul of Israel. Saul
desired to know about the outcome
of a great battle with the Phi listi nes
in which he was about to engage.
He inquired of God , but received
no answer (verse 6). God refused to
listen to Saul because of his rebel–
lious attitude.
Saul then defied God's clear
commands in the law and ordered
his servants: "Seek me a woman
that hath a
familiar sp irit,
that
1
may go to her, and enquire of her"
(verse 7).
Saul was told that there was a
woman at Endor that had a familiar
spirit. She is referred to as a
witch
in sorne translations, as a
medium
in others.
So Saul d isguised himsel f and
went to the woman by night and
said:
"1
pray thee, divine unto me
by the famil iar spirit, and bring me
him up, whom
I
shaJI name unto
thee" (verse 8). T he practice of
"consulting the dead" was rife
among ancient Israel's heathen
neig hbors. · Saul had been in–
fluenced by thei r practices.
Now notice what happened:
The medium asked whom she
should bring up. Saul said: "Bring
me up Samuel" (verse
ll).
The woman then saw a form that
she believed to be Samuel. Saul
himself d id not see the spi r it, for he
asked the woman to describe it to
him. As a result of the description,
Saul "perceived that it was Samu–
el" (verse 14).
T he spirit- sti ll invisible to
Saul- then spoke direct ly to Sau l
and prophesied of his impending
defeat at the hands of the Philis–
tines (verses 18- 19).
The spirit that appeared was not
Samuel. Samuel was
dead
(verse
3), and "the dead know not any
thing" (Eccl. 9:5, 10). At death,
one's thoughts perish-as the Bible
plainly teaches (Ps. 146:4).
Moreover, Scripture tells us that
God refused to answer Saul by
prophets (I Sam. 28:6). But Samu–
el was a prophet (Acts 13:20). The
spirit that spoke to Saul thus could
not have really been Samuel.
What had appeared to the
med ium and spoke to Saul was
simply a form that
looked /ike
Samuel-a demon
impersonating
Samuel!
lt
was
deception,
however
17