e coming (not from heaven, nor the spheres, but) up out
of the earth, and at Saul's request gave a description of him, showing
that Saul did not himself see the form. Verse 13. (10) Saul "perceived"
that it was Samuel (not by actual sight, but from the woman's description;
for the Hebrew {~HEBREW LETTER YOD~}{~HEBREW LETTER RESH~}{~HEBREW LETTER AYIN~} and the Septuagint, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}, signify to know, or
perceive, by an operation of the mind.) Verse 14. (11) The woman supposed
it was Samuel; Saul supposed it was Samuel; and that personation is, then,
by the law of appearance, spoken of, in whatever it said or did, as
Samuel; as, "Samuel said to Saul," etc. Verse 15. (12) Was Samuel really
there as an immortal soul, a disembodied spirit, or as one raised from the
dead?--No; because (_a_) immortal souls do not come up out of the ground,
wrapped in mantles, and complain of being disquieted and brought up; (_b_)
Samuel was a holy prophet, and if he was conscious in the spirit world, he
would not present himself at the summons of a woman who was practicing
arts which God had forbidden; (_c_) God having departed from Saul, and
having refused to communicate with him on account of his sins, would not
now suffer his servant Samuel to grant him the desired communication
through a channel which he had pronounced an abomination; (_d_) Samuel was
not present by a resurrection, for the Devil could not raise him, and God
certainly would not, for such a purpose; besides Samuel was buried at
Ramah, and could not be raised at Endor; (_e_) It was only the woman's
familiar spirit, personating Samuel as he used to appear when alive--an
aged man clothed with a mantle. His object was to make both the woman and
Saul believe it was Samuel, when it was not, just as communicating spirits
to-day try to palm themselves off for what they are not. As a specimen of
ancient Spiritualism, this case is no particular honor to their cause; and
as a proof of the immortality of the soul, and the conscious state of the
dead, it is a minus quantity.

8. _The Transfiguration._--Jesus took three of his disciples, Peter, James,
and John, apart into a high mountain, and was transfigured before them;
his face became as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light, just
as it will