Basic HTML Version
November 1971
Ambo<sodor
Col/ege Phoros
The
PLAIN TRUTH
The late Bishop James Pike, who
warned bis parishioners about the dan–
gers of
glosso/alia
(speaking in
tongues), added to his fame by seeking
to communicate witb his dead son
tbrough the help of a medium.
Why the sudden interest in the
psy–
chic, the spiritualistic, tbe occult? There
is no doubt that much of the upsurge of
attention is only a fad . But there is
more to it than just passing fancy.
Before answering this puzzling ques–
tion, let's take a look at some of the
major areas of offbeat religious practices
causing such a stir. First, sorne points
about spiritism and the occult.
Conversations With the Dead
Necromancy - conjuring up the
dead- is certainly nothing new.
It
was
explicitly forbidden in the Pentateuch
(Deut. 18:11). In the Old Testament
the first king of Israel, Saul, is men–
tioned as having met his death after
supposedly speaking to the "ghost" of
the prophet Samuel. Yet, today we find
the widow of a religious leader seeking
messages from her late busband.
37
This of course, is another paradox of
the Christian religion - doing what is
prohibited and condemned
by the
claimed Christian Guidebook - the
Bible.
The spirit manifestations in many
seances have, of course, been exposed as
absolute frauds. The famous escape art–
ist Harry Houdini added further to his
reputation by bringing to light the
fakery often accompanying seances. It
was undoubtedly through his efforts
and those of others that interest in spiri–
tualism waned between the Depression
years and the 60's.
But seldom now do mediums even
bother with flashing lights, messages in
the air, or misty figures wafting across
darkened rooms. Tbey claim simply to
be "mediums"- the human instrument
through whose vocal cords the spirits
speak.
Probably the most well-known spiri–
tualist medium in the United States was
the late Arthur Ford, a minister of the
Disciples of Christ Church. A good deal
of his fame was the result of work witb
Bishop Pike who wanted to consult his