knowledge places man above all law;" that "whatever is, is right;" that
"God doth not condemn;" and that "_all_ sins which are committed are
innocent." When the people are thus led to believe that desire is the
highest law, that liberty is license, and that man is accountable only to
himself, who can wonder that corruption and depravity teem on every hand?
Multitudes eagerly accept teachings that leave them at liberty to obey the
promptings of the carnal heart. The reins of self-control are laid upon
the neck of lust, the powers of mind and soul are made subject to the
animal propensities, and Satan exultingly sweeps into his net thousands
who profess to be followers of Christ.

But none need be deceived by the lying claims of Spiritualism. God has
given the world sufficient light to enable them to discover the snare. As
already shown, the theory which forms the very foundation of Spiritualism
is at war with the plainest statements of Scripture. The Bible declares
that the dead know not anything, that their thoughts have perished; they
have no part in anything that is done under the sun; they know nothing of
the joys or sorrows of those who were dearest to them on earth.

Furthermore, God has expressly forbidden all pretended communication with
departed spirits. In the days of the Hebrews there was a class of people
who claimed, as do the Spiritualists of to-day, to hold communication with
the dead. But the "familiar spirits," as these visitants from other worlds
were called, are declared by the Bible to be the "spirits of devils."(988)
The work of dealing with familiar spirits was pronounced an abomination to
the Lord, and was solemnly forbidden under penalty of death.(989) The very
name of witchcraft is now held in contempt. The claim that men can hold
intercourse with evil spirits is regarded as a fable of the Dark Ages. But
Spiritualism, which numbers its converts by hundreds of thousands, yea, by
millions, which has made its way into scientific circles, which has
invaded churches, and has found favor in legislative bodies, and even in
the courts of kings,--this mammoth deception is but a revival, in a new
disguise, of the witchcraft condemned and prohibited of old.

If there were no other evidence of the real character of Spiritualism, it
should be enough for the Christian that the spirits make no difference
between righteousness and sin, between the noblest and purest of the
apostles of Christ and the most corrupt