of the Scriptures has no shield against the Spiritualistic
delusion, and the danger is that he will sooner or later throw the Bible
away.

Chapter Four.

THEY ARE EVIL ANGELS.

As the Bible plainly shows what the spirits which communicate are _not_,
it just as clearly reveals also what they _are_; so that in no particular
is one left to conjecture or guesswork. There is an order of beings
brought to view in the Scriptures, above man but lower than God or Christ,
called "angels." No Bible believer questions the existence of such beings.
It is sometimes asserted that angels are departed human spirits; but this
cannot be; for they appear upon the stage of action before a single human
being had died, or a disembodied spirit could have existed. When the world
was created, Job declares that "the morning stars sang together, and all
the sons of God shouted for joy." These are two of the names applied to
these beings, but they are also known by a number of others. They are 167
times called angels; 61 times, angel of the Lord; 8 times, angel of God;
17 times, his angels; 41 times, cherub and cherubim. There are also such
names as seraphim, chariots, God's hosts, watchers, holy ones, thrones,
dominions, principalities and powers,--all referring to the different
orders of these heavenly beings.

A part of this host fell into sin, and thereby became evil, or fallen,
angels. A reasonable statement of how this came about can be given, but no
reason for the act itself. Sin cannot be explained. To explain it would be
to give a reason for it; and to give a reason for it would be to excuse
it; and then it would cease to be sin. In the beginning a condition
existed which was in itself right and essential; but which nevertheless
made sin possible. It is one of the inevitable conditions of the highest
glory of God, that all his creatures should serve him from choice, under
the law of love, and not by compulsion, as a machine, under the law of
necessity. To secure this end, they must be made free moral agents. Thus
to angels was given the freedom of the will, the same as to man. They were
in a state of purity and happiness, with every condition favorable for a
continuance in that condition; but in the free choices of their free
wills, they of course had the power, if they should unaccountably see fit
so to use it, to turn away from truth and right, and rebel against God.
This some of them did. So